Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[Mr. Aquarium]

been slaying stripers this past week

[BR1AN]

Whats going on guys. Been a while. I been fishing up in NH since my buddy lives 2 mins down the road from Angle Pond... Alot of big bass in there and tons of docks and other things you can play with. This one ate a purple senko right underneath the dock in front of the picture.

 

My buddy managed a 6 pounder off a Motor Oil colored Powerworm.

 

 

 

 

[DogBone_384]

Good to see you back on the thread Br1an.

[Janderson45]

On 8/20/2017 at 9:09 PM, gjfisher said:

 

I am curious, in your case, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently that may have helped you land that big fish?  Use a different setup?  Throw a different bait?  

 

Hard to say to be honest.  The fact that I got it to bite meant I was doing something right, and my gear wasn't seriously underpowered for the situation, I think I had a good chance of landing her if my rod didn't break but I guess we'll never know.

 

if I had a chance to do it over again I'd probably pitch the same jig on a heavier setup (7'4 Heavy Fast) with 60lb braid instead of 7'8 MHXF with 40lb braid.  I think the 1oz punch rig I had tied on initially would've done the job too but the jig was definitely the best bait for the situation.  My drag was fully cranked down because of the super heavy cover and I don't believe that was a mistake or issue. 

 

 

[Quarry Man]

     This past year i have been struggling to get my hooked fish to the boat. When the fish bites, I wait a second, then set the hook with the proper technique for that lure. Most of the time a reel set with a rod lift hooks them good. When the fish are first hooked and I'm using casting gear and a bait like a spinnerbait, the fish makes a big run and they lose their energy. As you stated above, when the fish is hooked in light tissue, and the drag is tight, sometimes the fish will come off. Most of the time i use my casting reels with heavy line is in cover. If i leave the drag loose, ill lose even more fish. Ive tried hooking the fish and going to them, but it is too hard to keep pressure and move the boat. While this technique of horsing fish out isn't 100% its as close to it as it gets.

 

     When I am fishing in open water and have a big fish or and using baits that are easy to throw, I do a lap around the boat. I believe i learned this from a pro like Brandon Paliniuk, but I'm not sure which one exactly. Basically, the lap around the boat keeps the fish from jumping and also tires him out, while taking away his head shakes. If you don't do this, and guide the fishes head to different sides he is much more likely to spit the hook, because it creates a weird angle. 

 

I went from a nearly 25% hook-land ratio to up near the 90's just because of those two tricks.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Smoked the fish last night! It was epic! My buddy got the biggest! 27lbs 43 inch fish!   

 

 I can't upload pics from my phone! Says the pictures are 2 big!

[Fishing Rhino]

Officials seize 330 pounds of illegal striped bass, 5 charged for exceeding limit

2

Updated on August 25, 2017 at 9:53 PMPosted on August 25, 2017 at 9:52 PM

 

 

 

 

7shares

By Dave Canton

dcanton@repub.com

 

BUZZARDS BAY - State Environmental Police seized more than 330 pounds of illegally caught striped bass from five Cape Cod Canal fisherman Thursday.  All five were given criminal summons to appear in court for violating the recreational fishing limits, the Cape Cod Times reported.

Environmental Police Maj. Patrick Moran said authorities have received many complaints about overfishing, but with perhaps thousands of people fishing and too few police to enforce state laws, only some fishermen are checked.

"We are shorthanded," Moran told the Times. "It's strictly a matter of manpower."

According to state law, each fisherman is allowed a daily take of one striped bass of at least 28 inches in length. 

One of the charged fishermen had 16 pounds of filleted fish in his possession. Moran said recreational fishermen are required to take their fish home before processing.   

The fillets had to be destroyed as unsuitable for human consumption, but the remaining fish were donated to the New Bedford-area Salvation Army.   

 

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/08/officials_seize_330_pounds_of.html

[Janderson45]

Been a huge problem at the canal for years.  People think because there's lots of striper around right now they're not vulnerable to over fishing.. in reality that couldn't be further from the truth.  Wasn't all that long ago there was a complete moratorium on striped bass on the east coast... 

["hamma"]

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

 

 

 

 

[MassYak85]

Just got back on Saturday, I was busy yesterday so I went to A1 for a night trip afterwards. I launched around 8, but I underestimated the mosquitos and almost called it quits pretty quickly. The temperature dropped and they quickly disappeared though. I wasn't really sure what to expect with the fish, but I did end up getting two decent bass, the bigger of the two was probably 2 1/2 lbs. The smaller hit a whopper plopper and the bigger one hit a jig. That bite was pretty cool. There was a deck light from someone's house and my line was laying right in the glare so I could see it and I saw the line jump as the jig fell. I swear I thought I had a 5lber on the line when I set the hook. My entire kayak swung 90 degrees towards the fish and I went to the fish more than it came to me. I went to net it and lifting it out of the water I was a little disappointed but I'll take it. I got both fish within 15 minutes of each other and after the the bite seemed to die, I think the cold might have started to take effect on them a little. I switched to a 10" power worm t-rigged since the jig was not coming through all the weeds very well but I wasn't able to get any on it. I think I may have had one bite but I blew the hookset. 

 

It was really cool to be out there though. The last few people were leaving as I was launching so I had the pond to myself. There was enough moonlight I could actually see fairly well even with my light and headlamp off. There was almost no wind too. This was my first true "night trip" but I'll definitely do this more often. 

 

@Janderson45 I'm probably only going to be able to get out again Wednesday so if by chance you are free and still want to meet up I'm game. 

 

 

Edit*

 

Had to start getting stuff ready for school today but I had some time in the afternoon so I went out on Maspenock for a few hours. I only got one fish but it was my new PB smallie! 3.26lbs, not huge but I don't fish too many lakes where the smallies are very prevalent. It was a welcome surprise since I usually only get a few each year at that lake. It hit on a whopper plopper on a shallow rocky point. It's also extra sweet because last season I lost two smallies of similar size on the same whopper plopper. After some hindsight I started throwing the whopper plopper on a different (mod-fast) rod this season. Before I was using my Fast jig rod and they were getting off on jumping headshakes. Seems like it did the trick. She leaped clear out of the water and stayed pinned. 

 

 

 

[Janderson45]

Congrats on the new PB smalljaw, they're always fun.   I can't get out to A1 tomorrow, gotta work unfortunately.  Good luck though, let us know how you do! 

[gjfisher]

Fished Stump pond in Bridgewater for about 3 hrs Sunday morning.  Tough bites.

 

Started with topwater--frog, sebile walker and whopper plopper--got nothing.  Switched to a spinner--nothing but pickerels.  Finally tried Texas rig--worms, big ika and pit boss--got 3 LMB.  The pickerels were big and aggressive but not the bass--biggest was only 2 lbs.

 

Weeds were starting to die in a lot areas of the pond.  The bites should start to get good in 1-2 weeks!

[Mr. Aquarium]

went out over the weekend fished hard.  4 am drove west 1.5 hrs, caught my first landlocked. also caught a big rainbow to. 
came back home cuz my buddy had to work. took a nap, and we went back out after some bowfin. we had a few hits, i caught a nice eel.  while bowfin fishing, we get a call, my buddy asked us to go tuna fishing on sunday. HELL YES!!!!!  drive to the cape at 5 am after fishing till 11pm.   we get out there catch some huge 3lbs mackerel.  tough bite out there, we hooked up but it broke off, we caught a ton of dog fish, mackerel, a cod and a pollack. we saw whales, sharks and an ocean sunfish. it was awesome. 
monday my buddy wanted to fish the canal. hes never been there before. tough bite. we saw some bait, some mackerel and peanut bunker, saw an ocean sunfish. i caught a lobster. went back to the canal yesterday.  tough bite. caught another lobster.

[DogBone_384]

How was the lobster?

[MassYak85]

Decided to hit Whitehall instead of A1 today. Fished from 11 - 3 and only got 2 small bass and a few dink pickerel. The water was clearer than I think I've ever seen it. Had to have been a good 8-10ft of visibility. The weeds seemed like they were just starting to die back. There were a lot of brown patches but still plenty of bright green remaining. I don't know what part of me keeps thinking the next time I go to that lake will be the time I slay them but it never happens lol. It is one of the more beautiful lakes to be on in the area though so it's still nice to just paddle around and it was an amazing day to be on the water. 

 

Also, do any of you guys keep a log? This is the first year I have done one and so far I've logged every trip. I've done time fished, air temp, water temp, barometric pressure, moon phase, wind speed/direction, environmental changes, general observations of bass behavior, and the fish caught and on what. I'm not sure how much it will help but it is interesting when you see theoretical things line up with actual good fishing. Like yesterday there was a huge barometric pressure drop and I had a really good day all things considered. 

[Janderson45]

I fished the Quabbin this past Sunday.  I suppose I did alright but based on circumstances beyond my control I was unable to fish or run very far from the ramp for long portions of this outing.   My fishing partner had a few too many the night before and was a mess on the boat.. we fished for about 2.5 hours 7-930AM on the same spot (he wanted to anchor) before I had to drive him back to the launch to get some rest in the truck.   That is a real tough blow when those little rental boats are doing 6.5mph on you...  Got him back to the launch and it was about 1030 now, and I was going to check back in with him at noon to see if he was able to rejoin me.  Fished one more spot relatively close to the launch and did nothing.  Moved to another spot a little further out before getting a phone call that it was time to go back and get him.. ended up picking him up again at 130 and we fished together until 5.  I ended up with 12 fish, biggest was just a hair over 3lbs.  He caught 2. 

 

Water temps were 75-76 degrees still despite our shorter days and lower air temps. 

 

I whacked them good in the AM for about 45 minutes on a Carolina Rig in about 35 feet of water.  Struggled after dropping my buddy off to figure out what was different, where the fish went and what I needed to do.  Took me a while to figure it out but they went real deep, Towards the end of the day I was marking and catching bass out of 50+ feet of water on a dropshot. 

 

Here's one of the C rig fish:

 

 

Fishing in Maine this upcoming weekend but may hit Quabbin again on Monday, if not I'll be somewhere in the Kayak.   I'm very seriously considering buying my first bass boat this fall/winter ... I've got a few ideas of what I want,  but a large decision looms.  The Quabbin is my favorite place to fish in the state, but their 25HP limit and boat seal program is a real bummer.  I can either buy a nice quabbin rig with a 25HP outboard and the works, or I can buy a boat with a larger more serious (75-150hp) boat that is better for everywhere else but I cant even use on the Quabbin...  I do also fish in a Bass club that does tournaments, so it would be nice to have a boat for that instead of being a co-angler..   I keep on trying to figure out a way to have one boat fill both of these voids,  but it seems like it's not very plausible..

[gjfisher]

17 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

Decided to hit Whitehall instead of A1 today. Fished from 11 - 3 and only got 2 small bass and a few dink pickerel. The water was clearer than I think I've ever seen it. Had to have been a good 8-10ft of visibility. The weeds seemed like they were just starting to die back. There were a lot of brown patches but still plenty of bright green remaining. I don't know what part of me keeps thinking the next time I go to that lake will be the time I slay them but it never happens lol. It is one of the more beautiful lakes to be on in the area though so it's still nice to just paddle around and it was an amazing day to be on the water. 

 

Also, do any of you guys keep a log? This is the first year I have done one and so far I've logged every trip. I've done time fished, air temp, water temp, barometric pressure, moon phase, wind speed/direction, environmental changes, general observations of bass behavior, and the fish caught and on what. I'm not sure how much it will help but it is interesting when you see theoretical things line up with actual good fishing. Like yesterday there was a huge barometric pressure drop and I had a really good day all things considered. 

Where did you fish at Whitehall?  It's a tough lake to figure out for me as well, but I have had luck at the southern end of the lake (where the steep drop off is and also near the dam). 

 

I started to keep a log this year.  I have an engineering degree and my goal is to try to figure out patterns of "where, when, what and how" things worked or didn't work from those logs.  However, I am careful not to take this too far so I fall into a trap where I only follow patterns that led me to success (some of those could be false BTW) and do not continue to experiment different approaches that allow me to learn and become a better fisherman.

[MassYak85]

On 8/31/2017 at 11:14 AM, Janderson45 said:

I fished the Quabbin this past Sunday.  I suppose I did alright but based on circumstances beyond my control I was unable to fish or run very far from the ramp for long portions of this outing.   My fishing partner had a few too many the night before and was a mess on the boat.. we fished for about 2.5 hours 7-930AM on the same spot (he wanted to anchor) before I had to drive him back to the launch to get some rest in the truck.   That is a real tough blow when those little rental boats are doing 6.5mph on you...  Got him back to the launch and it was about 1030 now, and I was going to check back in with him at noon to see if he was able to rejoin me.  Fished one more spot relatively close to the launch and did nothing.  Moved to another spot a little further out before getting a phone call that it was time to go back and get him.. ended up picking him up again at 130 and we fished together until 5.  I ended up with 12 fish, biggest was just a hair over 3lbs.  He caught 2. 

 

Water temps were 75-76 degrees still despite our shorter days and lower air temps. 

 

I whacked them good in the AM for about 45 minutes on a Carolina Rig in about 35 feet of water.  Struggled after dropping my buddy off to figure out what was different, where the fish went and what I needed to do.  Took me a while to figure it out but they went real deep, Towards the end of the day I was marking and catching bass out of 50+ feet of water on a dropshot. 

 

Here's one of the C rig fish:

 

 

Fishing in Maine this upcoming weekend but may hit Quabbin again on Monday, if not I'll be somewhere in the Kayak.   I'm very seriously considering buying my first bass boat this fall/winter ... I've got a few ideas of what I want,  but a large decision looms.  The Quabbin is my favorite place to fish in the state, but their 25HP limit and boat seal program is a real bummer.  I can either buy a nice quabbin rig with a 25HP outboard and the works, or I can buy a boat with a larger more serious (75-150hp) boat that is better for everywhere else but I cant even use on the Quabbin...  I do also fish in a Bass club that does tournaments, so it would be nice to have a boat for that instead of being a co-angler..   I keep on trying to figure out a way to have one boat fill both of these voids,  but it seems like it's not very plausible..

I'm not familiar with the Quabbin rules. But do they allow boats on with larger engines if the prop is removed? If that was the case you could get a kicker engine and have it pull double duty that way I guess. 

[Janderson45]

3 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I'm not familiar with the Quabbin rules. But do they allow boats on with larger engines if the prop is removed? If that was the case you could get a kicker engine and have it pull double duty that way I guess. 

 

 

I'm not sure exactly what the rule regarding that is either, although I have considered the same thing.  I think I'll probably bite the bullet and just get a boat with a 25hp outboard which is the max that the quabbin allows... I'll be the slowest boat at most of the other lakes I fish, but still faster than my kayak!  I just prefer to fish the Quabbin over anywhere else in Mass so buying a boat that I can't use at my favorite fishery doesn't seem to make much sense.  I also figure a 16 or 17 foot boat with a 25hp engine isn't a bad "starter" boat for me to gauge if I really want to spend more money on a more serious boat in the future.  With a 25hp I should be able to get 20-25mph depending on conditions... are there really that many lakes around here that I need to go 50-60mph on?  I'm thinking not so much...   sure it would be great somewhere like Champlain, Sebago or Winni, but how much am I really going to make the trip to those waters?  Not nearly as much as I would make the trip to the Quabbin..

 

My next decision becomes whether to buy new or to search through used boats.  What I'm looking at currently are boats like a 1600 Lund Rebel - no frills but effective, and I can add an awesome trolling motor and electronics which are more important to me than some other features might be. 

[DogBone_384]

Been out a few times over the last couple weeks to Great Herring, Ponkapog, Sawdy, and Santuit.  The pattern was the same with all waters: good numbers, but no scale breakers.  I mixed and matched baits and found wacky Senkos and Rage Tail Menaces the most productive.

 

Water temps started in the mid to upper 70s and was 70.x at Ponkie yesterday afternoon.  

 

I'm hoping for two more trips to the Quabbin by season's end.  I'm fishing on Cape Cod in a couple weeks in search of a new PB smallie.

[Mr. Aquarium]

went out pike fishing saturday! caught my first pike. we fished our ***** off. at the launch i had a big hit, missed it, get out to the spot. 15 min bam my first ever pike. small 5lber. so happy. 15 min my buddy gets an 8.  we fish the area for a while, i cast out a glide bait and see a monster following it. turned away, next cast same spot. BAMMMM fish on.  fight it. huge fish 15lber! so happy! we continue to fish this area.  i kept getting follows or hits at the boat. i miss one spit hook at the boat cuz  the net was messed up, it was a small guy. my buddy missed a huge pike. bad hoook set.  it was a great day. so happy to cross off pike on my bucket list 

[MassYak85]

Fished webster today. It started off great. We launched at sunrise and we quickly got about 6 bass all around 2lbs give or take. I saw a bunch of bait balls in that cove so I was burning a spinnerbait over the weeds and it did the trick. After the sun came up over the trees and we stopped getting bit in that cove we moved all over the place and just couldn't get any consistent action going. A few real dinks here and there. The boat traffic was worse than I had ever seen it. There must have been well over 50 boats out and the high winds added with the boat waves made it really choppy. We fished until 3 trying to get something going but it didn't happen. 

[DogBone_384]

Fishing Rhino and I had a similar experience earlier this season there. Also sounds like the pattern I'm in now.  It just means I'll ride my M/C more between sunrise & sunset.... 

[KenP]

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.

 

[DogBone_384]

Despite the windy forecast I launched at Hedges at dawn, finding surface temps 71.x.  Got two nice SMB straight away and lost another.  All three came on a 4" wacky rigged ghille suit Yum Dinger.  Fish were jumping out of the water sporatically but I couldn't get my Whopper Plopper to produce.

 

Things were quiet until 8:45 when a perch hit my perch colored lipless like a truck. I first thought it was a SMB, but it didn't have the fight in it. Maybe it used all its energy hitting the bait ?!?!?

 

The wind picked up steadily until about noon when my five pound anchor couldn't cut it any more.  I headed in and made a cast near some weeds in the shallows with my lipless.  Hooked up with a nice SMB but he spit me when he came out of the water.

 

I have to keep better tabs on my line when SMB fishing - instead of admiring how high the buggers jump. 

 

All in all, a decent morning, though the bite all but shut off by 9:00 AM.  

 

ADD: I fished Sunset Lake in Braintree yesterday after work and was shocked to find nary a weed bed while managing a lone dink Pickerel.  

 

I spoke to a resident as I was leaving and they said the town treated the pond in June.  Too bad because it housed big LMB and Pickerels.

 

I fished Ponkie last week too. The weeds are just starting to wilt.