Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[Mr. Aquarium]

@MassYak85 yea its been slow for me 2.  only a few over 3 and 2 over 5lbs. 5.9 and 6.13 this year.  grinding for small fish. my good spots arent producing.

im going to target different species. like carp, bowfin and pike. also striper fish more

[LadiMopar]

I think most everyone is having a tough go right now with the water temps in the low to mid 80's.  I'm getting out abt 4 days a week and all the guys I talk to are saying the same thing....very very slow if anything. 

 

I was at a fairly popular lake in Groton on Sunday (Lost Lake/Knops Pond), lot was full at 5:30 in the A.M. and because getting my yak off the trailer takes a little more work than the bass boats I let them all go ahead of me. Most of them were back at the ramp in under 3 hours; unlike me they can access the most productive sections of the lake far quicker, and it was disappointing to see them back so soon, shaking their heads in defeat....not a one of them caught anything bigger than a guppie.?

 

In the last two weeks I think I've tried almost every trick in the book, and after getting skunked again today I'm wondering if I could even catch a box of fish sticks! ??

 

Hang in there everybody, like the seemingly never ending winter we had, this too shall pass! ?

[JG233]

I had such a good spring fishing too...

 

I'm going out this week. I'm going somewhere on Thursday!

[MassYak85]

My father and I fished Webster today for most of the day. Day seemed like it was going to be really good from how it started. I got a decent 2lb smallie on a whopper plopper, he got a chunky 4lber off a downed tree on a worm, and it was overcast with a slight breeze. But clouds gave way to sun and we had to really grind it out with finesse stuff to manage a few 1-2lbers each the rest of the day. I did hook up with a nice one on an S-Waver (probably a little over 3lbs) but it only had one point on the back treble and came up right at the boat and shook it. My dad actually ended the day catching a Bronze-Pin worthy White Perch of all things on a crankbait. I thought it was a largemouth when he lifted it out of the water. Poor thing looked injured and would.not.stop.shaking, and he didn't really care about the pin so we just let it go without any pictures of length measurements. 

[DogBone_384]

I took a friend’s son to Canton reservoir yesterday evening for another go around.  The weather was nearly perfect with a light breeze and some cloud cover.  Water temps were 84.x when we launched and 82.x when we went home.

 

Evan caught three, lost one, and got big fish of the day with a 3.18 # Larry.  He’s still stuck on using ‘his’ baits but is starting to try my suggestions on spots and retrieval.

 

I landed three Larries, one pick, and a nice frying pan Crappie.  One Larry was 2-8 and as I went to release it, Larry gave one big shake and slipped out of my hand with my fish gripper and scale.  One bass after the 2-8 was bigger, but Larry #1 wouldn’t come back with my scale when I called it.  

 

I hope Larry #1 can shake off the fish grip....

 

Changing the subject, I’m thinking of a camping trip to Nickerson State Park in September after the kids go back to school.  Cliff, Little Cliff, and Flax ponds are close to each other and are easy access for car toppers.  

[LadiMopar]

19 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

Evan caught three, lost one, and got big fish of the day with a 3.18 # Larry.  He’s still stuck on using ‘his’ baits but is starting to try my suggestions on spots and retrieval.

 

Glad your young friend is doing so well. He's obviously getting expert advice. ?

 

25 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

hope Larry #1 can shake off the fish grip....

Dang fish never come when called, and then run off with all the good toys!  Maybe Larry#2 will give him a hand...uh, fin with that. 

 

But on a tad more serious note, don't worry too much about the grips. I was reading a great study recently (college thesis) about the ability of fish (northern pike were the subject species) to dislodge hooks and other objects from their mouths. The student created floating crankbaits which were numbered and placed them into the pikes mouth, throat etc., even the most deeply placed baits floated to the surface in 3 days. No permanent harm to the pike.

https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/fishing-lure-left-in-a-fishs-mouth/

Most likely Larry #1 will find a means to dislodge the grips.

 

As for the camping adventure, do you have a date in mind yet?

[DogBone_384]

I figure second week in September depending on everyone’s schedule.  The weather will still be good and the Cape crowds gone.  I work 24 hour shifts so it doesn’t matter weekdays/weekends for me.  My boss, err, wife said she’d consider it if there were women going.  Her idea of camping is a 2 bedroom condo on the water or near Disney but she said she’d consider it....

 

One or two nights should be enough, even if some members only came down for a long day.  

[LadiMopar]

10 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

My boss, err, wife said she’d consider it if there were women going.  Her idea of camping is a 2 bedroom condo on the water or near Disney but she said she’d consider it....

 

 

Does the "boss" paddle or fish at all? If not, and there is the slightest glimmer of interest on her part to try it, I would be more than happy to nudge her in that direction. Speaking for myself [and a select number of the sisterhood] more gals on the water with rod/reel in hand has been a life long mission. I have even been known to tolerate pink gear if that's what it takes! ?

[DogBone_384]

Boss lady paddles and has fished here & there.  It’s “work in progress”.

[DogBone_384]

It’s been quiet here .... hope everyone’s fishing!

[Dunks N Dinks]

Cape Update: Summer F(eel)s

Got out for a few hours Sunday night on Cliffs and only got two bites. Its hot (water: 77) and there were few signs of life. Ended up with a 1.5lb smallie and a nice chunky 3.25lb large-mouth that bit a 3.25" ned rig in 10ft near a boulder pile. Hauled water the rest of the evening before the bugs had me rushing back to the ramp. One question i have for the group is whether anyone has ever made a point to imitate freshwater eels in MA as a specific forage pattern? I noticed that on the MA.gov site, they list that in 1992 Cliffs "gave up a world record American eel (8 pounds, 9 ounces, 46 inches long and 10.5 inches in girth!!!!)". This has me wondering if Im doing it all wrong here....and should I be tossing a 12"/16"/18"??? manns jelly worm on the deepest contour breaks (on a 1oz football/shakey head jig??) I know a few bait shops in the area sell eels as striper bait...but why wouldnt a 5-7lb larry munch on that same offering? Just thinking out loud as Im having trouble cracking the summer doldrum code...   

[Mr. Aquarium]

been out striper fishing on the boat the past few days, nothing, not even a hit. spent 10 hours on sunday with out a hit 
trying but not catching 

[LadiMopar]

Been pushing hard out here in N. Central; averaging about 4 days a week, 6+ hours at a whack.  Only a few weeks left to qualify for BBWC...looking for the one that will put me at the top of the MA leaderboard....here bassy, bassy, bassy! ?????

[JG233]

Caught about 20 LMB today, but nothing of any size. I lost the largest of the bunch. It leaped and threw my chatterbait back at me. Water temps around 82 down near the Cape. The water level looked to be down a couple feet.

[LadiMopar]

3 minutes ago, JG233 said:

Caught about 20 LMB today, but nothing of any size. I lost the largest of the bunch. It leaped and threw my chatterbait back at me. Water temps around 82 down near the Cape. The water level looked to be down a couple feet.

 

Dang, water temps are still mighty warm down your way...they were a cool 73 at 8 this morning and 80 when I came off the water about 3. Must have been the 3 inches of rain we got on Tuesday and the fact that we were a "brisk" 49 degrees at O'dark thirty. ?

[gjfisher]

10 hours ago, Dunks N Dinks said:

should I be tossing a 12"/16"/18"??? manns jelly worm on the deepest contour breaks (on a 1oz football/shakey head jig??) I know a few bait shops in the area sell eels as striper bait...but why wouldnt a 5-7lb larry munch on that same offering? Just thinking out loud as Im having trouble cracking the summer doldrum code...   

I'd give that a shot.  I've had luck with big fish dragging 12" jelly worms deep in the depth of summer.  Another eel imitation I've done well with is the 7" Castaic jerky j eel.

 

[gjfisher]

Fished A1 in my kayak from 6 to 11am last Sunday.  Bites were good between 7 and 9:30am when we had some cloud cover.  Flukes and Texas rigged creature baits were the winning producers.  Bites died down after the sun came out and I got only one fish after 10am by pitching a finesse jig into the tree stumps.  Overall I caught ~15 LMB with the largest being about 3 lbs.  

 

Before Sunday I had a very rough stretch of two weeks where almost every fishing trip yielded only 1 to 3 (usually dinky) fish.  Only exception was one trip when I fished exclusively with ned and drop shot rigs and got 14 fish, with the biggest being about 2lbs.  

[MassYak85]

Got out on Tuesday in my kayak on a small pond in Upton before the line of storms rolled through. I was hoping for some good fishing with the drastic change in weather as was not disappointed! Got my first frog fish of the year, about 2lbs (my frog hookups have been atrocious this year for some reason). The wind kicked up and I had to anchor. Tried fishing off of some downed trees with no luck. Moved to a more rocky area and was rewarded with a few small ones and a 4lber on a chatterbait. I have NEVER seen a fish eat a chatterbait so aggressively, it knocked slack into my line and when I got the fish back it had the keitech trailer partly down into it's gut. With the line of storms getting ominously close (one town over at that point) I decided to head back. Went by a group of stumps on the way back that I had a gut feeling about so I had to make a couple "last casts", tossed a bluegill swimbait in there, a couple turns of the reel, a hard twitch as it passed the last stump to get it to turn around and BAM, the water boiled and she was on! First fish of the year to crack 5lbs! It rained after that and I heard the first clap of thunder in the distance so I left just in time to avoid getting drenched. 

[DogBone_384]

Got out twice this week.  I launched at Ponkie at dawn on Tuesday with topwater at the top of my list, which was the right choice.  Three Larries and two picks until the bite shut off around 8:00.  One pickerel has a bluegill Rapala skitter walk attached to it’s face, the second one I left stuck to a fish this year.... popular bait I guess.  Water temps were 80.x - 82.x.

 

A friend’s son (Evan) met me at Canton Res yesterday around 4:00 PM.  The weather was PERFECT, in the low 80’s and just a slight breeze.  The weather was TOO good for the fish, with water temps 85.x when we started and 82.x when we left.  I managed three LMB and one pickerel with two bass weighing just over 2 pounds.  Evan didn’t catch anything but said he missed a couple.   I didn’t see the other folks fishing landing much and one guy I talked to when we left confirmed it was a slow evening.

 

I’m off until Monday..... must fish somewhere.....  best of luck to the membership this weekend!

[LadiMopar]

Sorry guys I just gotta vent for a minute...Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! Argh!!!!!!! Water skiers at 7 AM!!!!!!!!   Why, why, why do they have to mess up a perfectly wonderful morning of fishing????? 

 

Was the first one on the water this morning, at 5:00 and it was a brisk 54 degrees, fog lazily wafting off the water [73 degrees] Beautiful. Couldn't ask for a more perfect start to the day...Start up on the east end of the lake [paddling kayak] hunting a good sized LMB that I've missed a few times...no luck, so after an hour or so I start down the lake...finally get to this sweet little cove and the sonar is pinging away [don't look at it much but this time I did because it was on fire] I look at the sonar and there is this Monster fish icon on the screen [icons come in 3 sizes] the biggest one my Deeper has ever shown...and like Murphey's law flipped a switch the water skiers come out of the woodwork...ugh..fish scatter...and after an hour riding the wake of the Titanic and hunting for this fish I just had to pack it in.  

 

Just when a gal thinks she has a chance at landing a fish that will put her in the running for the BBWC...Poof! Like a dream it vanishes behind me in the itty bitty wake of my kayak...

 

Not giving up...maybe if I get on the water by 4 the Monster fish gods will take pity on me and let me find her again tomorrow.

 

Okay, done now...thanks I feel a little better. ?

[MassYak85]

Fished Quinsig today with a friend. The bite was consistent and pretty good. Mostly small fish though, biggest might have just topped 2lbs. Probably got nearly 20 keepers before we left early afternoon. No monsters unfortunately but a very fun day for sure.  

[DogBone_384]

Stopped by Blue Hills Reservoir to see if there were any bass left.  There was one lonely fry close to shore and a little guy I could have used as a swim bait that liked my green Yum Dinger.  

 

Other than those two, the only signs of life were dragon flies and a handfull of turkey vultures all doing what they do.

 

Launched at Ponkapog around 6:00 and stayed until 8:30. Caught three LMB, all just over two pounds.  A 130 Whopper-Plopper, wacky rig Yum Dinger, and a t-rigged Keitch swim bait did the trick.  Water temps were 83.x at 6:00 and 81.x when I left.

[Ralph Nicholas Vito]

Wish there was more bank fishing around here tried fishing at ell pond today ... nothing not a bite saw a sign posted that they chemically treated the water ... which idk whether to be ticked off or not care because idk if that kills fish or not

 

Going to be trying spot pond tomorrow hoping to catch at least something ... wish the fishing was as good as it is on cape cod everywhere in MA

[DogBone_384]

Welcome to the forum Ralph.

 

If you travel to the Cape, try Hedges pond in Plymouth. It’s right off route 3.  Good smallie & yellow perch pond. It’s small.  You can fish all of it with waders.  It’s shaped like a 20’ deep cereal bowl.

[LadiMopar]

8 hours ago, Ralph Nicholas Vito said:

Wish there was more bank fishing around here tried fishing at ell pond today ... nothing not a bite saw a sign posted that they chemically treated the water ... which idk whether to be ticked off or not care because idk if that kills fish or not

 

Going to be trying spot pond tomorrow hoping to catch at least something ... wish the fishing was as good as it is on cape cod everywhere in MA

Hey Ralph, welcome to the EMFR.

Sorry you're having trouble with shore access in your area. Before I got my kayak and after I lost my first truck that could carry a small boat I did a lot of shore fishing. Access can be a pain in the rear, but here's a link to the Mass fishing access map site that could be helpful to you. Each "star" on the map gives basic access info for that body of water, including shore access if it's in control of the state. https://www.mass.gov/fishing-and-boating-access

 

You might also want to contact your local MA fisheries field office for info, they have tons of info and free maps etc., for waters close to home. 

 

Good luck in the hunt!

LM