Anyone Have Any Luck In Southern Nh Yet? (4/6/12)

[Shane J]

Yup. Mostly 17lb.

[NEjitterbugger]

Thanks Shane

[NEjitterbugger]

One more paycheck and I'll be a very happy camper!

 

[Shane J]

Aw yeah!

[bobh64]

Did Milton 3 Ponds today everyone said that this lake is dead for bass but they are out there, 4 total each averaged over 2 lbs and one awesome pickerel.

[Beverly Bassman]

Finally got a few fish on rage craws. 3 smaller fish, biggest was a pound and a half. Shane and others, thank you for all your advice. My bigger fish came on other lures. The hits on the rage craw were kind of tentative, like the fish weren't sure they wanted to eat it. 2 and 3 pounders were slamming my jig and 7" senkos. Overall, rage craws seem below average to me. Have fished them quite a bit now with very mixed results. Not ready to put them in my regular arsenal. I seem to get more and bigger fish out of other baits. I may try some other colors. I have been using bama craw, PB&J and black/blue. That's all I coud get at Dick's.

I wasn't really using the craw the way I originally envisioned, With the bright sun, the fish were buried in the cover. I was flipping into thick vegetation. Any bait I would throw would drop straight down and get bit or not. If not, just reel in. The stuff was too thick to work lures horizontally on the bottom. I originally saw the craw as something to use when over a rocky, hard bottom as a crayfish imitator. It did not really work for me in that situation. For flipping into heavy cover, I did get a few fish, but I think there are better choices.

[Shane J]

I'm glad you are having some success on 'em, finally. Not sure I agree that there are better choices, but hey, it's cool. One note on the colors you are fishing. Not that color is the most important factor, because it's far from it, but the colors you mentioned are more specific color choices for certain situations. I'd go with either Watermelon Red, or Green Pumpkin/Purple Gold for clear water or sunny days, and Falcon Craw for overcast days and murky water. Craws and Lobsters work for me in both rocky and weedy situations, no matter how thick the crap is. I will usually go with a Tx rigged Craw if I'm in slimy stuff, because it comes through better, and clears easier when I rip it through. Don't throw in the towel yet, bud, there's a new PB waitin' for ya in that Craw, trust me. 

 

Ps- The past couple of days, my Craw bite has been much like you described, very light and subtle. You MUST keep at tight line at all times to feel these bites. I would say semi-slack, but then people think it's okay to have a bunch of loose line floating around. It is, IF you want to miss fish. Always maintain contact with that bait.

[NEjitterbugger]

These are my big rage craw bass from this year, my favorite bait and soft plastic company out there...

 

[Shane J]

Good stuff!

[MikeOGNR]

Caught my first Eel this weekend in Northwood Lake man that thing was slimy you couldn't put your knee down on it the thing slipped through everything. Also caught a 3lber on a texas rigged power worm on some docks at dusk good to be back on the site haha

[Shane J]

Good to see ya again, Mike! I never knew there were eels in Northwood Lake! Cool.

[DevilDoc]

Eels remind me of snakes (shudder) hope I never catch one!

[Beverly Bassman]

Question for Shane and everyone else: when fishing heavy cover, as in large, thick weedbeds, I have usually focused on the outside edge (looking for irregular pockets, etc.). I will flip or pitch maybe 5 or 10 feet into the cover but that's about it. Any more and it's often hard to even get the bait out (texas rig or jig). I sometimes see fish rolling much further back into the weedbed - even further than a full cast. I occasionally work a frog over the top, but if they are buried in the cover, they don't always want to come up top for the frog.

Is it worth it to bring the boat deep into the cover so I can flip this stuff? Even my 80 pound Fortrex bogs down in this stuff. I may have to get a push pole. Do you guys think going deep into the weeds to flip is worthwhile, or do you focus mainly on the outside edges of thick weedbeds?

[Nashua Nev]

Here is my take.   If i think there might be a spot worth fishing, i will fish it.   Heavy weeds and crap may be a crappy place for us to fish,  I will fish around it as much as i can first , then to the edge and fish across as much as i can , If i need to paddle into it to fish across it i will,  If i think there are or may be fish , count me in, i will fish it.   If i pull a big fish , even a big pickerel out of some thick heavy crap it was worth my time and aggrivation.  only you can decide how far you want to take it. 

[Nashua Nev]

Go to the nashua river at night with some small night crawlers or dillies,  if you are not pulling up hornpout, you will be pulling up some big eels.  the big 3 foot+  ones put up a good fight.   foot long needle nose pliers , i try to to touch them,  they get all over everything with their slime.  and they will wrap themselves right around your arm if you let them.  They are just a pain. I try to just grap the hook with the pliers , twist it out and let them drop back in the water.

[Shane J]

Beverly, I feel what you're sayin'. What I do, is pitch in as far as I can if I think the fish are way in there, which a lot of the time they are. My swim jigs easily come over and through most pad fields, and get plenty of hits right on top of the stuff like a buzz frog. Tx rigs, I pitch to all the openings, and work it through until I get to the edge, and let it fall off. After letting it sit for a sec or two, when you move it, the bass that was keeping a fat eyeball on it, is going to inhale it. When I'm looking at real thick pads, I'll break out the punching rod (7'7"Heavy) with braid (65lb), and send a Space Monkey in there behind 1 1/2oz of Tungsten. Work it vertically in the holes for a few, then get it outta there and flip the next spot. 

[Spyder Bass]

i cant believe i read over half of this thread. so much good info and great bass. 

[MikeOGNR]

I have a question I've been looking into trying the Nashua river again. but every time I go there either I come out empty handed or I catch very small bass I would just like to know where some spots or places would be on the river to try also places that I can launch and fish other than Mines Falls Behind Stellos Stadium on the river. Just know there's some good ones in there and I want to put the odds in my favor.

[Beverly Bassman]

Regarding my question about whether it is worthwhile to take the boat into heavy cover, I was asking a different question thanperhaps what everyone answered.  I was wondering how OFTEN it is really the case that bass are holding deep into a field of lilly pads or other vegetation.  It takes a lot of time and effort to get back in there to fish it.  If I KNOW for sure there are fish there, yes it would be worth it.  What I was asking is, whether the odds are good.  How often do fish hold in that type of location, deep into the cover?  When I fish a new lake or river area that I am not familiar with, and find a deep field of vegetation, I will typically go along the outside weed edge and flip all along the edge, maybe 5 or ten feet into the weeds.  I don't go far into the cover unless I see fish back in there or something. 

 

I was wondering whether it's a better idea to ALWAYS work all the way back into the vegetation. If I see fish, yes I will go back in. But if I don't actually see fish deep in cover, I don't go deep into the pads.  But should I change my approach that I use all the time and start routinely going far into the cover?   That is more what I was asking.

[Shane J]

Oooooh. No, I pretty much think you're right on point with what you're doing. 

[Nashua Nev]

My buddy Stretch with a big un. from my favorite river from the shore.   We will call her The Little Beast. To put it into some perspective my buddy is  6 ft 11+ , and goes 350ish lbs.

 

No weight No length,  he just loves fishing and it does not matter the size. 

 

[Spyder Bass]

Size always matters when you are the one with the big fish lol

[jsc4324]

Got out two days in a row this week which never happens for me. Yesterday caught a nice one on a rage space monkey. Only weighed in at 3.5 but put up a heck of a fight. Fished turtle pond today and only caught two fish and I'm pretty sure it was the same fish as it was from the same spot about two hours apart. I expected a little more out of turtle but it seemed that everyone there was having a tough time getting anything.

Anyone have any good spots they want to share that has some bigger fish. Not looking for secret spots or anything but can't seem to even break the 4lb mark this year.

At least it was a nice day on the water.

[Shane J]

Dude, Turtle has much bigger fish, but nobody ever catches them, because they all do the same thing. Don't just fish for a bite, fish for the big bite! Most of the time when you do that, you have all the water to yourself. Try a C-rigged Eeliminator in any water there over 10', and tell me how that goes. 4/0 hook, 50lb braid mainline, 12lb flouro leader. 1/2oz weight should be good for ya.

[NEjitterbugger]

Dude, Turtle has much bigger fish, but nobody ever catches them, because they all do the same thing. Don't just fish for a bite, fish for the big bite! Most of the time when you do that, you have all the water to yourself. Try a C-rigged Eeliminator in any water there over 10', and tell me how that goes. 4/0 hook, 50lb braid mainline, 12lb flouro leader. 1/2oz weight should be good for ya.

 

I wanna C rig bad