Neil McCauley

jumbo perch from today It was like filleting a bass.

Few pics during peak

Well that was lame. If I wasn't told there was an eclipse going on I am not sure I would have noticed anything. It did seem a little cooler and I didn't need as much sunblock in the afternoon though. But FWIW....the bite as ON today. Just spent 2 hours cleaning perch, pumpkinseeds and rockbass. Some of the 'seeds were gigantic.

Gonna be out all day. It's supposed to be 70% here, might be interesting. Anyone else? Figure out your view here https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/25/16019892/solar-eclipse-2017-interactive-map

Yep. When you're learning it is. Not because you're bad at it per se, it just takes time to learn how to set yourself up for success. When I first started fly fishing for trout I went to a river where it was known to be great, but was just a couple weeks too late for the spring run. The river was completely empty, I had 0% chance of catching anything. A lot of people fall into traps like that and end up fishing empty water without knowing it. The lake I fish I know well now, and a lot of people I see are fishing way too shallow. They only have a chance to catch anything worthwhile a certain few weeks in the year, but they're always there anyway. Bank fishing can be futile like that a lot of the time too. There's a shallow ~2-3' deep area the size of a couple basketball courts where I launch my canoe and sometimes on my way in someone will be there bank fishing. It just blows my mind anyone would do this- don't they know it's hopeless? I've passed through the spot hundreds of times, they might as well go fish in a bath tub.

I used a lot of live bait as a kid. It's all you can really do with limited water access and time to fish. I bet a fly popper would be better though. Once you get more mobile with a boat and devote more to fishing you forget all about bait. Lures will always be more productive and fun once you have the right ones as options and more areas to use them. I would need dozens of buckets of shiners to cover an average day fishing.

What lures/baits are you using? Treble hooked lures can be nightmares to get OUT of pike so I'm surprised anyone has the opposite problem. Sometimes hook throwing is a problem with the rod and line. I think the basic idea is you want some amount of flex somewhere in the chain between you and the fish so headshakes and jumps don't make the line too tight or too loose. If the fish yanks stiff line too tight, it tears bigger openings for the hooks to come out of. Then when they move back the other way and release tension the line, it goes slack and hooks move around. The heavy/fast rod and braid line you're using is probably the issue.

Anyone try these? I'd love to see some of the followers and missed hits I never know about. Any recommendations or experiences with them appreciated.

Wait...so you ended up catching fish anyway? SMB are around that depth a lot on my lake and deep diving crankbaits and deep work.. Rapala DT20 has been best for me. You might need to longline or troll to keep a crankbaot at 25-30 fow.

When I want subtle topwater I use my fly rod and a little panfish popper. You'd be surprised how hard they'll hit this but ignore regular topwater hardbaits. Also a ton of fun landing them.

Sorry but I really doubt you will catch anything above 50 foot if the lake has deeper water available. If it's late July and the water is 75 degrees, without lead core line I wouldn't bother. My 2 cents.

Rapala DT16 and DT20 are my go-tos. They stay at target depths best when trolled. Classic silver minnow or yellow perch finishes seem to work best for me.

Sure, right after I already blew my $ on the wrong one. Think I'd have to get something more affordable. Piscifun has some for $30 on Amazon that has good reviews.

Been using it about a month now. It casts beautifully ! If I want I can shoot it and usually cast out the whole 47' head length. But yes it does seem just a little light on the rod and needs an extra false cast or two.

Keeping us safe as always. Other than that the only consistently annoying thing to me is the 30' motor yachts passing, while I am fishing in my 14' canoe, way too close and way too fast...and waving as they go by. So far I've had wake come over my bow and swamp me and my line run over and spooled twice.

I'm sure kayaks can be stable and maneuverable... And there are different designs for canoe hulls also. Which one can designed to be more "stable and maneuverable" vs the other is probably a canoe but it's kind of beside the point. The important thing is that for the same $400 one of them leaves open many more future options, while the other would need a more expensive version to do the same things and then still not do some of them as well. I don't think anyone can say one is outright a better fishing platform than the other. That is like saying what is a better hunting weapon, a budget shotgun or bow? Each has its advantages in certain situations, but one is clearly overall more effective and versatile. I think that's important if you have to choose between them, especially for a first time owner who has so many options around to use it.

I second not bothering with Dr. Sonar. There are a ton of good videos on it on youtube, they're just by different people and hard to find because yt's search algorithms are horrible. This forum should have a sticky that lists the best videos because this comes up a lot. A few that I know of: But honestly after a few videos it's not much help. Most of everything else to learn is in the device's user manual and from your experience fishing with it.

Maybe a dumb question but is this a bait casting or spinning rod setup? Either way, you alternate and do some of both, since they each put repetitive stress at different places. Also, lighter tackle with easier casting line might help.

Have to love the list. Some of my regional top 25s you literally couldn't pay me to fish. Regional Top 25 West: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-western Central: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-central-0 Southeast: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-southeastern Northeast: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-northeastern

I grew up using those "hot spots" maps and other paper contour maps. Man, what a joke compared to what we have now from compiling everyone's sonar data. There was structure in places I didn't even know about and actual reasons some is better than others. I wouldn't see how much the geology and the entire ecosystem matters without electronics. Same thing with sonar. So when I go and learn about those things now and do better because of it, you see how electronics do a lot more than give immediate info.

If you have a variety of size waters nearby a budget kayak vs budget canoe is hugely different...Cheap kayaks essentially limit you to ponds, a canoe the same price you can eventually build on- trolling motors, batteries, sonar, etc- and do bigger things if things get stale. You'd have to buy a whole new kayak to do that. And ever notice how whenever people replace old fishing kayaks with new better ones, they look and function more and more like canoes? (except for $1000s more). Why not just start with one? The same $400 canoe can keep you busy many years. "Kayak?"

Did it mess up your lure? My interest faded a little when I googled them and saw the teeth...

That thing is huge. Sounds like an awesome time.

I saw a few for the first time ever last weekend and I am now obsessed with landing one. Anyone caught them before? Any tips?

that's ma boat