CCMD

Quabbin is a dynamite fishery. The motor restriction keeps a lot of people off of that water. It's a huge lake, too. First time I ever fished there, I caught a 3lb smallie and a 5lb largie. Bunch of other fish as well. S wavers, and the shellcracker bright gill KILL the bass at Quabbin.

+1 on Squam. I just moved to New Hampshire a little under 2 years ago. That first year, I bit the bullet and went out with a guide on Squam. We whacked 'em all day on a pre-spawn trip in May. Caught a bunch of magnum smallies on glide baits.

Looks like a Smith Baits Hitch X in the Spring Hitch color. I could be (probably) wrong, but that's my best guess. Let's see if he tells us.

I'm sure some of the other guys with more experience will chime in here. My .02 is that treble hook baits are better on rods that have more of a parabolic action. If the rod isn't loading down farther into the blank (i.e. all the play is in the tip), the head shakes cause a higher frequency of oscillation because only the tip of the rod is in play, so to speak. That higher frequency of oscillation means more moments of slack in the line, thus more opportunities for the fish to get off. I've had the same problem throwing treble baits with stiff rods. I've never used a Low Down XR production, so I can't speak specifically to that rod. In general, a more moderate or parabolic action is preferable for the treble baits. I switched to a Phenix M1 swimbait rod for my glides and other trebles, which has a more moderate/parabolic action, and I've had far fewer problems. Plenty of the guys on here throw the LDC rods, production and custom, so I'll be interested to see what they have to say from first-hand experience.

Have a Tatula HD on one of my smaller swimbait rods. Absolutely love it. Casts a mile. Good drag. Caught LM, SM and pike without difficulty. Fantastic for the smaller glides (S waver 168 class), wakes, etc.

That is one sexy looking bait. I'd be tempted to try and clean and eat that. Great work. I'm going to need to hit you up for one those bad boys in the future.

If you're using braid with a fluoro leader (which I do), try tying the Crazy Alberto knot (youtube videos abound). Best knot for that situation (2 dissimilar line diameters, shock leader, etc.). Regarding breaking the 30lb mono, I agree with Volfan: something else is afoot. Either a defect in your rod or the cover you're fishing nicked the line, predisposing it to break. 30lb mono (unless it's an old batch that has degraded) isn't going to break on a fish. A number of years back, I had the same issue with a spool of Suffix (I think) mono. Lost several fish in a week on the hookset. I tossed that line and didn't have any further issues. You can get a lemon of a spool (or maybe you grabbed an old spool that has been sitting around a while soaking up UV rays) and the line can snap on the hookset. Just my thoughts.

I was lucky enough to work really close to a community pond in Houston that had big bass. I've been fishing as long as I can remember (literally, my first memory is fishing with my dad). This pond in Houston was super clear (filtered water) and though there were tons of big bass, they were really hard to catch. I basically only caught fish on trick worms, Senkos, and Horny Toads (on top of summer grass mats). Drove me nuts that I could only catch 1-4 lb fish (outside of the spawn) but could see 6-9 lbers cruising in the clear water. One fine day, I'm walking the banks like usual, when I see this guy chucking this HUGE bait. I figure he's confused or just testing out tackle for saltwater or something, when he proceeds to whack a 5 lber right in front of me. (Later found out it was a 3:16 wake he was throwing). Dude was from SoCal, recently moved, and a member on the board here. We bumped into each other fishing that pond a lot, got to talking, and he introduced me to swimbait fishing. I started out with a River2Sea S Waver 168 on a standard MH rod. Loved fishing that bait in that pond. Caught a lot of nice 5-7 lb fish on that S-Waver (baby bass). The kicker for me, though, was standing on a bridge spotting for my friend. He was chucking a Deps 250 in flash carp towards some big cruising fish. He was backed way off, and I was up on the bridge looking down into the clear water to spot for him. Seeing a big 6.5lb fish shoot from 20 yards away and slalom with that 250, in perfect lock step, before crushing it was amazing. Easily one of the coolest things I'd ever seen fishing. Been hooked ever since. I still have convention gear and use it, but it rarely makes an appearance now. Moved up to the Northeast and discovered smallmouth love swimbaits too. Took a guided trip shortly after I moved up here, and blew the mind of a guide who'd been fishing that particular lake for over 25 years. I picked up a 7" glide bait in a trout pattern during a pre-spawn smallie trip. Guide looked at me like I had 2 heads and politely suggested that while it was my money/time, I would be wasting both throwing that big bait. I slammed 4 big (3-4 lb) smallies in the first 20 casts, with a couple more follows. Dude's head almost exploded. I tied him on an S-Waver 168 on one of my other rods, and after 15 minutes or so of trying to get the timing right, he watched a 3lb fatty track and slam the bait (water up here is super clear). He's hooked now, too. Best part is that now he takes me fishing for free, thanks in large part to the swimbait revelation that day.

Where can you find them? I know they're not on TW or Ichiban. Done checked there already.

7'6" MH Fast action rod 16" handle Rated 3/8 to 3 oz $109.99 on TW Picked this rod up recently as a utility rod for smaller glides, big underspins, smaller wakes, smaller line throughs, etc. I have to say, this is a really great rod for smaller stuff. I paired it up with a Daiwa Tatula HD 200 HSL, and it casts a mile. Rig was set up with Suffix 832 braid, 65 lbs, and a heavy fluoro leader (for the pike). Used the Eric Aske crimp set up for a 50 lbs fluoro leader and had no issues. When not fishing for toothy critters, will sub the heavy fluoro leader for a simple 17 or 20 lb fluoro leader with a Crazy Alberto knot and 4-5 feet of the fluoro up front. Action of the rod is really nice for a utility rod. It's listed as a fast action, but it has a little more bend down into the middle of the blank than a typical fast action rod. It's a perfect balance for being able to set a single jig hook with confidence while still having enough of a pseudo-parabolic action to throw treble baits on with confidence. It balances well, loads well, and casts great. I've been frustrated in the past throwing treble baits on truly fast actions with big fish generating a lot of slack with big head shakes. The head shakes causes that fast tip to oscillate a lot, creating slack and opportunity for the fish to shake off. No such issues with this rod. If you love a longer handle, this rod will feel short to you. I don't mind it for the smaller baits, so I have no issues with the 16" handle length. I used this rod couple of months ago on a trip for pike and smallmouth. It performed flawlessly. I threw a variety of baits with no issues. Threw a 3/8 oz 6" underspin swimbait rig (single hook) and had no troubles getting solid hooksets in both pike and smallmouth with the rod. Loaded well at the light end of it's rating and was easy to control casting the lighter bait with accuracy. Also used it to throw a Shellcracker, Jackall Mikey and Evergreen Esflat. Caught fish on the treble baits and had no issues with too much play in the tip on the head shakes. Rod loaded well into the top of the middle section of the blank to keep the headshakers at bay on the treble baits. (Side note: the Evergreen Esflat is a sneaky good bait). I will say that I don't think this rod really handles baits over 2.5 ounces well. You can do it, but it feels like a bit much for the rod. It's rated up to 3 ounces, but I wouldn't push it much over 2 unless you needed to. It could certainly do it in a pinch, but there are much better rods for the bigger stuff. In summary, I think this is a great utility rod for smaller baits. I would throw smaller jig hook bait and line throughs with confidence (big underspins, Mission fish, Rising Sons, little boogers, 6" Savage line through, etc). It's also a great rod for your smaller hard baits (Mini slammer, 7" slammer, Shellcracker, smaller wakes in general, and smaller glides like the S waver 168 and the Savage Shine Glides). Action is NOT fast enough to throw big frogs and you'll probably be disappointed if you're throwing smaller punkers or other walk-the-dog style top waters with the rod (bends a little far into the blank for the walk-the-dog action to come easy). $110 well spent, in my opinion. See previous post of Flipside for pike pictures from the trip. The smallies didn't make the post, but nailed a bunch and the rod did great.

I've got the same rod, and I'm a big fan. I use it primarily for medium sized glides: 175, suicide glide 7", Esflat, Gillroid, Gantarel, etc. Also good for TTs unless you're using the biggest sizes. It works fantastic, in my opinion: loads well and casts great. Seems to have more parabolic action than some of the less expensive options like the Guide Select series, which, in my opinion, is not a good rod for treble baits. The Okuma GS has way too much action in the tip, and those head shakes make a lot of movement that translates to fish throwing hooks with disturbing regularity. I upgraded to the Phenix M1 and haven't had the same problem throwing my treble baits. I made the switch last spring after watching several 4+ lb smallies throw both trebles on a glide bait near the boat without even having to leave the water. Water was crystal clear, and I could see both trebles stuck, but the GS tip had too much give and not enough bend down into the blank, and those fish managed to shake both hooks at least 3 times. 2 of the bronze backs would've beaten by PB but a healthy margin. Needless to say, I was, uh, "frustrated" in the multiple 4 letter word manner. Switched to the M1 and haven't lost a fish on a treble bait yet.

If you're talking about the Inferno series 765 utility rod, it's a really great rod for the smaller stuff. I have one and love it. I throw heavy spinnerbaits, line throughs, heavy underspins and smaller swimbaits like the jackall mikey, mini slammer, S waver 168s, etc. It's very versatile, with just enough parabolic bend to make you comfortable throwing trebles but enough backbone that you can throw jig hooks/line through as well. It hits that utility sweet spot pretty darn well. I caught smallies and pike on a recent trip with the rod throwing both jig hook and treble baits. Rod does will from about 1/2 oz up to about 2 1/2 oz. Once you get up to 3 oz it starts to get a little unruly. Anything 3 oz or more I throw on my Phenix M1 heavy rod (Deps 175, TTs ,etc.). You could probably throw most bluegill glides on it (Gillroid, Chibitarel, Esflat, etc.), but I'll usually throw those on my heavy rod as well. I've got mine paired up with a Daiwa Tatula HD 200, and it's a sweet combo. Highly recommend.

I use braid on everything. I use a fluoro or mono leader depending on if I'm using surface/subsurface baits. I've had no issues with this. Everyone has their preference. Some guys hate braid. I personally really like it. I can string 60-80 lb braid on all my reels and then vary the leader as needed. Obviates the need to have multiple reels or spools with mono or fluoro depending on what you want to do. Cuts down on the number of rod/reel combos I need to bring on the boat or bank for a day. Matt Allen of Tactical Bassin has a good video on making the switch to all braid. You can find it easily on YouTube or his website. It's a good watch. I made the switch a few years ago and haven't had any issues. Power Pro or Suffix 832 works well for me.

Currently showing 2+ baits for 2 different colors: 3D Gill and Reservoir Gill. Get 'em while they're hot!

Just joking, my man. I generally have enough funds to support my habit. Love the response for Ian. Way to lead the charge, BigSlant. That's straight up grass roots swimbait campaigning.

Hell's bells, what a response! Great to see guys jump in here and get this kid started. After this, if Ian doesn't become a big bait slinger for life, I'd be shocked. On an completely unrelated note, I've just realized that I'm only 14 and want to get started swimbait fishing if anyone is interested in helping a brother out with some sweet gratis gear....

Got hosed by the weatherman this week. Was a planning a trip to the same area yesterday, but Wednesday night the forecast called for sustained winds 20-30 mph by 10 AM with gusts to 50 mph. Me and my buddy decided to cancel. He went to work the next day (and he's the one with the boat), only for us both to discover that the front got held up and and the weather was perfect. Temps in the high 50s to 60s with low winds. The bad weather didn't blow in until after 3pm! But, he was already on the clock and couldn't leave. Dang meteorologists. Cost me another shot at some gators. The day would've set up perfect: low winds and good temps with sun until the late afternoon, when a big front blew in. Think the fish would've been biting on the leading edge of that front?? Oh well, my frustrations get a little better looking back at the pictures from last week. And I know those gators aren't going anywhere. I'll be back for 'em. Trev, if you haven't looked up the Eric Aske leader video on youtube, it's worth it. I rigged up that way with some 60 lb crimps and 50 lb fluoro and had no trouble. Didn't affect the action on the bigger swimbaits and glidebaits either. Definitely a nice way to go when fishing for toothy critters.

Moved up here recently. Couldn't believe I could drive less than 2 hours and catch pike like that. Always figured I'd need to pay a boat-load of money to do a fly-in Canadian trip (like you said) to catch pike like that. Now I know all I need is gas money and time off. That's a pretty sweet revelation.

Took a day off work yesterday to fish the Connecticut River. Target species was pike, and boy was it a great day. Cold front blew in over the weekend with temps dropping down into the low 20s overnight Saturday and Sunday. Monday brought a warming trend, and by yesterday (Wednesday), it was a perfect day to fish. Lucky, since I had blocked my work schedule about 6 weeks in advance and just prayed for good weather. Water temps were in the 54-55 degree range when we put in at 9am. By 2, they were up to 57 degrees in most of the water we were fishing. We were concentrating on shallow water 3-12' deep with access to a deeper drop in the vicinity. Remaining beds of small leaf pond weed were a big plus. We caught several smaller pike in 6' feet of water over weedbeds, including the 32" pictured below. The 2 big fish were actually caught on shallow flats near drops in areas of wood and scattered rock, no weeds in sight. We also caught a bundle of smallmouth while fishing for the pike. Let me tell you, those C-River smallies are footballs. All but 2 of the smallies we caught were 2.5-3.5 lbs. For whatever reason, we wound find scattered brownbacks up in the shallows while fishing for pike. They didn't seem to mind the wire leader or 50 lb fluoro, despite good water clarity. Though we weren't sure why they weren't down in 25-40 feet of water, we sure didn't mind flipping 'em in the boat. A lot of the fish (including several pike) were caught off 6-7" paddle tail swimbaits fished on a 3/8 to 1/2 ounce gold underspin jighead. Full disclosure, the 2 big pike pictured were not caught on swimbaits. They were caught on 1/2 ounce brown spinnerbaits with big tandem gold and/or copper blades. For whatever reason, that pattern was the one that was producing the hottest. I know they weren't caught on swimbaits, but considering they were 40" and 43", I felt compelled to include pictures. World class fish are hard to leave off a post. Best guess is that they were eating young smallmouth, chasing a big flashy brown bait. I did manage to hook up a pike on an Evergreen Esflat, a bait which also put a couple of football brownbacks in the boat. Chucked a Deps 175 for a while, but no follows and no takers. Needed something that was moving faster yesterday. Bummer, that. The 2 monsters pictured below both hit in shallow < 6' of water. The air was brisk and the sun was up with just a little breeze to chop the water. Both of the monsters came within 5 minutes of pulling up on a new spot. With good water clarity, you could see the huge flash as they smashed the bait. ZZZ, splash, crank, crank - FLASH BANG BOOM! Then, all hell would break loose as the other 2 guys quickly reeled up and the fisherman hooked up ran circles around the boat for about 15 minutes trying to keep the pike out of the motor, trolling motor, out of the rocks/wood, etc. Meanwhile, the other 2 guys would be shouting and dodging, calling for more drag or less drag, different rod angle, KEEP THE TENSIONS!!! Basic arm-chair quarterback stuff. It was awesome. Each of the big boys was hand-landed as they were too big for the net. All fish carefully released to swim back and eat just about anything they dang well please, at that size. Who needs Canada? World class pike are right here! Highlights below.

I fish some deep, clear water in NH, and let me tell you, the smallies destroy trout baits. I went on a guided trip when I first moved up, and the guide (great guy who's been fishing this lake for > 25 years) took a loot at my SB set up and had a very diplomatic smirk. I proceeded to put 5 smallies over 3 lbs in the boat in under 2 hours on a 7" glide bait, trout pattern. He was so shocked that he asked to use my smaller set up and tried a S-Waver 168 for about half an hour until he got the hang of it and promptly boated a 3+lb smallie. He's hooked. Yes, the big bass will know when the stocking happens. The hatchery fish are easy pickings. Fish the areas around the boat ramp or whatever the location is that they use to stock the trout that time of year. Hudds, glides, whatever you like fishing that's big and looks like a trout. High protein, easy meals are at a premium for a big bass. Don't overlook fishing the trout baits year round as well.

Appreciate the insight. I will be fishing very clear water as well, so fluoro may be the way to go. Anyone have experience with pike being particularly leader-shy with wire? The lakes I'll be fishing have 10+ foot visibility in most spots.

Have 2 trips scheduled to do my first-ever pike fishing in Ocotber. Bringing 2 swimbait rods and set ups to throw 175s, TTs and a host of other swimbaits at pike all day. Any recs on leader material? Anybody feel good about throwing big (and expensive) baits at pike with just a 25lb fluoro leader? Looked into the nylon-coated wire as well. Just wondering what more experienced guys who chase musky and pike with swimbaits feel comfortable with. Generally speaking, I like fluoro a lot for subsurface baits, but I'm not sure I feel all warm and fuzzy about subjecting fluoro to a pike's teeth with a $50+ bait on the other end, even if it is a hard bait with trebles. Any thoughts are appreciated.

First of all, thank you for your service. It's because of our military that we all go to bed at night without a real worry of bombs or invasions, etc. We will never be able to thank you guys enough. Stay safe in the sand box. Regarding the gear, I have an Okuma Citrix 364 LXA and I like it a lot. Great line capacity, pretty smooth, casts well. Very good reel for the price, IMO. The braking system on mine was a little rigid, and it took a me a bit to get it working. I had to apply so much force that I was worried I would break it, but now that it's broken in, adjustments are easy. Phenix M1 series rods are great. Check out the military discounts like the guys said above. Can't comment on Clear Lake, since I don't like in CA. Good luck regardless. Hope you catch the limit of a lifetime.

Some good colors up on Ichibian tackle right now. I just grabbed the last rainbow trout 175SS, but there are still flash carp 175s and rainbow trout 250s as of this post. Also some others, like wild carp, that can be tough to find. $55 for the 175SS and $100 for the 250SS. Even with shipping, that's better than you're likely to find anywhere in the USA. . Good prices on other swimbaits as well, as long as you're paying the shipping anyway.

Deps 250 SS trout pattern is available and $100 on Ichiban tackle. http://www.ichibantackle.com/showproductdetail.asp?productid=4895&name=NEW%20SLIDE%20SWIMMER%20250&manufacturename=DEPS I've ordered several times and shipping has always been on time and the orders correct.