MainelyBASS

Rattles in stained water where the jig loses it's drawing power. They wont see it well, so the rattle will draw them in closer to see the jig. Also in windy areas for the same reason. You can make an argument against using rattles in ultra clear water, on slick days based on the idea that you don't need extra attention brought to the bait. But I think the most important rule is the dirty water, 2nd windy conditions.

Getting rid of a Pro Tournament Scale complete weigh-in package. I opted for the package that came with the weigh-in basket, w/ stabilizing lid instead of the carrying case. It’s 2 seasons old. Used for 6 events in 2021, and 5 events in 2022. 100% working condition, comes with weigh-in basket w/ lid. Paid $1,200 for it 2 years ago, asking $700. This scale is a the 50lb version. Willing to meet for purchase anywhere from Portland south to NH border. Payment will be PayPal, or cash only. If buyer wants to pay for shipping, we can discuss that further. Pictures are available upon request.

I won a $500 gift card to the SPRO website in a tournament. I don't use many of their products, so I would rather take a loss on some of the value to receive cash in hand. $250 via PayPal goods and services gets you a 6 digit code to be redeemed on SPRO.com Payment needs to be made using PayPal goods and services to protect the transaction.

Reel has never been opened. Still sealed in the original box. I will ship the reel for free. Payment is through PayPal only. $180 out the door for the reel.

Moose is a very good fishery. It is by far my kryptonite of all lakes within a couple hours of my house, but theres plenty of guys that get em every tournament out there. The state record "supposedly" comes out of there, but for the people who know the actual story, (I don't) It actually came from a tiny pond near Moose, but the record holder did not want to blow up his tiny gem of a pond, so the story is that it came from a puddle down the road, but is in the books as Moose Pond

You really wont go wrong as long as you stick to 1 of 2 areas. The Belgrade Lakes region which includes Cobbessee, Great Pond, and Messalonskee. Or fish the Sebago Lakes region ( except big Sebago). Little Sebago, Panther Pond, Thompson Lake are a few good ones. I may be biased, but Maine is one of the most underrated bass fisheries in the country. My bias is from running the 2nd largest tournament trail in the state. Last year the average winning weight per event, for 5 fish was just shy of 25lbs. The 1st place team at the end of the season, which was 5 events had 114 pounds for the 5 combined events, including a 27lb limit on April 24th on Thompson Lake and a 24lb bag on Little Sebago in August. Great Pond, as mentioned above is typically a smallmouth fishery, but the largemouth that live there are GIANT. Our last event of the season was there and the gentleman who won only targeted largemouth, and weighed in 22lbs for 5. Stay in touch and feel free to ask as many questions as you would like, I can get much more specific on almost any body of water in the state.

Which portion of Maine are you looking to fish? How far north or south?

Location is the biggest factor in your success right now. The lure choice is important, but not enough emphasis is put on where bass live right at ice out, and shortly after. Most informational articles, and videos talk about pre-spawn, spawn, and post spawn, but in my opinion, a lot more information needs to be shared about winter/ice out bass fishing because it really is different than pre spawn, when fish are feeding heavily to prepare for the spawn. In Maine, it's not uncommon to find smallmouth in 40ft right after ice out, largemouth can be in 20-30 ft also. It doesn't mean that there aren't fish shallow, but for the most part, they spend time in deeper water until consistent warm days are happening. If you are on the bank, and your farthest cast is only reaching 8-10ft of water, you aren't hitting a high percentage area, therefor you are getting little to no bites. That is likely out of your control if you are bank fishing. As far as lures go, the bigger moving baits are a little much based on the water temps if they are in the 40s like they are in Maine. From the bank in cold water, I would rotate through double colorado spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, jigs, squarebills, chatterbaits, lipless, and paddletails to get bites. All of those work well right up until the spawn, but they are useless if you are fishing areas that don't hold fish. Good luck!

Maine is very underrated in the bass fishing arena. Except the time when Bassmaster Magazine said that Maine was home to 3 of the top 100 bass lakes in the country. That got the water a little busy. As someone who runs a bass club and has fished tournaments for 20 years now, I can say Maine has more lakes that put out 20lb limits than any other state in New England. Not to mention the fact that a few of them could be won with almost 20lbs of smallmouth bass. We are very fortunate to live and fish here.

Im in southern Maine. I have always had the smallest or slowest boat in almost every tournament, so about 15 years ago, I began to adapt to the water that I had to pick from when I got to certain spots on the lake during a tournament. As long as the water isn't super stained, a drop shot will always put fish in your boat, and eventually boost your confidence. I have won a few tournaments in the Sebago region, catching all of my fish in 40ft of water. If I understand you correctly, it's more of a question of understanding where to find them, not how to catch them. You have the right tools on your boat, just keep using them. I've spent more time idling over stuff and marking spots than I have fishing on most lakes in Maine. Every tournament I have ever won has been won off shore. As you mentioned before, points and humps are great places to look, but theres something that makes certain points, and humps better than others, thats what separates good fisherman, and average fisherman, the ability to duplicate the process of finding and catching quality fish. The most textbook hump on the lake might be worthless if it has nothing but muck on it. Conversely to that, the small point 100 yards from the boat launch may have scattered rock around it in 21ft, surrounded by deep grass. The common angler will look at the obvious text book point and fish it, but wont take the time to scan both, and mark even the smallest amount of rock or grass, anything that differentiates one point from another. Often times, theres even spots within the spots that are key. Theres a lake in the Sebago region thats mostly grass, but has a point with about 4-7 rocks on it. None of the rocks are bigger than a soccer ball. If I drag my drop shot weight through the area, and don't bump a rock, I wont get bit. I have the waypoint marked, but I need to be on the waypoint and cast at the rope swing that is across the lake, and drag back towards me. If I miss the spot, I miss the fish. This specific spot has never yielded a fish over 3, but schools of 2-3lb fish live on it, and it's always an easy way to fill my limit before hunting down bigger fish. The spot is on a very large point, 75 yards off shore. The spot within the spot is the size of a bathtub. Seems easy to cast accurately into an area the size of a tub, but factor in wind, and waves and I miss it more often than I hit it with casts. Sorry to be long winded, but this is a passionate area of the sport for me. To sum it up, become very acquainted with Navionics as your first move at getting better. Pick a handful of humps or points based on what you see with Navionics. Next step is to stop fishing. My best producing "spot" out of every lake in the entire state was found scanning a point while I was eating a ham itialian. I marked some rock, never fished it that day, went back during the tournament and caught some megas off the spot. Lastly, when you do go to fish, just throw a drop shot. Whether fish are pressured, lethargic, inactive, or in a feeding frenzy, a 3 inch drop shot bait always gets chewed. When it comes time that you are comfortable with all things, don't cheap out on your drop shot setup. By setup, I mean line/leader/weight/hook. Rod and reel doesn't have to break the bank, any 2500 size reel, and a 6'10 - 7'2 M or ML rod is fine. Spend the money on some hi-vis braid, 10-15lb, and a 6 or 8 fluoro leader. Tungsten drop shot weights round out the perfect setup. The hi-vis to see your line jump as it's sinking 20-40ft possibly. The braid to cast better, and better hooksets on deep bites, the fluoro leader for its lack of stretch, and invisibility, and the tungsten weight to really transfer the bottom contact. Tungsten is so dense that I can feel the difference between anything I drag across on bottom. Tungsten is 3x the price of other materials, but coming from someone who fishes competitively, and has been able to pay some bills as a result of some of my winnings, Tungsten was really the key factor in being able to let me know I was fishing my bait in the exact right areas. Good luck and feel free to reach out to me anytime. Sorry again for the longer than necessary rant.

Thank you guys. Now if I could find a deal on a decent scale, we would be ready to weigh some fish. There's not many scales out there to choose from.

To comply with COVID 19 guidelines, our club which is already new to the state, now must come up with online registration, as well as online payment. I haven't the foggiest idea of how to set something up fluidly yet. Is anyone else running something similar to what I am trying to accomplish? I just need a clear and concise registration form, and something set up to exchange money. These are regular 5 fish limit tournaments with weigh ins at the launch, not online.

Ill offer up an unpopular opinion with humans, but seems to be popular among the fish. If you are fishing around grass, everything says to use the cylinder weights to keep from hanging up. A technique that has paid off very handsomely for me in tournaments is throwing heavier than suggested, round style weights. They get snagged in the grass and require a little snapping of the rod to get the weight to come free. That's where I use it to my advantage. When the weight is snagged, I can impart extra action into my baits that I wouldn't normally be able to do. If you overwork a drop shot bait with a lighter weight, the weight and the bait move together as 1 unit which is not what you are looking for. If the weight is snagged, all the extra movement you impart stays with the bait because the weight is secured to the bottom. The other key to this technique is a longer than normal leader from the weight to the bait. Sometimes I will go as long as 24"-30" to keep the bait just above the grass.

I fished Little Sebago last weekend. The entire lake was locked on beds. I spent 6 hours casting around areas that held fish and never got bit. Im not a huge fan of bed fishing, not because of the ethics of it, but because I can catch almost 100% of the fish by using a half inch piece of floating worm, which to me, isn't very challenging. On that day, the only way I was able to catch fish, was to fish beds. It was the most disappointing 20lb bag that i've ever caught. The further south you go, the further along the spawn is. Mousam Lake which is an hour and a half south of Little Sebago was 68 degrees in some coves and I caught a handful of fish on a topwater the day after my Little Sebago trip. It's a tough time of year, and it only gets tougher once the females move off deep after the spawn. Hang in there, throw your confidence baits. The swim jig bite is about to get very good. Fry guarders will be super active and the areas adjacent to where they spawned.

1. Take green pumpkin menace grub, turn sideways break apart the tail 2. Attach to 3/8 oz blue gill Strike King tour grade swim jig 3. Fish around bedding areas during the spawn and post spawn 4. Catch all the fish. 5. Don't tell anyone else about this.