Janderson45

Now you sound like my buddies who give me crap for spending so much time and money targeting "dinky freshwater bass" - I just smile and nod. They don't get it, but that's ok... I get my saltwater fix 5-10 times a year and that's plenty for me, it is nice to do battle with some saltwater giants, but the "sport" aspect of it doesn't even come close to bass fishing for me. I caught a 500+ lb Tuna last year, after we finally landed it and were heading back to the dock I told my buddy "that was fun but it ain't no 5lb smallmouth". Haha!

I was using a 7'4 HF st. Croix freshwater bass rod last year for bottom fishing nearshore, caught tautog, black seabass, sea robin and a few small dogfish on it no problem. It was a tad "light" compared to traditional gear, but it ended up working to my advantage. The rod (a legend elite model) was MUCH more sensitive than the traditional saltwater gear we had on board, I could feel the taugs grab my jig long before the other guys could, I wound up catching about twice as many as both of my friends and they both wanted to use my rod! Think I was using 40lb braid to 30lb mono and caught fish up to 7lbs. The set up could have handled fish to 15-20lbs I think, but the nature of tautog fishing is around lots of rocks, they immediately try to take you back down into the rocks and break you off, so I wouldn't have wanted to hook into one much larger than the 7lber I got. Cod and pollack fight less, but are caught deeper, usually on sandy bottom I believe? One thing to keep in mind is you don't need a rod with lure ratings as heavy as your jig or sinker, since you are not going to be casting but vertically dropping and retrieving the lure. I have a couple bottom fishing dedicated setups (shimano trevala) rods, usually fish diamond jigs for striped bass on them, one has a Calcutta 400B, one has a tranx. They would both work perfect for cod, but are probably a bit over powered

Did I mention I can't wait to get my boat? Just picked up a helix 10" Mega SI and Ultrex for it tody?

Quabbin was a bit tough yesterday unless you were fishing small males guarding fry up shallow serious post spawn lock jaw appears to have set in. I got 7, buddy got 6. We chucked a lot of lures, tube and football jig dragged slow off the ledges were about all we could get bit on for the post spawners. Nothing big. Fairly slow and tough day.. I know we could've caught a ton of 1-2lbers up shallow but I was trying to get a better fish to bite, never did.

If they could fit 3 27s and a cranking battery in hattrick's they can in mine too? If that's the case I'll plan on two for the TM and one dedicated for my HB's. I am of the same mindset when it comes to many of the benefits further north recapped above.

Looks like I'll be hitting the Quabbin again this weekend, maybe I'll see some of you out there?

Sweet, looks like I should be able to get 4 in mine as well !

I think if they somehow managed to fit 4 batteries they're probably group 24 size, maybe group 27... no way group 31s would fit. I requested all group 31s, dealer said he would try to make them fit if at all possible and that it was probably overkill.

Good report! Those largemouth sure are pretty too, nice fish!

Thanks for the input guys, guess I'll probably do the same but keep a jumber box in the boat just in case.. glad to hear with 3 fish finders and other misc. electronics you haven't had any issues yet. I'm just trying to do everything I can to make sure battery life isn't an issue constantly plaguing me.. I've fished with guys who are always having issues with cranking batteries or trolling motor batts dying and it's miserable- don't want to be one of those guys!

That was my assumption too. Are you running all of your electronics off the cranking battery and two other batteries dedicated to the TM? Im trying to get my battery and electronics install figured out and squared away, don't want to do these things twice..

Id probably prefer the 80lb, but interested to hear what others think. Im curious about what people are running for batteries on the renegade, I really don't want to run my electronics on my cranking battery or trolling motor batteries ideally I'd have room for a fourth battery to run my graphs, and other misc. electronics.

I've used a bunch of the maxcuatro lately because I got a bunch of free spools, I like it in 40-50lb test around grass, it's a low carrier count braid (less strands) so it's more abrasive and cuts through grass better. For a more all around braid with a higher carrier count I like suffix 832, use it in sizes 10-50lbs. Frogging, flipping and punching is done with 60lb braid, for that I prefer sunline fx2. Ive used a lot of different ones, these are just what I've settled on for my style of fishing and preferences.

Hit the Q on Saturday, it was HOT out there in more ways than one.. I found water temps from 62-68 depending on location and time of day. Saw a good deal of bedding bass, but not as many as I thought, as of Saturday there were still a lot of aggressive prespawn fish roaming the shallows (10-20 feet). Caught them on an assortment of lures, topwater, jerkbait, swimbait, dropshot and football jig. Drop shot and topwater were our top 2 producers. I was with a friend from New York who is very inexperienced, I think he caught 7 or 8 throughout the day, his first ever smallmouths and all on new techniques to him. I probably boated somewhere around 20 myself, wasn't really counting. Nothing over 4lbs however, big fish on the day was 3.75lbs Fun day despite out rental boat issues to start.. had issues with the fuel line and didn't end up getting to my first spot until almost 10AM. Luckily they hit topwater prett much all day.. Fished the Nip in my kayak for a few hours on Monday, caught fish on topwater, paddletail swimbaits, and finesse worms. Lots of pickerel mixed in, caught a pretty good largemouth (4+, didn't have my scale) on a frog. Fishing has been pretty good now for a few weeks, it's about time! Cant wait until I get th new boat, tight lines everyone.

I believe most trolling motors (minn kota at least) state that you shouldn't use lithium batteries. Not sure if it voids the warranty? I feel like they're just being over cautious though. I use a small 12v lithium battery in my kayak to power my fish finder, the battery is roughly the size of a baseball (but square) and is waterproof, sealed and contained in a small canvas pouch. Less than half the size and weight of the standard lead batteries I was using and at 15 Ah provides nearly twice the battery life. There are also accessories to connect it to a solar charger and a splitter to charge your phone or power numerous electronics. Price was obviously high compared to the lead acid batteries, I think I paid around $150 dollars for it. Worth it to be able to run a 7" HB Helix for 12 hours and take up less space in the kayak.

Nice! You just unlocked a whole new world for yourself by the sounds of it. I grew up fishing all spinning gear and it wasn't all that long ago that I got my first baitcaster. Now a days I would be lost without them, for bass fishing I own 3 spinning rods and 9 casting rods... so you can probably guess which I favor. Jig fishing is a bit weird to get used to if you didn't cut your teeth on it, but just like baitcasters if you put in the time and learn it you'll be lost without it. I probably fish a jig 30% of the time now. One thing that was a bit counter-intuitive to me when I first started fishing a jig was the concept of fishing them vertically. So many baits we use as bass fisherman we cast out and work and/or retrieve all the way back to the boat. Most jigs are not designed to be fished this way and it can be a tough habit to break. The majority of fish that I've caught on a jig have been when I'm target casting (typically pitching) to specific cover or structure. I make my pitch and let the jig fall on slack line, plenty of bites happen right then and there so be sure to watch your line... if I don't get bit on the fall I let it settle on the bottom and sit there for a few seconds, then I'll usually lift up and hold it still suspended off the bottom or shake it a bit and let it fall again. If I still don't get bit I reel it all the way back to the boat, make another pitch and repeat the same process. This obviously doesn't apply to football jigs or swim jigs which are a whole different ball game.. a football jig is one of my all time favorite ways to catch fish, but it generally requires deeper and weed free water to be effective.

Hope you get fixed up and back on the water soon Renegade! Im still contemplating a Fortrex since it's supposed to be more solid if you hit anything with the motor.. I fish a lot of shallow water and would be super bummed out if the Ultrex took a shot and didn't handle it well... that said I'm probably worrying about nothing and the Ultrex will be fine.. apparently the Fortrex isn't quite as "indestructible" as people say! I guess I'll be looking into a stabilizer bar or troll tamer like AJ suggested as well.. luckily I don't typically fish rough water like that, but a trip or two each year to Champlain which an get very rough very quick...

Plan to hit the Quabbin in a rental on Saturday- anyone been out there past few days? How's the spawn looking? I hear it got stalled and most of the smallmouth are still prespawn, but I haven't been out there in a few weeks so can't confirm. Hoping the bite has progressed well since my last time out and I can find a bunch of late prespawn smallies chomping. Best time to catch em, fingers crossed.

I officially joined the club yesterday with a black 1875 renegade. I'll supposedly get the first run of the 2019 models as I special ordered, interested to see if it stays the exact same or if they'll perhaps address the weather/water sealing concerns on the lids. 6-8 week wait time to get it from the factory. I built a pretty unique rig as I went with an Evinrude E-Tec 115HO, hydraulic jackplate, hotfoot and blinker style trim, minn kota Ultrex and 3 Humminbird helix G2N units. Also got the upgraded trailer, travel cover, bike seat and 3 bank onboard charger. I'm stoked, can't get my hands on it soon enough!

Nice fish Mike! I bought a boat today guys, a big boy boat ?- Stay tuned!?

In my experience Candlewood is pretty feast or famine. I've had one good day there, and numerous very bad days. The fish there are heavily pressured pretty much all year. My best day here was in the late fall, I haven't even attempted to fish it in the summer, can't imagine how insane it must get out there. Some people seem to have them pretty dialed in year round though, hopefully someone like that will chime in.

Thanks for the image posing suggestions everyone. Probably going to chase some more largies in the kayak this Saturday, would love to find a few more good ones before they spawn. @Dunks N Dinks My club fishes Harwich on May 19th, looks like it will be right in the middle of the spawn. I'm hoping that we can target some smallies that are still prespawn/staging, but I'm not sure if that will be much of an option. Any idea how long the spawn usually lasts there? There's some really good largemouth in there too (though few and far between) maybe we can find some of those. Couple years ago one guy caught a largemouth pushing 8lbs at Harwich.

My buddy broke his PB with this 5lber. He got it on a jig in about 5 feet of water. My digital scale is broken so he'll have to live with the boga grips calling it a 5.

Got out on the Quabbin in the "50 percent chance of showers" yesterday, it ended up raining pretty much all day on us, with intermittent down pours ?‍♂️. Slowww start to the day with a cold front moving into the region the day before. We were met with overcast and rainy conditions with air temps in the low 50s. Water temps were 55-57 on the main res sturctures we started off fishing in the morning and 58-60 further north and in more protected spawning areas that we fished later in the afternoon. Lake trout continue to invade what have been some of my best smallmouth transition and feeding grounds out on the main res for the past few seasons. I thought I'd find them grouped out on some specific break lines, humps and points in 15-25 feet of water. Bait was present, bass were not... if they were there at all they were super inactive. First fish of the day was a healthy 5lb lake trout that hit my swimbait in about 25 feet of water. I've gained a bit more respect for them as predators the past two times out, the lakers I've been catching so far this year have all been a lot larger and harder fighting than I've caught at the Quabbin before. 7'6 ML Spinning rod with 10lb test braid to 6lb fluoro with 80 feet of water nearby made for quite the battle with this dude: After about 3 hours trying to find smallies staging on main lake stuff and only having one lake trout and one rainbow trout to show for it I knew I had to be going about it wrong and decided to go check some spawning grounds to see if the first wave was already up on beds. Took us a little while to find em, but sure enough I was right. I can confirm bedding smallies on the Q this weekend :). I found a very large female sitting in about 8 feet of water. I could barely see her with the overcast and rainy conditions. My buddy who was fishing with my insisted that it was a rock until he saw her move for the first time, which was about 15 minutes into me harassing her with baits. I worked on her for almost 40 minutes before finally giving up. There was no way that fish was going to bite anything. We moved on and looked out just a tad deeper than the spawning areas we were seeing and finally started catching some bass. But they were the wrong kind.... 4.5lb largemouth on a shakey head.. 7lb test fluoro this time! I have a couple more good pics I was trying to post, including another 5lb greenfish and finally the first Quabbin smallmouth of the year but the forum won't let me upload them from my phone. Anyone got a good way of posting images now adays? I used to use Photobucket but that doesn't work anymore either

Was out on the Nip in my kayak this afternoon. They were up shallow in flooded cover and chewing, just like I thought they'd be. Feels good when the fish are doing what they're "supposed" to be doing and you can pattern them pretty easily. Got all of my bass (6 in total) in 1-2' feet of water, all on a jig w/craw trailer (custom 3/8oz tungsten pitching jig from siebert outdoors and strike king rage chunk trailer). Was mainly fishing flooded brush tucked away out of the wind. Got a good one too, boga grips put it at 4.5.. my digital scale is out of commission unfortunately. Also, I didn't bother with the Humminbird today, so couldn't tell ya water temps. Best guess is close to 60. Off to the Quabbin to chase some brown fish tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes!