Mainebass1984

Awesome Shane ! How many did you guys get over 10 lbs ?

There comes a time each year when most fisherman, even die hard fisherman have to call it a year. A few people will still get out on the water where there is no ice and there are still opportunities to catch bass. I would consider myself a die hard fisherman but its time to call it a season here. The last 3 times out this year I had to break ice with my small boat. One of the days I had to break through well over an inch of ice for 200 feet to get to open water. The water temps here are now in the mid 30s. I was going to get out fishing one last time before the season closes here in VT at the end of the month. With weather forecast for highs in the 20s and snow for this weekend I have decided to call it a year. Now is the time to look back on your season. There were surely countless memorable moments and big fish caught for everyone out there. I would love to hear how everyone's season went. An amazing day ? A funny story you want to tell ? Did you catch more fish then ever before ? Did you set a new personal best ? Were you tearing up lunkers ? Learn a new technique ? Was one season or time of the year better then the other ?

Correction. A total of 104.25 inches.

Well yesterday was an interesting day to say the least. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. When we arrived at the launch there was a lot of ice built up where we had to access the lake. I could stand just off shore on the ice and not break through. After breaking enough ice to get the boat in we then had to break through ice that was over an inch thick for about 200 feet until we got to open water. We broke a trolling motor pin in the process. I was able to come up with another one after a quick trip back to my place. After much delay we motored across the lake to the spot we wanted to fish. The water temp on the northern end of the main lake was 44 degrees. The fishing was slow but I managed to fish on a jig. We decided to move up into the upper pond. That ended up being a bad decision. That section of the lake was 38 degrees and a large section of it was frozen. Yet another time consuming mistake. So after that we motored back to where the water temp was warmer. We had little time left to fish. Then the prop to the trolling motor came off... It was time to paddle. We paddled up to where a road came close to lake. We had to go across private property to get the road to load the boat. Getting the boat through the thicket really sucked and someone went down really really hard face first in the mud (webertime). It was such a failure of a day. I have never had so much go wrong in one day. Lot of ice, trolling motor pin busted, lost props, and I only caught two fish... Here is the path we made through the ice. Not to be defeated I decided to go back out fishing the next day after I found another prop. Unfortunately webertime could not go. The weather was great 50 degrees sunny with no wind. I didn't have to worry about breaking ice today, we did that yesterday. I motored up the lake to the same spot I caught two fish yesterday. I focused my time on that area for most of the day. I caught 3 fish pretty quickly on a jig. I had a badd follow my jig all the way to the boat. I stopped reeling and let it free fall to bottom. The follower slammed it before it hit bottom. It was my largest bass of the day. A largemouth at 19.75 inches. It was very very skinny and weighed in at 3 lbs 6 oz. 19.75 inches 3 lbs 6 oz The jig bite slowed as the day went on. I started fishing a weightless worm. I was fishing 15-30 feet so patience was important. If there was any wind doing this would have been near impossible weightless. I ended up catching 7 more bass on the weightless worm. The biggest were 2 lbs 10 oz, 2 lbs 9 oz, and 2 lbs 8oz. I called it a day about 2:30-3:00. The sun was setting behind the mountain and the wind was picking up. For a mid November day when a good portion of the lake covered in ice it was a good day of fishing. I caught 10 largemouth and 1 pickerel on the day. It was my last day of the year fishing Vermont. The season ends at the end of the month. I will be getting out a couple more times in Maine. I am making a day trip there tomorrow. The 19.75 incher culls out my smallest bass a 18.35 incher. I think my biggest 5 for the month are 23.5, 22.5, 20,19.75 and 18.5 for a total of 104 inches.

I would keep on fishing for bass. In the winter you may not catch that many but its a great time to catch a lunker. Just today I broke through 200 feet of ice to get out to the main lake to catch some bass.

I will guess 7lb 9oz for the one you are holding in your hand and 4lbs 11oz for the one on the ground.

A couple years ago I took a friend of mine out fishing in the springtime. The bass fishing was excellent. My friend had been fishing a couple times in his whole life. I gave him a spinning reel and a rubber worm. I was giving him first cast on everything going up a shoreline. He made a cast towards the tip of a tree. I finished out my cast and he still had not moved his line. He was snaking or taking a drink or something. I cast to the base of the tree, at the root wad. My line instantly jumps and the fight is on. Meanwhile my friends line starts taking off like crazy. He hadn't moved it since the initial fall. I am now fighting my fish. He had reeled in his line and fighting the fish. As the fish got towards the bought it started feeling really weird fighting weird kind of pulling sideways towards the front of the boat where my friend was. As I got the fish close to the boat my friends drag would go then mine would go. In the insanely clear water I can now see the bass. It appears that there are two lures hanging from the fishes mouth. I tell my friend to stop fighting and net the fish. We lift on board to discover that both of us had hooked the same fish. It weighed in at 3 lbs 9 oz a largemouth. My friend had gut hooked it (his hook actually never left the worm, the worm was swallowed down the gullet) and I had hooked it in the roof of the mouth. We had a good laugh over that fish. So who's fish was it ? We debated the rest of the day who caught that fish.

Going to be cold this tomorrow morning. Might have to break some ice to get to open water. I am going for it though. I am alos making a road trip to Maine on Sunday. Hopefully I will be able to run into one or two fish. Any one else braving the elements to get out this weekend ?

Looks like I will be breaking ice the first few feet tomorrow morning. Hopefully it doesn't get to thick tonight.

I was uploading my old pics onto my new computer when I noticed something pretty cool about a couple of my photos. I caught this 6-3 on a spinnerbait on 4/8/12 I went back fishing the same spot on 4/27/12 and caught this 6-5 on a jig. I am pretty sure its the same fish. That is pretty cool. Has this happened to anyone else ?

How did you guys do last week ?

jig

Apparently one of the pics and the video I posted aren't there anymore. Here they are again.

It is hard to beat a kvd rattleless squarebill. I use the 1.5s and the 2.5s. If you are looking for bigger fish then use the 2.5. I also am a big fan of the live target crankbaits. They are more expensive but they are worth every penny. I have caught a bunch of 7 plus pounders on them as well as smallies up to 4 lbs.

Its has been feeling like winter lately out my way. Daytime high temps below freezing and snow the past 4 mornings... not done for the year yet though. I think I will be able to get out fishing at least a couple more times before everything freezes up. How many guys are still out fishing ?

Shane..... I am totally jealous. Fishing Falcon lake for 10 days.... That is a dream trip for us guys up here. You guys should get some 10lbers for sure !

My last day out in my boat is usually around thanksgiving

I am catching them at one particular lake in Vermont and a couple in Maine.

I would be fishing a crankbait, a jig and maybe a silver buddy. Water temps in the low 50s the fish should still be feeding pretty good. If you have a choice fish on an overcast day. If it is "warm" and rainy then you should stop whatever your doing and go fishing. I have caught my biggest bass this time of year. Great time to fish. Try and target areas that still have offshore green weeds or logs. I like to spend significant amount of time targeting steep drop offs in 15-25 feet. The mouth of rivers are worth checking out as well. NOW is the time to catch big bass in the northeast. You may not catch a bunch but you usually get some good ones.

The Maine state record is 11 lbs 10 oz. The fishing has been insane the last three months in Maine and Vermont. In the past three months. I have caught and posted pics of 4 over 7 lbs, 3 over 8 lbs, and the 9-1 I caught a couple of days ago. The fall in New England is an excellent time of year to catch big bass ! Most fisherman have given up the year or have been focused on hunting. I am still fishing.

I caught it on a jig in 10 feet of water. It was caught in Maine. I have a two man bass raider pelican fishing boat. You can get them at dicks sporting goods.

Today I was lucky enough to catch the biggest bass of I have ever caught. Just had to share this giant bass. 23.5 inches long 19.5 inches in girth 9 lbs 1 0z

I went our fishing this morning with high hopes. A warm overcast light rainy day in November. Seemed like the perfect combination to catch some late season bass. It was a warm 50 degrees when I got to the lake. The water temp was 44-45 degrees, light rain with winds out of the south around 5-10 mph. I motored over to y first spot with my electric. On my first cast of the day I hooked into a real nice bass. After a decent fight I slid it into the net. It was a lunker largemouth at 22.25 inches 7 lbs 6 oz. After fishing the spot for several minutes and trying several different lures I moved onto the next spot. Caught another bass there about 2.5 lbs. Fished there awhile then moved on. Got to the next spot where I quickly landed a 18.25 inch 3 lb 3 oz largemouth. It was so skinny it was it looked sick. Every time I moved to a new spot I would catch a bass. I then moved to one of my favorite spots where I caught a 8 lber two weeks ago. First cast I hook into a monster. It was real heavy and felt like a stump that was head shaking. After a couple moments it got off. Hooked just pulled out. I know it was a lunker but you cant catch them all I guess. Several casts later I switched up lures and then hooked into a monster bass. It pulled my boat left then right and wouldn't come up off bottom. I was chasing it a bit with the trolling motor. I got it to the surface and couldn't believe what I saw. It was a giant. After some tense moments I got it into the net. It seemed to barely fit. It was the biggest bass I had ever seen or caught for that matter. It measured 23.5 inches long and 19.5 inches around. I weighed it several times. Biggest bass I have ever caught at 9 lbs 1 oz. I took some photos, a video and grabbed a couple scales for aging and let her go. When the day was over I had landed 5 largemouth and 1 smallmouth. I didn't catch a single fish after the front passed through at 1 o'clock. First bass of the day 22.25 inches 7 lbs 6 oz 18.25 inches 3 lbs 3 oz 23.5 inches long 19.5 in girth 9 lbs 1 oz Here's a video I took of it.

Very nice smokinal. Sounds like you had a great day. the water looks pretty calm where you were. When I got to the lake I wanted to fish there were 2-3 foot white caps. They weren't just white caps they were rollers.. the wind was blowing 15-25 mph. the wind chill was in the low 20's. I stuck around the boat launch for about an hour. After that I decided it just wasn't a good idea to take my 10.5 foot boat out there in those conditions. I think I will be getting out this Thursday.