hamma

This time of year? Anything can occur from day to day. A good rule of thumb is, have a plan but be flexible with it. I will have the usual lures on and ready to go,. But I kinda hold back to committing them fully until I'm on the water reading temps, considering conditions, forage, and available structure/cover. Often I find myself starting in deeper water, working my way shallow. Contact to bottom is usually key here, hence the typical hairjig, bladebait, etc. Paying attention to any nibble, sniff, even lack of feel is always important. But no more than now. They are now coming out of the metaphorical freezer, some will thaw quicker than others. If you know your on fish but they seem still bit dormant. Your mind wonders, and it's easy to fall prey to outside influences. Stay focused on "current conditions", re-assess what's really going on down there. And stick to what brought you there, you, your experiences, your strengths, have confidence in whatever your throwing, and pay attention to that, instead of what might be. And oh yeah, a small single bladed Colorado spinnerbait bounced along the bottom Kicks butt

im surprised no one has mentioned inline spinners, or spoons.(unless I missed it) Roostertails, mepps agilia's, and countless other inlines have been responsable for many smallie wallhangers, also 1/2 oz Johnsons weedless spoon tipped with a 3 inch white grub swam through weeds, or a daredevil, little cleo, hopkins, crippled herring in open water. Any type of topwater, spinnerbaits. or even try approaching this with a "different" forage base like: catfish, pike, musky,''' or even dare I say cannibalism. and Ive yet to find a body of water a 4 inch white slug-o didnt catch something. No crayfish? very odd. this place must produce giants, otherwise,?,..why fish it

Long pond Harwich coughed up about a dozen smallies and 1 tiny largemouth yesterday. 5 fish limit would have been lucky to push 15 pounds, (which is pitiful considering that ponds past.) I saw a few bucks working beds close to the deeper waters I targeted. Once I saw the first one? I got that "good sign" feeling It was a chilly, cloudy and windswept day, ,... probably best weather I've seen there in years,..lol water surface temps ranged from 52.2 to 54.4, wind changed direction from northerly during launching, and southerly mid afternoon, which is when I found my first fish on a jerkbait. Most were caught on that same lure, with a few hitting a hairjig. Sad to see some of the old sunken tree's I knew of are now not more than a small patch of weeds,...or even worse,.. completely gone. But, today's technology provided new info for my old depth map. got to love mega chirp imagery, so freakin clear its really kinda not fair. add I-pilot's gps capabilaties? before long we will be beamed over to spots via touchscreen waypoints. Touch one and the boat will captain itself, or will it be a eco-friendly hovercraft by then? HMMM, makes me wonder if there realy is a co-relation between the increased tech/fishing pressure, vs quality bag limits on this pond. The fishing there really isnt even close to as good as what it once was. I miss the quality fat smallie "cabin fever fix" this place used to produce, as I haven't experienced that here in many years.,. i fear its gone for good. My first tourney was here in April 25 years ago. MAJOR difference,... John mentioned this quality fish issue to me a couple years ago,.,considering the fishing Ive done there since that discussion?.. Yeah John,...I agree.. Not what it was there at all,... I may digress to mashpee's proximity to the bridges from now on.

That lovely consistent Northeast breeze on Mashpee wakeby produced just 2 small smallies on one of my hybrid jigs in the 4 hours I had to fish. I found surface temps ranging from 52.8 to 54.4. I had fish under me everywhere I checked out, but they seemed to be semi-active as blades, deep jerkbaits, swimbaits, dropshot, a slow rolled spinnerbait, and grubs skunked out. Any beds I did see, were vacant. And, most fish marked were hanging over at least 16 ft. Typical mashpee fashion they were stacked on the wind blown point's and drops hard. Fishing them? lol umm they are being windblown, in raw, wet, mid 40's temp's on the cape. No wonder I was the only rig out there. The two fish I did catch came from near the no wake zone, directly on the bottom, fished very slowly, while marking fish.

thats a beauty! a pic worthy smallie if ever i saw one I"ve been planning to head there to test the tracker this week,... so,.. reports of bedding action going on? thanks for the heads up,... dont get me wrong,.I refuse to fish the beds, unless im facing a skunk, and see a potential patriarc sitting on one. (umm,... yeaah,..now that i think of it,... mama swine "could" be that 7lber these days. but,.. i digress) Great Job guys!

Nice bass Ken, congrats