Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[Mr. Aquarium]

Got fish this weekend but it was a grind.  Fished 2 shallow ponds on Saturday. Pond 1, first time here, super shallow, 6 feet deep. Managed a fat white perch, first fish of the year. Had a few other whacks here. Fished light  jigs and jerkbaits. Pond 2, weedy, deepest 8-10 feet. I've fished at a lot,  I was fairly confident but I never fished it in the winter.   Only got 2 yellow perch here on jerkbaits, Fished the north shallow side heavy that's where both perch came. Also tossed the real prey looking for a big fish, nothing. Shocked that I didn't even see a pickerel, this place is loaded with them. 

Sunday,  I fished 3 ponds. Pond 1, 6- 8 feet, lots of weeds.  I've fished  before in the cold, but haven't been here since early 2017. Shallow pond, they seem to stack up in the deep hole on the north side of the pond.  I had a few whacks, got a perch on  finesse jig with Samatis craw trailer.  Fish jigs, jerkbaits, rattle traps, finesse swimbaits, big swimbaits, shakey head.  Had a whack on the imakatsu steal  swimmer, 6 inch weedless swimbait, no fish on the real prey pond shiner.  Pond 2 was a bit deeper, 10-15 feet, not as many weeds. Fished here on the way back to the launch, had to paddle through here to get to pond 1. Had a good whack on the shakey head, didn't feel like a perch, fished blades, shakey heads, and hair jigs. Only had the one hit.  Pond 3, I've done very well in the cold. Deepest out of the 3 ponds, 25 feet or so.  Started out with blades, shockingly no  hits on the blade.   Fished hair jigs, shakey head, blades, finesse swimbaits, and rattle traps. I had a good whack on the savage minnow, its the new 4 inch finesse swimbait, if you can call it a swimbait, lol.   Got hit on a rattle trap, first decent fish of the year, so pumped. Fighting it, playing it well. Had some good weight. So excited, first bass of the year, good fish to, WRONG!!!!!  Fat 3lbs pickerel, in the yak, guess what? WHERES MY PLIERS?. Had to lip the pickerel and use the hook from my scale to pop the hook out.  Fished the shakey head a bit with a lunker city fins fish 4 inch. Took a cast, let it sit on bottom. Picked my  other rod up with the 1/4 ounce hair jig to see if I can get any jumbo perch or bass. I've got yellow perch up to 2.3 lbs here.  Went to grab my other rod with the shakey head. A bass picked it up. First bass of the year, nothing huge but broke the ice. 

Of course when I'm trying to catch bass, I get perch and when Im trying for perch I get bass. 

 

 

[MassYak85]

Isn't it the worst when you hook a pickerel and think it's a bass? I really don't mind catching them but their strength to weight is deceiving and has led to some real heartbreak for me lol. Over the summer on Cochituate I was fishing a huge worm on a deep weedline super slowly, not exactly what I catch most of my pickerel on. I felt a big wack like I'd expect on a big jig or something, set the hook and I thought I had a 6-7lb bass on...nope, just a big slime dart lol. It was my PB pickerel and I got a state pin out of it but my heart dropped a little when I saw the sun hit it's side for the first time as it got close. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

Its such a bummer! Especially when you're not in pickerel territory. or when your not fish a pickerel bait. 

[MassYak85]

I'm kicking myself a bit for not going out today. As miserable as 35 and light rain is there was ZERO wind...not looking like that's gonna be the case tomorrow. I've got the car loaded up, I'm gonna try and find a sheltered pond somewhere I think. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

The wind is the killer!! 

[MassYak85]

2 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

The wind is the killer!! 

Didn't even have to look out the window this morning to call off my plan to take out the kayak....YIKES! The wind is howling out there! Might still play around from shore somewhere.  

[Mr. Aquarium]

2 crappies and a bass today after work! Not bad for a quick trip! 

[MassYak85]

5 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

2 crappies and a bass today after work! Not bad for a quick trip! 

 

Better than I did from shore. Stopped by A1....all but locked up to my surprise. Went to Chauncy on the northern shore and tried casting into a hurricane....that didn't go well. Decided to take a drive and check out some areas along the Assabet river. I was able to find pretty sheltered areas where the wind wasn't an issue but no bites. There were some nice spots to launch a kayak though, I think I will be returning come spring. 

 

And with that, and with the forecast coming up I'm calling it a season, I put all the gear away earlier. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

You found some new spots, thats what I do mostly in the off season. If I can get out I go exploring, looking for access to ponds I want to fish! When I find them, I can get the vibe, Like this pond is promising. or this spot ehhh not feeling it. 

[JG233]

On 1/10/2019 at 8:41 AM, Mr. Aquarium said:

You found some new spots, thats what I do mostly in the off season. If I can get out I go exploring, looking for access to ponds I want to fish! When I find them, I can get the vibe, Like this pond is promising. or this spot ehhh not feeling it. 

Would you mind sharing what "for you" makes a pond promising if you're on a scouting mission? 

[Mr. Aquarium]

Depth, visible structure, water clarity,  weeds. You don't know until you really give it a shot.

[Janderson45]

5 hours ago, JG233 said:

Would you mind sharing what "for you" makes a pond promising if you're on a scouting mission? 

 

Anywhere of reasonable size that has enough depth to not freeze solid in the winter, or completely dry up in the summer.  Combine that with minimal public access, stream creek or spring fed. There’s some bigguns that lurk in many small ponds around the plentiful cranberry bogs in South Eastern Mass.  

[DogBone_384]

Took a drive after work this morning to see what my local ponds looked like.

 

• Blue Hills Reservoir is mostly skimmed over.
• Houghton's is completely skimmed over.
• Ponkie is locked up, but sure not thick enough that I'd try walking on it.
• Canton Reservoir looks just like Ponkie.

I might take a drive to Plymouth to see what it looks like....

 

Leaving shortly for the Redwing Diner shortly.  I hope to see some new faces there.

 

ADD (1/13): Got a call from a friend in Plymouth. Little Pond is skimmed over.  

[DogBone_384]

On 1/7/2019 at 9:11 AM, Mr. Aquarium said:

I've got yellow perch up to 2.3 lbs here.

The state record is 2-12.  Way to go!

[Mr. Aquarium]

On 1/12/2019 at 5:18 PM, DogBone_384 said:

The state record is 2-12.  Way to go!

I think its very possible that a 3lbs yellow perch swims in our waters! I've broken 2lbs for yellows 3 times in one spot! 

 I saw open water saturday down in Plymouth

[DogBone_384]

I agree.  I’ve pulled up some PLUMP YP’s out of Hedges.  

[Mr. Aquarium]

that place has some big yellows to! 

[MassYak85]

Anyone going out on the ice this weekend? I checked a few places near me today and they seem good to go. The wind last week kept a lot of places open but the cold nights froze places fast. I'll still be praying for an early spring but I get a completely different thrill out of ice fishing than I do open water fishing for some reason. 

[Fishing Rhino]

The forecast looks like plenty of cold air starting on Friday.  Snow forecast, changing to rain along the coast.  Some accumulation before the change, if it does change.  Haven't seen the wind forecast.

 

But, since you'll be ice fishing the wind shouldn't be a major factor, other than the wind chill factor.

 

Have fun, but above all else, be safe.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Looks like  I have to dust off the ice gear.  I really only use my jig rods for ice fishing! I love catching jumbo perch crappies and gills on the ice! with occasional bass!  4lb line 2 foot ultra light! 

[DogBone_384]

22 minutes ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Looks like  I have to dust off the ice gear

Let me know when you want to go.  I bought the gear a couple years ago when Kittery had 50% off clearance and haven't gone yet.

 

Have a nice Eskimo pop up shelter too.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Hell ya dude, lets go! Its been awhile since i've got on some good ice fishing! I can bring my traps to! 3 dozen shiners! Hope my auger still runs

[MassYak85]

Got out today on a new pond in Grafton. Fished it from about 8:30 to 2. Ice was surprisingly thick, nearly 8 inches in some spots, closer to 4 in an area with some current. Cracks were shooting across the pond all day, some right between my feet! Makes you jump for sure if you're not used to it. It was slow fishing but the pickerel were consistent, got 9 total on tilts, no big ones though, and NO BASS....ugh. Moved to a different pond in Upton in hopes of at least one bass, got one dink but hey, a bass is a bass. Also jigged up a perch and got another pickerel. Ice there was a pretty consistent 4 inches there but much clearer ice with little cracking. Not a terrible start to the ice season. 

[MassYak85]

By the way, does anyone have any tips/resources to learn a little bit about alewives (seasonal behavior and typical locations mostly)? They really aren't a forage fish I try and imitate much but I know in some bodies of water here that can be a big key certain times of the year. I know they run up rivers/streams in the spring but I know some of the lakes have landlocked ones too that school up (Webster I think has some).

[DogBone_384]

Can’t help with alweives, but I can tell you that most waters I fish are locked up.  The wife asked me to fill up her Jeep for the storm so I grabbed my neighbor and we went for a ride.  We headed south and ended up in Brewster, MA.

 

Boss-lady didn’t specify where I filled up!

 

• Little Pond in Plymouth is locked up.  Saw one person ice fishing on it.
• Billington Sea is locked up.
• Little Long Pond is locked up.
• Long Pond, Plymouth, 90% locked up.
• Great Herring.... locked up.
• Hinkley’s Pond, Harwich, locked up.
• Seymour Pond, locked up.
• Long Pond, Brewster/Harwich, looked open as far as I could see.
  • it also looked BIG and CHOPPY.
• Sheeps Pond, Brewster, 80% locked up.

 

Looks like it’s time to dust off the ice fishing gear and give it a go.

 

Anyone up for a group effort?  I’m thinking Ponkapog or Hedges but am willing to travel some.