Northern first bass guess

[1984isNOW]

On 2/15/2025 at 9:44 PM, Swamp Girl said:

40-75 bass per morning

@Smokinal shared, now it's your turn @Swamp Girl 😁

 

I caught like 5 orb6 off a spot last year and felt pretty good, I think max in a full trip was like 10/11. I did lose a couple chunks last year too so there's that for me to think about all winter long 😮‍💨

 

I'm hoping to start earlier than I ever have before in my life. I'll be having another baby soon, so my time will be drastically cut down this season. I've never fished next to snow before, but if the water gets wet enough to cast into and there's still snow/ice around I just might give it a go.

 

But I can't see a fish happening until some time in April

[Born 2 fish]

March 11th ice came off the lake the last few days and it’s going to 60 on the 10-11th I’ll go find at least one bass.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, 1984isNOW said:

@Smokinal shared, now it's your turn @Swamp Girl 😁

 

Gosh, I'm happy to share, but at this point, I fear I've overshared as I post reports of all my trips and always relate what lures I used. However, in summary, I...

 

...fish as quietly as possible, which means no bumping the boat and I even paddle quietly...

 

...and lean on these three lures: popper (make and color don't seem to matter, but for whatever reason, I leaned on my Shimano pink Flashboost), spinnerbait, and underspin with a chartreuse and white swimbait, either Keitech, Crush City Mayor, or Zako. All three catch bass, but I think the Zako has the most wiggle and catches the most.

 

In the spring, I pitch the underspins into emerging reeds and beneath branches.

 

In the summer, I'm casting a popper and spinnerbait more.

 

In the fall, I fish on the move, covering as much territory as possible, and switch lures often. A walking bait caught some of my biggest fall bass and my fall of 2024 was my best season ever for big fish. I even caught a four-pounder, five-pounder, and a 4.5-pounder on consecutive casts in the dark. Here are some of my other big fall fish, but there were many others between four and six pounds:

 

 

And that's how I catch bass! I am adding some lures to my rotation for 2025. I've caught bass on jerkbaits, but some of the BR gang say it's a big fish bait, so I want to use it more. I bought some of Mike Siebert's (@Siebert Outdoors) spinnerbaits and chatterbaits and will be using those this spring. I'm expecting Maine bass to love Mike's baits!

[1984isNOW]

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

),

I appreciate the summary 😁

 

I've slept on the underspin, I'll give it a go. I'll be having another baby, so this season will be stunted, but I'm hoping to get to Maine a couple times because where I am in MA sucks.

 

Maybe i just gotta start looking at waters an hour away or so in any direction to find something worth spending more time on.

[Swamp Girl]

28 minutes ago, 1984isNOW said:

I've slept on the underspin, I'll give it a go.

 

One thing I love about underspins is my confidence in casting it everywhere. I don't remember a single snag in 2024, but that seems impossible, given where I cast it:

 

 

It's as weed-free a lure as I use. I also love how it catches bass in open water too at all depths. I don't have to switch lures to explore the water column. And I caught scores of bass in 2024 trolling it while paddling to a new location to cast. One time, I was trolling two underspins and hooked two bass at once, one on each rod.

 

One advantage of the underspin over the overspin, aka a spinnerbaits, is the underspin lands more softly. I caught so many bass with the underspin where it seemed like it landed in their mouths because it didn't spook them. I LOVE spinnerbaits, but they are noisier on the landing.

 

33 minutes ago, 1984isNOW said:

I'll be having another baby

 

I'm so happy for you! 

 

34 minutes ago, 1984isNOW said:

Maybe i just gotta start looking at waters an hour away or so in any direction to find something worth spending more time on.

 

My strategy is to fish scruffy water that's hard to reach. The water in the photo above is between inches and two feet deep. Lots of boats couldn't fish such skinny water and to reach it, I have to drive down a dirt road and then carry a canoe through the woods.

 

I can't compete with an angler in a bass boat with FFS and SpotLock. They outgun me. So, I go where they can't go. I think about a bass boater trying to drag his bass boat through the woods and I chuckle.  

[Bassbum1016]

As soon as Ice comes off, usually around St Patty’s day and always on a hair jig

[1984isNOW]

47 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I'm so happy for you! 

Thanks!

 

47 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

weed-free... lands more softly...explore the water column

I funks wit that, I'm sold. I have a couple I haven't really tried, I'll put'em in the box for this season.

 

Two on 2 rods at the same time sounds like a blast, how'd you manage getting them in the boat?

 

And I'm with you on small waters, big waters suck on a kayak without a motor.

 

I just only have like 5/6 places within about a half hour, maybe if i expand the territory it'll help. Problem is getting out at like 8pm means I gotta fish till at least 1am so if I'm an hour away that's a long night. Less of an issue when I'm 20 minutes away.

 

But maybe I'll do the same in Maine, I'll look farther away for small water opportunities, but then I'm also taking a risk for one of my few times to get out up there to maybe be fishing a big puddle that doesn't have fish in it.

 

I've been caught casting into flooded ditches that absolutely don't have fish, but I just gotta double check haha

[Swamp Girl]

18 minutes ago, 1984isNOW said:

Two on 2 rods at the same time sounds like a blast, how'd you manage getting them in the boat?

 

I actually have a lot of experience with bass on two rods at once. On the Mississippi, I'd sometimes hook three bass on three rods at once. Whether it's two rods or three, the key is to keep distance between your lines and to keep tension on the outfit that you're not reeling.

 

So, I pinch one of the outfits with my legs while landing the other bass, but I'll stop reeling to hard paddle once or twice to keep the other line taut. When the first bass is in the net, I don't unhook it. I leave it in the net in the water while retrieving the other bass and then net the other bass too. Two bass in the net! So much fun!!!

 

Three bass on three rods is where it gets tricky, but it can be done. That happened when I was fishing with live bait with two rods. I'd get simultaneous hits and set both hooks. Then I'd cast a jig because two simultaneous hits meant I was atop a school. 

 

18 minutes ago, 1984isNOW said:

But maybe I'll do the same in Maine, I'll look farther away for small water opportunities, but then I'm also taking a risk for one of my few times to get out up there to maybe be fishing a big puddle that doesn't have fish in it.

 

Maine Fish and Wildlife has reports of ponds and bogs that are only 10-20 acres. However, many of its pond reports are 20-30 years old, so even if bass aren't listed, they might be there. For example, the pond where I caught my PB LMB was listed as a brook trout pond with no bass. A lot can happen in 30 years. I've only fished one body of water in Maine where I didn't catch bass. However, I fished that one from shore early in the season, so it might have bass that I just didn't catch.

 

What kind of boat do you have?

 

[Darth-Baiter]

my good bud lives in Rochester MN.  he has been finding open waters..he is crushing trout.

[MN Fisher]

20 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

my good bud lives in Rochester MN.  he has been finding open waters..he is crushing trout.

I can believe the streams down there are open...just hope he's following the rules - C&R only on stream trout until April 12

[Swamp Girl]

24 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

my good bud lives in Rochester MN.  he has been finding open waters..he is crushing trout.

 

I just took a drive to see if I could find open water. The steeper streams are gurgling. The slower ones are still icy. I checked a bog and saw a couple feet of water open here and there on the edges. Today and tomorrow are cold and howling, but after that, the ice will be steadily melting.

[Pumpkin Lizard]

On 3/7/2025 at 2:50 PM, Swamp Girl said:

 

I just took a drive to see if I could find open water. The steeper streams are gurgling. The slower ones are still icy. I checked a bog and saw a couple feet of water open here and there on the edges. Today and tomorrow are cold and howling, but after that, the ice will be steadily melting.

 

Have you ever tried for Landlocked Salmon right after ice out?

[Swamp Girl]

34 minutes ago, Pumpkin Lizard said:

 

Have you ever tried for Landlocked Salmon right after ice out?

 

Those landlocked salmon lakes are both north of me and too big for a canoe.

[Bankbeater]

In an earlier post I said March 22.  I got this one yesterday on a small pond.  So I was off by 14 days.

[Swamp Girl]

@Bankbeater: 14 days earlier is a big deal. Speaking of big, look at your bass's head! It might be that the bass twisting makes it look like it's 40% head.

[Bankbeater]

2 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

It might be that the bass twisting makes it look like it's 40% head.

The body needs to catch up to the head.

[Swamp Girl]

46 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

The body needs to catch up to the head.

 

A head that big can eat above its weight class, so the body won't lag for long. 

[Pumpkin Lizard]

1 hour ago, Bankbeater said:

In an earlier post I said March 22.  I got this one yesterday on a small pond.  So I was off by 14 days.

I caught some in Missouri yesterday as well. Might be even better today. We still have some surviving pockets of snow on the ground from last week too.