Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[CavScoutA21]

Well between work, weather, and family stuff I haven't fished as much as I would've liked this fall but when I have have for an hour here or an hour there it has been totally frustrating!

This October I have caught 4 bluegill, 1 perch, 5 overhanging trees (lost about $50 worth of lures), 100 lbs of weeds and leaves, and 2 half pound largemouth bass (although I have seen several making a bee-line for my bait then pull up short or they just bump my lure).  I know the problem is I haven't been able to figure out how to fish the fall bite (which seems to me like bigfoot at this point ie people say it exists but I haven't witnessed it) but this is my first fall fishing in a long time.  I haven't given up but just discouraged.  

I am definitely up for meeting at BPS and food at the diner if you pros don't mind a noob joining ya'll.  

[Mr. Aquarium]

went to Ny this past weekend, caught some good fish. 7 hour drive up there but so worth it. 
i caught 3 kings and 3 steelies. these fish fought hard. they were jumping and peeling line. i used 8lbs floro. i love the battle on light line. im more of a trout guy. i love catching the big browns and steelies up here. they are so awesome. i saw these steelies. i watched them. studied them to figure out what they want. they were feeding off dead egg. so i matched the color to the eggs. i had some good hits and missed a few steelies. 
i hooked into 2 big browns, a big steelie and many kings. lost a big brown at the net. my buddy couldn't reach it before it spit the hook. part of the game. my buddy ended up with 4 kings, not bad for a his first time up there. i showed him the ropes and he produced. im a happy camper. i love helping my buddys get awesome fish like these king salmon

[MassYak85]

Awesome catches man! 

[JAB50]

Very nice! Here's an 18lb Atlantic salmon I caught in Quebec this summer. Fly rod only! 

[Mr. Aquarium]

thats so awesome! i would love to catch any species of an atlantic. but a true atlantic is on my bucket list 

[DogBone_384]

Don't type FLY ROD too loudly .... I fear my next addiction coming on! ?

[Janderson45]

I fished Nippenicket 4 times last week (lol) Monday and Tuesday evening for a few hours in the kayak after I got out of work, from 9-5 on Friday, and then again Saturday for a few hours from shore.  

Did well enough each time out to keep me wanting more.. Located a good majority of the fish on Monday night, they were all relating to shallow weed edges that still had green for the majority of the weed lines.  On Monday water temps were 60-62 degrees, that was the only day I brought my electronics.. On Friday (when I fished it all day in my kayak) I caught around 30 fish, mostly pickerel, with 7 or 8 bass scattered in.  Pickerel ranged in size quite a bit, but a few pretty good ones mixed in.  Bass were all on the smaller side, most of them between 1-2 lbs.

Fished it again today from 11AM-5PM in my kayak.. Brought the Lowrance to check out water temperatures... They ranged from 46.5-50 degrees?!?!?  I couldn't believe my eyes.. Asked another guy in his bass boat what he was reading for water temp, but he said that he left his electronics at home since the Nip is so shallow.. He couldn't believe it either...

the numbers weren't there for me like they were last week, but the quality of bite rivaled the best of my life...

caught a 6.36lb LMB (new PB), 5.12, 4.02, and 3.77.  Only four bites I had all day... 

The 5lber put up a decent fight, but nothing memorable.. The 6 on the other hand almost ripped the rod out of my hand, I could still handle the fish pretty well with 30lb braid but as soon as she hit it I knew I had hooked into a BIG fish.

6lber

 

5lber

Others (from last week)

On Saturday, when I fished it from shore, I caught a 29" pickerel that I didn't take pictures of... It hit a megabass PopMax topwater over a weed bed.. After struggling to subdue the snake and getting all the trebles out of its mouth, I weighed and measured it but was concerned for this fishes health (it had been out of the water for a couple of minutes) so I released it without taking a picture.. I probably just should've done it quick anyways as it was a state pin and PB pickerel, but I didn't... It weighed 5.2lbs. 

I'm away this weekend, otherwise I'd try hitting it again somewhere, but early next week I have plans to fish Wordens Pond (RI) and late next week I have plans to fish the Wachusett Reservoir...hopefully there's still more good fish to come!

I really wish that I had my GoPro today for better pics of the big girls, unfortunately the Nip claimed it last week... (My fault).  Tough to get good selfies or do a fish justice from a kayak with an iPhone camera.. 

 

[CavScoutA21]

Congrats on the new PB!  

[MassYak85]

Congrats man! I might get a chance to go out Saturday. I I go I might try to just stick with swimbaits in the hopes for a big fall fish to end the season. The way they were feeding on bluegills last weekend leads me to believe I have a good chance of being rewarded if I stick with my mattlures bluegill. 

[DogBone_384]

10 hours ago, CavScoutA21 said:

Congrats on the new PB!  

X2 - '16 seems to be a great year for personal bests.

["hamma"]

Congrats on the new PB, and a great day of fishing for that matter. Lemmie know if you'd still like to fish off the Tracker before the ice shows

[Mr. Aquarium]

thats awesome man! congrats on the PB 

[DogBone_384]

Looks like were getting good weather this week. I'm off days the whole week: I'm targeting Long Pond and maybe Great Herring in Plymouth...

Good luck to everyone else that gets out this week!

[Mr. Aquarium]

went out bass fishin saturday. caught a handful of 1-2lbser on 8lbs line and jerkbaits. felt good, been a while since ive gone bass fishing. NOW ITS TIME FOR ME TO GET BACK AFTER THEM HAWGS

[je1946]

On 10/29/2016 at 7:49 PM, DogBone_384 said:

Looks like were getting good weather this week. I'm off days the whole week: I'm targeting Long Pond and maybe Great Herring in Plymouth...

Good luck to everyone else that gets out this week!

Let us know how you do.  Hammer and I are heading to Grt Herring as well on Wed or Thurs  was also thinking about Johns pond as well   so many options on the Cape. 

[JG233]

Gah! I miss fishing New England.

I'm in SF for work this week. I'll be back in AZ next week. I've a guided trip planned on some desert lakes and I'm hoping to buy a yak before the 1st of the year. 

Happy to check back on this thread and see everyone catching good fish!

[DogBone_384]

21 hours ago, je1946 said:

Let us know how you do.  Hammer and I are heading to Grt Herring as well on Wed or Thurs  was also thinking about Johns pond as well   so many options on the Cape. 

I've fished the Cape only a few times.  I'm just south of Boston so it's a hike for me, especially during Summer.  I worked on the giant house on Long Pond's western shore, not far from the launch, which is where I got the trout bug.  Fishing Rhino turned me onto Great Herring, where I got my 4-3 Smallie PB.

I drive a gray 4-dr Tundra w/FF plates and will be on an Ascend 128T.  Unless I get called into work I should be there at least one day.

Good luck.

[Janderson45]

Had a humbling experience yesterday at Wordens, fished it from 7AM-4PM, a large yellow perch that hit a 1/4oz spinnerbait saved me from getting "skunked" on the day (I guess?) hardly any consolation.  My buddy only managed a 14" largemouth and a small pickerel all day.  Highlight of the day was when a decent sized pike darted out of a shallow weed bed to smash my spinnerbait and knock slack into my line, turned back into the weeds and he was gone, we both got a pretty good look at the fish. 

Water temps started at 51 in the AM and got to as high as 57 degrees in some spots of the pond by the time we were leaving.  In the afternoon we could fish water that was 49 degrees thru 57 degrees, naturally I targeted the warmer water which also had better clarity.  It was mostly sunny and high rising pressure most of the day, wind was light and variable becoming SSW 6-10mph by the end of the day.  Water clarity varied from 4-5' to less than 2'. 

I threw spinnerbaits, shallow cranks, suspending jerk, shaky head, 1/2oz flipping jig.  He caught a fish on a floating jerk and a paddle tail Swimbait. 

Pond is 1000 acres with a max depth of 7 feet, but the majority of the pond is 2-4' deep.  I looked for green weeds, but the weed types and what weeds were still alive threw me off of my game.  I was looking for milfoil all day and could hardly find any... What there was a ton of was barren sandy bottom.. Not exactly ideal.  All along the edges of the pond has completely dead on nearly dead reed beds, something I have never fished before and struggled immensely with.  I tried throwing jerks and spinnerbaits through the alley ways in the reeds, spinnerbaits through the thinner areas, and a jig into some of the thicker areas.  No success, but there were definitely some fish in these tall dead grasses, I spooked a number of them with a bait or my kayak. 

Any thoughts or advice on this?  Why did we struggle so much?  How would you fish these conditions?? 

[je1946]

5 hours ago, Janderson45 said:

Had a humbling experience yesterday at Wordens, fished it from 7AM-4PM, a large yellow perch that hit a 1/4oz spinnerbait saved me from getting "skunked" on the day (I guess?) hardly any consolation.  My buddy only managed a 14" largemouth and a small pickerel all day.  Highlight of the day was when a decent sized pike darted out of a shallow weed bed to smash my spinnerbait and knock slack into my line, turned back into the weeds and he was gone, we both got a pretty good look at the fish. 

Water temps started at 51 in the AM and got to as high as 57 degrees in some spots of the pond by the time we were leaving.  In the afternoon we could fish water that was 49 degrees thru 57 degrees, naturally I targeted the warmer water which also had better clarity.  It was mostly sunny and high rising pressure most of the day, wind was light and variable becoming SSW 6-10mph by the end of the day.  Water clarity varied from 4-5' to less than 2'. 

I threw spinnerbaits, shallow cranks, suspending jerk, shaky head, 1/2oz flipping jig.  He caught a fish on a floating jerk and a paddle tail Swimbait. 

Pond is 1000 acres with a max depth of 7 feet, but the majority of the pond is 2-4' deep.  I looked for green weeds, but the weed types and what weeds were still alive threw me off of my game.  I was looking for milfoil all day and could hardly find any... What there was a ton of was barren sandy bottom.. Not exactly ideal.  All along the edges of the pond has completely dead on nearly dead reed beds, something I have never fished before and struggled immensely with.  I tried throwing jerks and spinnerbaits through the alley ways in the reeds, spinnerbaits through the thinner areas, and a jig into some of the thicker areas.  No success, but there were definitely some fish in these tall dead grasses, I spooked a number of them with a bait or my kayak. 

Any thoughts or advice on this?  Why did we struggle so much?  How would you fish these conditions?? 

Feel your pain.  Hammer and I hit Johns Pond in Mashpee today, Hammer with 2 dinks and a trout and I NADDA, not a single sniff all day.  Those 10MPH winds, lol were a steady 25 all day,  We threw everything in the bag at them but it was like the fish had lock jaw.  Thanks to Keith for the hospitality and gd company.  We still aren't done, plenty of fishing left, hopefully with better results

[Mr. Aquarium]

went out and did some night fishing last night! had some good action. few hits lost a good fish and caught a chunky 2-3lbser. 
all on swimbaits up top! 

[Janderson45]

They were biting better today...

Fished the nip for about 5 hours in my kayak this afternoon.  Strange but pleasant weather.. Water temps were 56-57 degrees, the water level was actually up a bit since last week.

caught 4 bass and 5 pickerel, fished a crankbait, swimjig, and spinnerbait all with success.  

Biggest bass went just under 3lbs

Anyone want to guess what they're eating?? ?

 

also caught another pretty nice pickerel.  25" and 4lbs :

[DogBone_384]

I got out to Houghton's Pond and later Blue Hills Reservoir, beating the bank for a bit.  Not so much as a whiff at either spot.  Houghton's is still way down.  One blue gill and a small bass cruised my leg at Houghton's too - I had my waders on.

It's going to be cooler tomorrow but I think I'm packing the kayak in the AM and heading south to Plymouth.  Haven't decided Long Pond or Great Herring yet..  that'll be an AM decision.

[MikeOGNR]

23 hours ago, swamp hawgs said:

went out and did some night fishing last night! had some good action. few hits lost a good fish and caught a chunky 2-3lbser. 
all on swimbaits up top! 

Night fishing this time of year? Hmm did you fish pretty slow? 

[DogBone_384]

Janderson45's late season success got me curious about 'the Nip' so I diverted from my original plan and gave it a whirl.  It sure is a BIG, SHALLOW place.  It was very windy and appeared significantly lower than normal from the dark lines on rocks I saw.  Surface temps were 54.X.  I cruised past the big island to see what was to see.  I turned back about 100 yards from the farthest shore from the launch because it was so shallow and worked the 3-3.5' areas around the big island where my Lowrance marked skads of fish.

I started with a little gold Yozuri square bill I did well with at one of Fishing Rhino's haunts and a Perch flavored Shadow Rap.  The Rapala didn't pan out so I switched between my go-to Zoom U-Tail and a white/chartreuse spinner bait.  The Yozuri got me a bass, roughly a pound or so on the NW side of the island.

I continued, without luck for the rest of the afternoon.  I tied on a Mepps spinner to see if I could coax ANYTHING out of hiding.  No such luck, but I didn't get SHUT OUT.

It looks like a good place to fish.  Perhaps I'll give it another shot in the Spring.  Hopefully we'll get a lot of rain/snow this winter and water levels will come back up.

[MassYak85]

1 hour ago, DogBone_384 said:

 Hopefully we'll get a lot of rain/snow this winter and water levels will come back up.

Yea it's going to be a double edged sword because if it snows and rains a lot ice fishing is going to suck, but if it doesn't and is just cold the lakes are still going to be low when they thaw in the spring.