Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[MassYak85]

1 hour ago, bass.slayer69 said:

Congrats! Spinnerbaits (at least last year) killed it for me. Never fished a red craw one tho

I've got one tied on almost all year. They're my go to search bait. 

 

It's funny my dad almost exclusively fished spinnerbaits when I was young, and I was the rubber worm guy. Many years of just those baits for us.. It wasn't until I was in high school that we both really started getting into bass fishing more seriously. We started learning new techniques and he started leaning away from spinnerbaits. I started leaning back towards them haha. Definitely a confidence bait for me and one of my favorite "bites" in bass fishing. Nothing like feeling those blades just stop turning and you swing on them.

17 minutes ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Hell ya buddy. Awesome fish 

 

got some fresh migrant stripers today, first of the year 

Thanks man! Gonna take a bit of a mental break and then set my sights on that 6 before we get to post spawn. 

 

So cool to see the stripers though! I wish I got into it more. One of these days! It's like a once a year deal for me right now.

[GSil]

Went out last night from about 6pm - 9:30pm to an unnamed pond on brockton/easton line with my cousin. I was throwing mainly a black/blue jig with craw trailer and a lipless crank here and there. He was using shiners. Apart from him getting a dink of a pickerel, we were unable to shake the skunk. Going out again saturday, hoping to land a few then.

[MassBass]

15 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Hell ya buddy. Awesome fish 

 

got some fresh migrant stripers today, first of the year 

South of Boston?

[DogBone_384]

Finally got my late winter skunk off today. Started at Hedges in Plymouth early, before I went to my parent’s house for a bit. 5 SMB and 2 healthy yellow perch made it to the kayak in short order. All fish came on a combination of Megabass jerk baits and Yozuri square bills. Nobody touched the Strike King swimbait nor the green/brown/chart chatter bait I offered.

 

I spent the late afternoon at a large semi-private pond in Plymouth, landing 4 healthy SMB in really shallow water off a rocky point that dropped off quickly on either side. All four SMB picked off the 3.75 Strike King swim bait that nobody at Hedges touched. Got a couple small hits on the chatter bait.  A big ole turtle followed the chatter bait up to the surface too.

 

Water temperatures ranged from 54.x to 56.x.  Winds were moderate, 10-14 mph from the SW. Air pressure was 29.9.  All in all a good day.

 

Launching at LPH early tomorrow morning. It’s supposed to be overcast and almost calm: rolling the dice on topwater...

[bass.slayer69]

Got out today on the Charles. While I did not land any bass, I got a pickerel in the boat on a yum pulse swimbait on a jig head. That lure seems to be really producing lately. However, I need some help from someone who knows a bit about trolling motors. I have an old, probably 1990s 24 pound thrust Minn Kota Turbo, and it really failed to keep the boat going at a decent speed on the way back to the launch. I was using it on lower speeds while working the bank, but when I turned it up to full power for the trip back, we were going at a really slow pace. I was wondering, since I am looking for a motor that can serve to work the bank and get me going at a decent speed at full throttle, would getting a higher thrust motor (55 lb?) help me out in that regard?

[DogBone_384]

11 hours ago, bass.slayer69 said:

would getting a higher thrust motor (55 lb?) help me out in that regard?

Yes, a 55# motor will help greatly.  I'd first take your battery to an auto parts store and have it load tested.  When I got back into fishing I had a Minn Kota 27# trolling motor from the '90's as well and when my battery got low it wouldn't push my kayak any faster than I could paddle it.

 

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I fished LPH for a few hours early this morning and came up with three SMB, with two of them a snitch over 2 pounds.  Two were caught on a 3.75" green/gray Strike King Rage Swimmer and the third on a Duo Realis jerk bait.  It was overcast and nearly calm, with water temps 53.x - 54.x.  All three fish were taken shallow.

 

I moved over to Wequaquet around lunch and chased my tail for almost 5 hours, throwing everything I could think of in all depths and bottom makeups, coming up with a small YP and dink LMB.  It was sunny, with winds from the NE at around 10 mph. Air pressure was 29.9 and water temps were 58.x - 60.x.

[bass.slayer69]

9 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

I'd first take your battery to an auto parts store and have it load tested.

I bought the battery a month ago, so I don’t think that’s the issue. Thanks for the advice 

[MassYak85]

The Land of Dinks

 

Hit up Manchaug today with my dad and his friend. 2nd time ever fishing it.

 

Wind was howling again so started on a windblown shore that's near some shallow flats, hoping some pre-spawners were staging there feeding up. We got a few fish quick, one of which was a very healthy 3.5lber I got on a chatterbait. Unfortunately that was to be the last decent fish we got all day. We probably got 10 more between us but they were all dinks. And I do mean dinks, not 1+lbers, absolute dinks. Oh, and I don't think I've ever seen so many pickerel in my entire life. I'd guess close to 50 between us all day. And they were all...you guessed it....dinks. The pickerel must have had a pretty freaky time a couple years ago because there must be more 10-12" pickerel in that lake than bluegill. They would not stay off our lines and made slowing down with jerkbaits and finesse a pain. 

 

Have you guys fished Manchaug before? If it wasn't for the good one I got in the morning I would have worried about the health of the lake with how stunted the fish seemed. Average size was just not there at all. 

 

Also the wind giveth and the wind taketh away. Giving me a new PB last week and costing me over 40 bucks today in lost lures. My jackhammer chatterbait I got the 3.5 on went flying early in the morning, and then later in the day I casted off two Jackal Rerange jerkbaits on two consecutive casts. Oh and let me tell you...they suspend so you'd expect to find them. NOPE. They hit the water like a dart because of the weight transfer system and you can kiss them goodbye cause they're now suspending about 10 feet down in the water. I'm a pretty calm dude but I've never had the urge to snap a rod over my knee more than today lol. I kept my cool, can't get too worked up o we something that's supposed to be relaxing.

 

 

[MassBass]

Whats up guys- reporting in. April was a tough month for me. Took some stingy skunks on the Charles. Went to a lake in NH with a bud and got skunked for bass. Nevertheless, I have been exploring new water. Today I broke the zeros on the Charles with a small mixed bag, one LM one SM. Got em on an original Terminator with a huge silver colorado blade. Both came off the same spot. Went to a livetarget swimbait a bit later in the day to go for a big bite. Had something blow up on it as I was pulling it out of the water; not a huge fish but would have been a keeper. Then I hung the swimbait and snapped off.     

[MassYak85]

Rounded out the weekend with a matching pair of 3 lbers and a few more dinks. The water was warming up, about 56 to 59. I saw bass on beds for the first time this year. Males are definitely making the push shallow getting the beds ready. 

[DogBone_384]

Fished Canton Res this afternoon, picking up 2 LMB, a pick, a yellow perch, and one crappie.  Everyone except the crappie came on a 4.5” Keitech Easy Shiner in smallmouth magic. The crappie tried a Vision 110 on for size.  My big bass was a chubby 1.5 pounds.  

 

Winds were 8 - 10 mph from the east and water temps were 60.x - 61.x. Air pressure was 29.9.

 

Yep, the state record is still safe....

[DogBone_384]

Fished Mashpee - Wakeby from 11:00 to about 5:30, throwing misc. trebles, a couple different swim baits, and a Rage Menace.  Although I blanked, I determined that black/blue was the color.  I had two pair and two single SMB follow the soft baits to the boat and peel off.  Hooked onto another, but it got off as I tried to boat flip it.  Try as I might, I may as well have left all my treble hook baits home.

 

Weather was good. Sunny, low 50’s, wind 10-15 from the east.  Water temps were 58.x - 59.x and air pressure was 30.0.

 

Mash-Wake sure has my number.  I blank 80% of the time I try the place.

[Meowmicks]

Had a kayak tourney at Lake Quinsigamond today.

1st cast at 6:00am and hooked into my 1st largemouth at 6:21am slow rolling a Dark Sleeper. Next bite didn't come for another hour and a half, again on the dark sleeper.

Tried some jigs, senko, chatterbait, t-rig craw, and drop shot but with no bites I went back to the dark sleeper. Filled out my 5 fish limit at 12:01pm. After no bites for a while I tied on a XD3 throwing parallel to the bank in 8'-10'. Got 2 more largemouth, one at 1:46pm and another at 1:54pm which moved me into a tie for 2nd place! Ended up with 3rd since my big fish (15.25") was smaller than 2nd place. Another awesome tourney with Slay Nation in the books. Next saturday is Long Pond Plymouth with NEBassin.

 

Water temps were around 48-53F degrees, mostly cloud cover with some sunlight, 5-10mph winds.

Did end up catching 2 tiny smallmouth on the XD3 as well as a Rainbow trout!

Rock bass were a plenty but only 1 pickerel, i'll take rock bass over slime darts thanks.

 

Overall I'd definitely go back again, great place to hone offshore skills.

[JAB50]

I’ll be in Mass. this upcoming weekend 05/14 till 05/23. If anyone can give me an update on the conditions on the cape, it will be greatly appreciated. Water temps, are they in the prespawn stage still, on beds. Just trying to make sure I bring the right gear home. Also, I fish the smaller bodies of waters like Sheep’s pond, Hinkleys, Seymour and the other bodies of water that are similar, all over the cape!

many thanks

[MassYak85]

On 5/8/2021 at 6:19 PM, Meowmicks said:

Had a kayak tourney at Lake Quinsigamond today.

1st cast at 6:00am and hooked into my 1st largemouth at 6:21am slow rolling a Dark Sleeper. Next bite didn't come for another hour and a half, again on the dark sleeper.

Tried some jigs, senko, chatterbait, t-rig craw, and drop shot but with no bites I went back to the dark sleeper. Filled out my 5 fish limit at 12:01pm. After no bites for a while I tied on a XD3 throwing parallel to the bank in 8'-10'. Got 2 more largemouth, one at 1:46pm and another at 1:54pm which moved me into a tie for 2nd place! Ended up with 3rd since my big fish (15.25") was smaller than 2nd place. Another awesome tourney with Slay Nation in the books. Next saturday is Long Pond Plymouth with NEBassin.

 

Water temps were around 48-53F degrees, mostly cloud cover with some sunlight, 5-10mph winds.

Did end up catching 2 tiny smallmouth on the XD3 as well as a Rainbow trout!

Rock bass were a plenty but only 1 pickerel, i'll take rock bass over slime darts thanks.

 

Overall I'd definitely go back again, great place to hone offshore skills.

I saw someone from your tournament nailed a TOAD! Seemed like a lot of fairly modest fish otherwise though? 

 

I definitely have mixed feelings about Quinsig. It's one of the lakes I'm most familiar with since I fished it growing up. But in the heat of the summer if you can't get on a shallow bite it can definitely be a challenge disecting all the offshore structure while every pleasure boat in Worcester is buzzing around you. But it's one of those places in the Spring that I always spend some time. I've seen some big fish pulled out of there. I broke my PB twice there including this year. I think it gets a bad wrap sometimes. 

[DogBone_384]

3 hours ago, JAB50 said:

anyone can give me an update on the conditions on the cape

I fished Mash/Wake for about 6 hours the other day and couldn’t muster anything more than a handful of followers, some light strikes, and one hook/unhook.

 

Water temps are in the high 50’s and beaucoup beds.

 

I nabbed two nice SMB on T-rigged swim Senkos at Hedges this evening on the way to the Cape. The water felt warmer than the air.  I talked with a guy that lives next to Hedges and he said the SMB were off beds already.

 

I haven’t fished Sheep since ‘19, so I can’t help you there.

 

I’m in Dennis Port until Tuesday afternoon and plan on hitting LPH with @Fishing Rhino Tues AM and kayak fishing Bucks or Snake later in the day.

[JAB50]

Thanks for the update!

[bass.slayer69]

Absolutely tore it up yesterday at a new spot near my house. Within a half hour of launching my buddy got his pb with a 5-0 on a senko, and I soon followed with a pair of 1-8’s on a yum pulse swimbait. I also got demolished by some huge pickerel and a couple crappie. Probably my best day of fishing I’ve ever had. The fish were FAT- even the 1 pounders had a huge belly. I don’t think the spawn has fully begun yet, but one of the bigger fish we caught did have some bite marks on their tail.

 

The weather this week is looking juicy - good luck everyone if you get out!

[Dr. Nefario]

Anybody know what the closest freshwater lakes/ponds with ramps to Revere would be? I’m doing some work on my engine and need to just be able to drop it in the water quick after work to make sure it cranks on. Somewhere that won’t have a real low HP restriction. 

[Meowmicks]

15 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I saw someone from your tournament nailed a TOAD! Seemed like a lot of fairly modest fish otherwise though? 

 

I definitely have mixed feelings about Quinsig. It's one of the lakes I'm most familiar with since I fished it growing up. But in the heat of the summer if you can't get on a shallow bite it can definitely be a challenge disecting all the offshore structure while every pleasure boat in Worcester is buzzing around you. But it's one of those places in the Spring that I always spend some time. I've seen some big fish pulled out of there. I broke my PB twice there including this year. I think it gets a bad wrap sometimes. 

Yeah the guy that won took home lunker with a 6.5lber 21.5" fish, amazing catch for sure. Next biggest was 16.5" I believe.

I could definitely see the pleasure boaters getting annoying, there were only a couple on the water Saturday and that was annoying enough. Gonna try and go back in the Nitro a couple times before summer takes off.

 

Next up is the Mill ponds in Brewster this weekend, never been so it should be fun trying to figure em out.

[Mr. Aquarium]

After a slow day of toggin. Went out striper fishing down the cape. Caught my first weakfish. Can’t believe I got this fish. I’m beyond excited. This fish is very rare and hard to catch in MA.  They are very cyclical meaning each year is very different. Some years a good number return other years not many return.   If someone told me a few months ago that I would catch a weakfish, I would laugh and tell em they are ***tin.  I also did manage a schoolie and 2 sea robins lol.

[bass.slayer69]

Anyone know what stage of the spawn we're in right now? Saw some empty beds yesterday but no fish on them... all the fish I caught were FAT, though.

[DogBone_384]

Fished Buck’s for a couple hours this evening. Threw a couple different crank baits, a T-rigged swim Senko, chatter bait, 3.8” Keitech, and black/blue Rage Menace. Took a skunk.

 

Weather was beautiful. Air pressure was 29.9 and water temps were 60.x

[MassYak85]

On 5/10/2021 at 12:39 PM, bass.slayer69 said:

Anyone know what stage of the spawn we're in right now? Saw some empty beds yesterday but no fish on them... all the fish I caught were FAT, though.

Didn't get out last weekend but the weekend before was the first time I saw fish on beds (mostly males). Still pre spawn IMO with water temps still staying in the mid 50s where I fish. But they're thinking about it and it won't take long once we get some consistent warm weather. Smallies might have already started getting at it they usually start before largies.

[MassYak85]

What usually signals you guys to look for postspawn fish? I know we're not there yet but at least around me it seems we've had at least some fish make the push and are done. Seems a lot of fish were still waiting to spawn but I saw very few on beds today (but the beds were there). I've always felt the fish spawn in "waves" and it seemed like I was fishing in between. Water temps were 57-62 (main lake - shallow) and most of my bites were juuuuust off a shallow area but not many fish actually shallow and sitting on beds it seemed.