Shop Around

With the cost of everything sky rocketing lately this is hampering anglers from spending money on new equipment. Lately there has been somewhat a swing of products that are appearing at your favorite tackle supply store. There are companies out there that have the angler in mind when designing and manufacturing their latest products. These products as well as any other product will need to be looked at in the anglers’ hands to see if they will perform to that angler likes. Some will never make the grade but others will and at times surpass the big named companies as well. With money tight these days, the angler owes it to themselves to do a little shopping and comparing to the products that are out there and see what fits their abilities as well as budget at a given time.

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Fishing May 21 2008

This has been a very tough week for me fishing wise as the shoreline fishing was hampered quite a bit from the prevailing winds. Since air temperatures are not rising very much, this is not warming the waters very quickly and with the nights are staying cool as well not sure yet if the fish are through their spring duties yet. Over the last week I had been out 4-5 times and today was the first day that a nice fish was finally caught. Towards the end of last week there was one outing that I had caught a couple of male bass but that was it. Finally today a nice chunky 2.5 pound largemouth fell victim to my presentation. The area that I am fishing is a shallow flat in a cove and ranges from 1-3 feet as far as I am able to cast. Working a Texas rigged tube bait crawled slowly along the bottom has been the pattern as long as there are fish in the area. These are hard fighting fish and are a blast to catch and always wanting more whenever I am able to get out there. Unfortunately at this time I am restricted to a little time during my lunch time and if I were able to find a few hours I think that more fish could be caught. Just before leaving another male largemouth was caught and capped off the outing and finally felt good once again to have that tug on the line.

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Fishing May 14 2008

Today was shaping up to be a better day than the last two and I was hoping that the winds would have died down from what they were...the winds were considerably lower in speeds but was enough and also blowing into this area once again...the sun was bright with air temps in the mid 60's and hopes of the smallmouth moving back up were on my mind...the lunch trip was going to be short and only 20 minutes or so as I have a hot project at work that needs to get done...fishing with a tube bait once again and making long casts into the wind was the tactic today and fishing in 2-3 feet of water and I was telling myself that I need to get going and figured three more casts will be it...two casts later this largemouth latched on and definitely gave the WaveSpin reel a workout and also had the drag system screaming as well...this was the only fish caught on this shortened trip and we are going to be having rain coming in again tomorrow and the next few days as well...I have been checking to see if the panfish have moved in yet as well but the waters are a little cool for them in the usual places and no signs of them yet...

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Fishing May 13 2008

With the cold fronts blowing through and dropping the temperatures all around New England this is not helping the bass with their spring ritual...the last two days we have been experiencing gale force winds once again and the area that I have been concentrating on was getting a beating from the wind...at least spring like weather has come back and the sun was shining but the white caps were tough to fish through from shore...under these conditions it seems from past experience that the smallmouth will vacate these areas until calmer weather comes around...so my plan was not to spend to much time there and fan cast to see if any fish were cruising the area...was just about done and threw my tube into the cove on my left and under the windy conditions I was still able to feel the tap and set the hook...the fish was jumping out of the water and could see that it was a nicer fish and figured that it may be a smallmouth as it was jumping quite a bit...when it finally had gotten closer I could see that it was a very nice largemouth bass...biggest of the spring so far and definitely made my day under these wind conditions...tried four other spots going back to the truck but nothing going on at any of these...chalk this one up as another productive lunch and looking forward to tomorrow...

BackWoods Sportsman OutDoors

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Fishing May 9 2008

Was fortunate to be able to get out fishing during my lunch time once again and really had to watch the clock this time as I had another appointment right after...made the trip back to my usual spot to see if the smallmouth were going to be home...weather conditions were drastically different than the previous day as the temps were 15 degrees cooler, stronger wind blowing into this area, cloudy skies as well as rain spitting a little...made many casts and definitely could tell that this coming weather was playing a role in not getting bit...but was fortunate to at least catch one largemouth bass that was around a 1.5 pounds...this fish came on the tube bait and was cruising the shallows checking things out...this was the only fish caught and tried a few other areas before pulling the plug...didn't get out at all over the weekend and we have weather fronts coming through for most of the week so this will definitely be an interesting week of fishing...

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Fishing May 8 2008

Was only a couple of days ago that I was wondering what was going on with my spring fishing this year...usually I am into fish and this year isn't the case...but within the last two days I can say that my thoughts of a crummy spring have left my head and we are into fish and now let's keep that line in the water...

Yesterday I was able to catch a nice largemouth bass...today I went back to the same spot during lunch and the smallmouth bass are taking residence of the area...since the topwater bait wasn't doing anything yesterday, I used the tube today and they were liking that...wasn't long and the first of three smallmouth was coming in...at a 1-1.5 pound fish this was a great start and this fish had gotten my blood pumping for more...kept casting and a tap on the line and his brother was coming in for a look see as well...I could definitely see that the male fish were moving in and wasn't sure if the females were in suit yet or not...only a few more casts and that question was answered with a 2.5-3 pound smally battling my WaveSpin reel and tube combination...

Conditions were the same as yesterday with mid 70's air temps, sun bright, but there was more wind today versus yesterday but this area was still protected and the water is warming...fishing a tube bait with a 1/4 or 3/8 oz bullet weight and this heavier weight is allowing me to make very long casts and also able to work more water by doing this...tried a couple of other deeper spots on the walk back to the truck but no takers there...I had taken a shortcut through a part of the woods to get to my spot but the deer ticks have let me know who the ruler of those woods are...hoping to get back out there again tomorrow but will have to see where the coming storm is at when lunch time rolls around...in two days my dreary spring has started on fire and tomorrow and the day after that can't come soon enough...

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Fishing May 7 2008

My early season spot is a good walk around part of the lake and has a nice sand and rock flat that the bass seem to use for their spring time activities...so far I have only been able to catch a pickerel or two off of this area but today my first nice largemouth bass has appeared...the last few days have been gorgeous with temps right around 70 degrees and bright sun with little wind...I started fishing this area with a jointed floating jerk bait and there wasn't any activity that the fish wanted with this presentation...after grabbing the other rod that that I carry with me there is a tube bait tied on it and on the second cast I caught a nice 2.5 pound largemouth bass...this area usually holds numbers of smallmouth bass in the spring time and the way this fish was jumping, I thought for sure that I had a big smallmouth on...my WaveSpin spinning reel showed this fish who was going to win and it was finally nice to be able to catch a good fish again...hopefully this is now a sign that things are turning around and good things are coming going forward...I have been having a very tough spring this year compared to others and this fish will hopefully turn this around...

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Quick Release

As the weather warms and the fish are into their spring activities, this is a great time to get kids involved in fishing. The fish can be found in the shallow waters of our lakes and ponds and there will be times that catching them will be fairly easy. But we also need to remember that these fish are in the shallow water for a reason and we don’t want to disturb them to much. If we keep a few for a meal that is fine but a majority of these fish are going to be released back into the water. Quickness of this release is the name of the game to ensure that they are not injured to go back about their spring ritual. Quickly unhooking the fish and placing them back into the water gently allows them to go back to what they were doing and you are able to cast and catch another fish. By being quick about the release this will ensure that they survive for another day of battle and also instills the catch and release philosophy into the kids as well.

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