KenP

I didn’t have the photo in front of me and got them mixed up. I haven’t had much time to look into it. Any idea if this can be spliced?

Last Saturday while fishing a tournament the battery for my trolling motor combusted. I’ve had zero issues with it and the battery is just outside warranty date. The negative wire got toasted but the positive looks fine. Can the negative be spliced for a quick fix until the fall? It looks like it was spliced by the previous owner 10yrs ago.

Fished Stockbridge Bowl on Saturday from 7-3. Weather channel said weather would clear up and be 50 by noon. Well it hailed, sleeted, and some rain in 20-30mph winds all day and never went above 38 degrees. I don't think I've ever fish passed the Q in my life. It didn't look like Mass anymore but my goal is to fish a dozen new places all over the state this year so I joined the NEBassin western mass division. 10 boats launched 8 weighed with half have 1-2 in the bag. We had 1 keeper to weigh in. Lunker was just over 5.5lb and the biggest bag was 13lb. Bass were in 5-6ft on the bottom in weeds. Pickerel were in abundance. The local guys were saying its a generally tough place. It had a bad algae bloom in the fall and was closed for a few weeks. We seen dead bluegill everywhere. With the weather I'd say it was the coldest part of hell I've been in awhile. At one point I think I had ice in my reel because it would periodically spin for a second in reverse while using a jig.

If you put your boat in there let me know so I can setup a GoPro and get the mayhem on video. Besides that if you do just focus on the breaks to deeper water for smallies. For Largies focus near the thomas basin up to stillwater river. They are moving into shallows on sunny days for the warmth. Some guys were hammering them early in the morning on the shallow rocky flats in less than 2 ft of water. Im guessing they were out near the break since they were tossing 1oz jigs with small keitech easy shiners and dragging it back over the rocks.

I took a break from tossing the big swimbaits and hooked into a 6.5 largie on a custom jig I made. Just after dinner time last night at the Wachusett Res.

I haven't travelled far I hit Long Pond in Rutland, Lake Waushacum in Sterling, and Chu in Boylston. Overall, jerking the megabass 110 has been king. Never thought I'd say it but that $25 was worth it. The darting action is spot on and large and smallies go crazy after it. I've gone through 2 Teckel frogs at some areas of the chu where its impossible to toss much else. Godzilla pickerel tear them up is the only downside. Even with the crappy cold rain yesterday i was able to get bit on it. Lots of bass still on beds and males smashing baits in the middle of the day at the chu. If you find the right places, the middle of the day is good to fish this time of year near shoreline on the shadey side. Another month and its gonna be very hard unless your tossing a heavy topwater late in the evening or early morning a country mile. To top it off I walked by a couple thinking they found a quiet place to get it on... They were so ticked they waited for me to leave before they came out from behind the bushes so I wouldn't see their faces.

The rt 70 side is very nice especially in the evening. I definitely love it there. I live on the stillwater and can walk to toss a line. While I'm young I'm going to toss big baits and hike to the less trafficked areas. I just started a FB group for people who fish it Wachusett Reservoir Fishing I'm hoping it grows like the Quabbin group did.

Take them to the stillwater basin to the train trussle bridge. You can sit across from it (no hiking req) and let them go to town on sunfish, pickerel, and rock bass with a worm. I did the rocks on the rt 70 side of south bay last night for smallies and didnt even get a bite. After the sun went down the trout were busting everywhere. Also, The first month or so there is a lot of pressure. I counted about 20 dead shiners in one spot and in others they were alive at the shore.

Not only breaking but they chip. I was breaking 3/5 hooks and if they did bend they had chunks missing.

That modification looks great. I've never modified any of mine. What tweaks did you need to do to get the different hooks to fit?

The first wave of bass at the wachusett res are on beds. Seen a few last night. Unless you tick them off the bite has been very slow. I've gotten a few large and smallies this week but nothing to brag about. The jig has been my go to this year. First bass for me was 5.13 in mid April I haven't had another over or near 5 since. Tossing the kitchen sink but the jig with a rage tail chunk has been a clear winner so far.

I hiked in from gate 16 on sunday morning. Was calm till mid morning but the amount of boats all trolling the shore line spooked a lot of trout into shallows. You could see them but they were so spooked they didn't know what to do. I lost a salmon at the bank because I was a dummy and forget to step back away. I sent out for my night pass I want to do the gate 16 area on some full moon clear nights when the top water starts later on. Some really nice coves and the drop offs in some spots are instant. Instead of an anchor have you tried a large drift sock or tied a couple 5 gallon buckets to drag. I find on my tracker in deep water it slows the drift way down just using a single 5 gallon bucket.

The best site for Slammers in my experience is swimbaitcity.com If he's got it its listed if not its not listed. I've bought 5 from him and he's really helpful if you have any big bait questions. He typically has a larger stock than TW.

Just so people know you have 1 hour after the official sunset time to fish. I got him with 10mins to spare! Thanks Hamma!

Got a new PB of 6lb 5oz on the 9" MS Slammer last night at the Wachusett Reservoir. Pic didnt come out good from it being dark and it took a few mins to get the hook out. Weighed it and got it released. This is what makes swimbaits so d**n addicting.

The way to get one cheaper than $109 is to get one on ebay or buy a silent killer and modify it. I've been waiting a year to find one in stock on a US based tackle retailer. When you buy one from Japan it can take a month to receive it. It's definitely worth the price. The action is great and the tail fills with water so on the cast it will torpedo in the water and makes very little noise.

I've been hitting a lot of the spots less travelled on the wachusett res at dusk till about 845. The bite has been slower than waiting in line at the RMV. From my experience this time of year a lot of fish turn into nocturnal feeders. Has anyone fished a high pressured lake from sundown to sun up lately and found more activity? I got the new Deps 175 in emerald trout its such a nice glide cannot wait for the fall but wouldnt mind getting bit now if the nighttime is better.

I'll be on vacation starting Saturday in Chatham for a week. Anyone who plans on going out for largemouth or smallies and has room i'll repay the favor in central mass.

Nice man its definitely a game of its own. I had a few hits but no takers on the "8 rainbow rof 16 yesterday morning. Checkout some of the other soft plastic baits from osprey, rago, 3:16, and savage gear that won't break the bank. It's a lot of fun and you will feel it in your shoulder for a few days

It's a fairly heavy bait if you can handle the 8" hudd rof 12 you will love it.

I've been doing fairly well in the 10-15ft zone. The bite windows have been typical for a full moon. By mid morning they are sitting on the bottom. Hit a nice top water bite last nite just before 9 got two 2.5lb smallies trying out my new megabass popmax. I've had some followers on the rago inline trout come right up to the boat but nothing committing. The 4.3 - 4.8 Keitech fat impact on a 1/2 oz dirty jigs swimbait head has been awesome. 2-3lb have been very consistent but nothing at 4 or larger. I can't complain 2-3lb smallies are fun as hell. TW just had their 4th of July sale. Was able to get the new whopper plopper 110 and some of the heavier chatterbaits.

@Janderson45 Looking at your last Quabbin rental boat pic. Do you mount a portable GPS/Sonar to the trolling motor you have on the side?

Did Webster Lake on father's day morning. Launched from the south ramp at 530am with no issues. Probably the best fishing day of my life. Got a 5 and a 6 and lost another as he bent the hook out. As others have mention bite completely died at about 11am. Wachusett Reservoir has been seriously slow. A few nice smallies here and there the past few weeks but they seem to be still playing post spawn since they had length but were very skinny. I skunked a few times and watched a bald eagle ****** something from a good ways out on the surface. Bait fish are busting on the surface a good ways out. I spent last weekend on Lake Champlain. Great smallie action even with the crazy fathers day derby they just had and a large bass tourney happening. Seen my first sheepshead, definitely a very strange looking fish. Lots of big fat white and yellow perch in between the smallies. Had a northern on for a few seconds but he made quick work of my 15lb leader. I want to get out on Quabbin soon. Was going to stop by and get a smallie on my way back from VT but my old man would not have any part of my shenanigans.

I took my metal detector crazy cousin with me to the wachusett res last year. He found at least a pound of old lead sinkers in the first 6" of the ground just walking the shoreline out on greenhalge point. I found a dead loon last year on the chu. Didnt think much of it but after catching a nice rainbow trout this spring and seeing it was living with someones junk line wrapped around it I assume the loon found someones broken off bait. Theres a ton of junk in the water more then we want to know. I **** you not I hooked a lead spinnerbait on my small swimbait. I have the clip in a video I posted https://youtu.be/hVgElllMGYk

Stopped by Stump Pond in Westborough on my lunch break for a quick few casts and my chik-fil-a. Got a nice 3.26 on a 5.8 keitech fat impact. Weedless no weight added just slow rolling through the weeds. Was very hard to go back to work...