"hamma"

try skipping the laydowns on whequaqet, of the deeper weedbeds on mashpee=wakeby

next time out dont alter your retrieve whatsoever. dont anticipate a hit, if they really want it the way you presented it and you follow thru, they will hit it .especially for large fish, they dont like wasting any energy chasing something down without getting that energy back.smaller bass harbor alot of energy to move a relatively small mass of water, and can afford to "chase" a bit more than a large fish. I know its difficult to see a big fish chasing your bait and not freeze waiting for that pig to hit,... but when you get past that , you'll be lippin those fish instead of watching them swim away

what a beauty!

that would greatly depend on topography, and conditions, and what papjoe wrote

couple lobsters, a seagull, a few rods, one a decent 6' ugly sick that i now use for squid fishin,,...lol squid!, a deflated basketball, a tacklebox, a denim jacket., a ten speed bike, the stock for a shotgun, a 6' freshwater eel, a megander, a radio, a gajillion branches,...lol i used to use alot of crankbaits

if the water is 2 to 4' deep then i imagining that the grass has surfaced. where its thickest its most likely shallow, where its thinned out a bit then its most likely deeper. i use several lures for the exposed grass. 1) a nickle plated johnsons weedless spoon with a white 3 inch grub trailer 2) a hollow bodied frog 3) a 1/4 oz jig and pig (black and blue) with a rattle 4) a weightless white 4" slugo texposed i fish these all as you would a frog, with the frog and slugo being the "slow" baits, jig and pig a bit faster and the spoon whatever retreive speed it takes to keep it on the surface. Personally i like the jig best, when a fish strikes and misses i let it drop in the hole for a few jigs.the slugo and spoon also double for open water lures or should i say thinnest weeds. as for submerged weedbeds i like a big double bladed willowleaf, or a big single colorado bladed white spinnerbaits. a silver colored rattle trap, a white or silver double bladed buzzbait, and probably my favorite being a manns baby stretch 1 minus in a color that matches the prevelant baitfish in that lake. i have recently added a 1/8 oz weedless jighead with a kvd caffiene swimbait, again prevelant baitfish colored search for any irregularity, albeit a laydown, holes in the weedbed, lilypads mixed in the grass, points of the weeds edge sticking out into deeper water, rocks,docks, stumps, anything that differs from the grass the spinnerbaits i will "bulge" the surface, rattletraps and swimbait tick the top of the weeds, the buzzbait i bend the wire so the blades just barely tick other. the 1 minus i vary the retrieve greatly until they tell me what they want spinnerbaits and buzzbaits get a white manns spinnerbait trailer that i dip the very ends in red spike it dye these are the lures that "I" use to fish any type of weeds, and i attack any weedbed the same,... methodically,... i dont miss much , my casts are placed so that if they left a trail, like in duckweed they wouldnt be more than 5 feet apart hope this helps and keep your line wet!

could it be that when you see them you alter your retrieve expecting the hit? what i mean is,.. say your using a jerkbait at a certain cadence, you see a fish coming after it and you freeze in anticipation of the hit?? like now you changed what attracted them to begin with

thats why when i set the hook i do so in a manner that crosses their eyes,.. all the guys i fished with in tournies told me i set the hook harder than anyone they've met ,reason i do this is i lost a huge fish in a team tourney because i didnt "cross his eyes"my partner and i would have won with that fish...but that aside, when you stick the rodtip into the water to keep them from jumoing, keep tension on them as well,..at least ,.. i do.,. i reel in asap when i see that hes coming up for a jump, which does 2 things,.. keeps tension ,..and ,..if he does jump close to the boat i just haul him right into the boat with his own momentum

many many years ago i was "that guy" i thought that i "needed" it all . i was looking into joining a bass club and figured i was going to need it all to compete against seasoned anglers. then i found a club and in a few months i realized how wrong i was. I had 2 of those huge marlboro duffle bags each filled with 9 or 10 plano 3700's (my tackle shop if you will.) The amount of tackle i owned at that time was litterally more than most tackle shops had. i figured i was all set and didnt "need" anymore lures. Then the garage i rented was broken into and they stole all my tools and the two duffles as they were right next to my rollaway tool box. as i replaced my "tackle shop" i did so in a manner that i bought only what was going to need.,.. its been a while now and i consolidated my "neccesary". lures down to a medium duffle bag with a half dozen 3700's, which fits in one of the boats compartments and a good sized over under box that i keep out on the deck with my "usuals" it has my terminal tackle and spinnerbaits in the bottom and the usual hardbaits and a few plastics in the top. this works well for me and although i lost thousands of dollars, worth of lures they dont make anymore, (and yes it hurts) due to the theft. my new system is one thats easy to use and uncluttered with stuff i dont use. So, in summary it was theft and the club i joined that broke my"shopping habit" and reinstituted it into a streamlined version Now,... there is a huge diffence as to what you "need" if you are a tourney angler, or not . I think back to when i started fishing bass exclusively I had one of those huge black plano's that had everything in it, my buddy and i would fish out of a coleman crawdad. and it worked out just fine..when i started looking into tourney fishing i had to adopt to the 2 marlboro duffles as that old black plano just wasnt enough.

I started with all 3 of my daughters the same way 1) pick a day after several days of the same weather, then take them one at a time, (about 3 years old) crappie or bluegill fishing with a bobber and worms. ,....allbeit from boat or shore 2) you are there for them, dont plan on fishing at all. dont even bring a rod for you 3) explain on the way to the lake whats to be expected from them, ie: watching the bobber, setting the hook etc. 4) make sure they have a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, bug spray, bathing suit on, food and drinks. and a camera for that firrst fish is a must 5) if they get the boredom thing fired up,.stop fishing and let them swim,or eat, or explore, catch crayfish,, a diversion if u will. 6) be diligent about teaching them everything they need to know, like: dont reel when the drags pulling to avoid line twist, distance from rod tip hook needs to be before casting, how to load the rod for casting, how to point the rod at the spot they want to cast to and cast with the rod ending up pointing at it again or,.... "right at it" etc. ,...you're interaction here is paramount 7) and probably the most important, point out the beauty of nature, like: the huge blue heron near the shore, the turtles sunning on the laydown, a eagle flying high, the otters and other animals on shore,.. the views from the boat lookin down the lake, sunrise or sunset, dragonflies on the lilys . the crayfish pincers sticking out of the fishes throat etc. meaning , give them something visual to add to the experience reason being,.. these will be the days they will forever remember,.. make it as notable as you can, if the fish dont co-operate? head home, come back another day the idea is to get them "bit",...once they finally catch one they will want another then as they got older my girlfriend and i took the kids camping for a week on a notable lake in maine, and this time i took them out together gave them all a spinning rod with a special jerkbait i use there for smallies,..now they all want to go smallie fishing. I beleive that the agressive smallies really "bites" the kids into wanting that thrill again, the jumping and fight they put up on light line, their beautiful coloring in clear water really amazed the girls as well,.... almost as much as that red eye to my amazement all three of my teenaged girls werent fighting (as drama laden teen girls normally do), they were actually interacting with each other, helping each other, acting polite, thoughtful, and respectful,....... we all had the best day on the water we ever had.and i couldnt have been prouder of them all Seeing as im seperated from their mom and only see them every other weekend, it brought a tear to my eye to see them interact in a peaceful manner. Only downfall? now they all want their own rods and lures,...lol

a short answer? ummm,...ahhh, oh, sometimes they bite , and sometimes they dont nightfishing to me has always seemed to have the ability to dumbfounded the wariest angler when it chooses to .,..its a fickle thing......... hence the above reply

new motors are all 4 strokes, (as far as i found) and they are much heavier,.. i went with a used 2 stroke as my boat has enough weight on the rear already bills outboards in hingham is good,..i dont know of any out in the western part of mass

live,.... theres a spotlock button on the footpedal that utilizes gps to keep you on a certain spot, wind may move the back of the boat around, but the nose should be within 10 or 20 feet of the spot locked. As far as size of motor? i learned the hard way,...get the strongest you can (unfortunately i can only fit 2 batteries in that compartment)

big bass in new england are not few and far between as most anglers think. Mass record is like 15+ lbs. Big bass inhabit most waters up here and can be caught. The trick is fooling them, they are old and very wary.most pigs have been caught before. Once they suspect that you are present, your all done. The slightest noise, your shadow cast over them, an errent cast, a weed on your trolling motors prop, or more likely line caught behind the prop., even the ping from your lcr's transducer, dropping pliers on the floor of the boat , or a slammed hatch.... Anything you do to alert them you are there,... shuts them down and they drop to deeper water, or should I say to "safety".You need to go into stealth mode, on the right day, with the right lure, at the right location. and proper presentation, then and i say a big "MAYBE" you can intice one to strike a lure ,... heres what i would do,... catch some crayfish from that pond, mimic its color and size in a jig and pig, find the ponds deepest water and fish the closest structure with that jig and pig, but make sure you doose the hell outa it with real craw, sun to your back, lcr's off, and i cant stress ultimate quiet enough,... have a backup lure that mimics the ponds most previlent baitfish, albeit bluegill, herring, shiners or perch. Sometimes when a fish wastes energy going after food that they dont get they will be antsy and eager enough to hit the next thing that comes along,...looking to replenish the energy lost ,...So if you get a hit on the j&p and miss him, toss the follow up lure that same jig and pig will be to suspicious for a truely big bass these are some of the things i do and they have worked well for me, its taken me 40 years of bass angling to figure what i have out, and im still questioning myself. but,... if you doubt i my methods,.....my personal best was caught in ma, as well as at least a dozen or 2,... 8's thru 10's ,....yeah,.... all in massachusetts

I am in the process of upgrading to the ulterra now, .I own a 2000 16 ft tracker super guide v .which came with the same tracker 30 tm.,... just so you know the mount for that model sucks, its flimsey and weak, so after a few years I upgraded to a 12 volt 55 pd thrust powerdrive, (as the tracker 30 began to "fade").,.,.... light years ahead of the tracker 30. a bit different going from cable steer to electric but you get used to it and its a breeze,. now,.. i got the i pilot link and am going to get the compatable hummingbirds so i get all the options from my upgrade,...expensive,?? heck yeah almost 6k (and thats the lower end model electronics),.... but worth it as my health isnt what it used to be and the auto deploy and stow is necessary ,... and seeing that i fully intend to fish well into infinity i need a upgrade and chose a final one so to answer your question is the newer stuff better?,... heck yeah,,.. do some research, check out the videos on minnkotas site,.. plan out what you see in the future with this "new rig" how long do you plan on keeping this rig, what waters are you going to fish,.. rivers with strong currents will demand certain criteria, big waters will bash you around a bit with strong winds etc. So consider what amount of thrust you will need and exceed that a bit with your choice of motor, heres a hint of the difference between old and new my original tracker 30 i needed to be up on the bow physically manipulating my tm with my foot all day, After im done setting up the ulterra and hummingbirds?,.once afloat.i will press a couple of buttons and be guided around my local lakes by gps controlling the motor without ever touching the trolling motor or its footpedal at all. Barring incedents that require me to stop of course

Many years ago i tried to log all the parameters, and it just got me more confused than when i started the log. What i did figure out is.,....the fish are in the water,....lmao. Being that I was engaged in tourneys at that time I relied on "the fish are in the water" more often. i just fished whatever the parame.ters threw at me that day and figured that i need to catch a decent bag to place. id watch my finder carefully in the am, add up the waters color, clarity, wind direction for the last few days and seasonal patterns and gave it my best shot for the first hour or two with search type baits , if i didnt hook up yet, id change to something slower and smaller and so on and so on. when i finally hook up,...its time to asess if a pattern can be determined Now ,...Do parameters have effect on the fish? Of course they do, but to actually use them to your advantage you would need to consider what the parameters did to the fish for the previous week or so to be spot on, Considering all the variables for the past week or so and storing all that info to fish one day? You'd need to have supercomputer for a brain , or,. fish every day to stay on top of them.. And as any tourney angler knows there is usually off limits for a week or two on the lake your going to fish the t on. so fishing "every" day doesnt apply.. So,. to answer the original questions? I let "all" the parameters "direct" me to techniques and tactics within "each" lure im using, area i choose and direction i fish in, But i refuse to let them dictate. Many a day i left the ramp thinking of one pattern, to only have it fail,... and have the exact opposite pan out,..then yet there have been days I was spot on to begin with. If its windy i'll start with a spinnerbait, one that fits the waters " conditions" if that doesn't work ill move on to a jerkbait If its cloudy a top water,.,,. sunny i'll flip docks with a jig and pig.,...... and so on,.... but the key is???? i know how to fish these lures and many many more what im getting at is you need to go with "your" strengths and fish what you have confidence in. I can tell you what to fish and where but if you have no confidence in it ,.. it wont work. If you want to learn a new lure you are going to have to fish with it for some time and gain confidence in it before you can be consistent with it. Me telling you to use a 3 inch kalins smoke with silver flake grub on a 1/4 oz darter jighead along the sides of weed edges in 12 feet of semi-clear waters during a slight ripple on the waters surface in 70 degree water temps in mid summer with the sun to your back is a great tip,....but you will need to fish it for a while before you get good at it It all takes time, and trial by error As far as turn-over? its a crap shoot in my eyes, the fish are everywhere,... best bet is to find the bait, and fish around them with a match the hatch lure,...at least thats what i do,... if that doesnt panout i will fish every different water depth til i find what they are relating to that day and stick with it , cuz tommorrow will be different just my .02

many a bass have been weighed in at tournaments in nh that were caught on those huge deepest diving crankbaits ,..the old magnum sized balsa poes worked well,.. as well as the manns 30+,..to get them even deeper you could kneel and reel .,... Typically, its a mid summer technique up here during the dog days of summer. but ive used them pre spawn when they are all bunched up near the spawning areas. find their "highway" to the spawning area and you could have the best big fish day of your life. most anglers go with a drop shot to target fish in these depths, because its not as exhausting as casting and cranking those big baits,.i used them to "locate" once i found, the structure they were using id switch over to a 1/4 oz jighead with a grub... the huge cranks will tire you out pretty quick, unless you got foreams like popeye. good luck

i consider everything,,.. everytime i go fish,.. no matter what body of water i decide to fish at. but,.. i dont pick a lure or area until i get on the water and see what the water temp, color and claruty are, and whether fish are suspending or relating to the bottom etc. Wind direction, air temp, clouds, and season are all considered at home this serves me well and has actually forced me to fish areas i would never had if i "pre-determined" a gameplan Of course there are some lakes that i know well and i will tie on the lures that i know work there and fish the way i figured on and not have to change a lure all day, or have to find the fish to be successful. As we all know this doesnt happen everytime we go fish. So i adapt to the situation when i finally sit down, fire up the motor, and turn on the lcr, when leaving the ramp in the am. I check the waters color, clarity,temp, and determine wind direction, etc. sometimes on huge bodies of water i may actually turn around, trailer the boat and go to a different ramp. I take a different course when im fishing a tournament, Everything is decided during pre-fishing, I stick to my gameplan unless im getting skunked, and I dont let the pre-takeoff dock talk flush my attack plan. Like, you hear some guys talking about how they did well against the shore with plastics, Or, "the leader is getting all his fish off topwaters above deep structure", Have confidence in your hard work and talents. Its so easy in this sport to get thrown off your plans by stuff you hear, ,..hearsay is just that . Although, change is important in this sport,.. let it be "your" change and decision forced by conditions, rather than changed due to suspect of greener pastures

chartruese rattle trap, chartruese colorado bladed spinnerbait, or buzzbait, and a black jig and pig with the loudest rattles i have for a follow up lure. the old manns kangaroo worm with the same rattles worked for follow up as well

living in new england only ice I cant break thru, ( and yes,Ive broke thru ice backin in at the ramp to get to open water), or lightning keeps me from fishing,... i have 2 herniated discs and they dont even stop me when they are acting up. I figure i can be in pain in bed, or on the water,...i choose the water

I used to take chicken wings and a couple granola bars with water and a gatorade, just put the wings in a ziplock,..they arent bad cold and the bones are biodegradeable

i have a few manns baby stretch 1- that i use for fishing over weeds when they have grown to about 2 to 3 feet from the surface. or anywhere a standard jerkbait gets fouled The lure has a wide wobble and rattles which lends itself perfect to this situation. It floats quickly, casts well, and has won me some cash. ,... so i always have them on my boat. i let the fish dictate the retrieve they want,...sometimes its a steady retrieve, sometimes they want it paused try your new lure when you come across weeds growing to the same depth , cant hurt, hope this helps

depends on conditions. but i were to pick ONE,..a bone colored pop-r

i had the same thing happen to mine,.. i just put them in a ziplock bag with some real craw,...they work fine

I tie my own and add them to the back of my suspending jerkbaits,.I started doing this many years ago when i needed to change a hook while fishing a tournament, and all i had left was some excalibur rotating trebles that were already hackled .I tried it and it seemed to work better.,.... and yes i do believe this makes a difference. Then yet, i fish alot of clear waters. It may do something to vibration,..., not sure. But most important for any lure you use is confidence. If it works for you, go with it