Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[Janderson45]

I believe dogbone has the Lure 11.5, he'll probably be around to give you his opinion on it before too long!  

You fish out a WS ride 115 if I remember correctly?  I fish a ride 115 as well, not looking to add another kayak to my arsenal at the moment, but if I was itd be a 13' or 14' model, I like the Jackson Kayak Big Rig from what I've seen of it.

Quite a few yak anglers around here, hope to meet up and fish with some of you this season.

 

[EchoSierra]

On 2/7/2016 at 0:07 AM, Cyacnba said:

It was less than a week ago. I actually went again 2 days ago and caught a new PB crappie (1.43lb) and over 10 other crappies. I also caught a decent bass. Every time I go, I see someone catching carps. 

About parking, I just walk there, but you could try parking on Beacon St, close to Mass Ave. I've always caught a fish at this confluence, there is always something there.

Am I correct to assume that the best way to get to this spot would be to park over near Mass Ave and Beacon st, then walk up the Mass Ave bridge, taking the ramp down to the footpath and walking west over to where the white fence is located?

[Cyacnba]

16 minutes ago, EchoSierra said:

Am I correct to assume that the best way to get to this spot would be to park over near Mass Ave and Beacon st, then walk up the Mass Ave bridge, taking the ramp down to the footpath and walking west over to where the white fence is located?

Correct, but you should double check about parking. Not sure if it's only for residents in that area. Once you go down the ramp, just walk in the opposite direction of the Esplanade.

[Mike2841]

4 hours ago, Janderson45 said:

I believe dogbone has the Lure 11.5, he'll probably be around to give you his opinion on it before too long!  

You fish out a WS ride 115 if I remember correctly?  I fish a ride 115 as well, not looking to add another kayak to my arsenal at the moment, but if I was itd be a 13' or 14' model, I like the Jackson Kayak Big Rig from what I've seen of it.

Quite a few yak anglers around here, hope to meet up and fish with some of you this season.

 

I had a ride, but I sold it when I moved looking to get a new one. The rides seat got uncomfortable for me with a pfd on for my longer trips, the lure looks like it has a lazy boy on it. Also looking at a ok trident for the salt

[DogBone_384]

Yep, I have a Lure 11.5, and an Ascend 128T. The Lure's a great kayak.  It's seat is all-day comfortable and is like fishing from a paddle board while standing.  The integrated wheel helps transporting short distances.  When fishing alone I take the Lure.

It's light enough to lift onto my ladder racks at the end of a day's fishing too.

I bought it from Billington Sea Kayak in Plymouth. Doug Gray's the owner, and a nice guy. He's on Billington Sea and encourages test paddling.

When it thaws out, I'll meet anyone for test runs.  I can transport two 'yaks easily.  

[Mike2841]

Awesome, thanks for the info. Right now I'm looking at the lure, and the slayer. My buddy has a slayer propel 10 and it's awesome, but I might spring for 2 cheaper kayaks instead

[Fishing Rhino]

On ‎2‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 4:09 PM, DogBone_384 said:

March 2010 !?!?!?!?!

Sounds like an INTERVENTION is necessary....  that'll get fixed this Spring...

I hope you mean 50 as a young whipper snapper 

Correct on all counts. 

Some good news.  Bass Pro Shops is building a new store across from the Daytona Speedway.  I'll have something to occupy myself between races.

[BR1AN]

This ice season has been junk.. I'm connected with a couple pages on facebook for the MA & New England area so ive been seeing quite a few people out there fishing the ice. 

About a month ago me and my buddy went to a local pond and took all necessary precautions. We drilled a hole a few feet from the shore and it read about 5 inches or so. We walked out to our normal spot.. Usually the ice makes noise even if its a foot thick and didn't this time. So we get to our normal ice spot and drilled a hole.. It read the same, 5 inches. So now were excited to say the least. I start setting up the first trap while my buddy continues to drill holes for us. He did about two walking horizontal from me. I was bending over to drop the minnow in the hole when i happened to look up (that quick) and i saw my buddy treading water trying to get out. I fast walked over to him and he just couldn't get him self out, I new he was panicking (i was to) I told him to relax and take a breath.. So he did.. I wasnt thinking at the time that he obviously fell through thin ice and now i am standing right on it.. I gave him my hand and it was tough to get a grip with my feet slipping on the wet ice... but he got out.. I mean i keep thinking about that day and so much could of went wrong.. We could of been drinking (like we usually do) we could of had all of our equipment spread out if it happened a few hours into fishing.

I dunno, It didn't happen because we didn't know what we were doing. Apparently that spot was just the last to really freeze. This incident doesnt scare me off from Ice Fishing.. But i definitely aint going out there again without real thick ice.. Not worth it to me.

[DogBone_384]

I'm glad everything worked out.  

[RyanDR]

Anybody been on the concord/sudbury river recently?

[ranger7717]

10 hours ago, BR1AN said:

This ice season has been junk.. I'm connected with a couple pages on facebook for the MA & New England area so ive been seeing quite a few people out there fishing the ice. 

About a month ago me and my buddy went to a local pond and took all necessary precautions. We drilled a hole a few feet from the shore and it read about 5 inches or so. We walked out to our normal spot.. Usually the ice makes noise even if its a foot thick and didn't this time. So we get to our normal ice spot and drilled a hole.. It read the same, 5 inches. So now were excited to say the least. I start setting up the first trap while my buddy continues to drill holes for us. He did about two walking horizontal from me. I was bending over to drop the minnow in the hole when i happened to look up (that quick) and i saw my buddy treading water trying to get out. I fast walked over to him and he just couldn't get him self out, I new he was panicking (i was to) I told him to relax and take a breath.. So he did.. I wasnt thinking at the time that he obviously fell through thin ice and now i am standing right on it.. I gave him my hand and it was tough to get a grip with my feet slipping on the wet ice... but he got out.. I mean i keep thinking about that day and so much could of went wrong.. We could of been drinking (like we usually do) we could of had all of our equipment spread out if it happened a few hours into fishing.

I dunno, It didn't happen because we didn't know what we were doing. Apparently that spot was just the last to really freeze. This incident doesnt scare me off from Ice Fishing.. But i definitely aint going out there again without real thick ice.. Not worth it to me.

from central ma...two of my buddies fished a small tournament sat and said the ice was really sketchy - never heard him nervous before !! i love to fish, but taking a chance is just not worth it to catch fish....there are plenty of opportunities , just not THIS winter - be careful guys , and be around in march - ALIVE 

[JG233]

a buddy of mine fell through some ice last weekend--no bueno

[Janderson45]

There's been two drownings (falls thru ice) in my immediate area already this season (Mansfield, Brockton), and a few more close calls where fire/rescue had to respond. Be careful out there everyone, glad to hear you and your buddy made it out ok Brian.

i haven't bothered trying with the ice this year and at this point I'm not even going to, we're almost in March and I think we're probably not too far away from open water for the spring!  Fingers crossed...

[ranger7717]

what janderson45 said ....ditto 

[BR1AN]

I just can't believe their going forward with the ice derby this weekend. All that rain yesterday and 60 degrees today.

[DogBone_384]

I'd rethink attending.  I bought an auger and some stuff to try ice fishing but am stowing it in the basement until next season.  I'm going to wait it out another few weeks.  At the very least I'll go trout fishing in Plymouth.

The bass are still gonna be there when I get there.

ADD 26 Feb: I drove past a few local ponds while doing errands.  Blue Hills Reservoir, Houghtons, and Ponkapog are all wide open.  With the warm forecast Sunday & Monday, early as it is, I'm going to get out there somewhere.  If the rest of you get a chance, best of luck.... 

[Janderson45]

Got me thinking the same thing dogbone.. looks like milder temperatures are going to hold until Thursday, I'm going to make an effort to get the yak out for the first time in 2016.  

Trying to brainstorm some presentations and tactics to hopefully increase my odds a bit..  I'm thinking of fishing some shallower hard bottom areas if I can find them, hopefully they'll be holding a little extra heat.  

Thinking of 3 presentations at the moment;

lipless crankbait, suspending jerkbait, finesse jig ..

I think a blade bait would potentially be a good choice too, but I've got zero confidence fishing them and only own 1 at the moment.  

anyone else got any thoughts?

[ranger7717]

3 hours ago, Janderson45 said:

Got me thinking the same thing dogbone.. looks like milder temperatures are going to hold until Thursday, I'm going to make an effort to get the yak out for the first time in 2016.  

Trying to brainstorm some presentations and tactics to hopefully increase my odds a bit..  I'm thinking of fishing some shallower hard bottom areas if I can find them, hopefully they'll be holding a little extra heat.  

Thinking of 3 presentations at the moment;

lipless crankbait, suspending jerkbait, finesse jig ..

I think a blade bait would potentially be a good choice too, but I've got zero confidence fishing them and only own 1 at the moment.  

anyone else got any thoughts?

i'm gonna take a few cast from shore in clinton tomorrow....sounds like you got it covered for lures - you could possibly add a shakey head into the mix

 

[DogBone_384]

4 hours ago, Janderson45 said:

Got me thinking the same thing dogbone.. looks like milder temperatures are going to hold until Thursday, I'm going to make an effort to get the yak out for the first time in 2016.  

Trying to brainstorm some presentations and tactics to hopefully increase my odds a bit..  I'm thinking of fishing some shallower hard bottom areas if I can find them, hopefully they'll be holding a little extra heat.  

Thinking of 3 presentations at the moment;

lipless crankbait, suspending jerkbait, finesse jig ..

I think a blade bait would potentially be a good choice too, but I've got zero confidence fishing them and only own 1 at the moment.  

anyone else got any thoughts?

I only used a blade bait a couple of times, seem to lose one every time out, and have zero to show for it. Mainebass1984 does quite well with them and offered me tips on them so I'm going to keep at it.  The way I try to look at it is that I can ONLY get BETTER by using a new bait and I pass numerous supermarkets on the way out of town so there's no harm if I strike out. 

You've got some good ideas with the finesse jig and suspending jerkbait.  I'll be packing light if I get out over the next few days.

Best of luck to you.

[Janderson45]

1 hour ago, ranger7717 said:

i'm gonna take a few cast from shore in clinton tomorrow....sounds like you got it covered for lures - you could possibly add a shakey head into the mix

 

Thought of a shakey head shortly after I posted, I'll likely toss that around some too, I've got some nice new 6.5" biospawn plasma tails I wanted to try out on a shakey head.  

Also considering the "Ned rig", fished it with a lot of success last year, but never tried it in this cold of water.  

Best of luck to everyone that gets out there soon.. 

[Cyacnba]

Went to the Charles River today and caught 3 bass. 2 on the Cabin Creek Spider jig and 1 on the Skinny Bear Finesse jig with a Zoom Super Chunk Jr black&red.

Others were catching sunfish and crappies. I saw a white perch too.

[JG233]

Nice!

[Fishing Rhino]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 8:48 PM, DogBone_384 said:

I'd rethink attending.  I bought an auger and some stuff to try ice fishing but am stowing it in the basement until next season.  I'm going to wait it out another few weeks.  At the very least I'll go trout fishing in Plymouth.

The bass are still gonna be there when I get there.

ADD 26 Feb: I drove past a few local ponds while doing errands.  Blue Hills Reservoir, Houghtons, and Ponkapog are all wide open.  With the warm forecast Sunday & Monday, early as it is, I'm going to get out there somewhere.  If the rest of you get a chance, best of luck.... 

And you're gonna be around to catch them.

[DogBone_384]

After getting home from work this morning, playing with my routers, and cooking the family breakfast, I couldn't pass up today's weather and onto the truck my kayak went.

Because of the late start I ventured over to Jacob's pond in Norwell. The surface temp showed 44 degrees. Suprisingly, 3 bass thought my perch colored Yozuri minnow looked good enough to eat.  All three were just under a pound and a half. I caught one yellow perch with the Yozuri perch and two more on a silver glitter Yozuri. All three perch were around 12 - 14 oz. The glittery Yozuri is still in the pond. I snagged it on something very unforgiving.

Didn't catch any monsters today, but good enough for February.

[DogBone_384]

Another February day worth fishing.... I'll take it!  I set course for Ponkapog late this morning in search of some big bass and pickerel.  The wind was very challenging, but my anchor kept me at a slow drift across the pond.  Started with a black/chrome/red Rapala shadow rap since I had pretty good luck in December with it.  Didn't get more than an hour or so until I got called back to reality, but managed a 14 oz yellow perch.  Great colors on it and a fat little belly.  I'll take it.  Surface temps were 43.x degrees.  Water level was as high as I've ever seen it, reading almost 7 1/2' towards the middle.  

The wind was such that I had white caps coming over the front of my kayak to the point that I discovered my front rod holders filled to the top when I got back to shore.

There was one other fisherman there in canoe with a trolling motor on it.

If work doesn't call, I'll get out again tomorrow and see what gives for March 1st!