Hog Basser

Do frogs work well in Maine? I assume since they hit topwaters well, I may want to pack a few. Also, the owner hooks I use with the twistlock and keel-weight integrated on the hook I guess are outlawed too, since they are lead? Does anyone make these in tungsten and are they available locally? I would really like to swim some keitechs and rage swimmers while there and I like that setup the best.

My 2 1/2 year old hooked a 4+lbs. channel cat on a dock demon with light line with a worm over Memorial Day Weekend. We fought it all the way up to the dock without a handle on the reel (fell off) by spinning the reel by hand. As I got down to grab him, he broke the line and got away. My boy did not like him getting away and spent the rest of the day yelling "Daddy, I want a catfish!!" He already has the fishing fever! We tried to get him again, but only caught bluegill the rest of the day. Once he got the bigger fish, they just weren't as much fun. You can see the direct aftermath of it getting away in the pic below.

When you going? I'm interested to see the results, take plenty of pics!

Thanks! I was planning on bringing at least one whopper plopper, I may pack a couple now. I'll check out those lakes as possibilities!

I will be in Maine all next week on a family vacation. I figured out I can take a few rod/reel setups and a small box of tackle. There is a pond behind our rental house that's a pretty good size, but I also want to try other local bodies of water and charter a guided boat at least one day for some striper or other inland waterways fishing. I have already purchased a NR 7-day fishing license, so I'm good to go there. We are staying in the area between Camden and Belfast (Searsmont). Questions: 1. I believe lead weights are outlawed, correct? 2. Can someone recommend a reputable guide service for the inland waterways (striper fishing)? I have found several online, but there's not much to go on. 3. What are the local bodies of water that can be publicly fished from shore and have easy access? 4. Any other species I should attempt to target while there? 5. What artificial baits work best? I'm packing a small tackle box and I have plenty to choose from, just need to get to the most productive baits in there. 6. What are the best local bait shops to re-supply and/or get live bait for my kids if needed? 7. Any other tips for things to do in the area? Thanks in advance for the replies!

To adapt and survive well in their environment, bass must be released as fingerlings. There are multiple articles on this site about attempts to transplant trophy bass that always end up with the bass losing weight. They may survive, but they don't adapt well in a new environment when moved. In other words, if you transplant a 10 lbs. trophy bass to your pond, next year she may be 8 lbs. Stocked lakes are generally managed, so you will have better luck, more bass and possibly bigger bass if they are managing toward that. However, some stocked lakes in city parks around here are also overfished and it can become difficult to catch anything once they've been in there a while.

I catch spots (some call them Kentucky Bass) a lot around here in creeks and some have even infiltrated my pond. Haven't heard of a lot of those and figure they are mostly regional.

Academy has h20 express hardbaits at 25% off and Zoom soft plastics are a $1 off per bag in my local store right now.

I've had a moccasin come aggressively at my boat, looked like he wanted in with me. I popped him with my judge and that was the end of that. I see water snakes almost every trip and generally leave them alone.

DSG locally has buy 3 get one free on chatterbaits. Also the lunker hunt frogs BOGO as mentioned above.

Nice work! I have a suburban too, but I currently use an inside rod rack that's basically two nylon straps with loops in the back for the base of the rod and Velcro strips in the front to hold the tips. They just hook into the clothes hanging hooks on either side.

I've seen this one on ebay for sale, someone hand makes them and I might just have to buy one to hang on the wall if nothing else!

I'll second this as well. When I take my kids fishing, all I have time for is re-baiting hooks and removing fish. You just can't fish yourself. Some days they will fish longer than others, don't force them to stay longer, let them decide and make it fun.

It is minimal, I think less than $10 per person at Herman's Landing. The road isn't that bad. Depends on what construction is going on, I think there is more construction closer to Memphis, but I don't usually go that far. I would seriously put together a food plan and budget for everything on this trip so you aren't short-handed. You can go cheap by packing coolers with sandwich meats and taking loaves of bread and chips along. Figure out your cost for the items you want to take and round up a little bit if you have to re-buy along the road and prices are different. Pack a big water cooler so you don't have to buy a lot of bottled water along the way and refill bottles from it. You will also want to budget fuel carefully.

I've got 4 dock demons I keep for the kids who come out to the lake with us and 3 of them are still in good working order (spinners). The only problem with the other one is I didn't keep the handle tight (it folds in for storage) and it came loose and fell in the water. I tied the line on the end and attached a pool noodle piece to that one so my 2 yr old can use it and think he's fishing. He likes to throw it into the water so the noodle is there to be able to retrieve it. As for the 3 working ones, we catch bluegill all day long or until they get tired of it. Had them about 3 years now. Almost all cheap spincasts I've bought over the years have had the gears foul up in the first season or something get so tangled inside it is almost impossible to fix. Spinners are the way to go in my opinion.

Don't forget since you're new to all of this, even if you don't plan to fish yourself, buy a license! If you just cast it out for the kids, they will nail you for not having a license. Get it while you're buying the gear at the store.

I'm about to go to the hardware store this afternoon to get lumber to build a workbench in my new garage. There's some great designs online you can google for shelving and workbenches. I'm planning to install some shelving such as the simple braced ones described above as well to store things out of the way. I also ordered metal pegboard from amazon I'm planning to install soon behind where the workbench will be. That will be for tools and extra fishing gear.

Perfect. Look for state parks with marinas and boat ramps....a few in Arkansas to check out include: Ouachita (mentioned above) Dardanelle (lots of tournaments fished here) Beaver (Northwest AR, maybe a little out of the way, but great lake) DeGray Bull Shoals There is also a pay lake (minimal charge) with camping around Stuttgart/Devall's Bluff in the eastern delta of Arkansas I would recommend called Peckerwood Lake - google it and look up the facebook page for more info and pics...this would be a more unique experience from the big lakes. It is a 4,000 acre private lake. Bass grow big in the delta, I fish around that area a lot on some other private lakes not open to the public. Peckerwood Lake is between Little Rock and Memphis just south of the Interstate, seriously, look it up.

Yeah, it's a bunch of 3rd party sellers hoping someone with little experience in buying fishing gear will take it at that price. I'm a prime member, but buy very little of my fishing gear off Amazon.

What size boat? Camping along the way? Or hotel? Lots of good fishing lakes along the way with campsites.

I take beer with me when fishing on a private pond and staying on property a lot, but I find I'm too busy fishing to enjoy the beer when I'm out there. They usually get hot before I finish them. I've done a little better with one of those yeti style metal koozies, but if I'm fishing I really just don't drink that much....now afterward, that's a different story!

Terminal tackle crammed as tight as possible into 1 or two holes. Can we take bags of plastics separately or do they need to be cramped in too? I don't usually put them in a plano style box. Whopper Plopper 6th sense crush flat 75x Rebel Crawfish Zara Spook Jerk Bait Spinner Bait Pad Crasher Frog Keitech Swing Impact Fats or Rage Swimmer Norman Quarterback (discontinued, but I have a few laying around and they produce) Pop-R Various Siebert jigs and trailers

Whopper Plopper (go ahead, get on the band wagon) Zara Spook (I keep a fair amount of these handy in all colors) Poppers (you can get a hula popper in frog imitation if that's your thing, tons of popper variations) Yamamoto Tate Pencil (this is a spook style bait that's worked well for me recently)

DSG has a flash sale today only until 10PM EST....up to 50% off select items...not much fishing gear, but there is some line and accessories with great prices. http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/c/flash-sale?camp=EML:DSG_PRM:05042017_05042017_FlashSale_AM_DSG:Body_Shop&customerkey=545499285-7&mcid=308432033

Get her a spa package for the day then and you go fishing while she does that. Problem is, that costs money and you can't do it every time.