Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[Jigfishn10]

200 mile round trip!? I'm assuming the honey-do list is completed? 

[DogBone_384]

4 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

200 mile round trip!? I'm assuming the honey-do list is completed? 

The “Honey-do” list is ALWAYS completed….

[Jigfishn10]

13 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

The “Honey-do” list is ALWAYS completed….

Makes it easier to go fishing then, huh?

[DogBone_384]

12 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Makes it easier to go fishing then, huh?

Happy wife ….

[Mr. Aquarium]

Found some open water. Feels great to be back out fishin. Had a few good whacks! Missed a good fish on the cooper b8s miner glide. 
Got 2 fish on the Real Preys. Biggest was 3.5 on the 5.5 inch chaddle tail.  Stayed for night bite got one on the new Sherpa.

[DogBone_384]

I took the long drive to Cape Cod again yesterday, but with a kayak and gear.  I fished Flax pond from late morning to early afternoon and Hinckleys from mid afternoon to dusk.  I came up empty at both waters, throwing an assortment of small/large Keitechs, jerk baits, crank baits, and at one point, a Mepps spinner.  In hindsight, I should have thrown at least a couple different colored and sized jigs.  

 

Hinckleys was 1/4 open when I launched and roughly 1/3 open when I left.  

 

I marked a lot of targets suspended in 17 - 20' at Flax and 12-15' at Hinckleys.  

 

Water temps were 37.x at Flax and 39.x at Hinckleys.  Winds were 15-17 mph from the S/SW and air pressure was 29.8 and falling.

 

Congrats to @Mr. Aquarium for finding open water and catching a couple nice bass on 'our side' of the bridge.

 

 

[DogBone_384]

Took the Ranger down to LPH yesterday and fished with @Saltysmalljaws for the afternoon.  We marked targets on the bottom of drop offs in 25 - 30'.  We covered a lot of ground, throwing small finesse baits and towards the end of the day various treble hooks 'just for the heck of it'.

 

It was very windy, from the S/SW (making LPH a wind tunnel).  Water temps were 38.x and the air pressure was 29.9.

 

Although we came up empty, it was good enough to get out on the boat on a nice day.

 

There was one other boat on the water too, and he came up empty too.

 

 

[DogBone_384]

Quabbin's expected opening day is 16 April, weather permitting.... ? ... ?

 

https://www.mass.gov/doc/quabbin-fishing-season-handout/download

[MassYak85]

20 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

Quabbin's expected opening day is 16 April, weather permitting.... ? ... ?

 

https://www.mass.gov/doc/quabbin-fishing-season-handout/download

At this rate they could probably open it on March 16th lol.

 

I was on 10" of ice yesterday in Westborough but it was slushing up on top, probably lost an inch. The forecast for the next two weeks doesn't look great for ice either with rain and 50's in the forecast for several days. Could be an early spring which I won't complain about. Crazy winter though. We got a late start and it seems like an early ending but some of the best ice we've had in years because of that cold blast. We had 8" of solid clear black ice before that Noreaster and over a foot in some places afterwards. 

[DogBone_384]

17 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

I was on 10" of ice yesterday in Westborough

 

Sure is a strange state we live in.... Westbrorough is closer to me than Harwich.  Open water to 10" of ice.  Google Maps says it's 10-15 minutes longer for you to get to Harwich than for me from Quincy....  might be worth the drive if you have the time.

 

Hedges, my 'go to' SMB pond looked pretty slushy the other day.  Hopefully it'll open up by month's end.  I've still not caught my 'February' fish.

 

[guidoStow]

I got another 6" of snow last night into this morning. Weird weather indeed...

[je1946]

On 2/13/2022 at 4:02 PM, MassYak85 said:

At this rate they could probably open it on March 16th lol.

 

I was on 10" of ice yesterday in Westborough but it was slushing up on top, probably lost an inch. The forecast for the next two weeks doesn't look great for ice either with rain and 50's in the forecast for several days. Could be an early spring which I won't complain about. Crazy winter though. We got a late start and it seems like an early ending but some of the best ice we've had in years because of that cold blast. We had 8" of solid clear black ice before that Noreaster and over a foot in some places afterwards. 

Quabbin opens the 3rd Sat in April every yr.    The only thing that would delay the opener is if it's still iced in.

 

[DogBone_384]

I found open water in Hanover, Ma. today.  Threw a bluegill chatterbait, grn—pump/chart Ned, Rapala & Megabass jerkbaits, a perch Yamamoto Heart Tail, and a YP BBZ swimbait.  Unfortunately I came up empty.

 

Water temps were 38.x, it was very windy from the SW, and air pressure was 30.

 

I drove by Bloody Pond, Hedges Pond, Great Herring, and Little/Great South too.  They’re still very locked up.

 

I left my truck packed up and ready to go for tomorrow.  

 

Howdy to @je1946.  Good to see you posting again.  It’s been a while.  Maybe we can get a group to meet up at the Quabbin this Spring.

[je1946]

44 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

I found open water in Hanover, Ma. today.  Threw a bluegill chatterbait, grn—pump/chart Ned, Rapala & Megabass jerkbaits, a perch Yamamoto Heart Tail, and a YP BBZ swimbait.  Unfortunately I came up empty.

 

Water temps were 38.x, it was very windy from the SW, and air pressure was 30.

 

I drove by Bloody Pond, Hedges Pond, Great Herring, and Little/Great South too.  They’re still very locked up.

 

I left my truck packed up and ready to go for tomorrow.  

 

Howdy to @je1946.  Good to see you posting again.  It’s been a while.  Maybe we can get a group to meet up at the Quabbin this Spring.

Always a pleasure Mike.  Absolutely, looking forward to this spring and the Q opener although I just do wkdays there.  As soon as the weather breaks I'm going to haul the Q boat out.  Bought a new Lund Renegade 19ft with a 115 Merc. and I see you have the Ranger aluminum, nice boat.  Yes it would be good to see if we could get a group to the Q

[DogBone_384]

1 hour ago, je1946 said:

although I just do wkdays there

I prefer weekdays too. I have a flexible work schedule and Tom is retired. It works out well. Also, Tom turns 80 this soon, so I’d like to get him out as much as possible this year.

[MassYak85]

Gonna try for one last ice fishing trip this weekend but spring is coming fast. Edges are blowing open quick with this weather.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Got out yesterday! Got 4 bass 3 pickerel after work, they loved the Deps 175 

[DogBone_384]

February's checked off the list.  I fished a small, shallow pond in the back of a Plymouth industrial park for 'the heck of it' this afternoon and came up with a small LMB.  The little fella took a 3.8" bluegill flash Keitech on a gold bladed flashy swimmer.

 

I visited a second small pond in Norwell and came up with a really nice looking LMB on a perch Rapala Shadow Rap Shallow.

 

I also spent some time driving around the South Shore.  Most ponds were at least half open.  With a warm weekend ahead of us, looks like February's gonna close out with open water.

[Mr. Aquarium]

 Congratulations Dogbone 

[DogBone_384]

Drove to Hedges yesterday with my waders for some afternoon SMB hunting.  It was the first time I had my rod tip and bait cast reel freeze.  Didn't catch anything and am going back today.

 

Went back to Hedges today and caught a nice SMB and a porker of a yellow perch, both on a Real Gizzard Yozuri 3DR shad crank bait.  I had enough of the wind about mid afternoon and moved to Little Long Pond.  It was my first time there.  I came up with a 2 pound, 18" pickerel on a grn-pumpkin/chart Ned.

 

Water temps at Hedges were 38.x and 41.x at Little Long Pond.  Winds were 15+ from the S/SW and air pressure was 30.3.

 

Tomorrow's plan starts at a private pond down 'the South Coast'.  From there, who knows....

 

ADD: I lost a side plate to one of my reels from the beach to the parking area at Hedges... With some patience, I found it.  

Edited February 22, 2022 by DogBone_384

[JG233]

On 2/18/2022 at 3:48 AM, DogBone_384 said:

I prefer weekdays too. I have a flexible work schedule and Tom is retired. It works out well. Also, Tom turns 80 this soon, so I’d like to get him out as much as possible this year.

Tom turns 80!

 

I'll be around for about a month beginning in mid April. Hope to see some folks.

[DogBone_384]

9 hours ago, JG233 said:

I'll be around for about a month beginning in mid April.

I'll be in Dennis Port 14 - 17 April... 

[guidoStow]

I caught a handful of small LMB at Little Long Pond last August. The Alewive fry were schooling on the surface and the bass were blasting the pods...

 

Nice pond.

[DogBone_384]

I fished a private pond on the 'South Coast' this morning and it paid off.  I started with an assortment ranging from a yellow perch BBZ-1 to a California Craw Ned.  All I needed was a yellow perch Vision 110 jerkbait.  I didn't feel a strike, just dead weight.  My Rapala's scale display was foggy (shopping for a REAL one today), so today's LMB was 4.65 or 5.65 ... Either way, it was 19" long and F A T. 

 

Water temps were 40.x, winds were 5-8 mph from the SW, and air pressure was 30.3.

 

February's turned out to be a pretty good month.

 

I went 0-7 last March.  I plan on making up for it this year in a big way.

[DogBone_384]

I spent a couple hours this afternoon at Sunset Lake in Braintree.  Didn't mark much but managed a good pickerel on a ghost chartreuse shad LV500 in about 20' of water.

 

Water temps varied from 42.x to 45.x, winds were stiff from the SW, and air pressure was 29.7.