Do you love big bluegill?

6 Legal Largemouths

Landed 6 legal largemouth bass yesterday on Lake Raystown. The biggest, I'm holding, is 19" caught on a jigging rod. We were usingGum B

all jigs and Swedish Pimples attached to shiners and minnows. I was using 4lb. test tippet. The action wasn't furious, but it was enough to keep us happy all day.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim Gronaw on January 17, 2015 at 9:56am

Wow...cool! That's an excellent catch any time of the year! Congrats!

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on January 17, 2015 at 11:48am

Great catch and report Bruce ! Thataway man!! Do you set the hook right away or "bow to the fish" and count a few numbers before setting?

Permalink Reply by Bruce Tomaselli on January 17, 2015 at 11:59am

I waited until I could see they were clearly taking line and then I set the hook. It was by far my best large fish day ever for me on ice, but we never caught a pan fish. We really enjoy running into gills, crappie and perch, but I guess the largemouth had them scared away from the area. We'd rather fillet pan fish, but we couldn't pass these up. We caught a lot under size, but again, no pan fish.

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on January 17, 2015 at 12:19pm

Absolutely, I have success giving slack and watching the line move off and load the rod tip ,at which point I set .

I'm curious how deep these fish were and if it was a basin area....?

Permalink Reply by Bruce Tomaselli on January 17, 2015 at 4:07pm

Hi John. We were fishing an inlet around some down trees. The water varied from around 6 to 15 feet. I'm thinking those bass were in and around those trees because that's where the bait fish were seeking cover from predators. I guess that could be called a basin area, am I right?

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on January 17, 2015 at 7:27pm

Well ,the basin is the deepest area nearby as I see it . Saw some guys ice fishing in my local lake in what is a basin .It's about 20-25 feet for the most part there with a small 30' hole I believe. Most of the previous water leading up from the North end of the lake has 6-15 ' and then drops off at this spot about 50 yards from the dam and spillway . I should get over there soon and see what I can discover but it's gonna rain tomorrow supposedly .

Permalink Reply by Jim Gronaw on January 17, 2015 at 10:08pm

Hey guys...I've always set the hook at the slightest indication of a strike. I use guitar strings that I make for my 'spring bobber', or, wire indicator that I wrap and epoxy at the tip of the jigging rod.

Lots of my 'strikes' last ice season were actually 'up bites' where a bass would hit the KastMaster and take tension off of the line and the wire would lift up, indicating a fish was on. Many strikes, even from bigger bass, were quite soft and slight.

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on January 18, 2015 at 7:58am

Thanks for your input Jim .I've missed my share of fish in my time and each take isn't the same .Depends on the day and things change according to the fishes demands. I don't use strike indicators on two of my rods ,but I sure catch more fish using them or spring bobbers on the other rods . If its a big shiner or minnow I generally let them take some line and don't strike right away but if its a smaller package I'll set sooner . I like the resourcefulness of your guitar string indicator!

Permalink Reply by Bruce Tomaselli on January 18, 2015 at 8:14am

PS. I know my hat looks goofy, but it's warm and stops the wind. Ha!

Permalink Reply by John Sheehan on January 18, 2015 at 8:21am

I enjoy funny hats on the ice Bruce!