"hamma"

Re-conned little, long, and great herring in plymouth yesterday,... all open with little and longs shores so loaded with trout anglers you'd have trouble dropping a boat in. Looks like the ides of March may produce a good spring for us bass anglers. Notice I did say "MAY". Northeast in spring can range anywhere from great for bass fishing,... or simply non-existent. Please be careful and wear life preservers while afloat til the water warms some. One quick dip can be very dangerous in such cold waters. (I like the manual inflatables) Anybody know of any "upper" Taunton river access, looks like bassy waters every bridge i've gone over

I've found many different colors available. It really depends on what waterbody your on up here. Greens, browns even blacks Ive purposely sought out and caught many crayfish, due to me being a jig and pig fan, and I tie my own jigs. Its like a quest at every new lake I fish, to seek out what they look like,.. I can honestly say there really isn't a prevailing color, so to speak. Not just color though, size and shape differs too,..slim and slender or stout and fat, long pincers, short ones etc. some so big they look like short lobsters. Kinda depends on where you are. what lake, pond, river. I'm minutes from Plymouth Ma, there's a long history in this area, alot has gone on, river dams, bogs, old farms fertilizers, chemicals, etc. This may have had some impact seeing that their environments were drastically changed so much. Some of the larger watershed areas will have similar bugs, but most around here? vary, Like this,.... I'll use a example pond Putnamville res. in Danvers. By the Dams rip rap you will catch a stout darker brown colored crayfish with some dark green and a few orange spots on the big roundish pincers,...flip it over and its mostly that dark brown fading into a light sand color, over in the weed beds you'll catch a much lighter colored skinny bug almost a sandy color mixing with orange and blueish highlights, on its thin short pincers, in the extreme northwest corner theres scattered rock flats, kinda in between the other two,... medium sized but the color more mimics the surrounding rocks color. so, i guess you could say its a brown pond. Couple towns away in Lynn,.. sluice pond is a green pond. In between these two ponds there's Browns pond in south Peabody, they are mostly blue in there Best bet?, Ya cant go wrong with black

Lol ,...I live in New England, fronts moving in usually means some sort of "change" occurs. Even the daily summer convection creates change here , Mt Washington's proximity to the altantic makes for some of the funkiest weather, Sometimes stalling a front for long periods , or ripping several thru in a day.so, I look at it like this,. The fish didn't educate themselves. They are there, I just need to figure them out no matter what's happening,...When a front rolls thru and they shut down? I go to the river ,..it's simple. B does it happen every front? No But it does, and I just react when I realize they are done biting So y'all can tout this or that. Don't make much nevermind to me,. When a 3 inch grub doesn't receive even a sniff? They are pretty much done dining for the day. I'm either heading home, or to some current.

Umm,. Yeah,. About this? Experience has taught me that the barometer changing does effect bass , when it's not changing is prime, but a sharp change has shut the bite down on me more than a dozen times like a switch. My reaction? Of course only after exhausting a grub for a while, Leave the lake or pond,.. for a flowing river. Rivers seem to eliminate, or should I say buffer the effects. So many times has this panned out for me I now automaticly do it ,..as long as the day has enough left in it. Typical summer senario, may invlove moisture, but that's just part of the deal

three banks, 15 amps per bank,... one night, all 3 batteries from dead to fresh. Ever go away for a week to fish? Trust me the extra money up front is worth it

over the last fifty years ive tried them all, some are good, all do their best, but,....Mike at Delaware Valley Tackle has outshined them all as far as im concerned,...He gets all my reels from now on. Steve at Als bait and tackle in beverly across from the public pier used to do my repairs and servicing and did a good job. But I haven't been up there in a few years and I'm not sure if he still services reels

hey all!,... horn pond can hold some pigs, try around the island, find the weedlines, I remember a cove opposite of the ramp,....had some good water over there. Actually right at the ramp my buddy bagged a 8 + many years ago. I havent been there in probably thirty years.

A giant loss to the fishing community, Kay was not only a wealth of information. she was a strong advocate against any of the shenannagins PETA pulled, any rare or specialized gear you couldnt find? either Kay at surfland or Sandy at the already gone northern bass supply could get it for me. She was always willing to order me any materials or lures she didnt have hanging on the walls in the shop,(all the while teasing me that im getting lures to catch what she called "bait") lol yeah, she jokingly messed with me about that one often,.... and was instrumental in many of my homemade lures that I now fish with almost exclusively. from spinner blades to skirt material, crimps, leader material, clevices, I got them all from Kay. my first fly vise, my first shimano baitrunner reel, and my beloved Penn surf rod, yup all from Kay's shop. From her never ending dedication to us anglers, to her personable smile. Kay overflowed with customer service, personal attention, and kindness. I for one will miss her greatly. She was one in a million RIP Kay, with a tear in my eye,.....I miss u already, without your ***? I wouldnt be the angler I am now.,.. TY the *** in the last sentence was typed out as "***", why it posted ***,... is beyond me the *** is typed out as the word ***

I cant believe no one has said it yet,... rookies! SSShhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,...... (In my best elmer fudd voice),.. be berry, berry, quiet,... were hunting bass huh, huh, huh, huh, ha. bass cant just hear with ears, they can actually feel the vibrations noise makes as it travels easier under water, with a line of nerves running down their sides called a "lateral line". Even if your shore fishing, tread lightly! Ive seen bass bedding close to shore, that have reacted to me walking by as I stepped on a branch and broke it,..he felt or heard that vibe! Boating? so many of us are used to all the electronics, motors, gadgets etc. Try just drifting along a shore line some day, without anything on or running. no finders on, just barely touching a trolling motor for safety's sake,... be silent, no dropping hatches shut, knocking over stuff, try to make but not a single sound. If a big fish is around, and she knows your there,....your 99.9 % already done. she's gunna back into a hole and shut down any activity til danger subsides. even baby bass have basic survival skills

Whatever it takes to accomplish the task at hand is how I approach this. From dropping a jighead straight down to suspending fish, to casting a spinnerbait a country mile with the wind at your back. Im sure we all have our own ways. Me? I try to be quiet when I need to. And make a slight racket, when the situation calls for that as well. He, he he, Knowing the difference? priceless. I mean of course the lures entry into the water, (cuz that "IS" important in any cast).... As for the mechanics of casting? Oh yeah,... With all the different ways to cast, you kinda need to be a maestro of sorts, sometimes waiving that wand/rod like an artist, smoothly and effortlessly hitting every note, beat, and changeup.. (like casting a jerkbait to visible cover) Something no machine could ever duplicate. Then other times mimicking a machine to the "T". Methodically, repeating the same exact motion over, and over, all day long. (like flipping) My casting styles may not work for you, and vice versa. A technical approach "usually" will work for some, like: hand positioning, rod angle, etc. and yes these will help. but the only true way to answer the casting mechanics questions? Is to be out there casting away, finding what works for you. rod strengths, line, and lure weights, can be exactly the same, but like dna we all differ. OK,. no more soapbox, today,... good to back online tho

Thats Awesome, Ken! congrats bud!

Had a few hours this am, so I checked out a new place for me. Tispaquin, in Middleboro. I tried a popr, nothing, spinnerbait, again nothing,...switched over to a worm due to the weeds,..again nothing. I finally threw caution to the wind and tossed a squarebill. 1 decent bass and a good sized pickeral later I headed home. Cooler temp,.. clear skies, lt wind. I figured it would be tough,... and it was

ulterra w/IPilot link! Im a cheap ole cuss!, swore up and down Id never spend that much on a electric motor. Not only am I dependant on it now. I'd put one on my crawdad if I could manage the battery space.

think of the question,..... answer? absolutley nothing. The hookset is your re-action, means nothing about a fish's activity. Finding certain hooks that the fish are hung on? are they the sharpest?, is the lure properly tuned? etc. etc.

Sebago itself is a tough lake to fish. I will agree to, especially this time of year. Some of the areas other water bodies are some of the best IMHO. Be it for smallies or buckets. Augusta area, down east, or sebago areas? is all good. Even Great East, Mousam lake, Arrowhead, and other waters south of the Sebago area offer some awesome Maine bass fishing. I know someone who lives in California now, but still has ties to my hometown. He comes out every year for 3 months to visit/vacation. Hangs around Boston for a week or so,.. Picks up his boat at moms home and heads up to just over the Maine border. Gets his lic./sticker at kittery trading post and starts his quest not far away from there. And works his way all the way to New Brunswick. The bass fishing is that good, and that widespread. Plus, your in Maine. Bass fish the early am bite,.. head in, get lobstah/clambake for lunch by the roadside, and fish another lake for the afternoon.

I visited an old friend, as in Whitmans pond in Weymouth yesterday. I had originally planned on fishing in Plymouth, but things change. So,.. I got about 4 hours to fish, and did my best to make the most of it. I knew the weeds would be up, and the wind right. But its been so long since I've been there last, I forgot what had worked in the past. And even more astonishing to me was the memory loss of the better areas to concentrate my efforts in. Whitmans was one of my friends "home lake", he took me there a few times, he would know the what, where, and whens there. But me? Im lucky I remembered how to find it.,...lol So,... I just packed up the crawdad with four rods, and two plano 3600's, with my usual weedy situation lures. And off I went for a battle with the "weeds from hates" (As Sam would say). Ummm ,...the weeds from hell ? lost! The harvester was running, so I vacated the ramp area, (as thats where he seemed to be staying) thinking it may be good later on in the day as everything will be active once the harvester's day is done, I sought deeper waters though, and I did find it. I started with a few good sized perch on a rattling squarebill over the deeper weedlines. And pickeral ??? lol the place is stinking with them. I dropped the squarebill cuz of them, and ended up settling with the single hooked approach. And Im glad I did,... I was having fun fan casting with a white spinnerbait, and pitching/flipping a black/blue jig. I ended up boating about a dozen bass, and maybe a couple more than a dozen pickeral. Biggest bass? about 5 lbs on the jig, came from under a dock almost on the shore,And she wanted that jig, it was so far in back of her mouth I needed pliers to remove it.. Biggest pick? pushed pike size, caught on the spinnerbait and simply trashed it,.. lol,.. its now retired for good, skirt shredded, wire arm so deformed I dont think even I can fix it. I recommend terminator spinnerbaits for this place., or maybe even steel leaders. the bass seemed kinda slow, but the pickeral were on fire.

I know that the Saco river had a campground on the river which you could get dropped off upstream and float back down to the campground. My buddies sister and hubby own it, I havent seen him in a few years but last I knew it was still there. Could work as a home base to fish the river and its areas lakes and ponds, Lovewell, Kezar, Hancock, etc. are not to far away to check out.

Hmmm,..I really dig that early morning mist on a secluded lake, which by the way had a empty parking lot at the ramp. You slowly creep along around a point and the lake opens up to you with the sound of a loon from across the misty abyss, the finders showing active fish, and you have all day.,.... that telltale "tap tap" on a huge jig and pig, you designed and fabricated finding that awesome working crankbait when you test out the first of five. when the spinnerbait your burning stops dead in its tracks, and gets slowly pulled down into the depths I must say I love it all, ,.. but recently I had the opportunity to revisit a old haunt, and it was truely exciting to ferret out old patterns, remember old nuances, structure with cover, productive areas,.. etc. Funny thing is alot of the old memories really didnt start coming to light til after I was on my way home. But thats ok,... tomorrow is another day, and I can return

Once I didnt have it with me, I had bought one for the year, as the ranger stated, but I had forgot it at home. He made me copy it and the receipt, and mail them to him within a few days.,... I did, and he let things slide. And this happened on Cobbosseecontee in Maine, which im not a resident of,... he coulda nailed me! But, I will mention that I have been stopped and checked many times over the past years. Mostly here in Massachusetts, living here does that. NH, Maine, Vermont, CT, they to have had their fun stopping me and checking my safety gear. Never again an issue like on Cobbossee, but always a pain.

You can read all the scientific data, add up all the variables, consider the recent changes "range", and still end up wrong. The effects of barometer don't just hinge upon the actual change at that moment. The changes for the past few weeks, their ranges and strengths will determine whats about to go down, with much more vigor then the actual change at hand. Meaning, the barometer may change slightly, and you will figure on that slight change, but what happens? Can be huge, nand go either way, considering what the past few weeks weather has been like. Water's density, pressure, light penetration, depth?,...mean nothing in reality. Think of all the times you were cruising along watching your depth finder to only see fish all over the different depth ranges When they shut down?,.it's evident Was it the light? I dont think so,...the rain?? doubt it,... Because they dropped down a few more feet? I disagree. They shut down because they are slaves to their environment, and have to follow its rules. when times are good they feed, when they arent good, they dont. Guess'es and assumptions may bring you close to the equation. But rarely does one angler have "their number" and "know" due to barometer changes. It's more like a guessing game than anything else Knowing when their gunna be their most active? ,.... Priceless! Being able to react, and still catch them when they are not active, or "shut down"? even better

I fish cuz i love to, so i dont let much get me "mad" while im doing so. Much like A-Jay, Id rather lean towards the positives, negativity bites

Yes, Will,...until she finally got to the surface. Once she hit the surface she unwrapped herself, and the true fight was on. After some "discussion" she saw things my way, and posed for the pic. I can still picture John laughing his butt off at me trying desperately to dislodge my jig from this particular "moving boulder",....lol Again,.... still a great day to say the least. TY,... John. Oh,..by the way,....John got the big smallie of the day,. weighting in at 4 lbs 5 ozs,...the one im holding came in a ounce or 2 shy of 4,... Not to bad for early season Quabbin angling

A favorite? 3/4 oz white stanley vibra-wedge double willow, with a white double split tail trailer thats got the last 1/4 inch or so dyed red.

Thursday and Friday of last week went as folllows,.. Thursday we fished a new pond to us both, mostly stuck to the shallows targeting both largemouth and smallmouth, but what was odd was the amount of hangup's with a jig. With both of us having a trolling motor at hand, the phrase,.. "did ya get it" was common. We both caught fish, with John really putting a hurt on em. Good job John Friday, I was fortunate enough to be on my favorite water body of beautiful Quabbin res. Again John put a good hurt on em, way to go buddy! And I managed 1, two and a half or so pound smallie on a jig I tied early in the morning, and then later on in the afternoon I got hung up. I says,.. "John, I got the world by the butt again", and tried to shake it off. He see's me tryin, and says "Did ya get it?" This came up tail wrapped at first,....

I know this pond, as I fish a few of these up here myself. Are they on bottom or roaming?,.. Both, depending on conditions, with suspended added in there for giggles. These fish are bass, just the same as bass found on definitive structure/cover. They just have a different set of options available. Recognizing the cues and clues, or "ever so slight" changes, will answer your questions. Match their forage correctly, fish where they are, at the right time. As many will attest to, right bait, right place, right time. These shallow clear water mudholes are a task, I will attest that it seems the fish have been beamed aboard the starship Enterprise for the spring months, or have left for Florida over the winter like the geese, and retiree's, and have yet to return. But trust me, they are there, and as you move around the pond, casting away at the usual targets, the fish are usually right beneath your mode of floatation, hugging the bottom, feeding voraciously on something, be it baitfish, crayfish, insects,.. whatever. These ponds?,. this time of year??? Tough deal, but not impossible. "Follow the yellow brick road",... consider ALL of the variables to piece the puzzle together. And that right there?? is the key