mdntridr

I've fished Messalonskee (part of the Belgrade chain) extensively. It's a fantastic fishery! Check out these links for Maine-specific locations: http://www.androscogginbassmasters.com/ http://www.mebass.com/ Based on my travels it seems like a lot of the downeast area is smallie heaven if that's your thing 8-)

NH and Maine are perfect if you can handle the winters. An even better retirement plan would be to fish NH and ME in the summer and FL in the winter but that depends on your budget. Southern NH and South/Central Maine are dotted with thousands of small (<=1000 acres) lakes that are brimming with bass. Plenty of great fisheries that will be almost deserted during the week.

All of the Belgrade Lakes are good fishing. I've had good luck on Messalonskee. Way up north in Island Falls Lake Mattawamkeag is a great smallie habitat but be careful, none of the many many submerged rocks are marked.

fished Deering Reservoir today. Man, what a tough day fishing. In 6 hours fishing I caught 4 tiny bass, a few perch and pickerel. When lunker of the day aint even a bass you know it's tough fishing Anyways, I went everywhere, and can only assume that the bass are in deep water because there wasn't a gosh darned one above 8 ounces to be seen anywhere. If anyone's had success on that lake can you tell me where and how? Greg

thanks!

hey, quick question about the Revo SC, the webpage is a bit confusing.....do they have a centrifugal brake (pins) or externally adjustable mag brake? TIA, Greg

bassboy, my previous boating experience is with my father-in-law's Force-powered bowrider. Talk about a piece of crap! Anyways, I won't be setting any trans-Winnipesaukee speed records but at least it should be more reliable than the Force. She started right up and ran when I demo'd her after not running all year. Can't wait to get out and fish on her, have to take the stupid safe boater test

So, I've been fishing from a canoe for a while now, and I still love the canoe for the hundreds of ~20 acre ponds that dot the NH landscape, but I'm getting into tournament fishing and fishing larger bodies of water and paddling just isn't gonna cut it. So I purchased a 1987 Grumman Challenger with a 35hp Mercury outboard (oil injected :happydance: ) http://picasaweb.google.com/mdntridr/1986GrummanChallenger/photo#5087962845367831618 I paid $2000, which includes the trailer, 55ft/lb trolling motor, power winch, old Humminbird fish finder and other miscellaneous accessories. I think I got a good deal. I've never seen another Grumman like this; I've seen tons of Trackers, a handful of Sea Nymphs and other assorted boats of this type, but never a Grumman. Does anyone know anything about these boats, are they well made in general? Are the motors reliable or are they big pieces of crap? Thanks for listening Greg

bumped into a guy on a raft on Nutt Pond in Manchester tonite. I was the guy in the red canoe catching them on the popper. If you're out here it was nice to make your acquaintance, I'm sure I'll see you around. Greg.

nh record smallie is 7lb 14.5oz, caught in 1970

dammit, now I have to go back 8-)

Spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday up on Winnisquam. The fishing was tough, especially since we were in a rowboat with no motor :'( Bright sun, no clouds and tons of boat traffic made for some tough catching but we caught our share. During the day we rowed out to a nice little flat near a dropoff and caught 'em on the c-rig lizard or the t-rig senko. Nothing would touch a crank, jerk or spinner during the day. The nite bite was decent, I was absolutely slaying them with a 1/2 ounce black spinner with a huge nickel colorado blade. They wouldn't touch anything topwater. All in all, I can't think of a better way to spend Labor Day weekend!

d**n man for that kinda bread I'd get 3 BPS Pro Qualifier combos and then head down to Walmart and blow the remainder on plastics and a few Rapala DTs

Fished Pine Island Pond in Manchester today....not so great. First off it was windy and I'm in a canoe and I was feeling pretty lazy so I only covered the southern half of this itty bitty body of water. Caught one bass near the dam at the southern tip. Had a few more bites but no serious takers, just tire kickers ya know? Which is strange because I've been rockin the senko lately and there were some pretty cozy looking laydown trees and pads and what have you. The fish just weren't interested and I was too lazy to do it right. So I came home and watched the Red Sox instead 8-)

so does the motor rev all the way up and you just don't go anywhere? Or do you mash the throttle and and doesn't rev up? If it revs up but you don't go anywhere, probably a lower unit/transmission/prop problem. If it doesn't rev up up when you floor it then it's a throttle/air/fuel/ignition problem. Carbed systems generally use the motor's vacuum to actuate a weak mechanical pump to suck fuel out of the fuel tank and into the carbs. If the gas tank vent is closed, maybe there's already vacuum in there, and whichever system has the higher vacuum wins, meaning little/no gas for your carbs and wagn goes slow. FI engines will have a high pressure electric fuel pump that will probably not suffer this problem but who knows...... hope that helps. Greg

Dude that is the PERFECT boat for me! What is it, 14, 15 feet? Do you mind if I ask where you got it and how much it set you back? Back to the topic: have someone drive and work the throttle and make sure the throttle actuator on the motor has full range of motion. Might need to take the cover off. If the motor is carbureted and not injected then having the knob shut may indeed cause the problem. I can't imagine that this wouldn't be covered in the boat/motor manual. If you bought the boat new I would hope the dealer would go for a ride with you so you can demonstrate the problem.

I just bought a 13' Adirondack fiberglass canoe. It easily holds 2 adult males plus gear, but is small and light enough for me to get it on to my roofrack without assistance. Be sure to get something with a good full-length keel and get the widest canoe you can find. Mine is shaped like a football and it's perfect. Greg

Ya, the 3 guys in the canoe with the trolling motor were just getting started when we got there so it must have just been by minutes that we missed each other. We were in a little red Adirondack canoe.

Revisited the Wilton Reservoir again this evening with my brother. I've spent 2 weeks up in Maine practicing my Texas and Carolina rig technique and it paid off this time. We were there from about 7:30-8:30 (btw, saw three guys in a square stern canoe having a good time...anyone here?) and I caught 4 larries on the t-rig watermelon senko. My bro got 2 on the hula popper. I had a solid 3-pounder, a 2.5 and the other 2 in the 1lb range. Lots of fun and a fine way to end a day of hard labor

Ask and ye shall receive: http://www.google.com/maps?q=New+Boston,+NH,+USA&ie=UTF8&ll=42.95972,-71.683474&spn=0.011385,0.020084&z=16&om=1 and http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/bathy_maps/bailey_newboston.pdf 18 acres, tons of fish: largemouth, pickerel, perch, etc. I caught a few larries on a watermelon tube on 7/8. You can cast from the shore if you don't mind some serious bushwhacking. You can wade out thigh-deep at the launch site and have a decent cast into some cover. Some kind of boat is recommended though, it's pretty swampy and inaccessible beyond the boat launch. If you're looking for places to fish, check out the maps on www.wildlife.state.nh.us, they have over 400 maps of some of the lesser-known bodies of water (for example, Bailey Pond but not Massbesic or Winni). Or do like me, download Google Earth and find a nice little pond someplace that looks like a nice place to fish

Hey folks, new guy here back into the fishing scene after a 20 year hiatus :'( Some recent fishing excursions: July 1, Massabesic: Skunked. Put in at the parking area on Londonderry Tpk, paddled down past the marina. My buddy caught a pickerel and a yellow perch and that was it, not even a nibble for me. July 4, Gorham Pond, Dunbarton: Nice little ~100 acre lake. I caught 4 small largemouth, all <2lbs. Tons of milfoil. July 7, Piscataquog River, Manchester: Put in at the West Side ramp near the railroad trestle. Skunked, although the trout loved to jump and bat at my chug bug July 8, Bailey Pond, New Boston: My in-laws live in New Boston so I excused myself from the family BBQ and got out for a few hours Caught a 2lb largemouth, a pickerel and a tiny bass of some sort, couldn't identify it as a larry or sally. This pond is ripe for the picking for an expert angler who really knows how to pull em up out of the weeds. I'm really happy to be back into fishing, it's been too long and I forgot how much I love it. Got myself a nice short and stubby canoe that's perfect for fishing. So if you see a guy with a Sox hat in a red canoe picking a birdsnest out of his reel, say "hi", it's probably me Greg