April 22nd 2013: Zero Gravity Jigs + Magnum Super Flukes save the day!

On Friday morning, I got out for a few hours in Southern NH in my Marvel 10.  The bite was tougher than I expected and after flogging the water into a froth with some big swimbaits, jerkbaits, and other assorted lures with only some small bass and pickerel to show for my efforts - I switched tactics and tried skipping a Zero Gravity jig up into docks + trees.  The Zero Gravity jig is unique in that its head is made of a resin material (not metal) - because of this feature the sink rate is very slow which sometimes fish dig when they are in a neutral mood.  The downside is that it casts like a feather, but it does skip nicely.  Anyway, I came up to a good looking tree and started skipping the jig into from the deep side and working my way to shallower water.  At about the 2' depth, I felt a tick and set the hook on a bass that was absolutely stuffed.  She had about a 10" fish in her belly with its tail sticking out of her gullet and she still went after the jig.  The bass weighed 5-12 on my scale and it really had no business weighing that much.  It was a 4 lber body with a huge appetite.  Other than that one big bite, I didn't have any other chances at big fish.  Thank goodness for the jig!

On Sunday, I got out again at a South Shore pond (Mass).  Tough conditions with bright blue skies, NNE wind, high pressure, etc.  To make matters worse, I forgot my drive to the Hobie Revolution 13.  The bass were few and far between, but I did get to try out my new St. Croix Tidemaster MH power rod with moderate action.  Most modern rods have very high modulus graphite which makes them extremely stiff (fast action).  Sometimes it's nice to have a more moderate (more parabolic) action for casting weightless plastics, fishing crankbaits or swimbaits, protecting light line, fishing light jigs on stripers flats, and million other applications.  Anyway, I really like the rod and can't wait to throw it when my striped friends get here.  Back to the freshwater fishing....I was trying to find bass but not having any luck, so I thought that I'd try a 7" Magnum Super Fluke (green albino) with a Owner 10/0 Beast hook on the new rod.  The pickerel were all over it.  I had one prehistoric pick that was pulling the Hobie around!  They're fun when they get big.  It slipped out of my hand before I got a good weight on her, but I would estimate around 4-5 lbs.  Lots of other smaller pickerel slimed the Hobie, too.  The really small ones couldn't fit their mouths around that big 10/0 hook which I thought was a bonus.  I really like those Magnum Super Flukes and apparently pickerel like them just as much as stripers.

Later in the day, I met up with a friend of mine and fished for trout at another south shore pond.  Again, fishing was slow here - but picked up noticeably around dusk.  I missed a few fish early and then finally stuck a nice rainbow on a Thomas Buoyant spoon (red/gold) before we headed out to grab some food.

Here's some pics...

March 31st 2013: Jerkbait fishing in Southern NH

This is my first post on KayakFishingReport, so I thought that I'd say a few words about the blog and what you might find here.  I'm an avid fisherman who fishes all over New England - mostly from the kayak.  You'll find freshwater reports here all year (as long as we don't have ice) and saltwater reports in season.  I release 99% of the fish that I catch, but I will occasionally keep a few for my family and I'll post up cooking ideas from time to time, as well.  Most of what I'm going to focus on is detailed reports about why, how, what, and when I'm fishing, so that you can apply the same techniques where ever you might be fishing.  The only thing that you'll find missing is exactly where, although I will try to give a general location.  Let's get started......

On Sunday afternoon, I took out one of my non-pedal kayaks to a small pond in Southern NH and let the wind push me around.  This was my first trip of the year as the ice just left the ponds in my area.  In the Spring, the location part is fairly straight forward (at least in New England).  You want a few warm(er) days with a S wind pushing warmer water into the northern part of the pond/lake.  Generally, ponds will warm up faster than big lakes, so I usually start with smaller, shallower ponds.  Next I look for shoreline structure where I might skip a jig or weed bed where I could use jerkbaits.  This pond doesn't have great shoreline structure, but it does have some nice weed beds so I stuck with a jerkbait.

In the past, I started off the first trip of the year fishing small (small tubes + spoons - basically icefishing from the kayak). This year, I decided to start big and throw the big Lucky Craft Pointer 128 (aurora green perch) lathered up with herring-flavored smelly jelly.  I got a small bass pretty quickly and then some rat picks - the hits just felt like the bait got heavier.

The part of the pond that I really wanted to fish was a weed flat on the north side where a stiff S wind was pushing. The bass in this area hit the Pointer128 harder - actually hard enough to knock out the eyes - and there were more of them. Got a few more small bass and then a 4-4. A little while later, I stuck a 5-15. A bunch more small bass and a few more rat picks. After catching all I could on the 128, I switched to a smaller Lucky Craft Pointer 115 (ghost minnow) and caught a boat load more small bass and picks. Couldn't buy a hit on anything bigger than 2 lbs, though. I think the bigger fish liked the 128 better.
On my way back to the ramp, I found a little painted turtle. Looked about a year old - maybe just coming out of the mud. As I was leaving, the peeper frogs were starting to croak, too. I think Spring is finally getting started up here. Still some scraps of ice in protected coves.

All-in-all a good first trip of the year.

Here's some pics...