DevilDoc Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Nice fish! And I am also going stir crazy, but luckily my neighbor invited me ice fishing tomorrow! Will have an update and hopefully some pictures Quote
bobh64 Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Caught some smelts today on Great Bay almost 2 dozen they are starting to move in. 1 Quote
luvfishing Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Ordered a Daiwa Exceler from cableas, Seems like a nice baitcasting reel.. And once the bass pro shop in hooksett opens i'll get a rod for it. Quote
DevilDoc Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Had a blast ice fishing especially since it was 39 degrees. Biggest bass was 3-4 lbs. got a good deal of crappie and yellow perch. Gonna have a fish fry with all that went! 1 Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 So I usually start my fishing season the beginning of May because usually I don't have much success during April. This year on the other hand I want to fish the Nashua River and some Small ponds in April. My question is what are your guys tactics in April for getting on some good fish? If you want to know my rig I have a small aluminum canoe with a 35lb thrust trolling motor and up at my camp I have a 12ft aluminum V-hull with a 10HP motor. I also do not have electronics in either rig. Quote
Mainebass1984 Posted February 4, 2014 Posted February 4, 2014 So I usually start my fishing season the beginning of May because usually I don't have much success during April. This year on the other hand I want to fish the Nashua River and some Small ponds in April. My question is what are your guys tactics in April for getting on some good fish? If you want to know my rig I have a small aluminum canoe with a 35lb thrust trolling motor and up at my camp I have a 12ft aluminum V-hull with a 10HP motor. I also do not have electronics in either rig.  In April just after ice out a suspending jerkbait is a good choice. Jigs work as well. Got to fish both these baits slow. Towards the end of April I will try to slow roll a spinnerbait or try a squarebill crankbait.. I usually am fishing areas with good cover in 5-15 feet. When in doubt or the fishing seems a bit slow just throw a jig. Another thing about fishing in April, fish the warmest water you can on the warmest day, that is when I have the best luck. Coves in the northwest end of the lake or pond you will be fishing will warm up the quickest as well, so that is always worth checking. Fishing rivers is also a good choice. More often then not they will be several degrees warmer then the rest of the lake. April is an excellent time to catch some big pre spawn bass ! Is it April yet ?? 3 Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 What would you recommend for a jig? Trailer wise and weight wise. My setup is a Medium-Lite 6'0 Ugly Stick with a Mitchell 300ex spinning reel. I have 2 of those setups by the way. Also what kind of cover are you looking for weeds, rocks, timber, because I know in April most cover is rotting or dead and it isn't the best place to fish because it takes oxygen out of the water which is less attracting to the fish. Quote
nhbassin Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 What would you recommend for a jig? Trailer wise and weight wise. My setup is a Medium-Lite 6'0 Ugly Stick with a Mitchell 300ex spinning reel. I have 2 of those setups by the way. Also what kind of cover are you looking for weeds, rocks, timber, because I know in April most cover is rotting or dead and it isn't the best place to fish because it takes oxygen out of the water which is less attracting to the fish. If I were to reccomend any 1 jig that can be used year round, I would go with a 1/2 Oz. Strike King KVD Swim Jig in Bluegill color with a rage craw trailer. Keep it on the bottom and look for transition areas where deep water is real close to shallow water for the spring time. In the summer you can swim it around cover. A medium-lite spinning rod is not the ideal set-up for jigs either. I use a 7' Medium-Heavy rod with a baitcaster for my jig setup. Try focusing more on sturcture (points, drop offs, channels, etc) rather than cover in the early spring.   Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 If I were to reccomend any 1 jig that can be used year round, I would go with a 1/2 Oz. Strike King KVD Swim Jig in Bluegill color with a rage craw trailer. Keep it on the bottom and look for transition areas where deep water is real close to shallow water for the spring time. In the summer you can swim it around cover. A medium-lite spinning rod is not the ideal set-up for jigs either. I use a 7' Medium-Heavy rod with a baitcaster for my jig setup. Try focusing more on sturcture (points, drop offs, channels, etc) rather than cover in the early spring.   I stand corrected it is actually just a Medium action rod not a Medium-Lite also I use spinning reels. I prefer them over bait-casters for some odd reason do you think this will be fine for say like 3/8 oz jigs? Just so I get some weight so that I can feel the bottom better. Quote
nhbassin Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 I stand corrected it is actually just a Medium action rod not a Medium-Lite also I use spinning reels. I prefer them over bait-casters for some odd reason do you think this will be fine for say like 3/8 oz jigs? Just so I get some weight so that I can feel the bottom better. You will likely catch some fish using that set up, but I would only use that for very small (1/8th - 1/4 oz) jigs. If you plan to spend a lot of time on the water I highly reccomend getting a few different baitcasting set ups for jigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits/topwaters, etc. along with your spinning set up. Having the correct set up for the lure you are fishing makes a huge difference. Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Another question I have is last year when I wanted to find deep structure and cover I looked at the shoreline and looked to see if the land jutted out or if it cut in like a cove and what I would do is use my Texas Rig worm with a heavy weight to feel out the bottom for structure and cover. This produced very well for me. Now for a jig I know it is a bottom bait and I have used it briefly not much what are some of your suggestions for fishing it on the bottom as a search bait? Quote
Spyder Bass Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Although i do really like my bait casting setup but im not convinced at all why its better over a spinning setup. Its all a preference to which one you like i feel. as long as the rod can handle the jig plus trailer weight then i wouldnt see why it wouldnt work just as good. Last year i did get a bait caster and once learned i do prefer it over spinning. It is a learning curve unlike using a spinning setup but rewarding in the end. If anyone has any facts to why bait casting is better please inform me as i am a beginner bass fisherman and am trying to learn all i can. Quote
bobh64 Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 In March or April I sometimes go a step smaller for a swim jig and go for the mini at a 1/4 oz just to get a little more suspended action in front of the sluggish bass. I have never had much luck with a slow spinning bait, If I were fishing a lake like Great East I would be up the northern end where the river is and catching them right at the mouth where there's a transition of depth from the big part of the lake. Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Anyone have good suggestions on trailers for jigs? Quote
NEjitterbugger Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Rage craw or baby craws are my favorites...  Rage grubs, twin tail grubs, chunks, and shellcrakcers are good too... I have yet to use a shellcracker as a trailer but am eager to this year... The strike king 3X ElazTech Denny Brauer Chunk is a nice producer as well! 2 Quote
Mainebass1984 Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Rage craw chunks are friggin awesome but don't under estimate the good old fashion uncle josh pork frog 1 Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Rage craw or baby craws are my favorites...  Rage grubs, twin tail grubs, chunks, and shellcrakcers are good too... I have yet to use a shellcracker as a trailer but am eager to this year... The strike king 3X ElazTech Denny Brauer Chunk is a nice producer as well! The actual Rage Craws or the Rage Craw Trailers? Quote
Super User Shane J Posted February 7, 2014 Super User Posted February 7, 2014 Either, Mike. I mostly just use the Craws and Lobsters. 1 Quote
jverrock Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 Only ten days till bass pro opens up its gonna be what holds me over till ice out 2 Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 Only 1 more day till tax return haha then I'm buying a couple new setups and some jigsssssssss 2 Quote
jverrock Posted February 9, 2014 Posted February 9, 2014 Got my eye out for a new bait caster my self Quote
Fly_Fisherman Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Got my GoPro all set up and working so I'll be making a youtube channel featuring mine and Jitterbug's adventures. When I get the page done and some videos posted I'll post a link so you guys can have a good laugh haha. 4 Quote
MikeOGNR Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 Well today is a good day haha I found out that My Uncle had given me a 7'0 Medium/Heavy rod awhile ago and I found it so all I have to do is get a reel for it and I'll have a new setup. Also I wanna figure out if I can put a bait caster on this rod I'll post pics in a minute of the rod and I want your opinion and if I can I want to spend roughly around 80 dollars on a bait caster. Quote
Mainebass1984 Posted February 11, 2014 Posted February 11, 2014 I believe that is a spinning rod. Better stick with a spinning reel. Quote
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