Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[je1946]

13 hours ago, KenP said:

I took a break from tossing the big swimbaits and hooked into a 6.5 largie on a custom jig I made. Just after dinner time last night at the Wachusett Res. 

 

 

Congrats Ken on a nice LM, nice looking jig as well.

[JG233]

On 4/26/2019 at 5:15 AM, Don51 said:

I feel your pain! I'm in Florida and the fishing isn't even close to what New England fishing is. I miss fishing up there!  ?

I thought the bass fishing in Florida was supposed to be amazing?!

[Don51]

13 hours ago, JG233 said:

I thought the bass fishing in Florida was supposed to be amazing?!

Roland Martin makes it look that way!  ?

[MassYak85]

Got out yesterday in the afternoon. Winds were like 20-25mph out of the NorthWestSouth....yea, figure that one out. Incredibly difficult to stay put and fish a spot. There would be wind out of the North then out of nowhere I'd watch the wind just come down vertically in the middle of the lake and "bomb" out in all directions, or watch competing wind gusts rush across the lake in opposite directions. Never seen anything quite like it...but the fish didn't seem to care. Couldn't find the size but we got a few decent fish in the 2-3lb range and some smaller ones. Most came on jerkbaits but the pickerel were crushing them before the bass could most of the time. I switched to an underspin and put the hammer down on some crappie but the bass wouldn't touch it. A fun day minus the weather. Water temps had also dropped 5 degrees since the previous weekend. 

 

I think I also gained a pretty good appreciation for the weight transfer system in some of my jerkbaits. Makes fishing in the wind somewhat doable. 

[hamma]

On 4/27/2019 at 12:15 AM, je1946 said:

Congrats Ken on a nice LM, nice looking jig as well.

Nice bass Ken, congrats 

[KenP]

Fished Stockbridge Bowl on Saturday from 7-3. Weather channel said weather would clear up and be 50 by noon. Well it hailed, sleeted, and some rain in 20-30mph winds all day and never went above 38 degrees. I don't think I've ever fish passed the Q in my life. It didn't look like Mass anymore but my goal is to fish a dozen new places all over the state this year so I joined the NEBassin western mass division. 10 boats launched 8 weighed with half have 1-2 in the bag. We had 1 keeper to weigh in. Lunker was just over 5.5lb and the biggest bag was 13lb.  Bass were in 5-6ft on the bottom in weeds. Pickerel were in abundance. The local guys were saying its a generally tough place. It had a bad algae bloom in the fall and was closed for a few weeks. We seen dead bluegill everywhere. With the weather I'd say it was the coldest part of hell I've been in awhile. At one point I think I had ice in my reel because it would periodically spin for a second in reverse while using a jig. 

[Dunks N Dinks]

Cape & Derby Report: James Browns

 

Braved the elementary onslaught on Saturday, fishing the first team event for Capt Bub's Bass Trail. Launched at Mashpee-Wakeby at 7am, and as has been the case of late, the weather was downright funky (48 w/ light rain at launch, 54 w/ 25-30mph gusts and hail at noon, 58 sunny and stable by 3pm weigh-in). 29 teams were in attendance, hoping/praying for a shot at a true Cape Cod pre-spawn slaunch. Water temps were in the 54-57 range, hinting at some magic to come...

After a few forays into FAIL-sville early (fishing too deep on the main-lake, then too shallow in the canal in the mid-lake section), my partner and I began to hear the music. The "music" being that sultry pre-spawn staging tune. As we soon found out, the resident smallies seemed to have one thing on mind: "get on up", and get to baby-making. We ended up targeting the 5-7ft depth zone on one of the lake's biggest spawning flats, finding a good combination of gravel and rock-piles. Making long-casts with finesse presentations, we slowly crept our baits through what we think was a deeper set of spawning beds being made. Multiple smaller fish hit 2-3 times, first nipping, then inhaling baits, which was suggestive of nest-making behavior. But, it wasn't until the afternoon sun shone that the ladies showed up to dance. As the surface temps began to flirt with 56-57, what appeared to be a wave of females pushed into the shallows.

Culling 3 fish in the last 2.5-hours, we ended up with a solid bag that managed to tip the scales just beyond 17lbs, good enough for a 2nd place finish. Our true kicker, a 5.1lb chunker, was an absolute blast to hook into and had my hands shaking and heart racing for 30mins after the fight... The rest of the field had a pretty mixed session; just 4 limits over 12lbs, 6 or so teams >10lbs, with the winners at 18lbs and change. One enormous large-mouth was weighed in at 6.99lbs, a herring-eater no doubt. Could be a great couple of weeks going forward down here on the Cape... 
     

[hamma]

17 hours ago, Dunks N Dinks said:

Cape & Derby Report: James Browns

 

Braved the elementary onslaught on Saturday, fishing the first team event for Capt Bub's Bass Trail. Launched at Mashpee-Wakeby at 7am, and as has been the case of late, the weather was downright funky (48 w/ light rain at launch, 54 w/ 25-30mph gusts and hail at noon, 58 sunny and stable by 3pm weigh-in). 29 teams were in attendance, hoping/praying for a shot at a true Cape Cod pre-spawn slaunch. Water temps were in the 54-57 range, hinting at some magic to come...

After a few forays into FAIL-sville early (fishing too deep on the main-lake, then too shallow in the canal in the mid-lake section), my partner and I began to hear the music. The "music" being that sultry pre-spawn staging tune. As we soon found out, the resident smallies seemed to have one thing on mind: "get on up", and get to baby-making. We ended up targeting the 5-7ft depth zone on one of the lake's biggest spawning flats, finding a good combination of gravel and rock-piles. Making long-casts with finesse presentations, we slowly crept our baits through what we think was a deeper set of spawning beds being made. Multiple smaller fish hit 2-3 times, first nipping, then inhaling baits, which was suggestive of nest-making behavior. But, it wasn't until the afternoon sun shone that the ladies showed up to dance. As the surface temps began to flirt with 56-57, what appeared to be a wave of females pushed into the shallows.

Culling 3 fish in the last 2.5-hours, we ended up with a solid bag that managed to tip the scales just beyond 17lbs, good enough for a 2nd place finish. Our true kicker, a 5.1lb chunker, was an absolute blast to hook into and had my hands shaking and heart racing for 30mins after the fight... The rest of the field had a pretty mixed session; just 4 limits over 12lbs, 6 or so teams >10lbs, with the winners at 18lbs and change. One enormous large-mouth was weighed in at 6.99lbs, a herring-eater no doubt. Could be a great couple of weeks going forward down here on the Cape... 
     

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!

[MartinTheFisherman]

Went fishing on Wednesday on the Nashua River Dam, caught some crappie, and got a bass bite on a white spinnerbait. Caught the crappies on a 4-inch finesse worm, Neko rigged.

 

Went fishing in Nashua River near the downtown on Saturday for 2 hours, pretty windy, no bites... Not even on the Spinnerbait.   

[DogBone_384]

Welcome to the forum Martin ... keep at it!

[hamma]

  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.

 

[Dunks N Dinks]

@hamma better than nothin! I'll be back in the neighborhood on Saturday, hoping to scout out Ashumet and John's Pond for a couple tourneys later this month. 

[MassYak85]

What is this....a Saturday forecast not calling for gale-force winds???!!!!! About time lol. 

[hamma]

  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.

[je1946]

14 hours ago, hamma said:

  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.

Keith, left you a msg.

[MassYak85]

Got out for a couple hours later in the afternoon. Crappie were hanging around deep and were interested in jerkbaits and underspins but not much else was biting. Saw one 2lb male on a bed but other than that the shallows looked pretty lifeless. Water was only 55. Did manage one bass on a jig, about 1.5lbs probably. He got off as I lifted him out of the water...

 

Hook had been bent a little on the jig. I recently got some tungsten football jigs to try from evolution tungsten and they look great, but I really haven't been a fan of them after using them for a bit now. The skirt doesn't flare out whatsoever when fishing it and now my confidence in the hook is a little shakey. Any recommendations for a different brand? I might just do a small order from Siebert. 

 

 

[Mr. Aquarium]

@MassYak85 check out bico jigs, local Ma company! I love them! Different style of head them 

[MassYak85]

My dad and I got out on Webster today for about 6 hours. All that yielded was one keeper (barely) smallmouth on a 2.8 keitech on a ballhead jig. My dad managed a few pickerel but man, what a slow day. I don't think I've had a worse day on that lake. We started in a cove with jerkbaits seeing if any were up in the new weed beds yet, no signs of life. Tried one of the really shallow coves, again no signs of life. So we headed out to some of the deeper drops outside the coves where I would have guessed they were at by the 55° water temp, but still no luck on jigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits or jerks. Kind of losing hope we went to the other extreme and tried some of the deeper structure and marked a few fish, thought maybe we could squeeze a couple out on blade baits or underspins doing that but they weren't having it. 

 

Pretty sure we passed by you, @Janderson45 around noon. Hopefully you had a better day lol. 

[JG233]

19 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

My dad and I got out on Webster today for about 6 hours. All that yielded was one keeper (barely) smallmouth on a 2.8 keitech on a ballhead jig. My dad managed a few pickerel but man, what a slow day. I don't think I've had a worse day on that lake. We started in a cove with jerkbaits seeing if any were up in the new weed beds yet, no signs of life. Tried one of the really shallow coves, again no signs of life. So we headed out to some of the deeper drops outside the coves where I would have guessed they were at by the 55° water temp, but still no luck on jigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits or jerks. Kind of losing hope we went to the other extreme and tried some of the deeper structure and marked a few fish, thought maybe we could squeeze a couple out on blade baits or underspins doing that but they weren't having it. 

 

Pretty sure we passed by you, @Janderson45 around noon. Hopefully you had a better day lol. 

That place is weird. Last year, we'd do ok very very early and then the bite would die at 10 AM. 

[JAB50]

Fished the Cape today. Tough as hell. Didn't see any largies on beds. And couldn't get them to hit on the drop offs either. Anyone have any good info to offer? Fishing out of a 12 ft aluminum with a 55lb thrust trolling motor. STAYING In Dennis.

[DogBone_384]

1 hour ago, JAB50 said:

Fishing out of a 12 ft aluminum with a 55lb thrust trolling motor. STAYING In Dennis.

You might be able to get your boat in Hinckleys, in Brewster.

 

From exit 10 on route 6:

• Take a left at the end of the ramp (route 124).
• Take your first left onto Headwaters drive.
• Take a tight right just after the Cape Cod Rail Trail bike path.
  • it's an unmarked, unimproved, dirt road.
  • there's no formal ramp, but the beach area is good enough to launch small trailered boats & cartops.

Here's some more homework for you too:

https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/08/uw/dfwhinc.pdf

 

Good luck!

[JAB50]

Thanks Dogbone,

I know Hinkleys well. 

[DogBone_384]

30 minutes ago, JAB50 said:

Thanks Dogbone,

I know Hinkleys well. 

It's usually my first stop when I'm down there.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Got out yesterday for some smallie and largemouth action! Got a hanfull of smallies and one brick largemouth! Lost a big fish up shallow! Fish were on drop offs and up shallow. Tubes were the ticket for smallies. That’s what I missed the big fish on. Few hits on a Texas rig. Got the brick largemouth on a weedless swimbait up shallow in some weeds! 

All fish were fat and pregnant!  The smallies were fighting good! Biggest fish was a smallie a hair under 3lbs 

[Dunks N Dinks]

Cape Update: Bed-side Manner

I scouted a smaller pond in the Mashpee area Saturday (water temp 56-58). The interesting development was spawning smallmouths, a minority of which were "locked" fish, but plenty had smaller males somewhere along in the process. Have to imagine some warmer weather will push a nice wave in within the next week or two. Maybe even the sun will come out, but that might be asking too much...

While I did pester one or two into biting just to see how'd they react, I left the rest alone just because I'd rather let them do their thing, ensuring more fun for the rest of us for years to come. Anyhow, I spent the rest of the day focusing on (still) pre-spawn largemouths...and managed to get a handful of decent ones in the 2-3lb range in the 8-12ft depth-range. Got most on a C-rig (3/8oz sinker, "18 leader), something that I never have had a ton of confidence in, until now. Fished a finesse worm and a beaver-style bait on it...any other tried and true soft-plastics you guys/gals would recommend for this technique?