tpsneaks18

I just recently moved to FALL RIVER, MA...I'm from Cape Cod and have been fishing my whole life. I consider myself an above-average fisherman and very easy to fish with and get along with. I do not have a boat at the moment and REALLY need a fishing buddy or some open tourneys...if anyone is interested or can point me in right direction, please do! I'm a versatile fisherman and love to flip and pitch shallow but I am very well-versed in deep, clear water dropshotting, c-rigs, and cranking methods...Coming from Cape Cod I'm an excellent smallie fisherman as well. I also always pitch in a good chunk for gas etc. I just need to get out there as much as possible. Please text me 508 801 1085. I'm 29 years old and easy to get along with...help a fellow fisherman out til I get a boat (and find a friend's place to keep it- city parking is tough).

agreed on the chatterbait...I consider it so much like a spinnerbait that it has virtually eliminated ALL spinnerbaits in my arsenal. I barely ever reach for a blade bait cuz I just have so much more confidence in a chatter/bladed swim jig in the same situations I'd think "spinnerbait". And yes Frogs absolutely work in open-ish water...they're great when "beating the bank" and around laydowns...but if no vegetation reaches the surface you may opts for a less weedless frog for better hook-ups...The biggest problem w/ frogs is hook ups. The Koppers livetarget HARD frog (like a spook bait) is awesome. Been using it a lot on my home lake which has no mats or surface vegetation.

This stems from another great thread about "what's the best frog on the Market"- After posting several times in there, and being such a big fan of frog fishing, I realized this needs a whole new thread...but I reccomend checking that thread out! ( http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/102691-spro-scum-or-live-target-frogs/page__st__15 ). But as I thought about "Whats THE best frog?" I thought to myself- Impossible to answer. It's become too large of a market...I remember when the scum frog and snag proof were pretty much your choices and they were super cool and 'ground breaking'...so never forget who laid the ground work. But since then the market has BOOMED...there's walking frogs, spitting frogs, popping frogs, "gurgling" frogs, BIG frogs, small frogs, "regular" frogs...etc, etc. And this is pertaining only to Soft, Hollow-Body Frogs. Not to mention all the soft plastic and hard body frogs out there...It can get overwhelming...I think the frog is under-utilized. In the sense that...with Crankbaits, with soft plastics, etc. we have so many factores that determine what we use and why and when. Depth, water clarity, vegetation, water temp, I could go on for days. Hollow frogs need to be looked @ in a similiar fashion. People just say 'I'm going frogging" and throw on a frog...Not taking into account vegetation style/type, thickness of vegetation, weater, wind, fish's "mood", etc. etc. This should be done and will increase your frogging exponentially! So below is a list of "types" of frogs and my favorite for each category. I think this will help you realize t hat there's more to it than just chucking out a frog you like and pullin it to the boat. 1. General purpose frog that spits and "hops" over mats very weedlessly- Spro or Koppers cannot be beat. Spro's ONLY downfall to me (otherwise perfect general frog) is that it's a little firm...newer frogs have been made much softer. I dont have the biggest hook up problem w/ frogs but if u do, go w/ Koppers. 2. A Frog that makes lots of noise and does all the "work" for you/good in open water as well: Deps Basirisky frog...forward arching legs make it gurgle/shimmy like a jitterbug. Great on edges of pads and @ night. OR River2sea "Step Wa" Frog- I've never used it but videos can be seen on youtube. Has a clear from lip just like a jitterbug lip...rest of the frog is the same as any weedless, hollow-body frog. 3. A Frog that "walks the dog" easily: TW stopped carrying another frog that i cant remember the name of...an expensive japanese frog w/ a swivel to attach a small colorado blade or a single skirt....walked better than any frog, as easily as a spook. But now the best walking frog is the Jackall Iobee...their "finish" and "realism" may not be #1, but the design is to me...the hook is built around that frog...perfection...The legs are just right length and phenomonal living rubber that just flares perfectly n slowly, It is also sealed extremely well from any water getting in, and it walks quite easily thanks to a keel weighted hook inside and a keel-shape. I've heard the booyah walks well too...snag proof makes a spook-style hollow-body bait also. 4. A Finesse Frog- Koppers smallest size is a true "finesse frog"...River2sea's smallest is a good downsizer, and of course the spro Jr. The spro Jr. downsizes the least, then the river2sea is just a tad smaller, the smallest koppers is a real little guy but still has enough weight to throw out there just fine. Like I said in the thread above ^- I had a tournament I won in the last 20-25 minutes by downsizing my offering after beating a small creek arm HARD with other frogs. 5. A BIG frog for BIG Bass when the bite is ON: The ish monroe giant frog is a good BIG frog and he's had some great success with it and Koppers offers a largest size that is nice n big and the Evolve Nervous Walker is a pretty large/wide frog with beads inside and nice soft rubber, good hook ups! 5. A popping/spittin' frog- Hands down- The SPRO popping frog. Paycheck baits makes one that looks decent/different but the spro spits the way it should, it's a great bait. Scum frog makes a weak attempt at a popping frog IMO...but it'll catch em just not "pop" all that much. 6. Miscellaneous/hard body/open water frog: The koppers field mouse- soft body- AWESOME! The River2sea dahlberg frog intrigues me A LOT... i haven't had the chance to really put it thru it's paces yet but it's a hard body frog but always lands rightside up, has a great weedless feature so will be FINE in mats...and witha steady DOWNWARD pull it dives downward...and if u continue to do long pulls downward it can get down to like 5-6 feet and look just like a frog trying to borrow itself under something to survive...Also in scattered open mats popping it along the mats then diving it under the "holes/openings" should be incredible...It's versatile and great. The Koppers makes a hard body spook style bait thats a very realistic frog profile...great open water bait already done well w/ it. Subtle walker. Then there's that new weird Molix frog/crankbait deal...looks ridiculous to me just thought I'd mention it. The point is...asking "what's the best frog on the market?" is becoming like asking "what's the best single soft bait on the market?" or "What's the best crankbait on the market?"---It's become too large a market with too big an array of options for what you need out of the frog...There is frogs for every situation now and it helps to have 1 of each @ least if u care about froggin'. And frogging yields some LARGE bass as we know. And as far as hook-up ratio problems go...make sure you're using the right gear.... and you need to practive patience, once you see the BLOW UP your natural reaction is to do exactly that---REACT! DON'T react right away...wait til you make sure that frog is under the water and reel down and get that slack up- then set the jaw off of that fish! Gear plays a big role in this as well. IMHO You NEED a good stiff, fast blank...a frog specific rod would be great but if not, a heavy jig rod or flipping rod...I prefer a little over 7 feet for frogging, 7'2"-7'4" but 7'6" will do if it's all you have and so will 7foot. Second I think a high speed reel is needed for the same reasons you want the longer rod...a lot of "slack" is involved in frog fishing, u need to be able to "pick up" line and move line FAST. So a long rod, and a fast reel helps a TON. Lastly...I am a flourocarbon/mono guy...I rarely use braid but I do believe that braid is the only way to go for heavy-mat frog fishing. It has 0 stretch, enables u to CUT (literally) thru vegetation...and it floats well and has extreme responsiveness to your frog. You don't NEED all 3 of these things to fish frogs. But the more you can afford to employ, the better your frog fishing will be. If you don't have a longer rod use the longest you have and stiffest u have, but u have a high speed reel..a 7 footer w/ a high speed is just FINE. If you don't have a high speed but have a nice stought, long rod then use the fastest reel you have. If you don't like Braid or don't want to pay for it then a good ABRASION resistant heavy mono or co-polymer can be great too...I find the line to be the least important of the 3, u dont NEED braid...I use mono and copolymer sometimes if I'm not in the heaviest of heavy stuff and our water clarity is very clear...I often punch w/ my frog rods too so even w/ all that vegetation I just dont have the confidence w/ braid because I believe fish CAN see braid and that's a whole 'nother thread right there. I believe you lose bites, plain and simple unless it's topwater frogging. Keep in mind even in our HEAVY vegetation our visibility is easily 5-7 ft. @ the worst...we have 15 ft. and up visibility out here...most of our lakes are very clear here in Massachusetts. So if Braid's not ur thing, or you dont wanna pay, or for wahtever reason, then I reccomend, If you don't mind paying a little, Sunline Machinegun Test Co-Polymer is greattt for frogging. Extremely abrasion resistant, very low stretch and manageable, good line. It's about 17$ for 165$ yard...I'd use 20-25lbs test. If you don't wanna pay that much the new Trilene XL "Armor Coated" is great- the manageability of XL with an abrasion resistant coating, and less stretch...again 20-25lbs test for heavy vegetation. I have only found Armor Coated XL to go up to 20# on TW but that's just fine. This is inexpensive @ 9.95 for 220 yards. Berkley "BIG GAME" is great too. Thanks for reading and I hope this helps some more with the great frog debate!!! If you have any more questions or anything feel free to contact me via PM or post it right on in here! Hope this helps some people!!!

It used to be SPRO ALL THE WAY, in my opinion...but the frog business has grown so much in the last couple of years there's SO MANY options...I agree the popping frog is nice from spro I like the narrowed down profile. I enjoy the deps basirisky frog especially along edges of tullies...in more open water/not super heavy mats. Big mats inhibit it's action. I am excited for the dahlberg frog from just using it a little so far the versatility seems intriguing although not a soft frog..it seems there's a lot of things I could do with it...but the Jackall Iobee is one of my new favs...it is built so well and walks so well. The Koppers is awesome too because of it's realism/detail. That company is phenomonal..I love the size options they give on the Koppers frog too...I believe that to be critical... Don't underestimate the incredible power of the SPRO JR. Or any other smaller-sized frog-because just like with ANY fishing when u can't buy a bite on something larger, downsizing can make a big diff. I looove my frogs as well and have a collection just like South FLA and I cannot tell u how many times I've tried to WILL them to bite a frog lol...and downsized to a smaller offering and caught em good. Didn't effect size of fish either. Last year in a club tourney we fished the crud out of a creek arm that was FILLED with matts/pads...spent 2 hours in the morning frogging a small 10 acre little arm with 2 bass totalling 3.5 lbs to show for it...we scrambled on the main lake deeper to get a decent limit...fish were everywhere just SMALL. We had 5 @ maybe 10.5-11lbs...a measly bag. This lake usually only needed 13-14 to win (we had placed 2nd before with 11.1lbs). So with an hour left we spent it in the same creek arm figuring a later afternoon frog bite could cull us and give us the win...Fished regular sized spro and my buddy had an Ish frog on...with a 1/2 hour w/ no bite (the creek arm was 2 minutes from weigh in/ramp) I tied on the Jr. Size spro...2nd cast BANG, 5.1lbs...about 3 casts later, 4lber, then my buddy ties one on...first cast 6.3 lbs...I could NOT believe it. It was a fishing moment that really taught me a lot. we went from MAYBE 11lbs to a weigh-in weight of 19.4lbs and lunker for the tournament...2nd was about 15lbs and 3rd 12.5. We wouldn't have even had 3rd if it wasnt for the last minute decisiont to downsize. We knew bass were there. We tried punchin mats, we tried lots of frogs...but the smaller frog turned em instantly on. I wanted to stay and fish i knew there was more hogs in the creek arm. The next season- what do u know? half the boats ventured for that creek arm first thing in the AM lol...10 acres choked w/ 10 boats...ridiculous. LOL oh well...

Ditto- the Koppers Live Target frogs are beautiful and VERY realistic...They won best soft lure @ Icast. The frog market's really boomed in the last few years...Evolve makes a nice one too. The Deps Basirisky is a great frog for a different presentation...it has the weird forward facing legs that makes it shimmy-swim like an old jitterbug almost.

I guess this shows some of us are more into soft plastics than others...the people who've said they store their plastics out of their bags in 3600 or 3700 boxes---U obviously can't have a HUGE assortment of plastics or I'd imagine it'd be absolutely impossible to store them this way...The amount of plastics I have...I'd need at least 20-25 3700 tackle boxes to store them out of their bags in sectioned off portions of a 3700 box... My hardbaits have always required one tackle bag...4 3700's- Topwaters, lipless/deepdivers, medium divers/shallow divers, chatterbaits/buzzbaits...n then a special double tiered box about the size of a 3600 but double-sided filled w/ jigs. Then I have an ENTIRE other bag for my soft plastics...either the giant stowaway box, or an empty tackle bag if its a tournament.

I gotta disagree as well on the Iobee...urs had to be defective...the water seal is amazing on those...and they walk very well and downright catch em...I would HIGHLY reccomend the Iobee...

I personally keep a bag with 3700 planos that store my hard baits...categorized into Lipless, deep/medium divers, shallow/square bill/wake, and topwater, then bladed baits and buzzers n bladed swim jigs. I will pick out from my tackle @ home and switch out what I think I need for the particular pond/tournament based on season, water clarity, past experience, etc. But for plastics I buy 2.5 gallon Zip Loc bags...I label them in Categorys like "dropshot baits", "Beaver Baits/Craw Baits", "Stickbaits/Senkos", "Lizards", "Tubes", etc...then I keep the baits in their original packaging and throw them in the zip locs...This way when I know of a type of bait i want, i can quickly go right to that category and make my decision. Best way I've found for soft plastics and saves me time on the water. The Gigantic Plano Open Storage "stowaways" work great to house the plastics in the zip locs...the HUGE one w/ no separations, just a big open box.

The Daiwa Fuego-A is discontinued and therefore on sale @ a lot of places...My question is...Does anyone have one? what do they think of it? Also, most importantly...how does a 150A (i believe 1500 is same thing) compare to Shimano Reels? They have a fuego 100A too. Is a 150A as small as a shimano 1000? or more of a 2500? I would love any help on this. I usually prefer to use bigger sized spinning reels to help w/ line twist prevention but wouldn't mind a 2500 sized. I just don't want some trout sized reel. it says it's specs are 100 yards of 6lbs line and 80 yards of 8lbs... But ti also weighs the same amount as the 200A/2000 sized reel that tackletour reviewed when they came out a while back... Any help would be great. THANKS!!!

figured this much...just hate going thru the return process...had it sent overnight and now gotta wait for this mess. im sure they'll handle it quick tho, thanks for the help.

I just ordered another abu garcia veritas from TW...the rod came w/ one of the alconite inserts missing and just had the outter metal ring of the guide... a couple questions: 1. Since it came this way right outta the rod tube do you think they'll tell me "deal with it thru Abu?"...I am a BEYOND avid customer of TW...i have ordered at least 50 times from them practically 100$ a week avg. I think they're pretty cool about returns. 2. If I choose to keep it and fish it that way...is that 1 little missing insert going to detrimentally effect my line? will 1 missing insert (it's 4th down from the tip) gonna really hurt performance that much? Is there ne quick fix other than putting a new guide on?

Does anyone own these? What r their opinions and how do they compare to other rods in a similiar price range?

Has anyone tried these? If so what's their opinion? Especially someone who also has some higher-end rods...How do u think they compare? Because...I took a 1-year hiatus from tourney fishing and was out on the lake less...didnt revamp or get any new rods and my rods were already a year or so old...So I had mostly 2009 Kistler Helium LTA's (250-280$), a Kistler LTX (350$), and a couple Kistler Argon's (200$) and a discontinued Falcon Rod that was very expensive 300$ or more i believe...great rod. But my point is...I always SCOFFED @ the discount rods...but @ the time the MOJO by St. Croix was the one who set the bar for discount rods with good components and quality actions etc....To me the MOJO's were garbage...Putting a Mojo in ur hand after a Helium LTA is not really fair tho. Then Falcon Bucoo's came out, and the barrage of new discount priced rods hit the market in the last couple years...Vendetta, Veritas, e21 wild black carrot stix (WOW those r light!), Bucoo's, Mojos, Kistler Carbon Steel, Shimano Clarus revamps...just about every brand put out a $100 or less price range competitor...or some a bit over $100. Recently I had heard so many good things about the Veritas and tried my brother-in-law's briefly and was impressed...I've now bought 2 and about to get my 3rd...they honestly fish better or equal to my Helium LTA's...the sensitivity and balance is incredible for a 100$ rod I cannot believe it... Is this just rod technology advancement in general or is a cuz ABU is part of such a huge company that can afford to mass produce cheaper? I believe the rod is the most important part of the whole bass arsenal...it's ur extended arm, ur feeling, it's everything...Have newer, higher end rods advanced THIS much as well? I'd just like to hear some opinions.

Whatever it is about a cavitron...i dono but there's SOMETHING...Also a good one is the Revenge buzzbait...high quality...i like that they offer a 1/4 oz. version for a nice slow reel w hen i need/want it. Buzzbait can really produce some HUGE stringers in the right situations and times of year (NOW)...As Bluebasser86 has demonstrated via picture!

They have their time and place is exactly right...Bass Magazine had a comment in one of their articles this month saying "had that tournament been fished on almost any other lake other than Guntersville (the P. Elias Win) in almost any other situation...the A-Rig would still be an unheard of entity" (quote is not exact)...In my neck of hte woods in the herring riddled ponds...there is times when it'd absolutely SMASH THEM...(right now). I'm sure many bass fisherman that have saltwater fishing knowledge have thought of the "a-rig" or umbrella rig before...Everytime I took out a spinnerbait I or buzzbait it jus made me think of a smaller version of a saltwater umbrella rig and how it would work. These thoughts were BECAUSE of the schooling situations and probably because these exact (but larger) rigs have been employed in saltwater striper, bluefish, tuna fishing for DECADES out here...it's not new to me...so I've thought about it for freshwater because when balls of these herring are in our ponds coming up the runs to spawn, during (bass) prespawn...the fish just GORGE on them and want nothing else. Matching the herring fairly close is KEY. Two seasons ago we times the most epic fishing experience of my life @ the mouth of one of these runs...we had 53ish degree water and I had a LC Pointer tied on in the big 128 size (1oz, 5") in the MS MJ Herring color. My buddy had the 100 size in American Shad...There was BALLS and BALLS of these herring coming into the lake...they dont "run" @ all times so u have to catch the right time and if u do and r prepared it's truly epic. All the herring coming into the pond were bigger than our baits...6"-10" and some 12" even nippin @ our baits...they were so thick snagging some was a problem...anyway...we proceeded to have the most amazing 70 minutes of fishing I've ever had...EVERY-SINGLE-CAST was a MONSTER smallmouth...everything in the 4lbs class, Our biggest going 5-4 but another 5-1 and 5-0. But If it were a tournament it'd be 25lbs of smallmouth cuz we had so many in the HIGH 4lbs class it wasnt even funny. Much too many fish to count, literally and when we got a 3lber we'd go "dink" when on a normal day we'd be thrilled for a solid 3lb class smallie. Our wrists were immobile after the frenzy ended...when i say every cast I mean it..we counted 17 casts between us yielding fish in a ROW. If we had a cast that went fishless we were surprised...once in a lifetime stuff. But it got me thinking... The "kicker" is this (pun intended)---there was fish trailing our bait to the boat that were MONSTERS...smallmouth that looked like they could EAT our 4lbs fish...(this is a pond where I caught a smallmouth with no scale on me that IMO was in the 7lbs class n I had my brother in law w/ me who fished Lake Michigan his whole life and lake Erie, Champlain, knows smallmouth n what 6lbers look like n his jaw was dropped n said easily 7 but who knows) ...anyway THIS is when I went out and got a bunch of herring swimbaits...I even had some custom made...they caught me a few pigs but I was never lucky enough to time that situation again...had I had 2ft. diving/slow sinking 8-10" herring swimbaits I think it would've been 5-6lbs smallmouths all. But even more so...If I had had the "Alabama Rig"...it woulda been multiple 4lbs-5lbs smallies on @ once...n if u know how a big brute clearwater smallmouth fights then u can only IMAGINE what fun this would be... Now I've encountered hundreds of much less intense versions of the above situation in the last couple years...schooling herring and bass smashing them but only wanting matching lures...This is where the A-Rig could be amazing. So it's a time and place. If u just randomly threw it...yeah I think u'd catch em...it's a school of fish...but in the RIGHT, ideal situation...it's got a real place in bass fishing. IMO don't go out and buy a rig for it...use your flipping stick...in my opinion I prefer the A. Rigs without the big lead head in front...they have many "all wire" versions...with all the weight of the jigheads and the plastic...even if u use a 1/4oz...u've got 1.25oz of lead, plus the wire, and plastic...I like the BOSS all wire "compact harness" to start u out...it's a little more compact, won't require an extra rod @ all and works... If u prefer non-compact version and want a "head" on the front...they also make a Silicone head version to not add much extra weight (this silicone head IS offered in both compact and not compact version too) Another one designed VERY MUCH off the saltwater versions that is great is the Jewel "Gembrella"...it spreads the fish out better by the bent arms and swims in a most spread out school...I've had 1 fish with 2 baits hooked in it's mouth...this wont happen on this one. These are all available at tackle warehouse But I would NOT buy a new set up for this...if ur flipping stick is rated to 1 1/2 oz or 2oz then u'll be fine...Our high tech rods these days will handle more than their ratings...just try it out and see if u like it then decide if u want a special rig for it. My General opinion on the rig is: A TAD more hype than anything...probably somethin that'll keep getting banned too. BUT it's a good idea to have it ready n with you in case the situation arises but the perfect situation arises not THAT often for me...but when it does, yes, it can KNOCK EM OUT.

I live in Massachusetts...I'm not complaining...HECK NO...ppl would KILL to grow up on 250 acres (plus a couple little mat punchers paradises if u want to change it up) and the fishing is AMAZING...I think the lack of SIZE of forage may be a problem but I truly think it's the number of fish. And to the person who said spots- yeah they are definitely not Spotted bass. We don't have them here. The Average size is great but it's just always the same general size...and the lack of dinks too...u hardly ever catch a small one...But I did just see a school last week of easily 100 8-12" bass so they're in there. Also "baby bass" colors work wonderful inthese ponds so I imagine t hey are eating those. So do baits colored similiar to white perch...And bluegill baits...But we have thousands of chubs/killifish/shad but they're just small ones.And yes...other ponds in my area (some) grow much larger size but they are fed by herring runs...man-made rivers built coming up from the estuaries and sea so the herring can make t heir way into the ponds to spawn. These are big herring...8" avg size and many up to 10-12". Also we get big trout stockings...and a lot of them are on the smaller size... 8"-12" and those ponds grow big bass. Break 10 is still unheard of out here...usually the annual state yearly record is in the high 9 range...smallmouth 6-7lbs. But We have an abundance of 5-7lbs fish. 5lbs on some lakes is routine and almost 1 per trip is a given. But I guess it's an easier answer than I thought when reading all the responses and thinking about it harder...The lakes that hold 5+ LM around here have BIGGER forage...the 5-7lbs potential lakes are all the herring fed or trout-stocked ponds...My ponds have neither...I also believe an abundance of fish may be a small problem too but a good point is...a pond you know you can go out and catch 20 2-3.5lbs in a 6 hour day is nothing to complain about.

Ok, I am open to opinions from ANYONE but would love a real good answer from a possible fisheries biologist/bass behavior expert? I know we have to have some on here...? Here's my question: I live on a string of 2 real ponds with a few smaller punchers haven's right near by...but the 2 ponds I live on are about 160 acres and 90 acres. I have lived on these ponds for over 20 years (23 years) and fished them my whole life...They are in a private community so generally thought of as private and old rude homeowners definitely yell @ non-locals fishing. But the question is this: The fish growth...The fish for the last...10 years...just haven't seemed to grow @ ALL. just a LITTLE bit of upswing in avg size each year...the amount of 2.5-3.5lbs fish is unreal but I at least put a line in the water here 150times a year and really go out and fish the ponds 60-70x a year. NEVER a weighed largemouth over 5lbs...I've had a couple that I would bet were barely 5...maybe. Quite a few in the 4lbs range but it just stops there... Let me give you some background info: -The ponds are ULTRA clear, Clear to the point u could have a cup of poland springs next to a cup of this pond water and barely tell the difference, seriously. fairly low vegetation but still plenty of weedbeds. -Larger pond gets to a max depth of around 42 feet with plenty of drop offs and offshore structure. Smaller Pond has a maximum depth of over 50 ft. but only in one small corner, other than that it's a lot more flat and generally shallow in the 15-20ft. range if u took out that one very deep, small area. -For 250 acres they do have an assortment of options...there is deep offshore rockpiles and humps and even a cove with weeds that grow from 15ft. down almost to the surface and hold lots of nice fish. -They are spring fed...rain greatly affects their water levels...most years water levels have been very high, flooding into little fields/brush areas making great shoreline structure. This year, water level's very low so far. -The fish spawn fine...lots of beds, fish always look and fight VERY healthily. They seem to fight beyond their means/size. -Around my region MANY ponds have herring runs and are fed heavily by the herrring come up the rivers from the sea to spawn in the freshwater and this makes for much larger fish... my ponds have nothing like this. Also many ponds around here are trout stocked- again, not mine. - The Main forage in these ponds is probably "chubs" or banded killifish/ "minnows". Bluegill and white perch too. I imagine a decent crawfish population too but I havent seen many. - Also...the 2 ponds are separated by a small, 30-50ft strip of beach...when water's high or even fairly high they become connected thru a small stream. When connected it's day to day on which pond fishes better and it can be NO BITE on one pond, tons on the other... -Water quality IS monitored by the town so that's not a factor. ALSO: IMPORANT fact: When I was a kid there was a MUCH larger smallmouth population...you caught smallmouth 3-1 to largemouth...Now it's more like 8-1 largemouth to smallmouth. Smallmouth seem to be coming back pretty well but still a MUCH rarer catch nowadays. What's odd is I do not hardly EVER catch "dinks"...only maybe 1 out of 10 is under 2lbs... almost all fish are 'cookie-cutter' 2.5-3.5lbs...with the average definitely being more like 3-3.5. The numbers are also usually excellent...we have 20, 30, even 40 fish days often. Conventional "bass rules" dont seem to apply...they seem to always bite. SO MY thoughts and my brother's thoughts who is very knowledgable about this: 1. The Fish bite so well...Does this mean they're HUNGRY/lacking forage? They sure don't look it...the fish r healthy and look to be eating well...Could be just the lack of pressure? But then again...the smallmouth population DROPPED...did the largemouth start eating smallmouth years ago? 2. Lack of forage was one of the biggest thoughts...BUT why are the fish in fairly good size range and only growning a couple ounces a year? But then again why is there NO HAWGS...the amount of time i've put on this water, I'd have to have stuck a 5-6lber if they're in there...Largest I've weighed was 4-14 off of a bed...I've had fish I thought were barely over 5 but no scale...But not many, 2-4fish total... 3. My Brother's main/biggest theory is this: too many bass. Sounds funny to a bass fisherman but he believes the population is TOO high...Too many fish competing for not enough forage to provide substantial growth for all the others. If this is the case what could I do? I have a 3rd and 4th pond (small 30acres, n 15 acres) that are shallow, very vegetated ponds with lots of bass but much smaller in general. Could I release fish from my livewell and throw them in the smaller ponds? (probably not legal even tho they're private). Is this a feasable idea: TOO MANY bass? It seems to make sense cuz the fishing's amazing number's wise and we do notice a small yearly average size growth so is it nothing to worry about? IS there a way @ all to help the bass grow larger and to make this a lunker-holding body(ies) of water? I'd greatly appreciate ANYONE's opinion but would be very happy to hear from someone with a degree or knowledge on this particular matter directly. Thank you in advance guys!!!

I've had an amazing year so far as far as numbers...I'm a tourney guy- not just some ****** who fishes only for money but I fish w ith a tournament mentality, even though I'm leisure fishing most of the time, I'm testing different techniques and always take my fishing fairly seriously but definitely always laugh and take in the beauty...So my point is when I'm fishing I'm usually tallying in my head what my best 5 would estimate out to be...and so far this year I've done great as far as that goes. I'm in MA so we are still very much pre-spawn, only now starting to see some beds start to be fanned off, I'd say the new moon on the 21st is when we'll see a good chunk of our fish start spawning. They seem to follow that "new moon" crap pretty good out here. But we've had a warm winter (NO ice) and water's warming so we'll see. But I have avg'd a solid 15lbs with man 18-20lbs limits...and around here that's almost always enough to put you in the money or win. Granted...there isnt 15-40 other boats out there when im fun-fishing so not getting too excited. But no HAWGS yet this year...I haven't fished many HAWG holding waters (the ponds with the herring runs emptying right into them or the ponds stocked with 100's of Trout- these ponds, naturally grow giants) yet this year tho so not too down on things. Also the growth in the ponds I live on has seemed to really get better...2.5-3lbs AVG....but still it's like EVERY fish is that size...2.5-3.5...hardly ever over 4, very rarely 5...and that's def the biggest that I think you'd get outta there. I've caught a 5lbs smallmouth, 5-4...never a weighed 5lbs lm...a few i thought were 5 but still...it's odd.

1. Go back to my confidence baits. In tournaments I find myself often coming up with a gameplan and not sticking to it long enough and it's cost me. So I wanna just KEEP IT SIMPLE, the stuff I know. Drop shot when needed, I can almost always flip n pitch for a limit...then in summer move offshore for bigger bites w/ footballs/carolinas, etc. 2. Win 3 Tournaments on my trail, AOY...came in 2nd by a HAIR last year 3. An 8lber, focus more on flipping some BIGGER baits. Not a swimbait guy, probably never will be. But Majority of PIGS are not caught on swimbaits. 4. Learn my favorite lakes like the back of my hand. I live on 2 lakes...and the way I know those ponds is SUCH a ridiculous advantage---I wanna know other lakes with that intensity. Especially the ones on my trail. On the ponds i live on I dont think there's many who could beat me but 23 years of fishing only 250 acres lol u better know the ins and outs. 5. Break my PB smallmouth (5lbs, 13oz). Probably a lot easier than my 8lber goal for LM believe it or not...in my region i know a few ponds that regularly put out 6lbers and have fished 3 tourneys on one and lunker's been 5-13 (me), 5-8, and 6-3. I know people who swear 7's and my buddy lost one @ the boat, as I was leaned down to lip it, she was on her side, I touched her lip and she shook 1 last time and swam off...I got a GREAT look @ her and I'd be scared to estimate size for fear of being laughed out of here. But it was without question the biggest fattest most ridiculous SM I've ever seen period. And I've seen quite a few over 6...this fish was scary large.

I recently bought some of the I-motion shads (soft plastics) from TW and some of the I-Motion jig heads (much like an inchi-wacky/jighead wacky jig- very light wire, light weight). I hadn't done much research but knew it was for a straight, "do-nothing" retrieve...I have a friend of a friend who has been swearing by this for years...more than 5 years but it's simply he nose-hooks a senko and retrieves it STRAIGHT. Like a crankbait, just reel. Now when I got the shad/jighead combo I admittedly expected a LITTLE action from the bait, very subtle but maybe something...they run STRAIGHT. So to shorten it...I have caught quite a few fish in the only week or so I've had this tackle BUT none on this straight retrieve...I've danced it and bounced it off the bottom and it has INCREDIBLE action this way...I saw the ICast video of jackall president or owner speaking about fishing it different ways so just wondering if anyone's caught fish STRAIGHT retrieve?

Great fish...this wasn't a Charles River fish? (since u say ur from Boston) Was it? Impressive if from the Charles. Impressive regardless. I'd say that is the body of an easily 6lbs bass...I'd love to see it's belly view but I know most bass around here in Mass right now are very fattened up ready for the spawn. (Don't forget we get a very late spawn ppl, this year's been warm so starting to see beds which is early for here, still don't see them rly starting til the 21st or whenenver that new moon is). If it was fattened up, coulda been 7 pounds. that's a big old head and a long body, grrreat ****! The perfect worm is just a straight tailed senko style bait, right? Funny u say that cuz I have NEVER been a fan of weighted t-rigging a straight tail worm but I've had amazing success so far this year with it. Did u mean T-rigged w/ weight or w/ out?

Hey buddy. I'm new to the forum as a member also but been on this site as a resource for yearsss...Been fishing for 25 years (I'm 29 now) about 20-22 seriously for bass...yep, even @ 9 i was a very obsessed/serious bassaholic. But I'm from the Cape in MA as well so we're not too far apart...if u ever wanna get out on some amazing hidden gems or anything, just send a msg! How old are you?.

Hey guys just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Tom and I am from Massachusetts. I am 29 years old, have a fiance who's amazing and a step-son who's 3 and amazing as well. I have a close relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I've gone thru rough times in my life and got myself into trouble when I was younger (18-20 years old) and if it wasn't for Jesus and the Bible and believe-it-or-not BASS FISHING...I may not be here today. Bass fishing allowed me to go back to my roots and focus on wh at I truly love in life...The morning dew over a pond and the first ripples YOU put in the lake from YOUR lure. The feeling of excitement and anticipation. The beauty and solitude of nature around you. The "art" (yep, art) of fooling an intelligent and finicky fish into biting ur lure that you manipulate. This is my roots. I grew up on the same set of 7 ponds since I was 5 years old. I love bass fishing maybe for more or different reasons than other people love it but it still comes down to the same thing really... I am new to bass resource (as a member) but far from new as a reader...check the site almost everyday. Love the personal videos from real fisherman, not necessarily big name pros, to see what everyone else prefers fishing and how. A dropshot vid from flkmaster on youtube was really helpful w/ having me expand my drop shot fishing from not just deep clear open water situations. Where I live we have every kind of lake/pond and TONS AND TONS of them...but not a lot of BIG water @ all...our biggest natural lake is only like 4500 acres and we have a reservoir that's 27,000 but other than that a "Tournament lake" around here is 600 acres and up...so some of the water gets pressured, but there's SO MANY hidden gems that there's always an un-pressured option. Just in my region (Cape Cod) which isn't even an 1/5th of the state (size wise) we have a pond or lake to fish for every day of the year. That's just the listed ones. But in my particular region Striped Bass are king in Summer so it helps unpressure our ponds a bit. People love Saltwater. Our ponds around here are general clear, deeper natural kettle ponds with a good mix of LM and SM. If you wanna fish tourneys here you need to know how to catch both. Like I said I've been fishing since I was 5 and grew up right on lakes...My father started me fishing with nightcrawlers, catching hornpout( our catfish), white perch, blue gill...but from the moment I caught my first bass (it was a smallmouth) I was hooked on it. Thru everything, I've always come back to one thing: bass fishing. I have been seriously targetting and being obsessed with Bass since I was 7 or 8...With a brother that grew up on lake Michigan that's much older than me and who is an avid tourney angler, I learned fast and young. Now I get much more time on the water than he can and beat him on the regular lol... I consider myself a very well-rounded fisherman due to the myriad of lakes and amazing mix of "types" of lakes we have...There's many ponds that are chains that attach and 1 pond is a shallow, weedy, stump filled flipping paradise with bruiser largemouth, the next a deep, ledge-filled, rocky bottom, clear water pond with great rock piles and offshore structure, and huge largies and smallies, then the next being a mix of the two...We have shallow flipper/pitcher paradises...we have deep, ULTRA ULTRA ULTRA clear smallmouth ponds, We have a few good rivers...we've got it all so it's a great place to become well-rounded. I am probably best @ finesse fishing, a drop shot is not EVER not tied on my rod unless we're fishing a 5ft. deep flipping/pitching matt/tules field...BUT My favorite fishing is flippping and pitching to structure in heavy cover...A few years ago I found myself just being "too much" of a finesse fisherman and made myself improve my jig/flipping/pitching/punching skills...since t hen it's been hard to put down, I used to have 5 spinning and 5 casting on deck...Now it's 8 casting, 2-3 spinning. I am always @ home w/ a spinning rod in my hands and it's made me very versatile. A lot of tourney guys out here don't know how to do ANYTHING but fliip and ***** to shoreline structure...their frustration is so evident watching the finesse guys fish off their sonars and go to deep water and pull in nice bags when t hey cannot buy a bite. Versatility is KEY. I hope to be involved as much as possible in these forums, I'll provide any help I can and learn from the slew of amazing fisherman this forum obviously has!. Thanks so m uch and I'd love to hear a little bit about anyone willing to share!!!