Two firsts in a week. Not bad for an old dog, who supposedly cannot be taught new tricks.

Last Thursday, was my first attempt at drop shotting. Caught two smallies over two pounds and a largemouth that topped three. Caught four smaller smallmouths.

Nothing to brag about, but exciting to me.

Today was tube day. Cloudy, light breeze, temps in the low seventies. An ideal day to try something new.

A couple of hours of exploratory fishing with the old standbys, just to make sure they were in a biting mood. Rage Tail craws got torn up. Wacky jig heads with four and five inch *** worms of different colors, all produced, and one of my favorites, the ShakE2 jig head with a Strike King, four inch finesse worm, coppertreuse of course, produced some nice fish.

Off to the bottom, I had determined was a good spot for the Strike King Coffee Tube, watermelon/red. Nice rocky bottom. No filamentous algae. Four to five feet deep. And, usually a dependable spot.

A couple of casts, just to get the feel of the tube on the bottom produced a couple of hits, but no hooksets, probably because I was concentrating on the feel of the thing on the bottom.

It has a mushy feel because the plastic absorbs the impact, being between the lead, and the rock. Actually, contact with a stone produced a feel similar to that of a hard headed jig when a bass hits it.

On the third cast, let it sit for a few seconds, then start the slow retrieve. Took up the slack and felt a thump, thump, thump. Set the hook. Fish on!

Most of my fishing is done with spinning rods. Have used baitcasters for jigs, and other lures, and caught fish with them. Fifteen pound test braid, with a twenty pound test fluoro leader allowed me to put plenty of pressure on the fish.

Too much, for my satisfaction. I had to keep loosening the drag, so it would slip to my preference. All adjustments made on the fly. I know, not the best time to do it.

I boated the bass, and it weighed in at just a tick over 3.5 pounds. An auspicious debut, for a new bait. I think I'm going to like the tubes.

It was the largest fish of the day to that point. Until I stopped at another of my "hot spots" a rocky point that varies from three to just over five feet in depth and has rocks from cobbles to boulders.

Tossed the Wacky Jig Head with a four inch *** Watermelon/Chartreuse laminate trick worm.

The spot produced three nice bass, two of which topped four pounds.

I cast three very different colors of the *** worms, watermelon/red, bumblebee (black and yellow swirl) and the watermelon/chatreuse laminate. They all produced.

A two fer week. It's been a great year for me. Last year, most of my fishing was done with either spinnerbaits or chatterfrogs. I've caught a few on them this year, but their production does not compare with the various plastics I've been using.

Maybe in a few weeks. If not, maybe next year.

Still managed to finish up in time to get a haircut, and the lawn mowed.

caught fish on a new bait.......

trimmed the hair......

trimmed the lawn.....

productive day!!!!

I have yet to ever fish a tube.....

maybe sometime ill get around to it...........  maybe......

as for the size of your bass mentioned,

AWESOME!!!

great day man, congrats!

caught fish on a new bait.......

trimmed the hair......

trimmed the lawn.....

productive day!!!!

I have yet to ever fish a tube.....

maybe sometime ill get around to it........... maybe......

as for the size of your bass mentioned,

AWESOME!!!

great day man, congrats!

Most of the credit must go to the pond.  I took a fellow fishing a few weeks ago.  He's the step son of the lady that allows me to use her property to access the pond.  He doesn't do much fishing.  He had what looked like a yard sale, bargain bin rod and reel, so I rigged one of mine with a wacky worm, and let him have at it.

He caught about fifteen, with a couple that were in the twos.  His comment.  This isn't much fun.  It's too easy.

The pond is incredible for the Northeast.  While its bass will never achieve the sizes of the southern or western bass, it consistently produces good sized bass.

It's a small pond.  One half mile long, a quarter mile wide.

Posted by: Fishing Rhino

Most of the credit must go to the pond.  I took a fellow fishing a few weeks ago.  He's the step son of the lady that allows me to use her property to access the pond.  He doesn't do much fishing.  He had what looked like a yard sale, bargain bin rod and reel, so I rigged one of mine with a wacky worm, and let him have at it.

He caught about fifteen, with a couple that were in the twos. His comment.  This isn't much fun.  It's too easy.

The pond is incredible for the Northeast.  While its bass will never achieve the sizes of the southern or western bass, it consistently produces good sized bass.

It's a small pond.  One half mile long, a quarter mile wide.

i remember your post,

and how you were secretly wishing he wouldnt want to join you...

but, too easy.... not much fun....

man i wish for that scenario most of the time!!!!!!!!!!

wouldnt that be great!!!!

glad to hear the pond is nice and productive for ya

Actually, he had a lot of fun.  He was being facetious about it not being much of a challenge.

I wish everyone had their honey hole that was just as sweet.

I made the mistake of going to South Watuppa yesterday.  It's a large pond for this area.  Two to three miles wide and five to six miles long.  Way too big for a canoe, but I wanted to try some drop shotting along the drop offs to twenty feet.

There weren't many boats on the pond, but half of them were operated by thoughtless imbeciles.  There are a couple of water ski courses laid out on the pond.  One boat and skier were practicing on the course.  No problem.  Another boat was towing a skier just out for a ride, and a sea doo type of craft pulling another water skier.

It was a calm day, the pond is two miles wide, and I was trying to fish the western shore.  For whatever reason, they had to pass by within a hundred feet of me.

Then there were a couple of larger boats pulling the big float tubes behind.  They had to buzz by me too.  

If I hadn't turned the canoe into their wake, I might have ended up in the drink.

I feel for the fishermen who have to put up with that stuff on a regular basis.

The clouds were piling up, the sky was getting dark to the northwest, so I quit, and headed back to the dock.

If nothing else, it gave me a greater appreciation for my home pond.

Oh yeah, to top it off, I did not catch a thing.

Posted by: Fishing Rhino

Oh yeah, to top it off, I did not catch a thing.

after that experience......

ouch!