Mainebass1984

The last 3 fish were all caught super shallow. The water came up a lot where I was fishing because of the heavy rains we had got a few days before. The last 3 fish were all caught in less then 5 feet of water.

Fishing this past weekend was really good. My plan for Friday was locating fish for Saturday. My friend Chris wanted to go fishing. He fishes once or twice a year, when I take him. Fishing Friday was great. The details about Fridays fishing is in the who wants in thread. When I got to the lake Saturday it was as if I was at a completely different lake. The water level had risen 5 feet, water temp went from 78 to 62, clarity from 5 feet to 5 inches. The fish I found Friday were gone. The first 5 hours of the day sucked. We had 4 fish between the 2 of us. It was time to change tactics. We went shallow. Really shallow where the warmest clearest water was. Once we had them figured out our fishing success changed significantly. We started catching fish and big fish too. My friend caught the biggest bass of his life a 5 lb 2 ozer off a tree. Not to far from where he caught his big bass I caught a big bass after losing a lunker. The big bass weighed in a 6 lbs 8 oz. After a couple pics a few cast later my friend got a 4 lb 8 ozer the second biggest bass of his life. The fishing stayed red hot until dark. Had them figured out by that point. We had found a pattern and the next 2 spots which were very similar to that produce a lot of good fish. For the day we caught 24 bass, biggest was the 6-8.The rest of the fish were pretty good too, 5-2, 4-8 and 9 3lbers including a 3 lb 5 oz smallmouth. So after that amazing I had to sneak out after my nieces birthday party to get a few hours of fishing in before heading back to Vermont. The fishing was great again. My first bite of the afternoon was a 5 lb 10 oz After catching a few more bass on a jig with a rage craw trailer I caught a 5 lb 4 oz which I think I caught on Friday... It wasn't very far from where I caught a 5 lb 4 oz on Friday and it looks like it could be the same fish. After the jig bite died down the frog bite took off. I wasn't getting a ton of bites but when I did get a bite it was a good one. I pulled into one particular cove filled with reeds. All the lilies were submerged because of the high water. There were bugs and birds flying around everywhere. I watched as a big fish exploded on a small bird that was skimming the surface catching bugs. I couldn't believe it. I had never seen that before. I figured that fish must have been huge to eat a bird. I made a mental note of where it happened. After 10 min or so I had made it over to that section of the cove. I cast my frog out, plop, plop, KABOOM. A fish exploded on it and the fight was on. After a spirited fight I netted the fish. It was a decent fish a 4 lb 11 oz. As I was weighing the fish I noticed saw something out of the corner of my eye. Half way in between where I caught the fish and the boat something was quivering on the surface. I went over to check it out and I couldn't believe it. It was the bird that got eaten. The bass spit it up as I was fighting it towards the boat. I think It was a tree swallow. First time I have seen that happen. The fishing was great right up til dark. Not as many big fish as the day. I caught 15 bass including a 5-10,5-4,4-12,4-11,3-0 and a 3-2 smallmouth. It was an amazing weekend of fishing. I am ready to get back out there ! I also caught a red breast sunfish, kind of a rare catch in the area of Maine I like to fish.

The fishing Saturday and Sunday was really good.. Details in the any luck in NH thread. Fish # 3 22.25 inches 6 lbs 8 oz Fish # 4 21.5 inches 5 lbs 4 oz Fish # 5 20.5 inches 5 lbs 10 oz 107.5 inches

Was able to get out fishing this afternoon for a few hours. I got to the lake at about noon. It was mostly sunny with calm wind. The water was up a bit from the recent rain. The bite was pretty good. My first fish of the day was a good one. A 21.5 inch 5 lb 4 oz largemouth on a 1/2 oz jig with a rage craw trailer. Fish # 1 21.5 inches 5 lb 4 oz Here is a picture of the kind of places I like to fish. It is also where I caught the 5-4. Fishing was consistent for the entire day. I was getting them on jigs, worms, buzzbaits and towards the end of the day frogs. I love a frog bite. So much fun watching them explode on it. I went into a small cove with a lot of thick lilies to take a bathroom break. I decided to take a cast with my frog just for the heck of it. My frog hit the water an I popped it twice. A big fish exploded on it. The fish missed sending my frog airborne a foot or so above the water. As soon as it hit the water the fish exploded again. I set the hook and the fight was one. It went completely airborne twice as I fought it to the net. It weighed in at 5 lbs 10 oz, one of the bigger fish I have caught on a frog. It was just shy of 21.75 inches. Fish # 2 21.75 5 lbs 10 oz The frog bite was on fire. In the next couple hours before dark a 4-8, 4-2, 3-14, 3-2, 3-0 largemouth fell to the frog. A 3 lb 4 oz smallmouth also took the frog under in 6 feet of water and weeds. It was an amazing afternoon of fishing. Landed 21 largemouth and 4 smallmouth. Hopefully they will be as cooperative tomorrow when I bring my friend Chris with me.

Looking forward to fishing this weekend in Maine. Rage craws work best in my opinion as a jig trailer and have caught huge fish using them.

That is one heck of a smallie ! Congrats

Going back to Maine this afternoon for at least 2 full days of fishing maybe 3. Hopefully the fishing is good.

No doubt man those are ginormous smallmouth. Friggin huge. Getting 5 in the 6 3/4 - 7 lb class in a single 8 hour tournament would be extremely impressive. I would like to see it happen.

The most accurate formula for calculating the weight of a bass is ((length x length) x girth) / 1200 I have weighed fish on my scale then used the formula to see how accurate it is. You would be surprised how accurate it is. I would guesstimate the fishes weight in picture as being around 4.5 - 5 lbs as has been already stated.

34 lb 5 fish bag of smallies ? That would be very impressive. Any pictures of the 7+ smallies your catching on tubes off that wreck ? I hope your using a scale. My opinion about keeping fish : If you want to keep bass and stay with in your legal limit then who am I to tell you that you shouldn't ? As long as everything your doing is legal then that's fine. I don't keep any bass to eat, ever. I don't think they taste very good personally. I have kept 3 bass to mount in the past 16 years and none of them were the biggest I have caught. Would I be a little bummed out if I saw an angler keep his limit of 5-7 lbers ? Yeah I would but, he isn't doing anything illegal. The angler can do whatever they want with the fish they caught as long as they keep it legal. I don't use live bait. I did when I was a kid but I haven't used live bait in a very very long time. In my opinion it is more difficult to catch fish on artificial lures. I like the challenge.

Several reliable techniques right now will catch fish consistently. It all depends what you want to do. There are so many variables depending on the lake your fishing, water clarity, cover/structure your fishing, weather, etc. Personally I would start with a frog, a jig, a rubber worm and a crankbait tied on. Frog fishing is really fun. Find the thickest nastiest weeds in the lake and toss a frog right into the middle of it. You shouldn't be disappointed.

There are bass in Maine ?

Good job guys

Pretty cool experience. I am sure it was an exciting time back in the 60s and 70s with the hopes of a new world record from California waters. Aging bass by scales is difficult and inaccurate. A microscope and stain are needed. Basically your counting annuli like you would on a tree. Ctenoid scales because of there shape are difficult to age. The accepted procedure in the scientific community today for aging bass or other ctenoid scaled fish is by dorsal spine. The second dorsal spine is removed as close to body as can be. After the spine is prepared with a solution to remove all the skin or other bodily remnants it is sliced extremely thin by a specific expensive machine. The samples are then mounted on a slide and stained before being observed under a microscope. Dorsal spine samples show annual growth just like a tree and appear like annuli you would see on a stump after cutting down a tree.

Perhaps I will check out the report. A lot has changed in the scientific community in the last 50 years. As with any study there are a lot of variables. Dorsal spines and otiliths are far more accurate at determining age then scales.

It can be very ,very difficult at times. When my favorite river turns into mud with visibility of less then a couple inches there is only one pattern I can catch fish on. Incoming brooks with clearer water. Fish will position themselves where the water clarity mixes and any eddies that are near by. At times they will stack up there big time.

It was supposed to be my weekend off but that changed unfortunately. Oh well. Looks like I will be fishing in Maine next weekend. After work yesterday I fished from 4 until 11pm. The water temp was 76 degrees. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. The wind was supposed to be calm but t picked up out the north west at 5-15 mph. That sucked. Once I got to my first spot I put a few fish in the boat and the fishing was pretty good numbers wise. I lost a bigger fish that buried me in the weeds. I guess that is a downfall when using 8 lb fluorocarbon. The night fishing was pretty productive. The moon was super bright. After dark the average size of the fish I caught went up a bit and I caught my 5 biggest bass after dark. The biggest was a 3 lb 5 oz on a buzzbait that isn't made anymore. Once I had called it a day I had landed 37 largemouth and 3 slimy pickerel. The size of the bass has gone down a bit at this particular pond in recent weeks but catching sure is fun. I am taking a friend fishing after work today. Hopefully we will get em a bit better. Good luck every one !

5" jig ? What were you using for a trailer ? 20" is a nice one. What did you get it on ?

Yes I have caught FLMB while I was working and living in Florida as a Fisheries Biologist Assistant. I have not caught a double digit largemouth bass anywhere. My credentials... Well since you are "calling me out" I guess I should list my credentials ?? I usually don't like pointing out my "credentials" but since you insist.. I am a fisheries biologist that works with fish everyday and fishes 120 days on the water every single year almost exclusively for bass. I keep detailed regards of every single fish I have caught since 1998. I have worked in a fisheries related position in Maine, Vermont, Florida, Illinois, Alaska, Iowa and Missouri. I am a member of 2 bass clubs currently and have set lake records while winning tournaments, club and opens. It is true I have never caught a DD bass but I have spent most of my time in New England where they are exceedingly rare. My biggest is a 9 lb 1 oz, a pure NLMB whch was aged at 16 years old. This year I have caught 37 bass over 5 lbs all pure NLMB. Sure they aren't DD but they are big fish in New England and far older them most FLMB. Sure you have more experience catching FLMB but the original post is whether or not NLMB and FLMB will strike the same lures.. Yes they will. It is simple. If something is hungry whether it is a bird, a bug, a fish a person it is going to eat. Simple biology. FLMB get big for sure and to do that they must eat. There is no need to over complicate things like we as fisherman do so very often. If a bass is hungry it eats. Fact. Tom lets see some pictures of a few of the hundreds upon hundreds of DD you have caught ? Any recent ones ?

What lures and what type of cover/structure is everyone fishing at night ?

Fished yesterday from 4 until about 1045 pm. I caught 24 bass on jigs and rubber worms up until dark. Nothing good at all, a few around 2 1/4 lbs but most were under 2 lbs. After dark which was about 845-9pm, I caught 13 bass. After dark the fish averaged 2 1/4 lbs. They were destroying my buzzbait. Nothing huge. The biggest of the night was 3 lbs 5 oz.

NLMB and FLMB are the same species. They are both sub-species of Largemouth Bass just different strains.. If bass are hungry its doesn't matter if they are NLMB, FLMB, in Florida, California, or Minnesota, they will eat. If it looks like food they will eat it.

That is very interesting A-Jay. I seem to have my best luck around a full moon. When night fishing I am targeting the thickest nastiest weed beds using spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits. I am usually fish until about midnight. The fish are bigger on average then what I had been catching during the day in the same locations. What kind of cover/structure do you like to target when night fishing and with what lures ?

Is anyone taking advantage of the super moon and going night fishing ? I will be. The bite should be good !

Northeast region only. The "rules" are posted in previous months threads. Okay guys lets see some fish !