Mainebass1984

I like the fall too. My favorite time to fish for trophy bass.

Handicap fishing accesses would be a good idea if he has a hard time getting around. I used to take my grandmother every know and then up until she was 73. She had a blast catching fish on a senko !

Fish an area with the largest concentration of fish at the time. Have confidence in the lure your fishing and the way your fishing it. Be optimistic and do not get down on yourself.

1/2 oz chompers brush jig orange/brown with bama craw rage craw 7 lbs 4 oz

In your opinion what is the best baitcaster you can buy for 200 dollars or less ?

There has been a few times when I felt like I was on my game. It sure is a great feeling. The first occasion that really sticks out in my mind happened a couple years ago. I was fishing an area with a black jig with a black trailer. I was catching a couple fish good ones over 3 lbs. One of the fish spit up three brown and orange crayfish in my boat. After that I decided to switch to a brown and orange jig. That sure was the ticket. I started getting a lot more bites and the fish got bigger. When I hadn't got a fish within 10 casts I would then throw a crayfish colored crank bait and then catch a couple on that before switching back to the jig. I fished that most of the day and looking back I should have never left it. That day at that spot I caught 20 largemouth, 19 of them over 3 lbs. The only one that wasn't 3 lbs weighed in at 2 lbs 15 oz. It was one heck of a bite. My 5 biggest bass that day weighed in at 32 lbs 9 oz. That has been my best day weight wise I have ever had. In my mind it all happened because I changed my lure color. It also turns out that the crayfish congregate there every year at the same time of year. Last year I had another great day at that spot. When I am fishing that spot I anchor. This past year wasn't quite as fast fishing as two years ago. I did figure out though that when you get a bite on a brown and orange jig it will be a good one. Every half hour I would get bite and it would be a fish over 5 lbs. I landed 6 over 5 including one over 7 but lost 2 including the biggest of the day. It is a great feeling to "call you shots" especially when the fish you are catching are big. Looking back I get that " I am on my game feeling " when I make adjustments small or large that in turn lead to me catching several larger fish, pushing my 5 fish weight upwards of 30 lbs which in my opinion is pretty good for fishing in New England.

7-4 7-0 6-15 6-12 6-10 A couple from last year. Hoping for some bigger ones this year !!

I totally agree 100 % it is boring watching them catch a bunch of 12 inchers. I fish in Maine a lot. With the format they use it forces them to target all the 1 lb dinkers. There are plenty of big fish in Maine, especially in the waters they are fishing. I would like to see them target the bigger fish. If the largest 5 fish weight were what won the MLF tournaments then you would be seeing 5 fish limits of 20-25 lbs winning or bigger. That is what it takes during all the local open tournaments. It is a shame that this show is giving viewers the opinion there are only small fish in Maine. At some point while MLF was fishing in Maine one of them caught a largemouth over 7 lbs.

From April through November I fish in between 120-150 days on average. Last year was 127 days. Some of those days especially when it is warmer the first cast is 15 minutes or so before sunrise and the last cast is an hour or two after sunset. I will stay out even longer if the night bite is on. Got to be prepared for those long 16 hour days.

That is about how I feel about winter right about now. Tomorrow morning -20 to -25....

They can be spread out over vast areas. Typically up around our neck of the woods landlocked alewives are in deeper water in winter and during the hottest portion of summer. In the spring and fall they tend to be shallower. Ice fishing on Sebago Lake the alewives are as deep as 150 feet. If a big school of alewives is in particular area bass certainly do key in on them. Lake Champlain is a great example of that. You find a cove with alewives in it the bass bite is usually on. I see that Ossipee is one of your favorite lakes. I have fished there a few times. Pretty good fishing. I do most of my fishing just across the border in western Maine.

If you catch the female off of a bed the male will not completely abandoned the bed. It may move off of the bed for a short period of time but it will return to guard the bed.

Yes I have. Shane has as well. Lets see some of your big fish from last year MikeOGNR

Ha ha. I am not pale.

On the bed. Defending against intruders.

Without going into to much detail : Bed fishing does not have a significant impact on bass populations. For every fish you see on a bed there is one or two behind you in deeper water that you cant see. More fish spawn in deeper water then we as anglers would like to think. We assume that the fish we can see on beds shallow are the only fish on beds and represent the entire fish population. Bass spawn will spawn in deeper water then most people target, in an excess of 15 feet at times. Bed fishing in water this deep is difficult, the water could be muddy, it could be windy, beds aren't as pronounced. The deeper bedded fish are seldom targeted. In many states bass can not be kept during the spawn. In some states, New Hampshire for example, it is illegal to target fish on beds. You can get a ticket for making repetitive casts to a fish on a bed. The amount of time a bass is off a bed is pivotal to egg survival. The longer the fish is out of the water and off the bed the more time other fish have to raid the bed. Harvesting of more smaller fish will lead to more larger fish and a larger average size. By specifically targeting the smaller size fish you are reducing the competition in that year class. Less fish in a year class leads to faster growth rates and a much healthy condition factor. Removal of larger fish does harm to the overall fish population. The larger fish grew to that size for a reason. In there genetic makeup they have faster growth rates, longer life spans, greater survival instincts, etc, then the fish that were not able to become adults and attain larger trophy class size. Look at the success and results of the Texas share a lunker program.

I am hoping for an early spring too. One thing that helps is looking at last seasons big fish pics. Lets see some.

You cant go wrong with squarebill kvd 1.5s and 2.5s

I would fish a jig. When its not iced over I fish a river near me a lot from my boat. It maybe 15-20 feet wide. I have had great luck with a craw imitating jig and trailer.

Smallmouth are just so easy to catch on a bed. I target them maybe 3 outings a year when I am taking a kid fishing or someone new to fishing. My niece gets a kick out of watching them inhale the lure. It really gets new anglers hooked on fishing. Its pretty exciting when a 3-4 lb smallie inhales your bait within 10 feet of the boat and sky rockets right at the boat. Largemouth... they usually aren't so willing to cooperate when they are on beds. I would just rather target fish not on beds.

It depends on the body of water I am fishing but anything that impersonates a baitfish or a crawfish is a good bet. Cant go wrong with a brown/orange jig with a craw colored rage craw on the back.

Everybody play nice and go catch some fish how ever you would like to catch it.

I fish a lot in New England. Mostly in Maine and Vermont. It is very difficult to beat SK kvd 1.5s and 2.5s. My favorite colors are chartreuse black back, tennesee shad, crawfish and yellow perch. I prefer to use the 1.5 when I am looking to catch numbers of fish. They still will certainly catch big fish. If I am specifically targeting the larger fish then the 2.5s are the way to go. Some of the biggest bass I have caught have been on the 2.5s.

I have had some amazing success with the squarebill. Crawfish is my favorite color.

A white buzzbait is my number one producer. If its not white its not right.