Well, I'd put Squam and Winnipesaukee up against any lake in the country in terms of navigation hazards.  I have the charts from Duncan Press, and I use the Navionics Platinum card in my Lowrance unit.  I have a friend who let me borrow the Navionics paper chart, which is awesome for planning trips, and I use the info in Clark's NH Fishing book as additional reference material.  I like to browse over the maps for my intended route, and scout for any areas that look like potential areas to find fish.  Is there anything else out there that would make navigating a little easier?  What I have is good, but especially for these two lakes, the more knowledge the better. 

I recently bought, and tried, some jointed jigheads to use with my creature baits (Strike King Rodent) and some plastic worms.  I got the Arkie U-Bolt Jighead in 1/8 and 1/4 oz., and the Arkie U-Shakey Jighead in 1/2 oz.  All I can say is "wow"!  These are cool - they let the plastic get hooked separate from the jighead, sort of like a hinge.  They can be flipped, jigged, bounced, or crawled along the bottom and give a much different and more realistic look to your lure's presentation.  I was casting out the jighead, letting it sink to the bottom, and reeling it in like a crankbait along the bottom.  I can only imagine the erratic action the Rodent must have had, and the Smallmouth I picked up seemed to agree.  I have one rod in my locker rigged like this all the time now - I'm a believer.

Wow, I certainly didn't join the fellow fishermen community to take first place or gather the most points, but it definitely is pretty cool (OK, I'll admit it, when I started getting close, I was getting pretty interested in the standings).  I hope I do the site proud, as I try to help out with tips, forums, etc. and hope that if anyone reads the reports I post they have good luck. 

Just a quick addendum to my last post - I've kept all of my spinning rods at 6'6" - I found the 6' length limited my casts, and I'm just as accurate with a 6'6" rod as with the shorter version.   So, the two I had assigned as 6' M are now 6'6" M.  I've tried the rigs a couple of times now and I'm happy with the results...

So, another month and I'll be thinking about vacation... 3 days in western PA to visit the in-laws, then off to Florida for two weeks.  I know, it's hot there this time of year.  But that's when momma wanted to go, and if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

Just a quick blog post, more of a question really - Does anyone know if you have to belong to a fishing club to fish in local tournaments?  Where I live, there are almost a hundred small tournaments each year, but I don't belong to a club, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to fish in them.

Someone asked me the other day how much money I had tied up in fishing tackle.  When I told them a couple hundred dollars, they didn't believe me, until I showed them.  I was just as guilty as the next guy about buying the newest gimmick or having 12 different colors in each size lure, but the fact is, I fished with about 10% of what I had, and wasted a lot of money in the process.

Over the course of the next month or so, I'm going to be testing and refining my rod, reel & line selection for a number of fishing styles and techniques.  I don't have a big budget, in fact, I'm going to work around the gear I already have (this whole season has been a work in progress).   As I become a better educated angler, I'm making smarter choices and I'm hoping to make a system that works well for me.

I have a Tracker Pro Team PT175TXW with a 50HP Mercury 2-Stroke and a Motorguide Trolling Motor. What's important is the elctronics. I'm not a big tournament angler. I am lucky in that my schedule allows me to be on the water 3-4 days a week from ice-out until I put away the boat (usually November). Anyway, I can tell you that once I did a little homework about bass and bass fishing, I know there are a few key areas I always look for so I can make the most out of my time on the water. Good electronics go a long way to helping find those places.

I'm not rich, either. It's taken me a little while to get things together, but what I've got for a system is, I think, unbeatable. Even for local tournament fishermen. My total investment will be about $2,500.00, but if you subtract what I got by selling off "old" electronics, as well as culling out some equipment that I never used, my investment became more like $1,250.00. Expensive, but not over-the-top.
I have a Lowrance HDS-7 with the Navionics Platinum card at the console. The GPS is great, the resolution is great, and the Navionics information is invaluable. It's big, but not so big that I look like I have a TV on my boat. On the bow, I have a Lowrance HDS-5x Fishfinder. Again, the 5" screen is big enough for what I need, and the resolution is great. Now, new this spring, I got the Lowrance LSS-1 Structure Scan module. what I did was order an extra transducer and mount for the trolling motor, and I mounted the unit in an accessible compartment. It may seem like a pain, but I leave the rear LSS-1 transducer plugged in while I'm motoring along, and when I've got the trolling motor down, I just plug in the front transducer. So I've got structure Scan on both fishfinders without breaking the bank.
Anyway, the moral here is - If you're able, and willing, try out this combination of electronics. What you'll see under the boat isamazing. The side scan feature lets you "see" the rocky hump in 15 feet of water that's 100 feet to the right of the boat. And you can mark it is a waypoint. Talk about having an unfair advantage. But whether you're a weekend angler or fish in local or regional torunaments, catching fish is awesome, and making things easier to catch more fish is even better!