Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[Mr. Aquarium]

back to normal.  yea last year was the worst ive ever seen it.  but ever thing is good and wet now

[DogBone_384]

Ponkapog and Houghtons are nice and high.  Blue Hills Reservoir was a little down prior to the 'snow' we were supposed to get a couple weeks ago. I beleive the state regulates its level.

[MassYak85]

Long term forecast looks great. Couple days around 70 next week. It will still be a few weeks until I can get out but by then I would think the water temps will be getting around 50 and hopefully I can catch some nice pre-spawn --> spawn fish before leaving for the summer. 

[CTBassin860]

Hit my local pond the other day.It has a trail that runs all the way around,so I start at one end and switch poles/lures up as I get to a new spot.It water was so low in October I has a ton of room on the bank.The pond is unrecognizable after the winter.Half of my spots are inaccessible due to a flooded trail,trees down on the path.I almost need a kayak to fish it at this point.

[Fishing Rhino]

9 hours ago, JAB50 said:

Swamp Hawgs,

How are the water levels in that area/cape cod area too? If anyone else has knowledge. I'll be coming back up from Maryland in May(6th-13th). The drought was brutal last summer and fall. When I came home in October it was probably the lowest I have ever seen it.

 

I suspect most of them are very high.  The ponds around here are higher than I've seen them in years.  I'm a half hour south of the Cape Cod Canal.  I went to Great Herring in Plymouth a couple of weeks ago, and the water level was higher than I've ever seen it there.

 

 

[JAB50]

Thanks for the info guys. I've always had the best luck when the waters been high. Four weeks from today; I'll be on the Cape. 

[Fishing Rhino]

Where are you staying on the Cape?

[JAB50]

My parents own a house in west Dennis. It's right behind Sundancers across the saltwater marsh(bass river).

[Mr. Aquarium]

3 hours ago, JAB50 said:

Thanks for the info guys. I've always had the best luck when the waters been high. Four weeks from today; I'll be on the Cape. 

welcome!! stripers will be back, tog will be here, black sea bass maybe scup. trout fishing will be good. bass will be good! 
its the most wonderful time of year

[JAB50]

I agree wholeheartedly. It's like Christmas everyday during the spring! It will be interesting to see what the fish(bass) are doing when I come up. Last year when I came up this same exact week in May; the largemouth and smallmouth were on beds. Seems like it could be the same or possibly they could be a week or two away from that with the longer winter. 

[Quarry Man]

I would like someone to fish with this weekend (sat - tues). I am visiting family in Marlborough and Leominster/Lunenburg. Would any of you be willing to show me around? I have my license, own gear, and spots too. Thanks

[CTBassin860]

12 hours ago, JAB50 said:

Thanks for the info guys. I've always had the best luck when the waters been high. Four weeks from today; I'll be on the Cape. 

4 weeks from now ill be in Tampa!

[Cyacnba]

I stopped by the Charles River today without expecting to catch any striped bass again, but I started off with a MB Vision 110 anyway. First two casts, and missed two bites. On the third one, I almost lost my rod lol. Caught an 8lb striper. A few casts later, I had a train on my line. It just kept pulling drag, and after a few minutes, I had my PB striper at 14lbs. Managed to catch another decent one before the bite died. My 110 has all its hooks bent now lol

[Quarry Man]

What should I be throwing this time of year in a 60 acre lake with 20' visibility and rock and sand bottom, lay downs, and little bit of hydrilla? I stick to drop shot and do well. thinking about a jerkbait and maybe some swim jigs

[JAB50]

Crankbait, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs and so on. They should all work well. 

[MassYak85]

6 hours ago, Cyacnba said:

I stopped by the Charles River today without expecting to catch any striped bass again, but I started off with a MB Vision 110 anyway. First two casts, and missed two bites. On the third one, I almost lost my rod lol. Caught an 8lb striper. A few casts later, I had a train on my line. It just kept pulling drag, and after a few minutes, I had my PB striper at 14lbs. Managed to catch another decent one before the bite died. My 110 has all its hooks bent now lol

Aww man that's awesome! I can't imagine what that fight must have been like. I've caught some decent stripers but with bait and much heavier gear. Can't imagine catching a 15lber on the setup I use for jerkbaits. Must have been fun!

[Mr. Aquarium]

16 hours ago, Quarry Man said:

What should I be throwing this time of year in a 60 acre lake with 20' visibility and rock and sand bottom, lay downs, and little bit of hydrilla? I stick to drop shot and do well. thinking about a jerkbait and maybe some swim jigs

blades, jigs,jerkbaits

19 hours ago, Cyacnba said:

I stopped by the Charles River today without expecting to catch any striped bass again, but I started off with a MB Vision 110 anyway. First two casts, and missed two bites. On the third one, I almost lost my rod lol. Caught an 8lb striper. A few casts later, I had a train on my line. It just kept pulling drag, and after a few minutes, I had my PB striper at 14lbs. Managed to catch another decent one before the bite died. My 110 has all its hooks bent now lol

congrats man!! awesome fish! 

[nhbassin]

18 hours ago, Quarry Man said:

What should I be throwing this time of year in a 60 acre lake with 20' visibility and rock and sand bottom, lay downs, and little bit of hydrilla? I stick to drop shot and do well. thinking about a jerkbait and maybe some swim jigs

A blade bait (silver buddy) on the steepest drop offs you can find if the jerkbait doesn't get them biting. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

cant wait for the weekend! im going all out this weekend! 

[Quarry Man]

56 minutes ago, swamp hawgs said:

cant wait for the weekend! im going all out this weekend! 

 

What baits would you throw in clear water this time of year?

[MassYak85]

11 hours ago, swamp hawgs said:

cant wait for the weekend! im going all out this weekend! 

I'm waiting for the 22nd unfortunately. But I should be able to try from shore this coming week. It's supposed to be very nice the first part of the week. Only issue is the Merrimack is already extremely high before the torrential rain we got today. It will probably be higher than I've ever seen it in the next couple days once all the rain that got dumped on NH washes down. 

 

Any body have some good tips for fishing high waters in rivers? Most of the lakes I fish I'm only dealing with a 1 foot rise or drop and not a drastic one either lol. 

[Janderson45]

I'm excited to get out not one, but two days this weekend!  Water should still be pretty chilly but I'm confident I can go find a few that will cooperate.  Haven't decided where yet.. probably going to target LMB/Pike one day and SMB the other.. but I may forego the smallies for now too in search of some real fat LMB. 

 

 

7 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I'm waiting for the 22nd unfortunately. But I should be able to try from shore this coming week. It's supposed to be very nice the first part of the week. Only issue is the Merrimack is already extremely high before the torrential rain we got today. It will probably be higher than I've ever seen it in the next couple days once all the rain that got dumped on NH washes down. 

 

Any body have some good tips for fishing high waters in rivers? Most of the lakes I fish I'm only dealing with a 1 foot rise or drop and not a drastic one either lol. 

 

Rising/High water is almost always a good thing.. the one caveat to that is when it's rising so furiously that all the water is incredibly stained/muddy.  I've been checking out a few local lakes and ponds the past week or so (Even before yesterday's deluge!) that are about as muddy as I have EVER seen them.  We're talking ice cold chocolate milk in a few places I've checked out.  My best advice would be to avoid these water ways for now, until the weather settles down a bit and they have some time to clear up.  Cold and muddy water is about the most brutal bass fishing conditions you can deal with.  If you're forced to fish this type of water... try to find the clearest pockets of water you can and work dark colored baits with lots of thump/vibration... issue is you've still gotta work em real slow this time of year.. bass aren't going to chase a big spinner bait very far this time of year.. if at all. 

 

As far as high water rivers go... I'd be tossing shallow squarebills or spinnerbaits/chatterbaits.  Bang them off of whatever you can find and keep them near the bottom.. slow retrieve with 5:1 gear ratio reels and colors matched accordingly to water clarity and sky cover.  I really like small flat sided crankbaits this time of year, you don't want a fat crankbait with a wide wobble, those are meant for warmer water and more active fish. 

 

I've only caught two bass so far in 2017 (only fished 2 days from shore so far) but both of them have come from reaction strikes generated from banging my lure into cover on the bottom.

 

Good luck everyone-- if anyone is interested in possibly meeting up this weekend feel free to shoot me a PM!

[MassYak85]

1 hour ago, Janderson45 said:

I'm excited to get out not one, but two days this weekend!  Water should still be pretty chilly but I'm confident I can go find a few that will cooperate.  Haven't decided where yet.. probably going to target LMB/Pike one day and SMB the other.. but I may forego the smallies for now too in search of some real fat LMB. 

 

 

 

Rising/High water is almost always a good thing.. the one caveat to that is when it's rising so furiously that all the water is incredibly stained/muddy.  I've been checking out a few local lakes and ponds the past week or so (Even before yesterday's deluge!) that are about as muddy as I have EVER seen them.  We're talking ice cold chocolate milk in a few places I've checked out.  My best advice would be to avoid these water ways for now, until the weather settles down a bit and they have some time to clear up.  Cold and muddy water is about the most brutal bass fishing conditions you can deal with.  If you're forced to fish this type of water... try to find the clearest pockets of water you can and work dark colored baits with lots of thump/vibration... issue is you've still gotta work em real slow this time of year.. bass aren't going to chase a big spinner bait very far this time of year.. if at all. 

 

As far as high water rivers go... I'd be tossing shallow squarebills or spinnerbaits/chatterbaits.  Bang them off of whatever you can find and keep them near the bottom.. slow retrieve with 5:1 gear ratio reels and colors matched accordingly to water clarity and sky cover.  I really like small flat sided crankbaits this time of year, you don't want a fat crankbait with a wide wobble, those are meant for warmer water and more active fish. 

 

I've only caught two bass so far in 2017 (only fished 2 days from shore so far) but both of them have come from reaction strikes generated from banging my lure into cover on the bottom.

 

Good luck everyone-- if anyone is interested in possibly meeting up this weekend feel free to shoot me a PM!

Thanks for the advice. My main problem is the Merrimack is very snaggy. Slowing down usually means allowing the bait to get wedged into some rocks or a submerged log. But a squarebill might be the bets bet for deflecting off that kind of stuff. 

[CTBassin860]

Here comes the warm up boys!! Bass will be making beds before you know it.Almost 80 on Tuesday to boot.Time to get those lines wet and keep those lines tight.Ive been waiting for this since October.Its finally here.

[Mr. Aquarium]

cant wait! im fishing all weekend