Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[DogBone_384]

Spent Friday at Morton Park with the family & friends. Got to fish a chunk of the day.  Caught 6 bass, all on a T-rigged gourd green Zoom U-tail.  The biggest was just shy of two pounds.  I did a much better job reading my Lowrance & hitting my targets.

The best part of the day was putting a friend's 8 YO daughter on the front of my kayak and helping her catch her first fish, a yellow perch.

oh yeah, water temp was 72.x, the wind was light, and not a cloud in the sky.

[MassYak85]

I haven't been getting to fish as much as I would like lately. Was out Saturday with my dad and his friend. Fishing was slow, had to rig up some carolina rigs and slowly crawl them to get any bites. Had to rig up my dad's friend a 1/20 ounce ned rig with like half an inch off a zoom trick worm to get him a fish, he caught a sunfish on it. Hey, better than nothing. I hope to start fishing some nights in my kayak soon. I'm getting some lightweight longsleeve clothing to deal with the mosquitos. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

i smoked the sea bass over the weekend down the cape! we caught a grandslam of inshore fish. sea bass,fluke,tautog,striper,bluefish,scup,sea robin,dog fish and a squid.  it was so awesome! we often doubled up on sea bass with 2 fish on 1 rig. biggest sea bass was 5lbs and 25 inches! 

[Mr. Aquarium]

[DogBone_384]

Geeze Mike, you caught the aquarium .... Congratulations!

[DogBone_384]

Spent a few hours at Ponkapog Sunday afternoon, after getting there, unloading, and forgetting my paddle ?, reloading, roundtripping, and unloading again. The weather couldn't have been better. Water temp was 80.x and wind was light.  Ponkapog is down 1.5' since I was last here.

One kayaker was leaving as I arrived and said he'd caught a four pound bass. I managed two bass and a pickerel.  The yellow perch were active, nipping the tails off a few craws & worms.

Bailed about 3:00 to get back to work.

Drove to Long Pond in Plymouth after work Monday AM. Water temps were 74-75.x and the BP was dead on @ 30.  I started at the far end, in the little bowl, working around fallen trees & docks. I pulled my first LM out from under a dock, for sure I thought I had a new PB ... but my scale told me just under three pounds & 17" long. I have to check my scale ?!?!?!?.

I pulled one more bass, almost the same size from another dock. That was it though, by lunch the wind made it futile to try keep my kayak in cast ble areas.  

So far this season's been pretty good.  No bigguns, but numbers and size are better than '15.  I've gotten much better reading my Lowrance and hitting my targets.  

[Mr. Aquarium]

11 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

Geeze Mike, you caught the aquarium .... Congratulations!

yea it was so much fun! 

[trupp30]

I have a tournament coming up at West Monoponsett in a few weeks. I have never fished there before, and will not be able to get there prior to the tournament. Any info about the lake would be great. I appreciate the help.

[DogBone_384]

On June 29, 2016 at 9:18 AM, trupp30 said:

Try this: http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dfg/dfw/habitat/maps-ponds/dfwmonpo.pdf

 

 

[MassYak85]

Went out for a couple hours in my kayak on a local lake. Started throwing a T-rig shallow and around some docks, no bites. Decided to try a small cove, which in this particular lake, happens to be the only place where there is good lily-pad cover. Threw a frog way out there and 5 feet to the left of where it landed I saw the telltale swirl of a bass and the wake as it headed towards the frog. Fish on! Wasn't big but it was the first frog fish of the year for me. Probably my favorite way to fish when the bite is good. Managed to get 3 more between 1-2 pounds, and probably twice as many blowups where they just plain missed, seemed to be small ones slapping at it. In the waaay back of the cove where the thick lily pads turn into tall un-navigable tall grass, I lost one that was probably between 2 and 3 pounds. They were real jumpers today. Every one I hooked was flying out of the pads, over stumps. Must be getting ready for the summer Olympics  My hookup ratio seemed to be better now, after training myself last year not to get startled when they blow up on it, and fish with the rod tip high.

["hamma"]

On 6/29/2016 at 9:18 AM, trupp30 said:

I have a tournament coming up at West Monoponsett in a few weeks. I have never fished there before, and will not be able to get there prior to the tournament. Any info about the lake would be great. I appreciate the help.

 I took jg233 aka Derek out there yesterday. The bite was expectedly slow as a front came thru wed. and pushed the rains offshore leaving bluebird skies. I usually do well there but only managed 1 small crappie on a 1/8 oz jighead, with a 4 inch smoke grub. Derek did much better with a 1/8 oz pb&j ned rig, he got a nice pickeral,  small crappie, 2 smaller bass with a 3rd estimated 3+ bucket on the same lure,.. but it was a valiant fight as he was using 6 pd test line on a light action rod. (good job Derek). I was glad he at least got something decent. I learned that the ned rig works wonders, medications and sunshine are a good mix if your looking for a good buzz, and your never so experienced to learn something new

 I managed to get a few strikes but no takes with a frog over the pads, approx. 1 o'clock from the ramp. This place is loaded with perch, and a perch patterned shadow shad rap was the ticket in the spring and most of last year for my daughter, (I dont fish much when I take her) The water clarity on this side of the twin lakes is barely a foot or two due to algae, with the east side being much much clearer, (which is where i prefer to fish). If you can get thru the culvert and are allowed to fish the east lake. There is a sunken rock wall on the other side of the point thats to your left as you come thru the culvert, Its about halfway up that shore line, and I usually pull a few fours and occasionally a  5 or 6 off of it.. If your stuck to the west lake,  Id fish the pads across from the ramp heading north all the way up to the inlet with a frog and black/blue j&p. Topwaters will work in the am, and spinnerbaits in the wind as well. But said pads rule in summertime for me. 

Hope this helps some

[trupp30]

Thanks Keith, that will definitely help. I am restricted to the West side of the lake, so it looks like the pads are my best bet.

Also, thanks for the map dogbone.

["hamma"]

11 minutes ago, trupp30 said:

Thanks Keith, that will definitely help. I am restricted to the West side of the lake, so it looks like the pads are my best bet.

Also, thanks for the map dogbone.

No problem,...good luck

2 minutes ago, Keith "Hamma" Hatch said:

No problem,...good luck

Oh yeah, i just remembered, the first bass bets book by Ted Ancher has a write up on this place as well,  good books to have if your a NE bass angler

[JG233]

Lots of great fishing over the past couple weeks. I've done well with both numbers and size. There have been a few 30+ fish days and lots of fish 2-4 lbs, all of them fought like hell. I'm going to be moving to Arizona in mid-August, so I'm soaking up this New England summer while I can. Hope you all have a great 4th of July! 

[MassYak85]

Me and my dad went out for a few hours this afternoon after I got back from work. I managed three bass, all about a pound. Wind was howling today on the lake we were at. I finally got to see my Real Prey swimbait in the water for the first time. The ting looks SWEEEEET. And swims even better than it looks. Tail kicks at ridiculously low speeds, which I did not expect since it is tougher than most plastic baits (silicon). I got a distinct tug during the short time I was fishing it, which was encouraging, but I suspect it may have been a pickerel just taking a nibble at the big tail. 

[Mike2841]

Hit wachusett for about 3 hours this afternoon, landed a 3.3lb largemouth. Felt good to be out on the water, haven't  been getting out as much as I would like. Hope everyone had a good 4th. 

[Janderson45]

Did plenty of fishing the past couple weeks...

Had good success on the Norton Reservoir early last week, mostly with a chatterbait in a bluegill pattern, but also caught one on a frog and a couple on a texas rigged rage craw...

Repeated that same pattern and success on Winnecunnet pond the following evening, but more success with the frog on top and more pickerels in the mix... caught probably my personal best pickerel that was just shy of the 5lb mark... hit a bluegill pattern chatterbait by a weed edge in about 6' of water, absolutely crushed it, 14lb sunline sniper fluorocarbon didn't flinch during the fight and I didn't even feel the need to retie after landing the fish.. I've loved everything about this line since first trying it this season.. well other than the price tag maybe

Hit "Puds Pond" in Easton, MA in the kayak a few days later... pond is located in Borderland State park, and access is located off of a dirt road... pond was created by damming a river, and was dredged numerous times over the past decades to keep it from getting too shallow.. because of this the pond is nearly 12' deep near the middle, a nice contrast to the many very shallow ponds in my immediate area... anyways, I don't think this pond gets fished out of a kayak or boat very often, everything I threw was getting bit... squarebills, spinnerbaits, shakeyhead, texas rigged craws, topwaters and a floating jointed rapala... didn't catch anything to brag about as far as size, but had a very fun evening with constant action from largemouth and pickerel.  

I fished Lake Sabatia in Taunton, MA recently as well, struggled a bit more here..  It was a bit of a windy day, and jetskis/power boats kept me off of the main lake for the most part... I fished the inlet of the snake river that feeds into the lake.. I've done well here in the past, but not so much the few times I've fished the river this year.  Tried weedless topwaters, a shakeyhead worm and texas rigged plastics without very much luck at all...  options are limited in the river due to abundant lily pad growth.

Over the holiday weekend I fished with bass tackle for inshore species off the southern coast of rhode island, had a blast while taking a limit of black seabass.  Also caught plenty of Blues, Tautog (not in season unfortunately) and a few small striped bass to round out the day... all of which were a blast on a heavy action bass rod, 14b fluorocarbon, and a low-profile bait caster (shimano chronarch Ci4)

Yesterday I was still down in RI and fished Worden's pond in Wakefield.  I love to fish this pond whenever I'm in the area (quite frequently) but it really kicked our butts yesterday.. wind was blowing 15-20mphs out of the SSW and was unrelenting... still thought i'd be able to find a good chatter bait/spinnerbait bite if I hung out long enough and fought the wind... I was wrong.  Tried mainly targetting weed edges and windswept points... not even a whiff.  Also tried a bit of topwater and pitching some soft plastics to holes in the vegetation.. again no luck... one small white perch was all that bit in 5 hours.  Oh well, a beautiful sunset made it not seem as lousy.

Water temps nearly everywhere I've fished lately have been 78-82.. although in fairness I haven't fished any deeper/clearer/larger lakes that usually hold on to cooler temps in a while... 

Hope everyone is enjoying the fishing season, I recently bought a go pro and a mount for my kayak, so i'm going to start trying to snap more pictures and some video footage that I can share on here.

[DogBone_384]

Hit Ponkapog last Friday evening and Saturday morning.  Friday yielded two bass, a 2-2 and a 4-3, both on swim Senkos.  I wasn't there more than an hour and a half, to two hours.  The rest of the family was at work, so I figured why waste the time.  Water temp was 80.x.

ADD:  It was a good chance to try my new Kistler Helium 7' M/XF.  HOLY SMOKES is it light.  My first impression is that it's a light M, especially compared to my medium Veritas' that I use most of the time, but those are known to run a little heavy.  I like the tip, and with a banned reel and 30# braid I'd say it might be the most sensitive setup I have.  I'm going to toss some lighter texas rigged worms and play with other reels to reassure myself with the $249 I paid for it.  

I got there Saturday morning after dropping my daughter off at work.  I fished the western part of the pond by the furthest point, planning on the wind pushing me up towards the camp ground.  Worked a 5" swim/hula Senko in bass flavor texas rigged with a 1/16 oz weight to help it along and through the weeds.  I caught a little yellow perch, a really ticked of pickerel (that managed its way out of my kayak before I could get the scale on it), and two small bass.  No scale breakers, but it beats a blank.  The wind got tough by lunch time, so I bailed around 11:30. There were four other kayakers there.  I didn't notice them catching much.  Water temps were 79.x and a front had gone through Friday night.

Hoping to get out Thursday night with a friend's son who beat Lukemia and can now handle our 10' kayak himself this year.

[CavScoutA21]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forums and recently broke my fishing poles out of storage.  Now I have the "fever"!  Fortunately I work across the street from the Charles River between the Arsenal St and Eliot St bridges so I can at least wet a hook during my lunch hour.  Does anyone know where I can find a map showing the depth of the Charles River?  I'm trying to find some deep spots for the summer months where the bass may be sitting in.  Definitely hard fishing from shore but I did have some luck near Eliot St bridge yesterday with a couple of 1.5 pounders.

Looking forward to shaking the rust off!

Rich

 

[MassYak85]

1 hour ago, CavScoutA21 said:

Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forums and recently broke my fishing poles out of storage.  Now I have the "fever"!  

 

Welcome! The fever has no cure unfortunately, except more fishing

 

[DogBone_384]

Welcome to the forum.  Finding your depths without a chart or castable fish finder is easy.  Take a jig you know the fall rate, cast it out and time its fall until the line goes slack.  That'll estimate your depth.

[CavScoutA21]

5 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

Welcome to the forum.  Finding your depths without a chart or castable fish finder is easy.  Take a jig you know the fall rate, cast it out and time its fall until the line goes slack.  That'll estimate your depth.

Thanks for the advice.  I definitely have a lot more to learn!  ?

[Janderson45]

alternatively, on a large river like the Charles, you can look at online nautical charts or even call them up on your phone if you desire... Navionics has a phone app that is very nice for getting a general feel for depth contours and what not without a sonar... I believe it is 10 dollars.  If you don't want to pay that you can also access their charts for free on their website... I suggest using the charts that include "community edits" as it'll be the most up to date, detailed, and accurate chart. 

Welcome to the forum and back to fishing!

[CavScoutA21]

1 hour ago, Janderson45 said:

alternatively, on a large river like the Charles, you can look at online nautical charts or even call them up on your phone if you desire... Navionics has a phone app that is very nice for getting a general feel for depth contours and what not without a sonar... I believe it is 10 dollars.  If you don't want to pay that you can also access their charts for free on their website... I suggest using the charts that include "community edits" as it'll be the most up to date, detailed, and accurate chart. 

Welcome to the forum and back to fishing!

Thanks for the information Janderson!  

[DogBone_384]

Got back to Ponkapog with a family friend's son who licked Leukemia last year around 4:30.  Evan's again strong enough to handle our Native Redfish 10 alone, so off he went, using a jig and spinner bait.  He managed two pickerels, each around two pounds.

I paddled our Lure 11.5 to my normal spot and started tossing the same swim Senko I had luck with last week.  I hooked onto something big straight away, but didn't set the hook well enough, so all I saw of it was the white of its underbelly just in front of me.  The rest of the night was very strange.  With the swim Senko I had my trusty gourd green Zoom worm on a ML spinning setup.  Hooked onto two more big fish, but again lost them to bad hook sets.  Not sure what was going on, I was using the same setup as last week.

Also, both baits were picked apart nearly every cast by what I assume were Yellow Perch.   This continued throughout the evening until I landed a small bass (0-11) and pickerel (2-08) around 7:00.  By 8:00, or so, someone turned off the switch and all activity stopped.  

The weather was perfect, with the 'possible' thunder showers missing us.  My Lowrance battery was dead, but the water felt like bath water.  The barometric pressure was 29.7 at 4:30 and 29.95 when we left at 8:45.  I wonder if that was why the bite was so different than usual.  

It was a good afternoon, with Evan catching a couple decent picks and having fun.