MaineBassMan

Caught one on a jig but the rest were on a suspended jerk. Biggest one was 3lbs 09oz. I caught ten total didn't bother taking pictures of two of them but all were over 2lbs and 3 of them were 3lbs.

Finally got out today. I threw all my old tricks at them they didn't want my tube and I only caught one on a black jig with a chompers twin grub trailer. Caught them in 5-8 feet of water. My biggest three for the day were: 3lbs 09 oz., 3lbs 07 oz. and 3lbs even. I caught ten total and all were over 2 lbs. My 5 biggest fish totaled 15lbs 13 oz. not too bad for my first outing. I caught all of the other ones on a suspended jerk bait and they actually wanted it worked fast. Here they are:

Got my first one for the smallmouth category; 3.56lbs / state record 8 lbs = .445 x 100 = 44.5 I needed to convert from pounds and ounces to just pounds to be one the same sheet of music with the other two posters.

I fished Molasses pond in Franklin Maine. I got ticked before I even launched the boat. There were signs posted all over the landing to kill all smallmouth caught there. My friend and I slayed the smallies there and caught a nice four pounder. Started talking to a guy on his dock while my friend weighed the bass, and as he started to release it the guy said hey you have to kill that bass. I said why he said the camp owners on the pond wanted the bass to be killed so the salmon would do better. I don't know if any of you have ever fished this pond, but it is not suitable for salmon and is great for smallies. I told him it was our bass and I said try and make us kill it with that my friend gave the bass a long wet kiss on the lips and released it. The guy got ticked to say the least. There are still people that think bass are trash fish in my county, especially largemouth. I fish a couple of lakes with mixed bags of Largies and smallies and the fishing has only got better because of it. This is why I eat white perch, trout and salmon, and release all largies and smallies, there are plenty of people killing the bass which get no help from the state. Salmon and trout are stocked so I view it as a put and take fishery.

For large mouth i usually catch them tight to the bank in flooded heaths on jigs in about 2-5 foot of water, flip it in let it sit motionless and Wait for a bite or the line to move. Small mouth I usually catch them in 8-10 foot of water just off from bedding areas. I have caught them on jigs and suspended jerks, but my best luck comes from a tube, black for me, but you may want to play with colors. I rig it on a 3/0 hook texas rigged with a 3/8 oz. bullet weight. cast it out parallel to the bedding areas in the 8-10 foot of water and let it sit still, reel in the slack line. After about a minute I barely drag it a couple of inches slowly, without it leaving the bottom and then let it set again. I may get a couple of ticks or see my line start to move, I let them have it a long time before I set the hook. Some reason they like it exactly like this too. Friend and I were fishing same exact tube and both of us were dragging them like mentioned above. However, mine was rigged with an internal weight and his was texas rigged like above he had eight smallies to my none. I gave in and rigged mine like his and on the first cast I caught one. Ended up tied at the end of the day, but that little change made all the difference. Some may have better luck with other tactics but this is what works for me, it got me 5th place two years in a row fishing a 40 boat tournament, may have won the one last year if I didn't loose my big fish.

Not yet. I've been out once so far on one of my hot spots for ice out fishing and didn't even get a bite. I think it has to do with the flooding there though, water is way up and current is too fast. I will be going out Wednesday, which looks to be great weather wise, to a lake that just opened up and I usually do good on smallies as soon as the ice goes out there.

I usually act like I believe them and kind of blow them off, really don't care if they are telling me the truth or not, I know what is in the lake. I was taught by my Great Uncle and Grandfather not to brag too much about the fish we catch. If asked how we did we always say that it was slow and we only caught a few pickerel the bass weren't biting. Our lakes get very little fishing pressure why attract more? You have to water board me to get me to tell you what lake I caught my bass on if I show someone a picture of a big fish. Granted our bass are nowhere as big as yours but it is all relative to where you fish. To me a big smallmouth is anything over 4lbs,(3 pounders are nice), and 5lbs+ for a largemouth, (4 pounders are nice but I catch a good number of those). I will ask if they weighed them on a good scale and if they say no I will not believe them. I caught a bunch of 5 pounders until I bought a nice scale. ;D Boats make the fisherman look and feel good but it "DOES NOT MAKE THE FISHERMAN!"

Probably don't have a chance in hell but I'm in for Maine. Just to make sure I have this right; both smallies and largies are competing for the same weight? They are not going to be separate?

Lakes are looking real punkie but not out yet. This last batch of rain has flooded a lot of the areas i fish. I think I might get the boat in by Friday.

That's a heck of a fishing story! Last season I almost had the same thing happen. I was going up this small stream using the trolling motor going through a shallow grassy stretch, when all of a sudden this huge Large mouth jumped up to just above the trolling motor head and almost landed in the bow of the boat. Instead, I saw it land just under the bow and head for the the stern so I chucked my swim bait behind the boat and low and behold she bit. This would of been my Personnel best I think,(don't know till you weigh em'), at about 6-7 pounds, but unfortunately as I was bringing her in my Baitcasters drag blew out on me. I couldn't reel so I grabbed the line and tried to hand line her in. I couldn't keep up with her and the hook came undone. :'( Oh well I hope I find her again this season. Sorry for High jacking the thread.

Hey man this is a family oriented forum , why don't you get rid of the deer ? what deer are you talking about? I don't remember where I saw it, but I believe that Maine defines a pond as a body of water that is not deeper than 20 feet at it's deepest point.

Our lakes are nothing alike, our lakes are nowhere deep enough for that.

Around here our beds come in two different colors depending on the lake, Some lakes they are light in color and other lakes they are dark.

I drink beer when I'm fishing for fun, but I don't drink to get hammered. I take 2 - 3 beers with me pack a nice lunch and bring a bottle of water and Gator Aid. I'm usually on the water by 6-7 am, I will not have a beer before I catch a fish, (bad Carma). I nurse my beers and whether I drink all 3 or not I'm done drinking at Noon. From there I eat my lunch and drink nothing but water and Gator aid. I'm off the water by 5:30 pm. I take my bottles home to, I hate seeing all the cans and bottles on the bottom of the lake. There is nothing wrong with having a couple of beers while fishing just be responsible about it and police up after yourself.

There is a good number of Maine Bassers here. If you look further down the post page there is another "Any Mainers" thread where we have all checked in. It is good to see other Mainers though.

You got that right, I may live in a Blue state, I'm Red Minded, but our state is pretty good with gun laws. It's an open carry state, not that many people exercise that right here. We are a concealed carry state to, so its not that bad.

With all the guns that I own they wouldn't let me within 100 miles of California. If I were to move I would pick between Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Tennessee. The cold weather doesn't bother me, I have activities that keep me busy year round: Hunting, fishing, and trapping. Ya, I go a little crazy thinking about bass fishing when the lakes are frozen over but it makes me love, enjoy and look forward to fishing that much more.

Class of 99 here

SAME HERE!...casting into the snow BITES!(not the good ones either)...i was looking at last years ice-out reports and 4/14 is what i am hoping for...MaineBassMan, you look familiar...what highschool did u go to?

Big lake is an awesome fishery, flats, weeds and rock piles. I have a tournament there in August.

If you are asking what CT's state record is : Largemouth = 12 lbs 14 oz. / smallmouth= 7 lbs 12 oz. Maine's record largemouth is 11 lbs 10 oz. Smallmouth is 8 lbs even.

I use a use a 2/0 -3/0 wide gap hook with mine. The only thing I don't like about the Paca craws is that the arms tear off too easily.

I went to my spring fishing hole on the 23rd for a pre-open water scouting trip just to make sure I can find some open water. Well I'm in business, This hole right here has produced for me the last three springs. I won't be able to use a boat on April 1st,(legal day of open water fishing) because there is just too much ice so I will be bank fishing. last April 1st I caught 25 largemouth averaging 3 lbs and I caught 2 upper 4 pounders here in two hours of fishing. If it was legal the other day I bet you I would of still caught fish here, even with all the ice. I will post results after April 1st on how I did. 8-) My sanity will soon return!!

Tell me about it :'( group hug, I don't think these southern and western guys know how much we suffer! :-[. I was out casting my jig into a freaking snow bank last month just for some therapy.

Use a jerk bait, tube or jig! I have to fish from the bank sometimes Because the landing is iced in. I still catch a good load of them from the bank with these lures. The bass are usually schooled up in cold water and you have to work along the bank casting out until you catch a bass. When you do remember where your cast landed and make several cast to the exact same location, you will be surprised at how many bass you can pull out of one location. I heave my lure out as far as possible because when I'm fishing from the boat I usually catch these schooled bass in 6-8 foot of water. If you happen to have any largemouth I usually catch mine tight up against bushy or boggy banks anywhere from 6 inches to 3 feet of water using a jig. I believe they are up tight because they are looking for the warmer water and sunning themselves, look for sunny banks.