This summer, my family spent a total of two weeks in Southern New Hampshire. The first fishing excursion that I was able to take was to Pawtuckaway Lake in the town of Nottingham. This lake was riddled with islands and bays. This particular adventure was based from Fundy Cove, which is located at the very northern tip of the lake. After working my way through a shallow channel in my Kayak I came out to a giant mat of pads. After throwing a hollow body frog around for over an hour, I was finally able to connect with the first fish of the day, a 14 inch Largie. With very little activity in shallow, I made a move out deeper and made multiple casts with various open water baits. I met up with my parents a little while later and my Dad told me that he saw a man in a bass boat catch a 3 pounder on a chartreuse spinner-bait just a little while ago and he pointed the exact mat of pads out to me.
On our way back to the launch, I snapped on a Chartreuse Square Bill and made a cast along the edge of the weed bed. Nothing, I then turned my kayak around and made the famous "Last Cast" in the opposite direction. It wasn't long before I had a fish slam the fleeing bait as it wobbled erratically past his home in the heavy cover. Bass on! With aggressive head shakes and only one treble pinned on the edge of his mouth, I grasped for the net. With a final dive right beside my kayak, I had won the battle shaking with adrenaline. I lifted the fish for my Dad to see and released the two and half pounder with a sense of victory.
Picture of Giant LMB Here 
Sorry we didn't have a camera with us this time.
The next trip that we made was to a smaller body of water called Powwow Pond in East Kingston. The first time that we visited this pond, was in the middle of a steady downpour. At the launch we ran into a couple of waterlogged anglers who gave some tips on what baits were producing for them. They told me that they had just caught a good haul of bass on wacky rigged worms. So I grabbed a bag of plastics and some hooks suitable for wacky riggin’ and hit the water. This was yet another very unique lake in the sense that it was almost completely filled in with pads except for a channel that was approximately three kayak widths wide. With an hour of fishing, an inch of rainfall, and no rod bending under my belt, I decided that I had had enough of the miserable weather and headed in. about 50 feet from the launch I decided to make a couple more casts when I suddenly saw my line move off to the side. I lowered my rod tip to the water and made a swift jerk upwards. Pickerel on! The feisty little critter put up an impressive tussle for a twenty incher. My perseverance was all worth it!
A couple days and a low pressure system later, my Dad and I headed out for a beautiful day on Powwow. I started off using the same wacky rig that I had used before, but it wasn’t long before I spotted bass busting baitfish in the pads and a frog was flying through the air. Unfortunately, not resulting in any blowups. I then switched back to the Zoom Magnum Finesse worm wacky rig. Suddenly I had a bass blow up right next to my kayak! I quickly pitched my worm to that spot and let it sink to the bottom. I knew that he must’ve swam the opposite direction, so I made a second cast to the other side of the ripples formed by the bass surfacing. My line made an abrupt stop after descending for only a second. Either my worm had gotten stuck on a weed or the fish had eaten it. I assumed the latter and set the hook into a two pound largie. My Dad snapped a quick picture and we threw him on the stringer for a fresh fish dinner.
I was able to repeat the process of seeing a fish surface, cast in front of it, and give him a taste of my thumb once more, before I decided to head out to some “deeper” water. Turns out that the entire lake only has a maximum depth of five feet. Perfect for the Super Spook which I had just picked up at Kittery Trading Post. With every twitch of the rod tip the bait would change directions, skittering across the surface in the classic “Walk the Dog” action that Spooks are known for. Along with the irresistible fish catching action of this lure, this model has a loud knocking rattle which is audible from over thirty yards away! It wasn’t long before a big bass erupted from the weedy waters beneath it. Catching the unsuspecting bait fish, and me, by complete surprise. This was the first fish in a while that I have felt the need to loosen my drag for. 30 pound test doesn’t mean unbreakable. After a minute of hard digging bursts of energy I was finally able to slide the fish up beside my boat and get a death grip on the biggest largie of the year! Weighing in at nearly 3 pounds, it was a monster bass by my standards.
Overall rating of this vacation: A++
Hope everyone else had a great Summer of family and fishing! As for Crayfish2 and I, we are beginning to focus more on hunting and this weekend was filled with the construction of a new duck blind in preparation for my second to last youth duck weekend next Saturday and Sunday! We’ll try to get out for some fall salmon fishing and I’ll be sure to let you guys know how we do! TLTA (Tight Lines To All), and God Bless PB
