Mainebass1984

I bought a bass raider last fall. It is awesome. Last fall I caught some huge bass in it. There already has been more big bass caught in it then any bass boat I have ever been in . I live in Vermont and fish Maine a lot. Last fall I managed to catch an 8-1, am 8-3 and a 9-1 in Maine. Going for a 10lber this year !!!

I was thinking about doing it. Last weekend they were still icefishing Mousam. I will probably pass on that one. The southern end of Moose Pond is opening up pretty good. I will be fishing it Saturday.

I heard around Rouse's Point was open. People have been out in boats. The fishing was slow. There is a bunch of open water around the northern end of lake.

It will be awhile before bass will be spawning. In general rivers warm up quicker then lakes and ponds in the spring which at times causes bass to congregate in and around inlets and connecting rivers. If the lake is still ice covered and the river is not then clearly the river must be warmer then the lake. Bass will seek out warmer water this time of year.

From Benson's landing south is open. Otter creek is open. The sandbar has a bunch of open water too. There are bass at the sandbar to be caught right now. Get em !

That formula is extremely accurate. Always within 2 ounces of the digital scale.

There was a hearing this past winter in February on soft plastics. A report by Maine department of inland fisheries and wildlife was presented to the legislative body in Augusta. I listened to it over the internet. Fisheries Biologists did in the field research to determine the effect of soft plastics on several ponds from each region of the state. They found that discarded soft plastics were more common in southern regions that were warm water fisheries. They also presented data from creel surveys that found that soft plastics found in the stomach contents of all species of trout, most common n brook trout and lake trout. The percentage of fish found to have soft plastics in there stomachs varied from water to water but, were quite low overall. Another part of the presentation cited scientific research done by Unity College ( my class did this study) regarding the effects of ingesting soft plastics. You can find the report Maine department of inland fisheries and wildlife presented to legislators on the state website. What the department found was that soft plastics is a non issue and that angler education regarding properly discarding their soft plastics would be the best policy. The department recommended no additional action regarding soft plastics. I do not discard used soft plastics into the water. I do lose a bait or two from tie to time though. The soft plastic issue must start with the companies that manufacture them. Even biodegradable baits take years and year to degrade. They will never ban soft plastics in the state or any state. Tod o that they would have to take on giant mutli-million dollar companies that would fight tooth and nail to have them not banned. The state doesn't want to spend millions of dollars on such a lawsuit. The study in itself is joke, done merely to appease trout unlimited and other trout fisherman that claim they kill trout when in fact they don't. The whole thing is joke, the bill was introduced by a trout unlimited member, representative davis I think of Brownville. He also introduced to other bills. He wanted to ban all recreational activities on the water with in the first 200 yards of the shoreline. That means no fishing from a dock, no duck hunting, no kayaking etc. In the other bill he wanted to ban metal hooks. This guy is a joke. He is a trout unlimited member and with out a doubt on there payroll.

Time to get a scale.

Does ice fishing count ?

Wow its a terribly small world on here. I have fished a bunch of the Wayne Hooper tournaments.. Mainely bass.... Looks like I will be fishing against you a bunch this year. I will be doing almost all the Wayne Hooper tournaments. My friend and I always have done a few each year. He drives a black 1984 Bronco with a black 2003 Skeeter with a 150 on it. The first open on Mousam is the 20th... I would assume it will be cancelled because of ice. The Moose tourney should be interesting. The first Maine bass trail I will be doing will be the Sebago tourney. Shane there are no bass in Maine.... None. Any pics of your brother in laws 10 lber ? I wonder if I know where he fishes...

There are a lot of guys on this thread that are from all around New England. Its a good group of guys. I tried starting a Maine thread last year but, it seems there aren't many Maine fisherman on here. Start up a Maine thread if you like, maybe there is a few more Maine guys on here then last year. I will follow a Maine thread for sure. Open water around Windham, ME ? Its going to be a couple weeks maybe a little less. Cobb stream is the only place you can launch a boat in Maine that I know of right now. Anyone else know of any ? You can also check out the bragging right competition we had for the area last year, its pretty fun, you should try it.

Bigbill, I haven't heard anyone reference a PH tester in a very long time. I heard they were very popular in the 70s and 80s. Fish are still there. They will seek current breaks and stay out of the main current.

It is passable. There are a couple shallow spots where you have to be careful though. I assumer there is still plenty of ice on both Crescent and Panther. The only way t get to the river right now would be by parking on 85. You could toss in a carry top right there.

Cool. Let us know what you find. The river between panther pond and crescent lake is probably open.

Which ponds ?

jig ?

Careful fishing rivers by yourself this time of year. They are still very cold. I have no idea how high and fast the rivers are down your way but all the rivers up here are near flood stage and running mud from the rain and run off. This time of year it is always a good idea to wear a life jacket.

Did you check the R.I fish and game website ? The departments in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont all post them online.

A friend of mine that works for US fish and wildlife emailed me a study on largemouth bass survival on the Housatanic River and Three mile pond. Very interesting stuff. Bass survival from egg to swim varied from nest to nest a high of 68 % with a low of 28 %. Then after 15 days post swim up survival was 19-25 %. Not all fish completely spawned. There were several females that spawned only a portion of the eggs they developed. One female didn't spawn at all. Very interesting stuff. I realize this is only one specific case involving two bodies of water in New England. I am sure there is regional differences in success rate and from nest to nest as well as from pond to pond. If only 19-25 % survived until 15 days post swim up of the 28-68 % that originally swam up then you can surmise that the number of surviving bass is quite low. Not covered in this specific study but, in New England 15 -30 % of the remaining young of the year will survive their first winter.

About 80 % of eggs will hatch. Then with in the next few weeks there will be another die off, first feeding die off. Predators certainly take there toll within the next few weeks. Few will survive to adult hood and there first spawn. Yes mortality is usually very high. If 75-80% of adults don't spawn in the body of water that Franco's DEC report was conducted on then either that body of water has a very high rate of fry reaching adulthood or it is a very large body of water.

I don't think you can compare bass spawning in the deep south to California or any northern state. In February and March everything is still covered in ice up here. We wont see a stable water temperature of 60 degrees in the first layer of the water column until very late May and early June. This coincides with the eggs becoming mature. There are many factors that dictate when they will spawn. That being said every year on the exact same day I go to a specific pond in Maine and catch Smallmouth on beds, and there will be three fish on each bed, two males and one female. This is a great example of a slight difference in bass behavior based on the region you live in. That is pretty amazing. The survival rates of bass fry must be very, very good and it must be water body specific. In a small body of water you would have difficulty supporting a decent bass population with very little reproduction. Is there an online report I could check out ? Very interesting stuff.

Temperature is very important here in New England.

Fishing in the rain is awesome. It also chases all the jet skies and power boats off the lake.

People are already fishing cobb stream

When you find open water let me know ! I am beyond ready to go ! It looks like Vermont still has a couple weeks or so. Looks like Maine will be the first place I go.