kowz76

I have the same rod 6'8" MH/XF. I use it mostly for chatterbaits and swim jigs, but I'll throw bottom contact jigs and even light plastics with it. It's an awesome all around rod. Enjoy!

Everybody here seems to use the palomar knot. I use the san diego jam knot, never had a problem with it, although I have not used it with braid before. http://www.animatedknots.com/ is a good place to check out. A trolling motor is a big convenience. There are lots of times I wish I had one (ok, like ALL the time), but I just fish with an anchor. Generally I try to figure out which way the wind is going to make the boat drift and start as far upwind as I can, then just lift the anchor to move the boat. As for batteries, I would suggest getting a 12V trolling motor if you get one, and then yes another battery for the motor and possibly tie the fish finder into the second battery as well. Getting stranded on the lake with a dead battery is never fun. Over the winter, keeping your battery on a standard battery charger isn't the best idea. Like kingkong said, you want a trickle charger and generally I just put it on to keep it fully charged every couple weeks in the off season. As for the kayak, I've never had a FISHING kayak, but generally it seems a LOT nicer fishing from my 16' Old Town (circa 1920) than from a kayak. If your canoe is the square stern model you can always slap a stern mount trolling motor on it. Good luck and happy fishing!

Hmm...5 minutes to my home lake and boat or 2 hour drive to NH....I think I'll stick to Maine, thanks anyway.

It's been a tough summer for me. Hard time finding good fish and more pressure from tournament anglers than i can ever remember. Seems like every time I go out there are legions of bass boats everywhere. NEVER seen that before on my lake. Had a nice one on today, not near a 6-8, but lost it before I could get it in the boat. Some cold nights coming up. We'll see how that changes things.

I'm not entirely sure that's true JSC, I've been checked a few times by wardens on my lake in Maine and never been asked about a boating license. http://www.state.me.us/IFW/laws_rules/boatlaws.htm Looking through that link, I can't find anything about a license.

Sure why not, even though I don't get much in the way of lunkers. Hozed, I fish Damariscotta Lake pretty exclusively. Boat's not in the water yet though, just been dinking around in the canoe so far. Still trying to figure the fish out in this cold water.

I've tried the 4" and the 5". Definitely have more luck with the 5. As Comfortably Numb said, they sink a little faster, fish a little faster in general. I think that's the main reason for their success. For colors, I like watermelon, gp, and pearl the most.

Welcome from a fellow Mainah!

Agreed. I bought one last spring as my first baitcaster. Has worked out very well.

That's interesting. I've been pretty surprised at how light my M compre is, would the powell/dobbyns/etc suggested be even lighter in the same power? The max looks like a good choice, I will probably still wait for a sale though. What advantage to micro guides give? Any? And I'm pretty set on getting something a step up from the Veritas, but what do you mean it doesn't have a real reel seat? EDIT: Nevermind I see the difference in the reel seats. Thanks for all the advice, it's been super helpful.

Thanks for the advice guys. $150 is definitely the most I'd want to spend, but if there's a big jump from the veritas/compre range to something like the powell max, I'd definitely go for it. I haven't had much luck finding a cheap Legend tourn. bass but I'll keep looking. Also I'm pretty set on getting a M rod. MH just seems like a bit of overkill for me.

I've only really gotten serious about fishing this past season and I'd really like to pick up another setup for next year. Previously I'd fished a lot of cranks and jerkbaits and such, and I've been getting more into soft plastics and weighted T-rigs. Right now I have a shimano compre M/MF rod, a citica 200G and a revo SX, so clearly I need a new rod to slap one of those reels on. So I'm looking for a rod that will be good for throwing soft plastics, but with all the selection out there I'm really pretty lost. Really I'm just looking for some suggestions in the $100-$150 range. I like my current shimano rod, but is the veritas better? Would it be worth it to shell out for a GL2? Or are they all pretty similar and I just need to go somewhere to get my hands on them? Any help would be very...um...helpful. Thanks

Thanks, nice shirt!

Fishing in a lake that has both smallies and largemouth, I find that I always get the smallies on rocky bottoms. Mostly on offshore ledges. From my experience they're much more likely to be away from the shore, shallow flats and large weed beds. As for lures, I'd reciprocate what everyone else has said, senkos, ribbon tail worms, really anything that'll catch bass. Good luck!

I bought a citica this year as my first baitcaster, been very happy with it, but I'm looking for a new one to add for next season so I'd love to hear how these compare.