Maine Bass Fishing

[Mainebass1984]

1 hour ago, MaineBassMan said:

More

 

 

BTW we didn't take pictures of all of them takes up too much time!

 

Nice boat ! Glad to see someone found openwater AND a few bass.

[Smokinal]

7 hours ago, MaineBassMan said:

More

 

 

BTW we didn't take pictures of all of them takes up too much time!

Wow BassMan you guys got on em!! Good to see!

[Dramer77]

Im from Maryland, but i will be up in maine monday for 6 weeks doing some training for work.. i plan on bringing some bass gear with me and try to hit some water while im up there.. I'll be staying in auburn, i hear the river that runs right through there is the best smallmouth fishery in all of maine.. Id love to meet up with some locals to beat the banks or possibly head out on the water...

[WestBranch]

8 minutes ago, Dramer77 said:

Im from Maryland, but i will be up in maine monday for 6 weeks doing some training for work.. i plan on bringing some bass gear with me and try to hit some water while im up there.. I'll be staying in auburn, i hear the river that runs right through there is the best smallmouth fishery in all of maine.. Id love to meet up with some locals to beat the banks or possibly head out on the water...

 

I'm away at camp right now, but there's also some really good lakes in that area.

Cobbosseecontee and Annabessacook lakes about 30 minutes east of Auburn are awesome

[jbmaine]

Jim from southern Maine here. All the waters around me are open but I've yet to get my boat in the water. Hope to soon and will start to report local conditions.

 Where do we stand on the lead ban? Do I understand correctly we can still use lead until sept of this year?

                                                            Jim

[Smokinal]

2 hours ago, jbmaine said:

Jim from southern Maine here. All the waters around me are open but I've yet to get my boat in the water. Hope to soon and will start to report local conditions.

 Where do we stand on the lead ban? Do I understand correctly we can still use lead until sept of this year?

                                                            Jim

I hadn't heard that anything official even passed?!

[WestBranch]

Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §12664

Unlawful use.   This subsection governs the use of lead sinkers and bare lead jigs.

A.  A person may not:

(1) Use a lead sinker; or

(2) Beginning September 1, 2017, use a bare lead jig.

B.  A person who violates this subsection commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 may be adjudged.

[Mainebass1984]

3 hours ago, UpTheHill said:

Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §12664

Unlawful use.   This subsection governs the use of lead sinkers and bare lead jigs.

A.  A person may not:

(1) Use a lead sinker; or

(2) Beginning September 1, 2017, use a bare lead jig.

B.  A person who violates this subsection commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 may be adjudged.

 

It is my understanding that a lead jig with a skirt can still be used as well as all spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, etc.  I also think that a painted lead jig can still be used as well.

 

No lead sinkers for sure. Tungsten is better anyway.

 

Most of the water is I like to fish in southern and western maine is open. Saturday will be my first day out. It will be great to be on some nice fish again.

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, Mainebass1984 said:

 

It is my understanding that a lead jig with a skirt can still be used as well as all spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, etc.  I also think that a painted lead jig can still be used as well.

 

No lead sinkers for sure. Tungsten is better anyway.

 

Most of the water is I like to fish in southern and western maine is open. Saturday will be my first day out. It will be great to be on some nice fish again.

 

Good Luck Sir ~

A-Jay

[WestBranch]

Just trying to help move the ice out.

[jbmaine]

Thanks for the info. To me the bare lead part is interesting. I'm thinking of painting my bare lead tackle, weighted swim bait hooks, etc.

 

 I spend a lot of my time fishing the Acton area. We have a green Lund WC delux with a 20 hp Honda on it. If you ever see us swing by and say hi.

                  on a side note, I picked up my PB in that area last yr.  7.1lb LM

                                                                    Jim

[MainelyBASS]

The story yesterday for the most part was how tough the bite was. Yesterday was the first tournament Sunday of the season. I don't have reports from every tournament, but aside from the Little Sebago and Silver Lake tournaments which had winning weights north of 18lbs for 5 fish, most tournaments were a struggle. Mousam Lake had a 21lb winning weight for 10 fish. Arrowhead Lake had a under 10lb limit for 5 fish, and Cobb Stream had around 11lbs for a 5 fish limit. I fished Mousam Lake and only managed 1 bite all day. I found out afterwards that I was just fishing too fast. I was throwing the same baits as the person who won, but they said they would let their bait sit motionless for sometimes 30 seconds to a minute. Lesson learned.

[BassB8Caster]

I attempted to go out on saturday to find that many of the ponds i target are still frozen over. Will try again this weekend. Should be good to go after the warm up thats coming. 

[Smokinal]

11 hours ago, MainelyBASS said:

The story yesterday for the most part was how tough the bite was. Yesterday was the first tournament Sunday of the season. I don't have reports from every tournament, but aside from the Little Sebago and Silver Lake tournaments which had winning weights north of 18lbs for 5 fish, most tournaments were a struggle. Mousam Lake had a 21lb winning weight for 10 fish. Arrowhead Lake had a under 10lb limit for 5 fish, and Cobb Stream had around 11lbs for a 5 fish limit. I fished Mousam Lake and only managed 1 bite all day. I found out afterwards that I was just fishing too fast. I was throwing the same baits as the person who won, but they said they would let their bait sit motionless for sometimes 30 seconds to a minute. Lesson learned.

11 for 5 on Cobb is shocking! I would have thought in the high teens. I know a couple guys who grab some giants every spring in there. I was out yesterday and beat the bejeeses outta them from 6 to about 9. Then the cloud cover cleared, sun came out and it shut right down. I'll be posing a report as soon as I get vid edited.

[Mainebass1984]

This past Saturday was my first day on the water. It was a balmy 30 degrees when I got to lake. I could see that the water was up a bit which I always enjoy. I launched my boat and found that the water temperature was 40 degrees. I went to one of my favorite early season spot and started fishing a jig. I couldn't buy a bite. After fishing a crankbait, spinnerbait, drop shot, a suspending jerkbait, swimbait, a red eye shad as well as a texas rigged craw fished painfully slow I decided. I still couldn't manage a bite. Not he start to the season I had hoped. Almost 2 hours had passed with no bites or fish seen. My next spot which had been very reliable for me consistently for years also produced 0 bites. The water was even colder there 39 degrees. It was almost 1 pm by then. I knew I had to make a big move and switch game plans. I had a few options but choice to fish the northwest corner of the lake. After a long run I was fishing a suspending jerkbait in 6-8 ft of water. I was pleased to see the water temperature was much warmer there, 41 degrees. It didn't take long before I had caught my first bass of the season a 2 lb 13 oz largemouth.  After hours with no success I was rejuvenated. I stayed in that area until the very end of the day getting 2or 3 bites an hour. I had a couple big fish come unbuttoned which is always sad. My 2nd bass of the year was a 4 lb 6 oz largemouth. By the end of the day I had managed to land 5 largemouth and 1 2 lb 10 oz smallie. Lunker for the day was a 6 lb 11 oz hawg. After such a rough start to the day was very happy with how the day ended, finishing the day with a 5 fish limit of 6-11, 4-6, 3-1, 2-13, and 2-10.  The fishing turned out good but the weather could have been better, mist, snow flakes and a daytime high of 41 degrees was not ideal.

[DogBone_384]

Congrats to a good start.  More proof I need to retire somewhere OTHER than MA.

[MikeOGNR]

7 hours ago, Mainebass1984 said:

This past Saturday was my first day on the water. It was a balmy 30 degrees when I got to lake. I could see that the water was up a bit which I always enjoy. I launched my boat and found that the water temperature was 40 degrees. I went to one of my favorite early season spot and started fishing a jig. I couldn't buy a bite. After fishing a crankbait, spinnerbait, drop shot, a suspending jerkbait, swimbait, a red eye shad as well as a texas rigged craw fished painfully slow I decided. I still couldn't manage a bite. Not he start to the season I had hoped. Almost 2 hours had passed with no bites or fish seen. My next spot which had been very reliable for me consistently for years also produced 0 bites. The water was even colder there 39 degrees. It was almost 1 pm by then. I knew I had to make a big move and switch game plans. I had a few options but choice to fish the northwest corner of the lake. After a long run I was fishing a suspending jerkbait in 6-8 ft of water. I was pleased to see the water temperature was much warmer there, 41 degrees. It didn't take long before I had caught my first bass of the season a 2 lb 13 oz largemouth.  After hours with no success I was rejuvenated. I stayed in that area until the very end of the day getting 2or 3 bites an hour. I had a couple big fish come unbuttoned which is always sad. My 2nd bass of the year was a 4 lb 6 oz largemouth. By the end of the day I had managed to land 5 largemouth and 1 2 lb 10 oz smallie. Lunker for the day was a 6 lb 11 oz hawg. After such a rough start to the day was very happy with how the day ended, finishing the day with a 5 fish limit of 6-11, 4-6, 3-1, 2-13, and 2-10.  The fishing turned out good but the weather could have been better, mist, snow flakes and a daytime high of 41 degrees was not ideal.

Was the lunker you caught in 6-8ft roughly? I've been grinding it out with huddlestons lately and have landed a few fish still gotta keep grinding I know just looking for a depth range 

[Mainebass1984]

6 hours ago, MikeOGNR said:

Was the lunker you caught in 6-8ft roughly? I've been grinding it out with huddlestons lately and have landed a few fish still gotta keep grinding I know just looking for a depth range 

 

All the fish except the smallmouth were caught in 6-8 ft. Water temp was a bit cold for me to have confidence in the hudd. Id like to see 50 degrees before committing time to the hudd. Soon it will happen, maybe next weekend.

 

[MikeOGNR]

8 hours ago, Mainebass1984 said:

 

All the fish except the smallmouth were caught in 6-8 ft. Water temp was a bit cold for me to have confidence in the hudd. Id like to see 50 degrees before committing time to the hudd. Soon it will happen, maybe next weekend.

 

Yea it's a little bit warmer down in central NH but not by much I've gotten a few on the hudd 68 nothing on the 8in but that's how the hudds go grind grind grind and eventually that 1 fish will come 

[Mainebass1984]

9 hours ago, MikeOGNR said:

Yea it's a little bit warmer down in central NH but not by much I've gotten a few on the hudd 68 nothing on the 8in but that's how the hudds go grind grind grind and eventually that 1 fish will come 

 

The next couple weeks the hudd should work well. As you know you wont get too many bites with the hudd. The 68 special is the only way to go in my opinion. I favor the weedless so I can throw it in some very thick cover. I do have a exposed hook hudd that I BB rigged. That certainly ups the hook up ratio. I love hudds. I need to fish them more. Last year my biggest hudd fish was a 6-14 in the first week of May. Hoping to best that this year.

[WestBranch]

1 hour ago, Mainebass1984 said:

 

The next couple weeks the hudd should work well. As you know you wont get too many bites with the hudd. The 68 special is the only way to go in my opinion.

 

What rod and reel do you use with the hudd 68 special. I see it's a 2 oz lure.

 

 

[Mainebass1984]

3 hours ago, UpTheHill said:

 

What rod and reel do you use with the hudd 68 special. I see it's a 2 oz lure.

 

 

 

I use a Daiwa Jupiter Heavy action Flipping Rod. Never had a problem with that rod. Ive thrown some very large baits on it. Never broke on. I would like to get a swimbait specific rod but I think the rod I use does an excellent job.

[YungAngler]

On 4/20/2017 at 7:07 PM, UpTheHill said:

Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §12664

Unlawful use.   This subsection governs the use of lead sinkers and bare lead jigs.

A.  A person may not:

(1) Use a lead sinker; or

(2) Beginning September 1, 2017, use a bare lead jig.

B.  A person who violates this subsection commits a civil violation for which a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 may be adjudged.

so I no longer have any lead in my arsenal, but this law may not hold up, due to Trumps reversing all the environmental protections signed by previous administrations - see his change on lead ammunition.  I hate to get political on a fishing board, but I hope people realize these these local laws and ordinances will be challenged at the federal level and will allow individuals and companies, to more easily dump pollutants into our waterways.  i'm just thankful we live in a part of the country that values clean water and air more than personal profit - see most states in the Southeast.  also, keep in mind, congress wants to sell off our public lands for $.  This could easily happen in NH, ME, and VT.  We could lose access to many lakes and ponds by selling off these lands.  if you care about your local fishing and hunting spots, I hope you inform your congressmen of your concerns.  

[MikeOGNR]

6 hours ago, UpTheHill said:

 

What rod and reel do you use with the hudd 68 special. I see it's a 2 oz lure.

 

 

I use a 7ft heavy action bass pro graphite series Muskie Rod. With a shimano Cardiff 401A spooled with 50lb braid 

7 hours ago, Mainebass1984 said:

 

The next couple weeks the hudd should work well. As you know you wont get too many bites with the hudd. The 68 special is the only way to go in my opinion. I favor the weedless so I can throw it in some very thick cover. I do have a exposed hook hudd that I BB rigged. That certainly ups the hook up ratio. I love hudds. I need to fish them more. Last year my biggest hudd fish was a 6-14 in the first week of May. Hoping to best that this year.

Yea the hudd is a mental game watching keepinitreelfishing got the slow retrieve down for me I first started just going slow cranking but even still was fast than I started looking at the spool itself turn and painfully slowed it down too bottom crawl. Haven't picked up a hog yet but just time on the water with it will eventually get me one caught this guy on it last weekend. I like the golden shiner and perch colors the best, but the Ayu color does well also 

[Mainebass1984]

9 minutes ago, MikeOGNR said:

I use a 7ft heavy action bass pro graphite series Muskie Rod. With a shimano Cardiff 401A spooled with 50lb braid 

Yea the hudd is a mental game watching keepinitreelfishing got the slow retrieve down for me I first started just going slow cranking but even still was fast than I started looking at the spool itself turn and painfully slowed it down too bottom crawl. Haven't picked up a hog yet but just time on the water with it will eventually get me one caught this guy on it last weekend. I like the golden shiner and perch colors the best, but the Ayu color does well also 

 The rod I fish it on is 7'6". Tosses that beast a mile. You should see the 8 " hudd fly. I'm also using 50 lb power pro.

 You'll get a big bas son it for sure if you put your time in. I haven't got a 7 on it yet but I did get the 6-14 and saw my buddy lose a 7.5 +/- lber on one at the boat.  Another friend of mine who is 100 % swimbaits, 100 % of the time gave me an interesting tip... Fish the hudd like a jig. Its an interesting concept and the results will surprise you.  Have you tried fishing a hudd at night ??