Super User DogBone_384 Posted June 19, 2021 Super User Posted June 19, 2021 I launched at Great Herring yesterday around 6:00. Got a decent SMB straight away on a perch Whopper Plopper. Nothing more until around 11:00 when I picked up two nice White Perch with a chartreuse/shad Vision 110.   I moved to Mashpee-Wakeby around noon and threw the kitchen sink, shower, and the shed for five hours W/O a whiff of a fish.  Water temps were 72.x -74.x. Air pressure was 30.0.  Winds at GH were light in the morning. Mash-Wake’s winds were steady 15+. Quote
Super User MassYak85 Posted June 20, 2021 Super User Posted June 20, 2021 Me and my dad had a great father's day fishing weekend. Yesterday we hit Norton Reservoir for the first time. The bites came in windows but we each got 8 and of good average size too with most fish being close to 3lbs. Biggest went 3-9. Got on a good pattern at one point drifting with the wind. Spinnerbait got it done for my dad and I put it to them with my favorite summertime bait...10" power worm.  Today we slept in a bit and stayed local. The numbers were even better than yesterday but the size just wasn't there. Biggest might have gone 2.5lbs with most fish in the 1lb class. But one of my better numbers days in years. I got 16 bass and my dad got 8 with plenty of pickerel to go around as well. Most of mine came on a spinnerbait although I did pick off a handful off a point on a dropshot. Managed a couple on the power worm again as well.  Have a good father's day everyone! 2 Quote
Super User DogBone_384 Posted June 21, 2021 Super User Posted June 21, 2021 I fished Hinckley's from shore for an hour or so at dusk Saturday evening and LPH Sunday for a few hours at dawn on Sunday.  Hinckley's didn't disappoint, with a very angry SMB smashing a perch Whopper Plopper in roughly 5' of water. Also had a few hits and one spit-off.  I got 2 SMB and a white perch at LPH. Both SMB came on the perch Whoppper Plopper and the perch liked a Duo-Realis spy bait in Goby.  Water temps at LPH were 71.x and air pressure sat at 29.8. Winds were light from the SW. Quote
Frezzy Posted June 22, 2021 Posted June 22, 2021 Hey Guys, I've been really getting back into freshwater bass fishing over the past few years after a long break. Mostly been fishing the Chu the past few seasons. I'm a die hard surfcaster for stripers for the past 20+yrs or so. I have two young boys (8 and 3) and the sleepless nights and long 1-1.5hr drives chasing stripers are starting to wear on me. The state of the striped bass fishery is not helping either. Approaching my late 40s now.      I live about 3 minutes from Whitehall Reservoir in Hopkinton. I was thinking about picking up a small 17' aluminum bass boat like a Tracker or Ranger and getting it rigged up with all the bells and whistles. Maybe spending $25-30K or so. I would mostly just use it at Whitehall. Now to my question. How is the bass fishing at Whitehall? Is it good enough to justify the investment? Its a beautiful lake and I like the fact that it's highly restricted (12mph max, not jet ski's, no houses, etc.). I have poked around casting from the bank and caught some small fish, but really just early in the season before the Chu opened. I know it gets a lot of pressure because I drive by it multiple times every day.  My other option is picking up a 16-17' Lund, tricking it out with graphs, and dedicating it to the Quabbin. The only downside there is its an hour drive., but at least it wont be at 2am.  Tough decision. Let me know what you guys think of Whitehall.  Thanks!       Quote
Dunks N Dinks Posted June 22, 2021 Posted June 22, 2021 Ive fished Whitehall 5-6 times over the last 3yrs...had some great days (20+ bites, several 4lbers, some less impressive performances mixed in as well. The lake has 'em for sure, and you can fish power or finesse throughout the seasons. It's also an interesting and diverse lake (from a cover/structure perspective), but still small and might be a little "boring" by relative comparison to the Chu. I think i would get sick of fishing it more than 6-7 times a year but that's just me. I don't think you will ever get sick of the Chu just on the basis of size and lack of fishing pressure. Your decision is really about whether you want options (a small tracker can fish almost anywhere) vs. an 'all in' approach at the Chu. There's something to be said about learning and trying to pattern a single fishery...all up to you. Quote
Don51 Posted June 23, 2021 Posted June 23, 2021 Frezzy, if you want some solid info on both the Quabbin and Whitehall get on this site: http://www.newenglandfishing.net 1 Quote
Super User MassYak85 Posted June 23, 2021 Super User Posted June 23, 2021 23 hours ago, Frezzy said: Hey Guys, I've been really getting back into freshwater bass fishing over the past few years after a long break. Mostly been fishing the Chu the past few seasons. I'm a die hard surfcaster for stripers for the past 20+yrs or so. I have two young boys (8 and 3) and the sleepless nights and long 1-1.5hr drives chasing stripers are starting to wear on me. The state of the striped bass fishery is not helping either. Approaching my late 40s now.      I live about 3 minutes from Whitehall Reservoir in Hopkinton. I was thinking about picking up a small 17' aluminum bass boat like a Tracker or Ranger and getting it rigged up with all the bells and whistles. Maybe spending $25-30K or so. I would mostly just use it at Whitehall. Now to my question. How is the bass fishing at Whitehall? Is it good enough to justify the investment? Its a beautiful lake and I like the fact that it's highly restricted (12mph max, not jet ski's, no houses, etc.). I have poked around casting from the bank and caught some small fish, but really just early in the season before the Chu opened. I know it gets a lot of pressure because I drive by it multiple times every day.  My other option is picking up a 16-17' Lund, tricking it out with graphs, and dedicating it to the Quabbin. The only downside there is its an hour drive., but at least it wont be at 2am.  Tough decision. Let me know what you guys think of Whitehall.  Thanks!       I grew up in Hopkinton. There are good fish in Whitehall and like @Dunks N Dinks said the lake has a lot of diversity. The South section has some deeper structure over 20+ ft and the North section has shallower flats with scattered submerged stumps and some great lily pad fields.  Would I dedicate a boat to fishing it? No. But if that's gonna be your "home lake" it's a fun little place and you can occasionally get rewarded. Can be very hit or miss sometimes. But if you're trailering there's countless lakes within an hour drive.  It's a busy place though. The parking lot is massive so you get lots of tournaments as well as lots of recreational activity in the warmer months.  Quote
Frezzy Posted June 23, 2021 Posted June 23, 2021 Thanks for the info on Whitehall fellas. Very helpful. Just found this link below. Holy S**T. There seems to be a tournament on Whitehall every weekend basically all year. Is this common? Leaning towards the dedicated Quabbin boat as my primary rig and a kayak or small jonboat for Whitehall (will fish it at night mostly with big baits).  FBA Scheduled Events | Mass.gov  Frezzy Quote
Dunks N Dinks Posted June 23, 2021 Posted June 23, 2021 @Frezzy yep, its a sad reality of the sport in MA. Too many "tournament" anglers and too few large freshwater bodies of water in the state with ramp access. Best to fish during the week or at night...or during the winter lol Quote
Super User Jigfishn10 Posted June 24, 2021 Author Super User Posted June 24, 2021 Hoping the seas workout for the next couple of days. Heading to Maine to fish a couple of spots. #FingersCrossed!  Good luck for those who are wetting a line. 2 Quote
gjfisher Posted June 25, 2021 Posted June 25, 2021 New PB today! For pickerel, that is. It took an epic battle to reel in the 5.13lb slob on my medium light spinning setup. It was a miracle that the fish did not bite or break off the 6lb fluoro leader.  Unfortunately the size of my bass catches this year has been below expectations. I have done well with numbers this year, catching many more 1-3lb bass than I did last year with similar number of trips, but I have yet to crack 4lb. Plenty of time left still in the season but I am gonna start throwing more big fish baits like jigs, magnum worms and larger swimbaits from now on.  3 Quote
Super User MassYak85 Posted June 25, 2021 Super User Posted June 25, 2021 15 hours ago, gjfisher said: New PB today! For pickerel, that is. It took an epic battle to reel in the 5.13lb slob on my medium light spinning setup. It was a miracle that the fish did not bite or break off the 6lb fluoro leader.  Unfortunately the size of my bass catches this year has been below expectations. I have done well with numbers this year, catching many more 1-3lb bass than I did last year with similar number of trips, but I have yet to crack 4lb. Plenty of time left still in the season but I am gonna start throwing more big fish baits like jigs, magnum worms and larger swimbaits from now on.  That's a TOAD pickerel! Did you get a length?  Once they get over 20" I enjoy catching them cause they fight so well but it's always dissaponting setting the hook into a 2 footer thinking you've got a new PB bass on for a second.  I had one go 25.5 a couple years ago in like 25fow on a Carolina rig of all things. I was sure I had a 6lb bass on for about 2/3 of that fight. Quote
gjfisher Posted June 26, 2021 Posted June 26, 2021 8 hours ago, MassYak85 said: That's a TOAD pickerel! Did you get a length?  Once they get over 20" I enjoy catching them cause they fight so well but it's always dissaponting setting the hook into a 2 footer thinking you've got a new PB bass on for a second.  I had one go 25.5 a couple years ago in like 25fow on a Carolina rig of all things. I was sure I had a 6lb bass on for about 2/3 of that fight. I did not have a ruler or measuring board so measured with my hand. It's about 26 inches and has impressive girth. For a while, as my line was peeling off the reel and the drag was screaming but I couldn't see the fish, I for sure thought I had a big bass on. Fun fight though, so no complaints. Quote
Super User DogBone_384 Posted June 26, 2021 Super User Posted June 26, 2021 Dropped into Ponkapoag for the first time in a dog's age late yesterday afternoon. I threw a couple different creature baits, a Yozuri pencil, a perch Whopper Plopper, and a perch 5" wacky rigged Senko. Two good bass and two pickerel made it to the kayak. I lost a good bass that hit the Senko hard and fought like a pickerel (?), so I didn't play it enthusiastically. When it got to the kayak I saw it laugh just as he unbuttoned and swam off. My big bass just made two pounds. Had a couple hits on the Whopper Plopper, but all I needed was the 5" Senko.  Ponkie's weeds didn't seem as bad as they've been in years past. Water temps were 78.x, air pressure was 30.3, and winds were light from the east. Quote
Super User Jigfishn10 Posted June 26, 2021 Author Super User Posted June 26, 2021 Fished the Maine Gulf Thursday & Friday. Could only get 2 hours each day due to weather.  Both days we fished between the 60' and 90' contour lines on hard bottom. Got bites on Thursday with an abbreviated hook-up. Was happy that the area I charted over the winter had fish on it.  Went back  on Friday in 3-4' seas and expanded the area we fished the day prior. Fist cast a nice chunky pollock. The next cast I gave the rod to my son and he got a decent cod. His first!  We could have stayed there, but I was on a fact finding mission, and moved to a deeper area right at the 90' contour line. There I got a nice pollock and a short cod, my son had a nice one unbutton.  We turned around and headed back to the mooring due to a outgoing tide.   1 Quote
Super User MassYak85 Posted July 1, 2021 Super User Posted July 1, 2021 Gonna be a cold rainy one Saturday to start off the holiday weekend. Should keep the pleasure boaters home! Think the cold front will hurt or help the fishing? Quote
Mr. Aquarium Posted July 1, 2021 Posted July 1, 2021 Makes freshwater fishing enjoyable. I can’t be on  pond or lake when it’s hot Quote
bass.slayer69 Posted July 2, 2021 Posted July 2, 2021 Anyone ever fished Lawrence Pond in Sandwich? Driven by it a few times and wondering if there is any good fishing there Quote
Super User DogBone_384 Posted July 2, 2021 Super User Posted July 2, 2021 On 7/1/2021 at 12:06 PM, MassYak85 said: Think the cold front will hurt or help the fishing? It didn't hurt the little munchkin LMB who thought he could swallow a 4" Keitech Easy Shiner on an underspin at Blue Hills Reservoir earlier today. 1 Quote
bass.slayer69 Posted July 2, 2021 Posted July 2, 2021 53 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said: I didn't hurt the little munchkin LMB who thought he could swallow a 4" Keitech Easy Shiner on an underspin at Blue Hills Reservoir earlier today. Caught my pb smallie today on topwater… water was really warm tho. We will have to see what the next few days turns out to be 4 Quote
Super User MassYak85 Posted July 3, 2021 Super User Posted July 3, 2021 Hit Webster this morning until early afternoon. Hardly a soul out there first thing, a few brave water skiers and other fisherman came out later. Weather was...gross for this time of year. Felt like October. I tried a crawler I picked up this spring for the first time to see what all the fuss is about. I got 3 decent ones on the crawler, biggest maybe 3lbs. And a couple more on on a wobble head creature bait out deep. Bite was a little slow overall. Quote
bass.slayer69 Posted July 3, 2021 Posted July 3, 2021 1 hour ago, MassYak85 said: Bite was a little slow overall. I second this. I was out in Sandwich midday and wasn’t getting any bites close to shore, so I switched to the T-Rig and nabbed 3 decent ones right at the deepest point of the pond. Have a feeling the cold front shut down the bite and maybe pushed them out deep. Quote
Super User MassYak85 Posted July 4, 2021 Super User Posted July 4, 2021 Well I broke my first rod today...  It was a dobyns fury spinning rod, could have been worse I guess. I basically high sticked it while testing my drag for a drop shot with 5lb line lol. Of all the ways that's not how I pictured that happening.  Fishing wasn't amazing but the numbers we got made up for it.  On a completely unrelated note (?)...any cool ideas on what to do with the broken rod? I've seen people make lure retrievers out of them but open to other ideas. I think I'm gonna try and salvage the guides for future repairs at least. Quote
Super User MN Fisher Posted July 4, 2021 Super User Posted July 4, 2021 8 minutes ago, MassYak85 said: On a completely unrelated note (?)...any cool ideas on what to do with the broken rod? I've seen people make lure retrievers out of them but open to other ideas. I think I'm gonna try and salvage the guides for future repairs at least. $50 plus shipping gets you a new rod. "For damages determined to be from accident, normal wear and tear, or neglect, Dobyns Rods offers a No Hassle repair and replacement policy. " https://dobynsrods.com/warranty/ Quote
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