Smokinal

Awful to hear. Thinking of him

My haunting is a little different; I caught the fish. Let me explain. This was 36 years ago, I was 13. We had just moved to Maine from south Texas so I was used to fishing in saltwater. I remember I was so excited to start fishing freshwater as I had never caught a bass before. I had watched shows, read magazines etc...and that bass was just so attractive to me. We lived just up the road from where a small river joins a larger one with a railroad trestle crossing at the junction of the two rivers. I had already had my Mom take me to the local shop and I had bought some spinnerbaits, Mepps spinners and a few other things to get me started. So after school one day I walked down to that trestle, climbed down the bank and see this huge tree extending out from the shoreline. It was in a small cove and, because of the way the bank wrapped around, I was able to run a bait down the length of the tree. I had heard about some smallmouth in this river and had already read about the smallmouth's attraction to chartreuse. So I tied on a chartreuse spinnerbait tipped with a white curly tailed grub; man, I can still see that bait today. And I still remember, very clearly, when I cast that bait beside the tree; it was a perfect cast and I can still replay this whole event in my mind. The spinnerbait fluttering slowly through the murky, stained water, when it happened. I didn't see the fish as she was the same, brown color as the water; what I did see, though, is the color of my bright spinnerbait get thrown about 2 feet off it's path and the feel of a heavy fish on my line. After being scared close to death of the fish getting me in the tree, I was able to pull her to shore, get a hand on her and pull her to me. I still remember being hesitant to "lip" this fish , as I had seen done on TV and in the magazines. Anyway, I did it. So, you ask why does this fish haunt me. I'm fully aware of misconception. I know this was many years ago. I was a very small kid and I know how memory deceives us. ***Disclaimer=I wish I had released her now; but, as a kid with my first bass, I wanted to show my Dad this monster so that's what I did; I was 13*** As I walked home with this giant hanging off my hand, I literally had to stop and rest, re-adjust my grip, and keep hoisting this bass up higher to my waist to keep it from dragging on the ground. It was that big. Let me say that I'm 100% positive it was a smallmouth. And why this fish haunts me, still today, is the fish went into the freezer, never weighed, and finally buried under a rhododendron.... I've caught hundreds and hundreds of smallies from that day till now; have seen pics from my friends of big smallies; have seen pics of an 8 pounder, which is the Maine state record, and again, am aware of misconception, but that fish I dragged home that day is remembered as being bigger than all of those others. I've never really shared this story with anyone as I don't want to sounds as though I've seen Bigfoot, but I can't stop thinking whether that was a state record or not. <<<sitting in a circle of chairs, with a therapist off to the side, OP says, "Hi everyone. I'm SmokinAl; thank you for letting me tell you my story">>>

You know they say the 2 happiest days of a boat owner's life are the day he buys it; and the day he sells it. Break Out Another Thousand Just kidding...I couldn't live without my boat. Do it man; you'll never go back

The rules are: there are no rules The fact of the matter is there are more factors that play into where bass are located on a given day than time of year; weather that day, weather the prior week, baitfish movement, sun, clouds, barametric pressure, water temp etc... I was out last Sunday, water was down to 46 degrees; we brutalized 'em in 4-7 ft all morning long on traps, jerkbaits and a DT10 slowly grinding bottom with a sweep/pause. I caught 34 and my buddy caught 37 I believe. You said they're in the same spots they were in the spring...that's actually very common in the fall. Personally, I believe there are always shallow fish; all year long. Sure, some go deep but, for one thing, deep is relative the the body of water. And the ones that do go deep, I believe they go later into winter. I plan on catching them in this 4-7 ft area for at least another 3-4 weeks.

lol Thought the same thing last night when I went in to Cabelas and saw BPS shirts on the racks. It took me off guard for a second until I remembered

I got on em with a brown DT last Sunday but it's gonna blade bait weather here in another week

lol...it's all good man; I've heard it all!

lol...about 20 mins in a spray booth And then about an hr in the shower after the show....

I started competing a few years ago after I recovered from 3 surgeries in 3 years. I have been doing Men's Physique division and had a few good showings but I came in really nice this last show and took 1st in the 2 classes I entered; Men's 40+ and Open 5-9 and Under. And I ended up coming in second in the Overall out of all the Physique competitors (about 9) And the first place Overall was a kid in his 20's; so at 49...I'll take that all day long. But the best part was my son did this one with me; it was his first. He did great. He came in 2nd in the 2 classes he entered. He did Novice and Open 5-10 and over. And he only came in 2nd to the guy who ended up taking the Overall so he was very happy with his placings. Very fun day!

Yup; try small inline spinners of different colors, green pumpkin TRD on a Ned head, small crankbaits, small white flukes

There are some good, knowledgeable folks on here who are very willing to share their knowledge. Definitely helps us all be better fishermen.

Welcome fellow Mainah

Wow that looks awesome! Love to fish it. I'd have to try a TRD on a Ned head, small crankbaits, small spinnerbaits, white fluke and a drop shot in some of the deeper pools.

But what if he ends up testing positive for PED's someday? They'll have to add an asterisk to his name.

Well I gotta be honest with you. I put the free 15 day Navionics trial on my pad; I won't be buying it. I looked over my home lake, which I know like my yard, and it's highly, highly inaccurate. I was going to use it for a few other lakes that I don't know very well but can't trust it after seeing that. I looked at a few maps on gpsnauticalcharts and the one lake I looked at, that I know a little, looks much more accurate. I appreciate the tips; I'll keep trying.

^^^Thank you for the tip. I must admit I'm really ignorant to the whole map thing. I have a 798si at the console. What would I look for to get me some decent contour lined maps for Maine?

So there are many, either free or low cost, phone apps that show contour lines, depth etc... What is everyone using? Which are clearest, accurate, easy? I have my finders on the boat of course but don't have lake maps so I was looking for a low cost phone app for an IPhone to get some contour lines. Any suggestions?

I use 10 lb braid and 10 lb fluoro leader on all my spinning setups. I use the leader, not for shock, but for abrasion resistance. I fish all rocky water and braid will part in a pair of seconds if rubbed on rock.

Wow; just seeing this thread now. So glad you're ok; sorry to hear about the accident. I'm in S Maine...I'll pm ya

Here we are boyos: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Z-Man_TRD_Crawz_6pk/descpage-ZMTRDC.html Pre-order now

What weights do you prefer?

lol; that was me! Went out the side of the first, smaller one; then a larger bully came along and tried to take it from the young buck. Showed him....

So does this mean you really can't sore lip a fish???