fmoore

Without a better description, what probably happened is that you didn't spool the line on the reel under relatively heavy tension. If you didn't, there's your problem. I would be inclined to move up in line size, but it's not necessary. Maybe try stripping the line off the reel and re spooling it under a fair amount of tension. That should solve your problem.

Manufacturers say never to cut the cable but I know soldering it can work. Try it. It shouldn't take long and you may find that you can make it work.

I own four different brands of rods and while it doesn't effect my fishing I am in the process of slowly switching over to all one brand. I think it's more the classic fisherman's OCD than anything. Having all matched rods and reels for bass fishing is something that stems from my addiction to tuna fishing, I think. Anyway, the only thing that bothers me is switching between split grip and non split grip rods, but it's fairly inconsequential imo. In short, I don't think it matters...except in my head

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to recommend any spots for you. I usually ice fish at Wilson Pond in Swanzey, NH or on the setbacks of the CT River. Both of which would be a haul for you. I'm usually limited to ice fishing after school because I teach skiing on the weekends, so I have to stay close to home. Anyway, that will be a fine place to fish. Here's a tip a friend gave me that will help when fishing new pond (or ones you've open water fished but never ice fished): Drill holes perpendicular to the shoreline, straight out towards the middle of the pond. Set up your tip ups and when you come to a drop off, start setting your tip ups parallel to the shoreline, following the contour line of the pond. Another trick I like to use in weedy ponds is to take a square piece of chicken wire (small enough so it will fit down the hole) and attach some string to it in the center. This is light enough that it will settle on top of the remaining weeds, and you can place your shiners just above the weeds. The benefits are twofold: the bait becomes more visible to the fish, and it won't get all messed up in the weeds. If you're in a new pond and you're not sure where the fish are, keep moving. If you aren't getting bites within an hour or so, move the tip ups. The fish won't move around a whole lot with the water being so cold and all, so you have to find them. Just a few things I've learned...hope this helps. I'm sure other members can offer more advice as well.

Got out yesterday for an early morning home by 11 outing. Ended up with 3 smallies, 1 going 3-14 and another going 4-0. The 4 was my first fish on a blade bait. Other two were on a tube. I'm going to be winterizing the boat and getting the ice fishing gear together this morning :'( Sad day, but I can't get out this weekend and I'm really hoping to be skiing the weekend after that. Good luck to all still fishing and happy Thanksgiving!

I remember reading somewhere online (maybe In-Fisherman?) about something called an Ontario rig. If I remember correctly, it was just what you're describing. Another thing you can do is use a jig instead of a sinker.

My favorite bait on the drop shot is the 5" Mann's Hard Nose Finesse Worm in green gourd color. This bait has accounted for many many smallmouth for me since I started using it in September. One worm will usually survive 10-15 fish! I've only gone through 1 pack (15 worms) in almost 3 months.

Yes, I do like to know how others did. Even if they killed them and I didn't catch a thing. Then I know it was me and not that the bite was just off. I am able to make adjustments and become a better fisherman. You do have to be careful, though. I know some guys who will just straight up lie. Not a big deal in the scheme of things but it can be misleading.

On 3 different boats I've had 3 everstart cranking batteries and 2 everstart trolling batteries for 4 years and they're still going strong. Works for me.

If you ask 10 different guys what kind of line they like, you'll most likely get 10 different answers. I use Power Pro for all my heavy flipping/pitching needs and Seaguar fluoro for everything else. Fluorocarbon's refractive index is closer to that of water's than mono, thus making it less visible than mono when in the water. Personally I feel red line is a gimmick and I like clear over any other color.

Cool. Thanks for the info. I was hoping to get out one more time this season and go largemouth fishing but I'm not sure if I'm going to have time. Sad day...Seems like everyone else might be done for the season. Nobody else has posted on this thread in a while. I got out Wednesday for about 2 hours and only caught 3 smallies. It's a disappointment but better than nothing for sure, especially this time of year.

Man, I can't largemouth fish to save my life this time of year. I call 8 fish in 3 hours a good little outing. I caught 22 smallies Sunday afternoon. Maybe I should stop tooling on the smallmouth and start trying to learn how to catch largemouth. It's getting to be a bit of a joke. All I have to do is go to my spot, toss a tube out and wait : Do you mind me asking what general patterns and baits you look for/fish this time of year?

Absolutely not! I caught all 17 on a green pumpkin tube with a half ounce head. Pattern for the day was rip rap in 10-20 FOW with a couple fish hanging out near rocky drop offs. I tried the drop shot for maybe a half hour with nothing. A friend supposedly caught 28 pounds/8 smallies throwing a jerkbait at/flipping shallow wood on Saturday.

Caught 17 smallies on Saturday morning. I've heard rumor of a tourney on the CT River on Sunday that I might just have to get in on ;D

Yea. It eliminates water so quickly it's not even funny. Sometimes great looking water will produce nothing and not so great looking water will produce well. Only problem is, when you net 20 bass in a 20 minute period you get to wondering how many fish you're not catching when you're actually fishing.

A couple smallies from the other night..... Speaking of Gregg Lake, anyone know it well? Seems like most here are from the eastern/central part of the state, but I went shocking a few times over the summer with some guys from the NH Fish and Game office here in Keene and one of the places was Gregg Lake. Seemed like a nice fishery. The eastern shoreline has a lot of nice wood with excellent deep water access where we netted a lot of largemouth. Nothing bigger than 3 if I remember right, though. The large cove in the NW part of the lake has some real nice rocky shoreline for smallies, too. Anyone know anything else about it? I meant to get there over the summer but never got around to it.

You just described my favorite setup to a T. Except the line. I prefer 6# Seaguar. Not that it really makes much of a difference.

Thanks for all the insight guys. Much appreciated

So you have a tourney on a new body of water and have ONE day to prefish. If the is no chart of the area, how do you efficiently find areas that will hold smallmouth? It seems like largemouth are easier to catch at a new body of water. They seem to relate more to structure that is more obvious to the new guy on the lake/river. This time of year, at least in my neck of the woods, the smallmouth love structure in the middle of nowhere (humps, etc) which are obviously harder to find. Thus the reason for the question. As you can tell I'm new here. Excuse me if there have been threads on this topic before. Thanks Fintan

Thanks and thanks for the welcome llPa1nll. I fish out of an '89 16 foot deep V Tracker that my dad's had since new. Slap a new motor on her and new electronics and it becomes a great little fishing platform. Landed 5 more on the tube tonight.They were taking the bait really weird. It was a very light take but then it was almost as if they were just swimming with the tube when you went to reel up tight. Made for some unsure hooksets which led to 4 additional fish jumping off. I'll have to go back and read some of those old posts. Always looking for tips on how to put fish in the boat and new waters to fish!

Hey all. Just wanted to say hi. Just joined here. I'm 16 and live in Keene. I fish the CT River 4-5 times a week including tournies on the weekends. The smallie bite is great right now! Last time out was yesterday. Caught 8 in 2 hours after school (1 on spinnerbait, 3 on grub, 4 on drop shot) and lost 2 and missed 2 on the drop shot. Biggest was the spinnerbait fish at maybe 2-8? The smallies were on a flat pushing bait up on the surface as I was running back to the ramp. Too bad I had to get home. That topwater bite is exciting, hopefully I can get it going tomorrow! Fintan