When to call it quits...?

[NewAngler]

Tomorrow we'll chase smallmouths on Cape Cod.

Sounds like a perfect day. I love those bronzebacks.  Post a report!

[Fishing Rhino]

Tomorrow we'll chase smallmouths on Cape Cod.

Sounds like a perfect day. I love those bronzebacks. Post a report!

Hope we do something worth posting.  

[hawgwalker]

This time of year you need to pick your days and dress for the weather. I avoid the wind when the water is in the 40's and usually don't start until 11 or so. My last day on the water last season in Maine was December 29th.

I struggle in October when the water temp is falling quickly though it can be an opportunity for a GIANT. The fishing actually gets better for me or rather more predictable as it stabilizes in the low 40's.

November is an awesome time to be outdoors and remember every minute your on the water late your making winter all that much shorter.

[Fishing Rhino]

Here's the report.

It was a nice sunny day, but quite windy.

It was a small pond.  158 acres.  Maximum depth a bit over thirty feet.  Clarity, could see the bottom to depths of 10 feet.

My buddy got there a half hour before me, launched the canoe, and caught a pound and a half largemouth while working the area near the launching ramp.

LOL about the launching ramp.  This pond on Cape Cod is accessed via a rutted, puddled, dirt road through dense woodland with parking spaces, and places to pull off when vehicles travelling in opposite directions meet.  It's roughly a three quarter mile trek through the woods.  Lumpy and bumpy, but the brush is cut back so it doesn't scratch the finish on your vehicle.

The "ramp" is a small sandy beach, but perfect for launching car toppers.  It's not advisable to bring anything in on a trailer, though it could be done.  Ten hp limit.

It's an extremely scenic, and fishy looking pond which abuts a golf course along one area of the shore.  Moderately developed with homes, but most are built away from the shore and hardly noticable.

Water temps mid fifties.

Once my gear was loaded, we fished the area near the ramp with no luck other than a couple of taps.

Left the small cove and entered the main body.

The water was flecked with white foam from the wind.  We tried a small sheltered cove but no luck.

We then drifted the windblown shore.

My buddy caught a huge crappie, bigger than a dinner plate as we drifted past a point.

We made another pass by the same point and I caught a smallmouth of maybe a pound and a half, and he caught a largemouth about the same size.

We then fished other areas with similar depths and characteristic but nothing other than a couple of tentative taps.

After being buffeted around by the wing, we went back to the cove where we launched, and let the wind drift us along the middle of the passage.

In a ten minute drift, we caught five largemouth, all the same size, a pound and a half.

Made two more drifts.  Nothing.

After the respite from the wind we went back to the point on the opposite side where we had caught fish earlier.  Nothing there either.

This is the area that abutted the golf course.  A small cut which passed beneath a foot bridge on the golf course led to what we thought would be a tiny pond.  It is passable in a small boat and has a depth of a foot or so.

We went exploring and figured it would be a small pond, maybe a hundred feet or so across.  

It ended up being a pond of four to five acres, thirteen feet deep in the center.

As we neared approached the pond through the cut, there were several swirls in the shallow water which turned out to be dink largemouth bass hanging in the shallows. A bit further in, I saw a couple of largemougth over a pound pass by us headed toward the opening between the ponds.

It looked like bass heaven and must at times based on what we saw upon entering.  Perfect for drop shotting.  Vegetation in most places less than a foot tall.  Ideal for feeling the sinker tending bottom while the bait works in the open water above it.

It only yielded one largemouth of a pound and a half.

All in all, we were satisfied. First time seeing the pond, and  having to fight the wind, it was still a nice day to be on the pond.  In spite of being windy, it was sunny, warm, and we caught fish.

We'll definitely go back.

[32251]

I went Sunday over in Alabama.  Cold front came through and the night time temp was 36.  Fish just shut off.  I kept fishing, trying new lures, line, rods, reels etc.  Finally caught an 7 pounder.....well sort of....the fish slapped at a lipless crank bait and when I set the hook, the lure snagged it in the side.  I got the fish in the net and took it back to show my brother. Let her go after that.  Glad I did not quit.

[32251]

Here's the report.

It was a small pond. 158 acres. .

You call that SMALL??????   I call 3 acres small. 8-)

[Fishing Rhino]

Here's the report.

It was a small pond. 158 acres. .

You call that SMALL?????? I call 3 acres small. 8-)

I guess it's all relative.  The largest pond in our immediate area is South Watupps.  It's 1700 plus.  That's small compared to Quabbin Reservoir in west central Massachusetts.

Quabbin is small compared to large impoundments in the South which are small incomparison to the Great Lakes.

For my purposes, small is a pond that can be fished in a canoe, kayak, or small jon boat, and fished thoroughly, hitting all the hot spots by rowing, paddling or using a trolling motor.  Small ponds can also be fished almost every day unless the winds are really whistling.

Three acres qualifies as tiny.  Anything an acre or less is teeny tiny.

I chuckled at your incredulity.  I assure you there is no slight intended by that remark.  Just made me think how we don't all share the same perspectives.

A quick story.  I used to be a commercial lobsteman.  I heard someone ask a friend of mine how far he went out from land to set traps.  

He said, "I'm never more than a hundred eighty feet from land, even if it's straight down."  From "shore" that would equate to thirty miles or so.

[Jig Thrower]

im too addicted to stop till the water freezes over

[Raymond de Leur Jr. A.S.]

I was raised in the Rocky Mountains...so I fish til it freezes and then switch up and fish while it is frozen.

Just remember, different species like different weather.

I went fishing one time in OK when it was 72 degrees and knew a cold front was coming with 40-60 Mph winds. Cold front was not a joke either..it went from 72 to 35 in less than 10 minutes. But since I knew it was going to do it (well anticipated it would be worse than expected) I already had the cold weather gear and I had a blast.

Being born and raised in the Rocky Mountain Region taught me several things but the most important was: Better safe than sorry. I always keep water and a blanket in the truck. When I go out, I plan for it to be bad. It is a lot easier to take it off than need it and realize you left it sitting on the couch.

[J_Pearson]

I didnt read clean through all the posts..but in reply to the original first post of this topic..this will be the first year that I'm not wrestling down at college, and I plan on launching the boat to fish here in Indiana unitl I absolutely cannot due to ice. I've read to many articles or stories from Greg Mangus about catching quality fish while having to break through thin layers of ice. Fishing's my passion and if I'm not wrestling I'm on the water, so I've gotta try it! haha..

Best of luck guys,

-JP

[breakyourrod]

Well I said on the first page that I was done for the year but this week has been so nice that I had to get out there. Caught a bunch everyday! I'll keep going till my fingers fall off I guess.

[90x]

It is never time to quit!

I remember I went fishing sometime in mid December. It was snowing and icy. I had just happened to have my rod in my family car. I decided to stop off at the skokie lagoons. The water is no more than 12 feet deep. I decided to use a buzzbait. The water was littered with snow. I casted my buzzbait out and wham right off the bat caught a bass. However, my family wanted to leave. Imagine the day I could have had.

The only time not to fish? Perhaps maybe a nuclear armageddon.