Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[MassYak85]

Grinded it out with the swimbaits today. With the trout stockings right around the corner I figured it was time to put in some hours with my Large MS Slammer in lite trout. Got two, one was a very overambitious fish probably not even 2lbs and very skinny. Sucked it off the surface when it was just sitting there. The other one made the day and the grind worth it. Just shy of 5lbs at 4-14 but it did go 21" so that'll be another pin. I was waking it along a weed bed and just as I cranked it below the surface it hit. Thought I lost it as it bolted towards me faster than I could reel. Got another follow shortly after from probably a 4lber but it bailed off last second. 

 

I'm still looking for that 2nd 6lber of the year to hit my goal of 5 over 5 and two 6s for the year. 

[bass.slayer69]

Managed to sneak in a couple sessions to wet a line last week. Friday evening landed my best non-Cape bass at 17 inches on a spinnerbait. Repeated the pattern last night at around 9ish and got a healthy 1.5-2 pounder. Been doing decent despite not having much time. Next weekend I hope to get the canoe out for one last trip.

[Styguy922]

Fished Lake Champlain last weekend, got a few nice SM bass and some average sized pike.  Was pretty fun.  All the bass were in 8 to 10 ft of water, 71 degrees, chatterbaits did the trick.

 

Looking to get out this upcoming weekend and snag some largemouth as opposed to the SM bass.  Anyone notice if they've moved shallow yet for their fall feed? Went out last week and it seemed like they were still a bit deeper.  Hoping to try a few spots on the north shore and then head back inland towards home in the Groton/Acton area.

 

Was catching bass last year through early December in northern MA - hoping to repeat that pattern and then head down to the cape for open water bass later than that.  But for now, it's Oct and some good fish to be had if I can find them!

[Mr. Aquarium]

Good job guys getting out! I managed a nice schoolie off the beach on Friday!  Went out Sunday looking for my Birthday tuna. We fished sunrise to sunset. Had one big fish hit, but that was it

[DogBone_384]

Went to Mashpee Wakebey this afternoon. Didn’t last long. My daughter called me with car problems.

 

Water temp was 68.x.

 

Forgot to add the only highlight was an eagle flying over me with with a fish it its claws.

[JG233]

Got out for a few hours today on Bantam Lake in CT. I've never visited it before, but it has a good rep for Pike, SMB, and LMB. I landed a 3lb SMB within the first hour near a weedy point. Then I spent the next few hours paddling around, getting nothing. A pike or pickerel bit me off, but other than that--nothing. I found lots of green weed beds. Water temp peaked at 68. It was a good day. Worth it for the one SMB.

[Mr. Aquarium]

I’m getting the itch to get back to bass fishin! 

[bass.slayer69]

On 10/10/2021 at 11:25 AM, Mr. Aquarium said:

I’m getting the itch to get back to bass fishin

As was I up until today. Snuck out in the canoe for a couple hours and the bite was good. 8 bass in around 2 hours on wakebait spinnerbait senko - biggest was 3 pounds even. Fat!

[Dunks N Dinks]

Weekend Cape Update - Been a While...

 

After a bit of a freshwater angling hiatus this Fall, the itch just had to be scratched this weekend... 

 

Went to Johns Saturday at zero-dark full of excitement, caffeine and delusions of glory and then proceeded to get ZERO bites until 2pm...ouch. Big hit to the confidence, but eventually turned it around as wind picked up and the sun peaked out. After striking out looking for the classic Fall transition patterns shallow (jigs, chatter, jerk-bait), I decided to move in reverse, checking some deep summer offshore haunts. Finally intercepted a few roaming groups of fish out in 25-27fow on a deep flat adjacent to a main-lake point. They were holding in close proximity to schools of deepwater perch, which meant weeding through those non-target species, but I did manage to find a solid limit of smallmouth in the last 2hrs of my trip. On my way back towards the ramp, I pulled into a small flat pocket just for the heck of it, and lo and behold, stuck a hefty kicker largemouth on a jerkbait next to a mooring buoy...can't ever sleep on the Cape buoy pattern! 

 

 

[Dunks N Dinks]

Sunday I decided to fish Great Herring which Ive never been to before but heard decent things about on this forum. Boy was it a great off-the-cuff decision. A few topwater fish at sunrise got the momentum going and the late-morning period proved as productive (if not more-so) than Saturday's deep-water search. Similarly, after the shallow low-light activity died, I quickly moved offshore and started marking fish around the 15-18fow area on subtle break-lines in the northern basin. Bait balls were thick and once again key determinants of fish location. In the following few hours, a buddy and I compiled a ~16lb limit of smallies on finesse tactics. Low and slow was the key, popping baits into and out of the beds of perch grass and waiting for the tell-tale thump of a curious brown-back. Highlight of the day was a chaotic 'double-up', my buddy and I loaded on twin smallies...my fish ended up being the lunker of the session, pushing the scales at a super-girthy 4.11lbs. Goes to say that the unseasonably warm weather so far this Fall has delayed the classic shallow push ... but there's still quality to be had looking for the perch/alewife-chompers out deep.  

[Mr. Aquarium]

Wow awesome weekend guys, 

@Dunks N Dinks those are some fat smallies! 
 

I thinkin about giving it a shot after work this week on the boat. Afternoon to night trip.  Just got a new truck, pretty pumped to be able to put a boat in the back 

[JG233]

Grats on the new truck!

 

I've been back and bass fishing for the last few weeks and every time out has been pretty good. I'm looking forward to getting out this week too.

[Mr. Aquarium]

1 hour ago, JG233 said:

Grats on the new truck!

 

I've been back and bass fishing for the last few weeks and every time out has been pretty good. I'm looking forward to getting out this week too.

Thanks buddy! I was without a car for 2 months or sucked. Fishing was out on hold,

luckily I had the best September I’ve ever had for stripers off my backyard. 

[guidoStow]

Went back to Chauncy Lake today. Light breezes and little boat traffic (till late in the afternoon). Caught 3 Chain Pickerel 15, 17 and 21 inches. Great enthusiastic fish each of them. Then I had a strike like throwing a dog into the water. Very solid contact but no hook up. Switched fly and got another long pass at it but no contact. Whole different size class from the pickerel. There are two possibilities stocked there, either would be a blast... Even with that little contact my hands were shaking... Oh my...

[gjfisher]

It seems that the typical fall bite in shallow water is still off.  I am having a lot better luck in deeper water still.  Yesterday I fished topwater, jerkbaits and shallow/mid cranks and had a couple bites each but fish were not dialed in on any.  The day before I landed ~10 in about 20-25 FOW on my trusted dropshot and all but one were over 2.5lbs.

[Styguy922]

@guidoStow  That's pretty awesome.  You know if it was a tiger it had to be pretty big because the last time they stocked was 2015 and those fish don't reproduce......VERY cool.  Otherwise, seen some big pike on ice fishing forums that came from there...also cool.

 

@gjfisher Agreed.....been real warm and the water temp in most of the places I fish has still been 64-66ish so I'm thinking the shallow fall bite is just getting started/delayed.....which is fine by me because I am one to savor/extend fall bass fishing as much as possible.  Have a bunch of spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and 110s ready to go!

[DogBone_384]

On 10/12/2021 at 7:28 AM, Dunks N Dinks said:

caffeine and delusions of glory

Sounds like every trip I take!

[JG233]

I'm on a plane back overseas in a few days, but I got one more fishing trip in this week. I ended up having a huge numbers day. I caught about a dozen pickerel in the first two hours, then nothing for two hours, and finally finished up the last couple hours of the day catching about a dozen bass. Fun day, but nothing of any real size. The biggest bass went probably 3 lbs or so. 

 

After, I packed up all my gear for storage with family and got my kayak put away...unit next year!

[DogBone_384]

15 hours ago, JG233 said:

I'm on a plane back overseas in a few days,

Glad you got out and sorry we didn’t get out together on my boat. Next time.

[MassYak85]

Missed out fishing last weekend cause of work but made up for it today. 

 

Clouds were out, wind was absolutely howling, and pressure was dropping...Game on!

 

I really only needed one lure today, a chatterbait did all the damage. I totaled 17 bass, biggest going 3-9 and a bonus 2.5lb smallie. Most fish were 1-2.5lbs. Tons of pickerel as well but I don't keep track of those lol. The fish seemed to be anywhere there was still some patchy living vegetation.

 

My wrist is sore from setting the hook lol. A good problem to have I suppose. 

[guidoStow]

MA or VT?

[MassYak85]

11 minutes ago, guidoStow said:

MA or VT?

MA. I'm down here a lot visiting family and friends so I make the most out of fishing here when I can. 

[dovii]

On 10/14/2021 at 5:54 PM, guidoStow said:

Went back to Chauncy Lake today. Light breezes and little boat traffic (till late in the afternoon). Caught 3 Chain Pickerel 15, 17 and 21 inches. Great enthusiastic fish each of them. Then I had a strike like throwing a dog into the water. Very solid contact but no hook up. Switched fly and got another long pass at it but no contact. Whole different size class from the pickerel. There are two possibilities stocked there, either would be a blast... Even with that little contact my hands were shaking... Oh my...

I fish in Chauncy in summer. The lake does not have too much cover and always feels its windy. Never fished so late though, as I end up not catching anything. I am glad you had some luck!

[guidoStow]

1 hour ago, dovii said:

I fish in Chauncy in summer. The lake does not have too much cover and always feels its windy. Never fished so late though, as I end up not catching anything. I am glad you had some luck!

There are still a lot of weed beds around most of the lake. But certainly not a lot of downed trees or rocks. It's like fishing in a dish...

[MassYak85]

My dad and I both had the day off work so we figured we'd try somewhere new. Mashpee-Wakeby is a bit of a drive but having heard good things we thought it could be worth it. Launched his boat around 8 and the wind was blowing pretty good all day. Definitely a bit of an intimidating lake with lots of depth but little cover. Some shallow vegetation here and there, I was surprised at the lack of many real rocks. 

 

I think we made out pretty good for our first time there. I managed 7 or 8, mostly smaller fish on a jerkbait but I did get a couple 2lbers including a decent smallie. My dad got the prize of the day with a 4-4 smallie on a chatterbait. We tried coaxing some out of the depths with blades but only got dinks doing that. 

 

We also ran into to some schools of freshly stocked rainbow which was cool to see.