Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[DogBone_384]

Will do. Gonna try to get there by noon.  Sheeps is a deeper than Hinckleys so I'll guess the water temps might be lower, with exception of the two flats half way across.  

 

Word of caution, however, I've fished Sheeps only a few times and haven't done well there.  

 

Perhaps tomorrow changes that.

[Janderson45]

Got out on the Quabbin in the "50 percent chance of showers" yesterday, it ended up raining pretty much all day on us, with intermittent down pours ?‍♂️.  

 

Slowww start to the day with a cold front moving into the region the day before.  We were met with overcast and rainy conditions with air temps in the low 50s.  Water temps were 55-57 on the main res sturctures we started off fishing in the morning and 58-60 further north and in more protected spawning areas that we fished later in the afternoon.  

 

Lake trout continue to invade what have been some of my best smallmouth transition and feeding grounds out on the main res for the past few seasons.  I thought I'd find them grouped out on some specific break lines, humps and points in 15-25 feet of water.  Bait was present, bass were not... if they were there at all they were super inactive.  First fish of the day was a healthy 5lb lake trout that hit my swimbait in about 25 feet of water.  I've gained a bit more respect for them as predators the past two times out, the lakers I've been catching so far this year have all been a lot larger and harder fighting than I've caught at the Quabbin before. 7'6 ML Spinning rod with 10lb test braid to 6lb fluoro with 80 feet of water nearby made for quite the battle with this dude:

 

After about 3 hours trying to find smallies staging on main lake stuff and only having one lake trout and one rainbow trout to show for it I knew I had to be going about it wrong and decided to go check some spawning grounds to see if the first wave was already up on beds.  Took us a little while to find em, but sure enough I was right.  I can confirm bedding smallies on the Q this weekend :).  

 

I found a very large female sitting in about 8 feet of water.  I could barely see her with the overcast and rainy conditions.  My buddy who was fishing with my insisted that it was a rock until he saw her move for the first time, which was about 15 minutes into me harassing her with baits.  I worked on her for almost 40 minutes before finally giving up.  There was no way that fish was going to bite anything.  We moved on and looked out just a tad deeper than the spawning areas we were seeing and finally started catching some bass.  But they were the wrong kind....

 

4.5lb largemouth on a shakey head.. 7lb test fluoro this time! 

 

I have a couple more good pics I was trying to post, including another 5lb greenfish and finally the first Quabbin smallmouth of the year but the forum won't let me upload them from my phone.  Anyone got a good way of posting images now adays?  I used to use Photobucket but that doesn't work anymore either 

 

[DogBone_384]

J, try emailing the photo to yourself and upload it to the forum from your computer.  

 

Congrats on a good trip to the Quabbin.

[MassYak85]

12 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

J, try emailing the photo to yourself and upload it to the forum from your computer.  

 

Congrats on a good trip to the Quabbin.

x2, I usually send them to myself using the facebook messenger app and then just copy and paste into the message. 

[Janderson45]

 

 

 

My buddy broke his PB with this 5lber. He got it on a jig in about 5 feet of water.  My digital scale is broken so he'll have to live with the boga grips calling it a 5.

 

 

[DogBone_384]

Good looking fish!  Congrats!

[J Francho]

12 hours ago, Janderson45 said:

 Anyone got a good way of posting images now adays?

https://postimages.org/

[Janderson45]

Thanks for the image posing suggestions everyone.  

 

Probably going to chase some more largies in the kayak this Saturday, would love to find a few more good ones before they spawn.  

 

@Dunks N Dinks My club fishes Harwich on May 19th, looks like it will be right in the middle of the spawn.  I'm hoping that we can target some smallies that are still prespawn/staging, but I'm not sure if that will be much of an option.  Any idea how long the spawn usually lasts there?  There's some really good largemouth in there too (though few and far between) maybe we can find some of those.  Couple years ago one guy caught a largemouth pushing 8lbs at Harwich. 

[Dunks N Dinks]

18 minutes ago, Janderson45 said:

 

@Dunks N Dinks My club fishes Harwich on May 19th, looks like it will be right in the middle of the spawn.  I'm hoping that we can target some smallies that are still prespawn/staging, but I'm not sure if that will be much of an option.  Any idea how long the spawn usually lasts there?  There's some really good largemouth in there too (though few and far between) maybe we can find some of those.  Couple years ago one guy caught a largemouth pushing 8lbs at Harwich. 

~3-4 weeks is the norm, so you should be in luck i think. May even be able to see some largemouth beds...I'd start looking in the stained northern end first near wood/grass. 

[CavScoutA21]

Hi Everyone.  It's been awhile since I posted on here!

 

Quick question...  I fish the Charles River across the street from the Skate Club on Soldiers Field Road on my lunch hour (perk of working across the street) and the herring are running now. 

 

I usually just toss a spinnerbait but the herring swarm it.  Anyone have any thoughts on another bait I could use that the herring will ignore?  I was thinking jigs and soft plastics but my ADHD gets the better of me at times and I lose patience.  (bad thing to have fishing for bass)  

[KenP]

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. 

 

[LadiMopar]

4 hours ago, KenP said:

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. 

 

 

Hey KenP!

Thanks for the heads up at Wachusett. I was there a few times since opening day and hadn't seen much activity at all; a few baitfish in South Cove 3 weeks back was the most exciting thing I saw. 

Took my grandson and one his friends ( age 11) two weeks back, we were over by the stone church which is usually swarming with sunfish and nothing! Not a problem for me, but felt bad for the kids....they drown plenty of crawlers trying though.

 

LM

[DogBone_384]

Did some marathon fishing down the Cape last week.  Fished Sheeps on Tuesday afternoon.  Water temps were in the low 60’s.  Couldn’t find much other than one 1-9 SMB and a 3-4 LMB.  Weather was blue-bird like until later in the afternoon when the temperature dropped like a stone.

 

I started Wednesday off at Hinckleys.  Wasted 4 hours there to get one yellow perch.  Water temps were in the 63.x - 64.x.  The ‘light bulb’ went on late: THE HERRING ARE RUNNING. THere’s so much food there the bass don’t need anything I offered.  I moved over to West Reservoir in Harwich on the recommendation of a local I met during my last trip down there.  Four hours later I packed up with two yellow perch and one dink bass on a perch colored Yozuri jerkbait.  It’s shallow, only 5’ deep at the deepest.  Water temps were 66.x - 68.x, with blue-bird conditions.  I stumbled across Fresh Pond in Harwich and gave it a go.  It’s pretty shallow with black-coffee like water.  The Lowrance didn’t mark much, and I didn’t stay long.  Water temps were 69.x - 70.x.  From Fresh stopped by Seymour for no more than a few minutes because Herring were everywhere.  A local fisherman told me to try Buck’s Pond in Brewster.  I launched there around 7:00PM and two casts into it I landed a 2-13 SMB and a 2-2 LMB on a bluegill colored jig with Menace trailer.  One more LMB, 2-12, made it to the kayak before dark.  The weather had turned cold and misty.  I’m glad it did.  Water temps at Bucks was 63.x - 64.x.

 

As I checked out of the condo Thursday AM, another local suggested Slough Pond in Brewster.  I launched there around 7:00 AM and landed 3 LMB, 2-7, a dink, and 2-1, respectively, all on the jig I used Wednesday.  I stayed until 10:00AM then headed back to the world.  Slough is dark stained like Fresh Pond and has a 20’ hole north of the launch, but the bass were shallow.  They were much darker colored than the bass I caught at other ponds. Water temps were in the low/mid 60’s.

 

[JAB50]

Dogbone,

I had the opposite results as you. Sheeps wason

fire. The flat/point all the way across the lake from the landing was loaded with smallmouth beds. And they were locked on them. My brother and I killed them on Wednesday. He also snagged a 4lb largemouth accidentally off of a bed. I went back Thursday and caught a bunch more. They averaged close to 2.5-3lbs. Biggest being over 4lbs. I caught close to a 5lb largemouth off a bed too. On the left shoreline coming out of the ramp there were a lot of largemouth beds. Some were on it. Some just starting to come up on them. I saw close to a 7lb largemouth on one that wouldn't touch a thing. I honestly think sometime later this week that the big girls are going to be locked on their beds on the entire Cape lakes and ponds. Water was between 62-64 by the afternoon. 

Caught a bunch of fish at several other lakes too. I'm sure Hinkleys and Seymour had smallies on beds too. But, it's a pain to see them from a yak! I can stand on my Jackson Liska! Which made all the difference in the world. Used the v-hull aluminum for Sheeps though! Windy as hell there!

[je1946]

1 hour ago, JAB50 said:

Dogbone,

I had the opposite results as you. Sheeps wason

fire. The flat/point all the way across the lake from the landing was loaded with smallmouth beds. And they were locked on them. My brother and I killed them on Wednesday. He also snagged a 4lb largemouth accidentally off of a bed. I went back Thursday and caught a bunch more. They averaged close to 2.5-3lbs. Biggest being over 4lbs. I caught close to a 5lb largemouth off a bed too. On the left shoreline coming out of the ramp there were a lot of largemouth beds. Some were on it. Some just starting to come up on them. I saw close to a 7lb largemouth on one that wouldn't touch a thing. I honestly think sometime later this week that the big girls are going to be locked on their beds on the entire Cape lakes and ponds. Water was between 62-64 by the afternoon. 

Caught a bunch of fish at several other lakes too. I'm sure Hinkleys and Seymour had smallies on beds too. But, it's a pain to see them from a yak! I can stand on my Jackson Liska! Which made all the difference in the world. Used the v-hull aluminum for Sheeps though! Windy as hell there!

I can only recommend to you that you read some literature from the Mich. and Wisconsin fish and game dept about the in depth study they did on the detremental effect that bed fishing has on the largemouth & SM fishery.  I know this is a big controversy in bass fising and I'm not going to preach to you or anyone else about it.  Just go on line and read or contact Al Linder regarding this. and then do what you must.

[Mr. Aquarium]

fished old faithtfull friday night, heard some huge splashes, couldnt get them. big fish tho, had few hits. caught small 2lber on a white pomadour

[NEBass123]

On 5/11/2018 at 12:03 PM, KenP said:

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. 

 

It's been a tough spring. I don't think I have caught many fish on something other than a jig.

[Dunks N Dinks]

With a lot of tournament pressure on the cape waters the last few weekends, I decided to switch it up and trailer-ed the boat up to the Maynard/Hudson area to fish with a few buddies...and it was well worth it. Navigating the small dirt ramp at Lake Boone at 6am was a bit hairy, but a quick double-up on topwater frogs just after sunrise quickly set the tone for the day.

All said and done, we had boat-flipped no less than 30 largemouth (a lot of dinks) after 6hrs of light rain and chilly 49 degree temps...but the fishing was definitively hot, with males up guarding nests with water temps ranging between 62-64 degrees.

Senkos and drop-shots were the ticket for the smaller / shallower males, while we took only 5 fish >2.5lbs (biggest came in around 3.66lb) on chatterbaits (1/4oz) in heavier cover or on t-rigged creature baits in deeper water (6-10ft). Had we been able to stay a while longer, I think I would have given a huddleston or wake-bait a shot on points/rip-rap to get something beefier...

Anyhow, not a bad way to spend a rainy day, but looking forward to getting back to the cape and getting my first striper of the year this weekend...might also hit up Lake Wequaquet on Sunday if anyone has any good up to date info...   

 

 

     

[KenP]

On 5/11/2018 at 4:15 PM, LadiMopar said:

 

Hey KenP!

Thanks for the heads up at Wachusett. I was there a few times since opening day and hadn't seen much activity at all; a few baitfish in South Cove 3 weeks back was the most exciting thing I saw. 

Took my grandson and one his friends ( age 11) two weeks back, we were over by the stone church which is usually swarming with sunfish and nothing! Not a problem for me, but felt bad for the kids....they drown plenty of crawlers trying though.

 

LM

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. 

[DogBone_384]

Took a short trip to Ponkie after my work was done today.  Launched around 1800 and stayed until 1930.  Caught one dink pickerel on a Rapala jerkbait and a 1-1.5 pound LMB on a Menace, which was a far cry from the 61 pickerel and one bluegill three kids in a canoe said they caught as they were leaving....

 

Water temps were 67.x - 68.x and the weeds are growing quickly.  Ponkie’ll be t-rigged-only shortly.

[Mr. Aquarium]

went to a spot i havent been to in years. caught a handful, most were on a whopper plopper, fished swimbaits as well trying to grab some bigger fish, all were about 2lbs 

[LadiMopar]

On 5/14/2018 at 3:43 PM, KenP said:

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 haven't fished over there in many a year, since going pretty much LMB specific I don't get to Wachusett all that often, but it's a good place for the grandkids/friends to learn about different species, and they aren't hemmed in like smaller waters. At 11 they still need a football field to cast in! 

Nice to know things are heating up over in S. Cove/bay, hope you have better luck with the SMB. One of my long time fishing buddies keeps trying to get me to wet a line over by the RT 12 causeway bridge (opposite side from the Stone church) for SMB. About 150 ft back from the road/causeway bridge there's quite a concentration of them, but like so many other areas close to the road with easy access it's usually elbow to ***hole.....not my idea of fun.

 

Long ago, gate 10 was my go to place for lake trout/salmon; nice 90 ft hole over there but its quite a hike to get in there and my scrawny pins have issues trudging that far now. There is also a hot spot for monster trout at the first public gate (6?) just past the school on 70 if you're looking for a new place to try.

LM

[KenP]

2 hours ago, LadiMopar said:

 

I haven't fished over there in many a year, since going pretty much LMB specific I don't get to Wachusett all that often, but it's a good place for the grandkids/friends to learn about different species, and they aren't hemmed in like smaller waters. At 11 they still need a football field to cast in! 

Nice to know things are heating up over in S. Cove/bay, hope you have better luck with the SMB. One of my long time fishing buddies keeps trying to get me to wet a line over by the RT 12 causeway bridge (opposite side from the Stone church) for SMB. About 150 ft back from the road/causeway bridge there's quite a concentration of them, but like so many other areas close to the road with easy access it's usually elbow to ***hole.....not my idea of fun.

 

Long ago, gate 10 was my go to place for lake trout/salmon; nice 90 ft hole over there but its quite a hike to get in there and my scrawny pins have issues trudging that far now. There is also a hot spot for monster trout at the first public gate (6?) just past the school on 70 if you're looking for a new place to try.

LM

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.

[JG233]

I was planning on fishing in MA on Sunday for the first time this year, but I need to have the brakes on my SUV done and it's going to rain all day Saturday. Bollocks. I've had some bad luck this year so far. First trip out now looks like it's going to happen on Wednesday.

 

Keep the reports coming!

[Mr. Aquarium]

went out for a night mission last night. hit a spot i havent been to in awhile, its a real pain in the ass to get to.   saw fish bustin up top at sunset in the pads. figured the bite was on. it was a  slow night, few half hearted hits.  
got a 6.13 on a slammer. been a tough spring for me, first fish over 3lbs in 2 months.  feels soooooooo d**n good getting good fish again, IM BACK!!!!  im so happy,. WOOOOOO