Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[Fishing Rhino]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 10:23 AM, JG233 said:

Thanks Tom, hoping to get into some big smallies. 

I can fish next Tuesday as well, are you available to go out then?

I've got to drop the car off at my mechanic later on in the week. 

If the weather cooperates, we're good.  5:30 at the ramp.

[MassYak85]

Me and my dad fished Quinsig for the first half of the day. Not a terrible day, but a lot of small ones. Nothing over 2 pounds. Caught them on a variety of things, frogs, whopper plopper, spro rat, drop shot, paddle tail swimbaits. Couldn't seem to find the bigger bite though unfortunately. Caught a few really shallow in the pads, and some on deeper dropping weedlines (10-15ft). Water temps varied from 79 in the shallows, to 72 on the main lake. Anyone have any success there during the heat of the summer?

[Janderson45]

I'm fishing the Quabbin tomorrow actually, go figure.  

Ill let you know how we do, hit them pretty good when I was there a month ago or so.. 

Dropshot dropshot dropshot...

oh and original floating rapalas and countdown sinking rapalas absolutely crush smallies at the quabbin under the right conditions. 

[DogBone_384]

Hopefuflly you had a great day at the Quabbin.  I had to postpone my trip with JG233 (Derek), but are going to get out there as soon as possible.

Derek and I are going to hit Aaron Reservoir in Wampatuck State Park instead.  It's car top only.  There's a bit of everything there - points, drop offs, shallow & weedy, etc.  Hopefully we'll have a good day of it.

ADD: Did a warm up @ Ponkapog after work tonight, hitting the water about 7:15.  Water temps were 84.x, barometric pressure was 30.1 and falling, and wind was light: perfect conditions.... but ....

Most fish were on siesta.  I landed a 1-1 Larry and had only a few strikes otherwise.  My ML Vendetta snapped while pulling my t-rigged Zoom worm from a weed bed. Must have found the blank's weak spot because I wasn't pulling very hard.  Oh well, it served me very well, and I'll just HAVE to replace it with a Veritas.

Lastly, water levels are 4.6' where they showed 7' in April.  We need some rain.

 

[Mr. Aquarium]

On 7/16/2016 at 0:10 AM, Cyacnba said:

Caught this bass today at the Charles River on a Cabin Creek jig. Biggest fish of the year so far at 5lbs. I also lost 3 that were similar in size.

sweet fish bro! congrats on the biggest of the year! hopefully theres bigger ones to come this year! 

[grampa1114]

On 7/15/2016 at 4:02 PM, Jigfishn10 said:

Little League season will finally be over in 1 week. Hoping to hit the water for the first time starting Monday the 25th. Thinking about going old school with Slug-Gos, Traps and Jerkbaits.

Doesn't that look scrumptious!

What a great idea.....

[Janderson45]

My trip got postponed as well, but just until tomorrow (Tuesday). Hope you guys did well at wampatuck...

I broke a St Croix rage series spinning Rod in a very similar fashion a few weeks ago, was very impressed with how fairly I was treated by St Croix customer service and how quick the turn around was... I'm now the proud new owner of a St Croix Avid 6'8 MXF spinning Rod!  Everyone always talks about how good St croix's customer service is, after my first experience dealing with them (and first time ever breaking a bass rod)  I would echo the positive experiences.  

I would be interested in meeting up and doing some Kayak fishing with any of you guys if we can figure out a time/place-- Nights/Weekends are typically my availability, although if we plan it out a bit in advance I could probably get any week day off too.  Let me know!  

[Jigfishn10]

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 0:10 AM, Cyacnba said:

Caught this bass today at the Charles River on a Cabin Creek jig. Biggest fish of the year so far at 5lbs. I also lost 3 that were similar in size.

Good job buddy

 

5 hours ago, grampa1114 said:

What a great idea.....

You're missed up here Mike...I hope all is well with you and your wife

[MassYak85]

For those of you guys who fish at night, do you find that there are certain times that are better? I haven't done much myself but in my limited experience it always seems to get hot at dusk into that first hour of darkness and then it slows down again. Anyone got tips for fishing at night? I might do a couple 6-12 or 8-2 night trips in my kayak this summer. 

[grampa1114]

Hey Jiggy

I'm moving to within striking distance of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie on the Santee Cooper chain so life is about to improve exponentially. When I get this flowing mud that passes for water figured out pictures will follow. The experiment with Redfish and Speckled Trout was at best...mediocre. The old Triton's just not a flats boat. Like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Your bait choice for summer doldrums is spot on. Just remember to throw those baits in 6-10 ft weeds and you'll do just fine. Tell MassYak85 not to give up on Quinsig. As long as he stays away from the Waterskiers and fishes weeds in more than 6 ft of water.....he'll do just fine. Tell him not to forget the Apartment house SW of the new Rt 9 bridge.

Y'all have a great summer heah.......Grampa 

[JG233]

We had a pretty quiet day at Wampatuck. It was windy. I spent a tons of time paddling to position the kayak. I caught one excellent LMB on the ned rig, I'd estimate 4+ lbs if I'm being conservative. I caught a small bass, a perch, and a bluegill as well. I lost a good sized LMB around noon while fishing around an island near some pads and rocks. I was getting hung up there while using the ned rig, so I resorted to dragging it slowly through the weeds and rocks. As a result, I didn't get a great hookset on a fish; it jumped a few times and threw the hook near the kayak. I learned a bit more about reading electronics and managing the wind in a kayak.

@grampa1114 most of the large bass I've caught this year have been on the Okuma reel you recommended paired with a St. Croix ML rod. Good stuff!

[Jigfishn10]

15 hours ago, grampa1114 said:

Hey Jiggy

I'm moving to within striking distance of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie on the Santee Cooper chain so life is about to improve exponentially. When I get this flowing mud that passes for water figured out pictures will follow. The experiment with Redfish and Speckled Trout was at best...mediocre. The old Triton's just not a flats boat. Like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Your bait choice for summer doldrums is spot on. Just remember to throw those baits in 6-10 ft weeds and you'll do just fine. Tell MassYak85 not to give up on Quinsig. As long as he stays away from the Waterskiers and fishes weeds in more than 6 ft of water.....he'll do just fine. Tell him not to forget the Apartment house SW of the new Rt 9 bridge.

Y'all have a great summer heah.......Grampa 

I would love to fish Santee Cooper, sounds like your next move is going to be a good one!

Good luck!

[Mr. Aquarium]

plans ruined by the storms that never happened! we got a little rain in my area! but when theres a severe Tstorm warning you still dont go out!  storm passed north of us!  
fished 2 hours at island creek in duxbury. caught one little 1.5lbser and lost  another! tough bite! fished swimbaits and t rig plastics! weed were thick! so i flipped to shoreline cover! got one bass! 

[Janderson45]

Hit the quabbin today, 6:30-3:30 in one of their rentals.  Had a really nice day out there, fishing was a bit tough, but we managed to boat 9 smallmouth and 1 largemouth, a few smallies came unbuttoned as well.

Figured out a good dropshot pattern at around 9:00, which unfortunately is what all of the fish came on.. I saw unfortunately because by 11:00 or so winds had picked up and scattered all the bait, making our dropshot pattern much less effective.  Only managed 1 fish after 11AM... I think we would've had better success and caught a few more fish in the wind, but unfortunately my anchor got snagged and I was unable to retrieve it.. Made fishing the rest of the day a bit of a chore to say the least...

 

anyways, it was beautiful as always, I surprised myself with how well I used my Lowrance to my advantage, and caught some decent fish.

heres my biggest on the day, a 3.8lb smallmouth, caught in 24FOW.  

 

EDIT: for those who might care, water levels were down approximately 8 feet and surface water temps at noon exceeded 80 degrees!  Very hot and shallow for the Q.. 

[Jigfishn10]

5 minutes ago, Janderson45 said:

Hit the quabbin today, 6:30-3:30 in one of their rentals.  Had a really nice day out there, fishing was a bit tough, but we managed to boat 9 smallmouth and 1 largemouth, a few smallies came unbuttoned as well.

Figured out a good dropshot pattern at around 9:00, which unfortunately is what all of the fish came on.. I saw unfortunately because by 11:00 or so winds had picked up and scattered all the bait, making our dropshot pattern much less effective.  Only managed 1 fish after 11AM... I think we would've had better success and caught a few more fish in the wind, but unfortunately my anchor got snagged and I was unable to retrieve it.. Made fishing the rest of the day a bit of a chore to say the least...

 

anyways, it was beautiful as always, I surprised myself with how well I used my Lowrance to my advantage, and caught some decent fish.

heres my biggest on the day, a 3.8lb smallmouth, caught in 24FOW.  

Nice job bud! I wonder what would of happened if you abandoned the drop shot when the winds picked up and you introduced them to a spinnerbait...white on white...HMMM....Just a thought bud...LOL

10 fish is nothing to sneeze at, you should be happy...Nice hat BTW...LOL...I love it!

[Janderson45]

38 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Nice job bud! I wonder what would of happened if you abandoned the drop shot when the winds picked up and you introduced them to a spinnerbait...white on white...HMMM....Just a thought bud...LOL

10 fish is nothing to sneeze at, you should be happy...Nice hat BTW...LOL...I love it!

Thanks.  I did try to move to a horizontal presentation, a soft plastic paddletail swimbait, and got a lot of follows when I was burning it, but no takers.  I didn't have much different other than my sexy shad keitech to experiment with, might of been the issue.. I did think spinnerbait, especially as a few more clouds rolled in with the wind... Why I never ended up tying one on?  No clue. ?

[MassYak85]

NICE Smallie! Sounds like a pretty good day to me, besides losing your anchor of course. Spinnerbaits are definitely a go to for me in the wind.

 

I might try and do some night fishing in my kayak tommorow, anybody have any tips for fishing once the sun goes completely down? I really have not done a ton of research into actual NIGHT fishing, just dusk itself. Do the bass key in on vibration and sound like topwaters or can they also be caught on stuff like worms? Just looking for a couple pointers to get me started. 

[DogBone_384]

The few times I've fished past sunset I put the baitcaster away and stick to spinning gear and use black or black/blue baits (chatter baits, Whopper Plopper, etc.), only because I can't see nearly as well at night anymore - 50 Y/O eyes aren't what they used to be?.

I use a red headlight instead of white/natural: fewer bugs.  

[Jigfishn10]

 

Thanks.  I did try to move to a horizontal presentation, a soft plastic paddletail swimbait, and got a lot of follows when I was burning it, but no takers.  I didn't have much different other than my sexy shad keitech to experiment with, might of been the issue.. I did think spinnerbait, especially as a few more clouds rolled in with the wind... Why I never ended up tying one on?  No clue. ?

The smallies do like to follow which usually means you have the right type of lure on. Sometimes it's matter of speeding up or slowing down, a pop of the rod or a kill on the retrieve or maybe it's a matter of a color change. Unfortunately, you were handcuffed with the color.

Don't let the lack of cloud cover deter you from a spinnerbait, when the wind picks up it's usually enough to disturb the water surface to make a spinnerbait that much more effective. A lipless crank in that situation would be a good choice as well.

I know you know all this, but sometimes you get yourself on the water and you blank out. I find that just by talking about a subject you know about, keeps the mind sharp for when you get into a similar situation.

Keep up the good work, love seeing the great posts you and everyone here puts up.

John AKA JF10

[Mr. Aquarium]

 

NICE Smallie! Sounds like a pretty good day to me, besides losing your anchor of course. Spinnerbaits are definitely a go to for me in the wind.

 

I might try and do some night fishing in my kayak tommorow, anybody have any tips for fishing once the sun goes completely down? I really have not done a ton of research into actual NIGHT fishing, just dusk itself. Do the bass key in on vibration and sound like topwaters or can they also be caught on stuff like worms? Just looking for a couple pointers to get me started. 

ive been doing a lot of night fishing this year!  my favorite lure is by far a big ugly creature bait crawled on bottom! i like bait with lot of vibration and noise!  the spot im doing well at is a cement wall you can walk on. that puts me in 10 feet plus of water!  there is good structure here with a drop off few yards out!  ive  shore fished and yak this place before at night and the best fishing is right at this one spot!  so find good structure with some depth to it and your good to go! thoroughly fish the spot! try many different baits!  ill bring 5 rods all with different baits! swimbaits, topwater,chatterbait,spinnerbiats,jigs and plastics! 
but big ugly creature baits crawled on bottom work best for me! this pond is a clear deep sandy pond with cray fish!  thats why i think the bottom crawling baits work so much better then topwaters here!  but if your in a shallow weedy pond then stick with topwaters! ill try a few different texas rig baits. one bait maybe better then another! 

fish slow with baits with lot of vibration, dark colors work better for me and really pound the spots you fish! keep casting! some days as you know! you need to work for em! somedays youll get 3 hits on one cast!  

[grampa1114]

 

NICE Smallie! Sounds like a pretty good day to me, besides losing your anchor of course. Spinnerbaits are definitely a go to for me in the wind.

 

I might try and do some night fishing in my kayak tommorow, anybody have any tips for fishing once the sun goes completely down? I really have not done a ton of research into actual NIGHT fishing, just dusk itself. Do the bass key in on vibration and sound like topwaters or can they also be caught on stuff like worms? Just looking for a couple pointers to get me started. 

You might try going "Old School" with a black 3/4 oz broken back Jitterbug trolled 60' to 80' behind the Kayak or canoe... boated some real giants that way.....back in the day.

[MassYak85]

Thanks for the tips guys, I might go out tonight if I'm not too tired

[Jigfishn10]

All of the above night time advice are great suggestions and should be part of your night arsenal. One of Mr. Bass' favorite night time snacks like to come out to play as well. May I suggest a jig and craw? Dark colored to silhouette against the moon's light.

Good luck.

BTW: Going old school as one Mr. Trubiano AKA grampa1114 suggested is a lot of fun!

[Mr. Aquarium]

i need to fish the good ole jig and trailer at night more! ive used it once or twice but them t rig plastics have been killer

[MassYak85]

Was out for a little while before dark tonight. Had a big smallie CRUSH my whopper plopper around 8:00. Lure was about 20 feet from the boat when he just came up and pulled it under, I set the hook and he went crazy, jumped clear out of the water twice and then dove. I got him right up to the side of the boat and he jumped one more time, this time dislodging the lure. Pretty heartbreaking but still cool to see that, it was on a lake I rarely catch smallies at, nice to see a good on. I actually noticed that he bent the front treble hook a little bit, powerful fish. I recently bought another whopper plopper and it seems as though R2S has beefed up the treble hooks they use on the 130 size. They look like a different type of hook, bigger, thicker gauge too. Probably was a good idea for them to do that. I lost that smallie on the older one. The newer one also seems to have a slightly different sound. My old one has a slightly deeper "whop" to it. Not sure if that is just the tail being worn a little from fish or what.

After the missed smallie, all I managed to actually catch was a pretty big perch on a Rapala DT14, and a crappie which apparently thought he could take on the whopper plopper but ended up getting foul hooked.