everythingthatswims

Time to do some dink management

Dark water is healthy water around here, it should produce some nice bass, the fish will be tight to cover like they would in muddy water. Black & Blue should work.

I crushed the <1.5lb largemouth in my kayak today, they were schooling and chasing shad fry, I used the zara puppy (even smaller than the jr) and figured since the forage is so little it is probably the best choice. Started with the original sized spook early in the morning and they were just blowing up under it not getting hooked. I'm guessing they were just all small fish, but they sure are fun when there are 5 of them knocking the bait up in the air trying to eat it first! They will eat right next to my kayak, it doesn't seem to bother them as long as I stay still and quiet.

Nah, they are just nuclear fish. The ones in the hot side glow at night

8-9lb largemouth in Maine??? That would be like 18-20lbs down south! Very impressive.

that bass's tail looks like a trout tail? I have never seen a largemouth with a squared off tail like that

I know I could still do well, but I want to see them jumping all over the bait like they were yesterday, and they might not do that if I start to fish it often. If it was 5 or 6 acres, I might fish it sooner, but this is only a 1-2 acre pond, so there aren't that many fish to work with and I could definitely put pressure on them by fishing it too often.

Happened to me too and I also can't shrink the pics. Bassresource should change that...The pic I have is hilarious

I have a lowrance X-4 Pro on my kayak, it is only a $100 fishfinder and it rocks! I can see ledges and structure as well as schools of baitfish, now I feel blind if I fish without it. My kayak isn't even a fishing kayak either, so I made a pvc mount for the transducer. If nothing else it's nice to know how deep you are at all times.

I have experienced a few "seagull blitzes" while pier fishing. One will fly into someones line and get tangled up, then it starts squawking and all the other ones get upset, when they come over to try to help their friend out, they get hung up in lines too. 3 or 4 people trying to get birds untangled is hilarious, except when you are one of those people.

Buffalo

I would have put the blue cat in my goldfish pond. That thing is cool!

Fish the clear water with senkos, enough weight to keep them drifting on the bottom, you'll knock 'um dead. Texas rigged craws, small jigs with craw trailers, and texas rigged worms are all great clear water baits in rivers. I have very limited experience with smallies in dirty water, but I prefer clear 10 to 1.

STAY AWAY FROM STINK BAIT! The most natural bait possible is the way to go for big cats. Cut or live: shad (best) shiners (good) bluegill (not as good but definitely still works. Fresh is always better than preserved or frozen. But yeah let us know your situation so we can help!

Trout Magnets, and gulp minnows on jigheads. Never use anything heavier than 6lb clear mono or fluoro.

Haha east coast stripers have got ya beat, the true slobs come from over here. 40-50lb fish are not uncommon. We caught 3 big ones one day a few years back while drifting eels, a 48lb, a 45lb, and a 42lb.

I fished a pond today that is absolutely covered in small lily pads. I wasn't expecting pads so I had to frog fish with 12lb mono on a medium action rod. The only frog I had with me was a booyah pad crasher jr... I was literally catching fish every other cast, and most of them were between 2 and 3 pounds! After about 5 or 6 fish, I broke off the frog on what was probably a really nice fish, but I'll never know (that's what I get for frogging with 12lb test!). After that I had to improvise, so I rigged up a pit boss with no weight, and fished it like I did with the frog. The fish didn't mind, and continued clobbering the bait, many of them going completely airborne when they hit it, it sure was nerve racking watching that big wake being pushed up behind the bait before they blew up. I had to wade out in the pond since the bank was overgrown, and many of the bass would follow the bait in and eat it inches off the rod tip right in front of me! I had one fish that was probably 4-5lbs come unhooked when he surged down in a big wad of pads, so that was two good ones that I lost. I feel like I burned it up pretty bad today, so I'll probably let it rest for a week or so, and go back with proper tackle, hopefully I can land some nicer fish.

When I was 8 years old, I was lobbing a buzzbait on my ultralight (bass fishing wasn't my thing at the time so I didn't own any heavier tackle) in my neighbor's pond and landed an 8lb largemouth. It hit 3 times in 3 casts before I hooked it, very exciting! I have also landed multiple 20+" Largemouth when they eat bluegill that I am reeling in.

Caught this 24" beast in March on a 2.5" rebel floater, an el-cheapo minnow style crank, got it on sale at walmart for $1.50, was throwing it on an ultralight with 6lb test, lots of fun!

Get a big cooler, fill it with water, stick an aerator in it, fill it with bass, and take them to another pond/lake/river.

Luckily I had some forceps with me and I was able to get the hooks out quickly, the fish bled pretty bad but swam off fine, my little brother was at the pond for the next 5 hours and it never floated up, hopefully it made it. If it didn't, the 20-30+lb blue cats won't let it go to waste!

KVD 1.0 Squarebill, didn't really hit hard but this fish really choked it. First time this has happened to me with a crank.

Explain?

Not a fish. Gravity wouldn't allow one to stick its head out to look at something

Weightless finesse worms and 4" senkos on light line. Long casts