MassBass

Try fishing at sunset in mid summer.

Keep in mind if you use braid to wire, there is no stretch in that rig and you could run into issues when playing big pike. Your rod and drag setting would need to be able to compensate.

My current thought is just a $50 BPS low profile. If the salt and sand eventually destroys it, just replace it.

For what its worth I think they docked me a half an inch from my rainbow trout so they wouldn't have to deal with a three way tie for year's biggest.

I head up to Maine to fish then and again. My fishin bud lives up there now. Usually keep quiet about Maine bass fishing, but I think the cat has been out of the bag for a while now.

One good carp. They were being real shy. The slightest misstep could spook em.

Yeah man come cold water season Im gonna go pretty serious for trophy trout. Last cold water season I had a lot of luck. So much so Im just kind of kickin it thinking about cold water season. I had a huge brown trout come up to shore behind a spoon, swirl, swirl, take! After a short struggle I lost it on a bent treble. It was very savage and it turned me. Turned me to the cold water.

You can train balance, it's not something that must inevitably worsen. Surfers are big into it, stuff like wobble boards, bosu balls, balance training. Even work on standing on one leg. I could say this to someone, but it is up to the individual to be curious and have a drive to get better, and not just be resigned to their current age or physical condition.

Lots of big carp amongst other fish in the Merrimack. But these are from Charles River. That dirty water. A lot prestigious institutions round here:

Two hot weather carp fish today, a 26" and a 27".

Good smallies will cruise right on the bank where the chop breaks. Not just crayfish, but sunfish are usually right there to. When a big (trophy) smallie goes shallow in the summer, it means business. I have seen them seem to hunt in a pair, or duo. A duo could make one run over a shallow point, and right there is a sunfish or two to hold them over until next time, and back into the dark depths they go.

This is cod fish

I started crushing barbs on my striper plugs one year when there were a lot of fish. I definitely lost fish on a plug with crushed barbs. At least one very big fish. I think they can just turn wrong and slip off. I went back to barbs. You need to be very careful with every striper you land no matter how small.

Maybe up in Maine 'boulders everywhere' is why they don't all hold fish. It's just another part of the underwater terrain and not really a valuable piece of structure. But like was mentioned, current; even in a lake, when a wind sets up the same for two days or more, that wind current could be pushing up against a boulder making it a useful piece of structure. Maybe on calm days that is a nothing boulder, but on the third day of a south wind there are two 4s and a 5 on it.

0.5. mono, spoons, and polarized sunglasses

I think if you are going to fish sizeable lakes, you need to learn to capitalize on the wind bite. It pushes microorganisms and bugs, concentrates baitfish, and makes fish move up to feed from the pelagic abyss. When bass are in wind, they are usually ready to chase and feed, a flashy spinnerbait is often a good idea. The wind distorts the surface so they can't see you, or hear unnatural disturbances as well. If it is unsafe, (or will be unsafe soon) don't fish it, but in big lakes you could be richly rewarded by fishing the wind.

Some other species from somewhere north. These are chain pickerel, not pike.

No I didn't, but consider that increasing daylight cycle is just as important if not moreso to when they start spawning.

Bass were on beds weeks ago Charles river...I reckon the biggins have already spawned secretively and are post-spawn.

Common carp?

Striped bass

I think if you are fishing new water, whether it is a stream or lake, it is invaluable to cover water and search fish. Even if a spot looks good, but doesn't show a fish, you can make a mental note to check it out again. As you learn the system and find other spots, you may know what spots pay to be thorough in (and in which season), and which spots are worth only a cast or two, or are totally unproductive, only worth walking past or paddling through. There may be spots that seem good, but are mysteriously unproductive. It could just take the right combination of season, weather, and bait presentation for the mystery of the spot to be revealed.

Noted. Thanks. Interesting they are river tournaments.

I have to raise an issue with this. I feel you are saying attractor lures give off negative cues. They are not negative cues when presented the right way, they are attractors. Lures like spinnerbaits and rattletraps still have to be presented with care to actually work. I know for sure that sonar pings turn fish off of chasing rattletraps, but I digress. I don't care if a top bass tournament hasn't been won on a spinnerbait in 20 years or more, I will still be throwing spinnerbaits. I fish an urban river area for bass, and these fish see lures. Just a random spinnerbait isn't the answer. Too much attraction, and your right, then it turns into a negative, the fish shys away or spooks. It has to be just the right amount where the fish is so attracted that it bites. A spinnerbait on a steady retrieve really doesn't trigger the fish, it's just calling the fish in so much that they bite. Even if I told Joe Shmoe down at the river park, 'a spinnerbait', he would probably pick up a tandem silver or double willow silver, which seems to be a standard offering, but is actually A LOT of flash. Probably too much for most situations. A fish that has been caught before on a flashy spinnerbait will be more likely to spook from that. But a spinnerbait that looks more natural in the water, or with a different vibration profile, could make that fish bite though.

Nice brown. Jerkbait by-catch?