A Shoutout for NH Fishermen!!!

[fmoore]

  Quote

I got out today for a shortened day out. The weather was beautiful, the fishing was tough.I fished from 11-2 with one fish moved into a corner of the lake and caught 5 real quick and got another 2 so 8 all together. Thank god for that one corner or it would have been a brutally slow day. I think I may hang it up for the year, we will see what next weekends weather brings. Tight lines all.

Man, I can't largemouth fish to save my life this time of year. I call 8 fish in 3 hours a good little outing. I caught 22 smallies Sunday afternoon. Maybe I should stop tooling on the smallmouth and start trying to learn how to catch largemouth. It's getting to be a bit of a joke. All I have to do is go to my spot, toss a tube out and wait :

Do you mind me asking what general patterns and baits you look for/fish this time of year?

[llPa1nll]

  Quote

  Quote

I got out today for a shortened day out. The weather was beautiful, the fishing was tough.I fished from 11-2 with one fish moved into a corner of the lake and caught 5 real quick and got another 2 so 8 all together. Thank god for that one corner or it would have been a brutally slow day. I think I may hang it up for the year, we will see what next weekends weather brings. Tight lines all.

Man, I can't largemouth fish to save my life this time of year. I call 8 fish in 3 hours a good little outing. I caught 22 smallies Sunday afternoon. Maybe I should stop tooling on the smallmouth and start trying to learn how to catch largemouth. It's getting to be a bit of a joke. All I have to do is go to my spot, toss a tube out and wait :

Do you mind me asking what general patterns and baits you look for/fish this time of year?

Im looking for steep drops near shore or near a flat or on the outside of a weedbed. If at all possible try and find some bait fish. I know that sounds impossible but keep an eye out on the water. I will admit we bumped into a school of bait on Sunday and caught 5 bass in about 20 minutes.

As for baits, Im generally tossing in no order tubes, jig, search baits (rattle trap, blade bait, spinner bait, jerk bait), and a lil top water, just for fun.

I start my day fishing the deeper edges then working my way into shallower water as the sun, warms things up. Basically its the same idea as pre-spawn. Look for wood and rocks, blah blah blah.

Oh and I fished from 11-2 with 1 fish. The whole day I fished from 11-5 and caught 8. I didnt make myself clear. The bluebird days are a killer.

[fmoore]

  Quote

Im looking for steep drops near shore or near a flat or on the outside of a weedbed. If at all possible try and find some bait fish. I know that sounds impossible but keep an eye out on the water. I will admit we bumped into a school of bait on Sunday and caught 5 bass in about 20 minutes.

As for baits, Im generally tossing in no order tubes, jig, search baits (rattle trap, blade bait, spinner bait, jerk bait), and a lil top water, just for fun.

I start my day fishing the deeper edges then working my way into shallower water as the sun, warms things up. Basically its the same idea as pre-spawn. Look for wood and rocks, blah blah blah.

Oh and I fished from 11-2 with 1 fish. The whole day I fished from 11-5 and caught 8. I didnt make myself clear. The bluebird days are a killer.

Cool. Thanks for the info. I was hoping to get out one more time this season and go largemouth fishing but I'm not sure if I'm going to have time. Sad day...Seems like everyone else might be done for the season. Nobody else has posted on this thread in a while.

I got out Wednesday for about 2 hours and only caught 3 smallies. It's a disappointment but better than nothing for sure, especially this time of year.

[Push_Button_Bassin]

Took the kayak out this afternoon onto Kingston Lake.  Only got one bite, but it was a 4 lb 7oz. LMB.  I'll take those kind of bites.  Nice and fat.  Couldn't resist a weightless Senko while the wind was pushing me around the lake.  Caught it at 2 p.m. in the sunny shallows.

[Shane J]

That's funny, brother, cuz I also hit the water today in my small craft (10' jon), and only caught 2 fish, however, the first one happened to be the second largest of my life, at 7lbs, 5 oz. She lazily took a black and blue Chatterbait with a matching baby craw. Both fish were caught on this same bait, as I was wind blown against the eastern bank of this small pond. Smaller fish was 2-14. Here's a pic of the big girl, who I obviously safely returned to her spot right after the pics and a quick turn on the scale.

[jaystraw]

NICE FISH Shane!!

I got out myself this Sunday from 11-4.  I marked a ton of fish at the 18 ft range on my fishfinder, but I only got 4 to bite.  3 nice largemouth, and my last fish was a decent smallie.

Glad to see others are still out there. Good luck!

[SausageFingers23]

I got out on Sunday morning with two of my buddies from 6-10.  Ended up with 5 LMB and 63 pickerel for a total of 68 fish.  It was pretty ridiculous.

[Shane J]

Thanks, Jay, and wow, sausage that's a lot of pickerels, you must have been re-tying all day!

[SausageFingers23]

  Quote

Thanks, Jay, and wow, sausage that's a lot of pickerels, you must have been re-tying all day!

Yes indeed.  Those scoundrels are flat out nasty.

[SausageFingers23]

Didnt realize that b**stards was a blocked word.  The automatic replace feature used scoundrels.  Not my first choice...

[llPa1nll]

I got out Sunday as well. I put up with the light drizzle/rain and went out. We were out on the water from 9:00am - 2:30pm. It was rather slow, I couldn't really find a pattern that worked all day. I did get some fish. I caught a grand total of 7 fish. It was real tough work to get those bites. I think that I am going to wrap things up, I just dont have the time to get out. Tight lines all for the rest of you who are getting out.

[Push_Button_Bassin]

Nice fish there Shane. My biggest was 5 lbs 2 oz.  My Tracker's been put away for a month, but I usually run my jon boat til the ice comes in.  This year, I've been having more fun in the kayak.  I'm finding that, when I'm in the kayak, the fish end up pulling me rather than having the line snap when I'm in the boat.

[Shane J]

Thanks, man. Yeah, my boat's put away, too, and I'm milking it for all it's worth out of my jon boat. I just hate to be done for 4 months, ya know?

[llPa1nll]

  Quote

Thanks, man. Yeah, my boat's put away, too, and I'm milking it for all it's worth out of my jon boat. I just hate to be done for 4 months, ya know?

I couldnt agree more. I plan on winterizing my boat this weekend. Its a sad time/day but it has to happen. Tight lines for you guys still getting out.

[fmoore]

Got out yesterday for an early morning home by 11 outing. Ended up with 3 smallies, 1 going 3-14 and another going 4-0. The 4 was my first fish on a blade bait. Other two were on a tube. I'm going to be winterizing the boat and getting the ice fishing gear together this morning :'(

Sad day, but I can't get out this weekend and I'm really hoping to be skiing the weekend after that.

Good luck to all still fishing and happy Thanksgiving!

[Shane J]

Hey, fmoore, this year I'm gonna try a little more ice fishing for bass. Where have you found that's worth me trying out? I've only gone a couple times in my life, but I think I'm going to try it more to get me through the winter. I plan on building a bob house for my local pond, but I don't know how that will be, because the place is only 7-9' deep. Any suggestions, anyone?

[fmoore]

  Quote

Hey, fmoore, this year I'm gonna try a little more ice fishing for bass. Where have you found that's worth me trying out? I've only gone a couple times in my life, but I think I'm going to try it more to get me through the winter. I plan on building a bob house for my local pond, but I don't know how that will be, because the place is only 7-9' deep. Any suggestions, anyone?

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to recommend any spots for you. I usually ice fish at Wilson Pond in Swanzey, NH or on the setbacks of the CT River. Both of which would be a haul for you. I'm usually limited to ice fishing after school because I teach skiing on the weekends, so I have to stay close to home.

Anyway, that will be a fine place to fish. Here's a tip a friend gave me that will help when fishing new pond (or ones you've open water fished but never ice fished): Drill holes perpendicular to the shoreline, straight out towards the middle of the pond. Set up your tip ups and when you come to a drop off, start setting your tip ups parallel to the shoreline, following the contour line of the pond.

Another trick I like to use in weedy ponds is to take a square piece of chicken wire (small enough so it will fit down the hole) and attach some string to it in the center. This is light enough that it will settle on top of the remaining weeds, and you can place your shiners just above the weeds. The benefits are twofold: the bait becomes more visible to the fish, and it won't get all messed up in the weeds.

If you're in a new pond and you're not sure where the fish are, keep moving. If you aren't getting bites within an hour or so, move the tip ups. The fish won't move around a whole lot with the water being so cold and all, so you have to find them.

Just a few things I've learned...hope this helps. I'm sure other members can offer more advice as well.

[unhbass37]

Good tips FMOORE. Thanks for sharing.I'm not much for ice fishing, but if I decide to try it I will follow your suggestions.

[Shane J]

Yeah, thanks. Very helpful. I'm new to ice fishing, and don't know crap, so when I do go, I'll follow this advice for sure.

[fmoore]

Glad to help guys. Not sure how new you actually are to ice fishing, but if you need help rigging up, or with anything else I can show you my way. May not be the best way, but hey, it works for me!

[eloo]

I began fishing again this past summer after a 30 yr respite. I have really enjoyed perusing this forum. I live in Bow and have primarily fished at Turee pond.I have continued to go out in my rowboat when the weather permits.The bite has really slowed down but I have been catching some small bass using a 4 inch grub on a split-shot rig fished very slowly in deeper water(10ft).This past sunday I went to the pond and found a very large dead bass (5-6lbs.) on the boat ramp.I think it was the same bass i was lucky enough to catch on a yellow spinnerbait in early September(scarring on the right side near the tail). It broke my heart to see this magnificent bass dead on ramp.The day before there were howling 40 mph gusts all day and I wonder if that contributed to its demise.At any rate I have put the boat away for the winter.Thanks again to all of you  for the wonderful tips and stories.See you in the spring. 

0)   

[Shane J]

Thanks for chiming in there, eloo. That is too bad about that big girl at Turee. I'm already giddy with anticipation for next spring! I do think we got a cool bunch of guys from around our area here, and would like to arrange a big old get together next year. I know we've talked about it before, but we should really make it happen in 2010! I have really enjoyed and benefited from all the advise and stories from you guys also.

[Shane J]

I walked across my favorite pond today. On ice. Very sad day.

[unhbass37]

Only four months till it thaws. 

[llPa1nll]

Yea, I saw some thin sheet of ice across Long Pond in Pelham. My boat is now put away, visions of ice melting and a warm spring day are going to be dancing in my head for 4 months. Lets hope for a quick winter.