Dwight Hottle

My fishing buddies & I have always considered the benchmark for a lifetime trophy largemouth to be 10lbs. Out of all serious largemouth fisherman probably only a small percentage actually achieve the 10 lb plateau. We have always considered a 7lber to be the benchmark for smallmouth. Once again only a small percentage of bass anglers achieve the 7lb plateau. Disregard your own personal geographic location favoring either largies or smallies. What do you consider the equivalency to be between lifetime trophy largemouth & smallmouth? Does a 10lb largemouth equate to a 7lb smallmouth regarding trophy status? What does a 8lb smallmouth compare to in a largemouth? :-/

My early starts are round 8-9am. I guess if your retired it doesn't matter as much. Al Linder always said the fish don't start to bite until I get there anyhow. Time of year & water temps dictate sleep in or get up early. ;D

Outstanding. We both know it's its a great fishery. How was the boat traffic?

Five lbs as well

That is a great bass for CT. Love that girth.

Looks like you had a very sucessful spring.

Great fishing & pictures. I'll bet you sent those pictures home.

Yellow tiger works well.

1st 12lbs, 2nd 14lbs

5.5 lbs plus or minus 2 ozs.

Try trolling crankbaits & spoons covering different depths. There are many baits out there that run 25 to 30 feet deep straight lining. Rapala deep tail dancer model TDD-11 & Reef runner 800 series will run 30 feet & 28 feet with 260-280 feet back on 10lb mono or 20-30 lb braid. Spoons will get down deeper with snap weights attached or with a jet diver or dipsie diver. Good luck. Your likely to have better sucess with the walleye than the pike because of water temps.

Keep it up. You got love those lc baits.

Two beauties in the same picture. Well done.

The quality of the fisherman on this board & their willingness to openly share their hard earned knowledge makes these forums The Ultimate Bass Fishing Resource Guide. The first time I stumbled upon this site it impressed me and it continued to do so.

Fishing Rhino well said.

A quote from a fishing friend. "When preparation meets opportunity it is not luck." ;D

Its not a bass but it is my biggest so far this year. 49" long by 21.75" girth. 32 lbs. ;D

Second the suggestion of buying a camera. Congrats on your new pb.

6.75lb smallie 23" long.

I have fitovers marketed by Jonathan Paul and they are great. No eye strain or dry eyes from fishing all day. They retail for $49. The gold lens works best for almost all light conditions. They are polarized.

120lb florocarbon leader.

Here is an other photo with Ian Besse our guide for the week. I'm 61 & she was plenty to handle for a photo. I caught her on a St Croix 6'6" legend elite bait caster rated 1/4 oz to 3/4 oz coupled with a Shimano calis spooled with 20lb braid. Thanks for sharing your congrats. I really know how special it is to get a pike this size to the boat. Very lucky indeed.

You the maine man. ;D

I just got back from our annual fishing trip to Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan. My previous personal best pike was 26lbs and my buddy and I have chased the elusive 30 lber for about 15 years. This year on the first morning in camp I got lucky. We had to break ice to get to one of our favorite bays but it paid off. I caught this 32 lber on a lc pointer 100 saltwater series. She measured 49 inches long by 21.75 inch girth. She only had one hook point of the rear treble in her upper lip so I was very nervous until we finally got her in the cradle. I love chasing big smallies but this fish really made my year.

I just wanted to publicly thank FishinDaddy, * and anyone else who might have contributed to the great looking baits sent to me. I try to put them to good use.