anglerjoe

No kidding! He bent my 7' UL rod double and made the drag sing! A good 3-4 minute fight during which he made several 15 yard runs for the weeds. Look how exhausted he looks in the picture. haha. He revieved soon once I put him back in the water and was on his way in no time. I caught a couple other smaller ones on the same crank that day. Read that they have stocked broodstock salmon in that pond as well. Watch for me on the water with my surf/salmon rod soon!

Thank you gentlemen! ukbumpkin - I took your advice and hit White Pond in Concord this weekend. I was out for trout but I saw a bass jumping close and quickly threw on a rapala crank. Put up quite a fight on my ultralite trout rig but finally landed this nice 5 pounder! No such luck with the trout but I know they are in there - saw an old timer with two nice 15" rainbows in his bucket. Nice pond with very little fishing pressure and 20 mins from Newton - definitely will be back there soon. Thanks for the tip.

Speaking of lunkers - caught this bad boy in a small 5-acre no-name pond on my way to Wachusett yesterday afternoon. Didn't have a scale but must have been 7+ lbs. Also caught two bronzebacks in Wachu 3-4 lbs. I have been skunked there sometimes but yesterday was a good day. Must be the new moon too - get on the water this weekend folks. Catch n release! Happy Independence Day!

Been moseying around the Charles in the Newton area again this past week - caught a few good ones on a weightless wacky rigged senko. The river is full of weeds but drop the worms in the openings and let it sink - most times it won't get to hit the bottom! Also, afternoon seems to be the best time for this.

@Dorfonfishing: You can boat on Walden, I saw people trolling for lakers in the middle. Good luck this evening at the Charles - I have had good results fishing the edges of the pads with surface baits - poppers and frogs. Weightless texas-rigged worms also work well. I will have to try the Woerd Ave stretch again. Do you know if you can fish from behind the watch factory building in Waltham? I have seen some people fishing but there is a sign on the gate that says private. @ukbumpkin: I have heard a lot about White's pond in Concord. Is there good shore access? My fav place for smallmouths is Wachusett Reservoir in Worcester - shore fishing only and consistently good action but you got to start real early.

Hello nhbassin. I don't know about Chandler Pond but shore fishing is allowed in the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. I have heard there is some monster pike in there.

I have fished the boat ramp on Woerd Ave in the mornings but had to settle for some good size crappies (10-12" on a bitsy minnow). Where would the lunkers be? I have tried Norumbega Road, Charles River Road (Waltham) and Purgatory Cove (from Forest Grove St.) also with good results. But all the bass I have caught have been 1-2lbs - nothing larger. Also spent an unproductive day on Walden Pond in Concord today fishing from shore. Saw few 18" smallmouths but wouldn't rise to anything. I was using mainly soft plastic and rooster tails.

Thanks JigFishn. The Crystal lake I am referring to is near Newton Center off of Beacon Street. They stocked 400 rainbows there in the spring but guess they are all gone now. I am in the area too and constantly on the prowl for new honey holes. Norumbega reservoir was on my list of places to shake a rod at too. Too bad it seems to be off limits now.

I have had some luck on the Charles at the duck pond at the end of Norumbega Road in Weston. This is on the border with Newton and Waltham, across from the Charles River boat house by the Newton Marriot. Many smaller bass 2lbs or less, bigger carp and heard reports of american eel from other anglers. Also tried Crystal Lake in Newton twice but one dinky larry and some small perch, not much action there.