DogBone_384

Hot/melting terminals is a short or dead cell in the battery. Take the battery to your local auto parts store and ask them to do a load test on it. They’ll know quickly if the battery is toast. If your battery passes start looking for a short, worn wire insulation, or a problem with your trolling motor. If you have another known good battery, hook your TM to it and run it. If the terminals get hot quickly, you’ve found your problem. Best of luck....

Congrats on your PB!

Got out twice this week. I launched at Ponkie at dawn on Tuesday with topwater at the top of my list, which was the right choice. Three Larries and two picks until the bite shut off around 8:00. One pickerel has a bluegill Rapala skitter walk attached to it’s face, the second one I left stuck to a fish this year.... popular bait I guess. Water temps were 80.x - 82.x. A friend’s son (Evan) met me at Canton Res yesterday around 4:00 PM. The weather was PERFECT, in the low 80’s and just a slight breeze. The weather was TOO good for the fish, with water temps 85.x when we started and 82.x when we left. I managed three LMB and one pickerel with two bass weighing just over 2 pounds. Evan didn’t catch anything but said he missed a couple. I didn’t see the other folks fishing landing much and one guy I talked to when we left confirmed it was a slow evening. I’m off until Monday..... must fish somewhere..... best of luck to the membership this weekend!

It’s been quiet here .... hope everyone’s fishing!

I send mine to Mike @ Delaware Valley Tackle and go with his recommendations. His work and pricing are excellent.

X2

I use Lowrance Hook 5’s on my kayaks and power them two Milwaukee M12 extended batteries in a Pelican box. I get 4-5 hours out of each battery. If you use a dedicated battery I’d suggest an automatic charger like Battery Tender. I use one each on my motorcycle and trolling motor battery with excellent performance.

Boss lady paddles and has fished here & there. It’s “work in progress”.

If you’re going to use it a lot, handle as many brands as you can. All manufacturers at the $99 price point have good, reliable offerings. I started with a Pro Qualifier and could probably still use it daily but the MONKEY coerced me into upgrading when good sales came along..... I own Shimano, Diawa, Abu, and *** reels. Diawa and *** are my favorite. Pick a reel that feels good in your hands.

I figure second week in September depending on everyone’s schedule. The weather will still be good and the Cape crowds gone. I work 24 hour shifts so it doesn’t matter weekdays/weekends for me. My boss, err, wife said she’d consider it if there were women going. Her idea of camping is a 2 bedroom condo on the water or near Disney but she said she’d consider it.... One or two nights should be enough, even if some members only came down for a long day.

I took a friend’s son to Canton reservoir yesterday evening for another go around. The weather was nearly perfect with a light breeze and some cloud cover. Water temps were 84.x when we launched and 82.x when we went home. Evan caught three, lost one, and got big fish of the day with a 3.18 # Larry. He’s still stuck on using ‘his’ baits but is starting to try my suggestions on spots and retrieval. I landed three Larries, one pick, and a nice frying pan Crappie. One Larry was 2-8 and as I went to release it, Larry gave one big shake and slipped out of my hand with my fish gripper and scale. One bass after the 2-8 was bigger, but Larry #1 wouldn’t come back with my scale when I called it. I hope Larry #1 can shake off the fish grip.... Changing the subject, I’m thinking of a camping trip to Nickerson State Park in September after the kids go back to school. Cliff, Little Cliff, and Flax ponds are close to each other and are easy access for car toppers.

Yep, what Troy said .... BPS had Dingers on sale for $2.19 per bag and I use them almost exclusively now. I don’t notice any catch rate difference.

I took a friend’s son to Canton Reservoir after work today. Evan struck out and I landed two bass, with the biggest an ounce under two pounds. Both were caught on a wacky Yum Dinger. Water temps were 81.x. Tonight’s highlight, by far, was when I landed my wacky rig on a wooden dock and managed to get the line through NOT ONE, BUT TWO eyelet rings on the far edge. Houdini couldn’t do it! I got called into work so I’m rescheduling my trip with Fishing Rhino.

I’m heading to Canton Reservoir with a friend’s son tonight after work and down to Tom’s neighborhood tomorrow morning..... have to get it while job #2 slow.

I put a fishing Kayak and *** reel in my cart and the price refelcted the 20% off ... good thing I already have too many of both!

The boss, err, wife, sneared at me when I couldn’t decide where to go fishing today.... typical from a ‘non’ fishing person..... I stayed local, launching at Ponkapog just after dawn. I left around 1000 with two dinks and one decent Larry. I tossed a Yozuri pencil, green/red flake 5.5” T-rigged swim Senko, and a wacky rigged pumpkin/chartreuse 4” Yum Dinger. The wacky rig did the trick. A LMB no bigger than my Yozuri thought he could eat it. It was a trip seeing that tiny little dude try to jump out of the water to shake the lure off. I went do DSG to pick up some line and OTW back decided to check out Reservoir Pond in Canton for the first time. I found the launch and off I went around 1200. The water looked like coffee and there wasn’t much as far as ANY weed beds. It looked like Sunset Lake after Braintree treated it to kill off the weeds. I worked counter clockwise with a wacky Yum Dinger, T-rigged Zoom Ultravibe, and a Ned rig as a backup. Overall I grabbed six bass, two picks, and lost the big fish of the day 10’ from the kayak. One bass was 2-4, and three were just short of the 2-0 mark. All the bigger fish were caught with the T-rigged Zoom along the SE coastline from the golf course onward. Not a bad first visit. Water temps were 80.x - 82.x at Ponkie and 84.x at Reservoir Pond.

Three out of my five MH rods are rated 1/4 - 1 oz., with my Kistlers being my favorites. My medium Veritases fish a lot like my non Abu MH rods...

I agree with the membership that fish don’t care what color your kayak is and bright colors offer added safety. If you really want to paint it stop by your local auto body shop(s) and ask them what paint to use and how best to prep your kayak. I worked in car audio for a long time and always used SEM brand for plastics paint and never had any issues with it. I painted dash and interior panels so I can’t tell you whether or not it’ll stand up to the bumps and scrapes fishing kayaks endure. Contact SEM and see what they say and best of luck. Their website has a chat option.

I keep a Diawa Ardito 7’ MF casting and an Okuma Citrix 7’2” ML/F spinning rod in my truck for those ‘just in case’ stops. I don’t fish them often but find they’re as good as 1 piece rods. The Diawa is typical Diawa fit & finish: excellent, and the Okuma is very good. They both come with semi-hard cases and Jet Blue let me take them to Orlando as carry ons. I had to check my tackle. Hope this helps. Good luck choosing a travel rod.

Tom and I dropped into Westport today after wiring up a new fish finder for his canoe. A broken trolling motor shear pin kept our lines dry longer than expected, but all was well in short order. Despite it being late morning, in the 80’s, humid, and breezy, Tom and I caught a handful each. None were scale breakers, especially on a Summer day. Water temps were 83.x - 84.x and wacky rigged worms proved the ticket.

Ditto on the sending my reels out to DVT. He’s cleaned and tuned most of my baitcasters. Mike’s work and pricing are excellent. He’s upgraded some of my reels too, always telling me what does/doesn’t need upgrading. I have The Sportsman’s Den near me for live bait, quick tackle purchases, and firearms. I don’t know if he services reels though.

Took the family to Little Pond in Plymouth yesterday. Water temps were 82.x. I caught two LMB, 1.5-2 lbs, working a 5.5” swim Senko slowly along the bottom around 15’ deep. I tried a few other baits here & there but 2 was it.

Plano boxes, made in USA....

Dropped back in Ponkie after the thunder storms passed. Another good trip with 6 bass and 4 pickerel with a 3-11 pick devouring a bluegill Spook Puppy late in the afternoon. Water temps were 73.x, up a touch from the morning. The big winners were a green/red flake Yamamoto Kut Tail and the Spook Puppy. Unfortunately for another big pickerel who bit through my leader, that Spook Puppy is likely stuck to its face....

I couldn't resist another trip to Ponkie so launched I did around 7:30. Keeping it simple with a wacky Yum Dinger and T-rigged Yamamoto Kut-tail I landed three dinks and a new PB (by 1 oz... but it's bigger - AND NO, I DIDN'T HAVE MY THUMB ON THE SCALE!) 4-12 Larry. Water temps were 72.x and thunder rolled in just after I released the big bass so I beat feet. Maybe I'll head back later when the T-storms pass.