DogBone_384

Packed up and ready to hit Great Herring, in the morning, provided I don't snag an extra shift. Then it'll be Ponkapog, since it's close to home. The plan is to give jigs and Neds a try to see what happens... I've not had much luck with either and should give them a fair shake. No OT today so down to Great Herring went I. I launched around 9:00 and followed my normal path armed with a Junebug Ned and a T-rigged blue/black Kreature. The wind was brutal by 10:30. My 5 pound claw anchor wasn't slowing me much, but on the first cast I hooked something good, though I lost it under the kayak when the knot failed. I managed 3 smallies, a pound to pound and a half; two Larries, one just over 2 pounds, and what I think is a white perch until I reversed my trolling motor to avoid a floating dock, felt a vibration, then discovered I'd lost my prop ?. It was an hour and twenty minutes back to the launch in a STIFF headwind... I don't have to do arms tonight ?. Ned proved a winner and the Kreature a bust. No complaints, I'm off to Bass Pro for a new prop.

I really shouldn't have read this thread.... I'm heading to a smallmouth lake tomorrow... I know what I'm going to try.... MUST RESIST THE MONKEY...

Veritas, Veritas, Veritas. For $99, I own three. JMO. Handle as many as you can though, there 's always the 'subjective' part of the monkey that helps make your decision for you... Beat of luck.

You're not going to start charging for autographs now, are you, Mike?

Whopper Plopper ?!?!? Never heard of it. ... Gonna have to look into one... Congratulations on a great day.

no such thing as cheating... just fishing, or waiting....

Artificial bait is fishing... live bait is waiting.... "...and that's all I have to say about that..."

Got back to Ponkapog with a family friend's son who licked Leukemia last year around 4:30. Evan's again strong enough to handle our Native Redfish 10 alone, so off he went, using a jig and spinner bait. He managed two pickerels, each around two pounds. I paddled our Lure 11.5 to my normal spot and started tossing the same swim Senko I had luck with last week. I hooked onto something big straight away, but didn't set the hook well enough, so all I saw of it was the white of its underbelly just in front of me. The rest of the night was very strange. With the swim Senko I had my trusty gourd green Zoom worm on a ML spinning setup. Hooked onto two more big fish, but again lost them to bad hook sets. Not sure what was going on, I was using the same setup as last week. Also, both baits were picked apart nearly every cast by what I assume were Yellow Perch. This continued throughout the evening until I landed a small bass (0-11) and pickerel (2-08) around 7:00. By 8:00, or so, someone turned off the switch and all activity stopped. The weather was perfect, with the 'possible' thunder showers missing us. My Lowrance battery was dead, but the water felt like bath water. The barometric pressure was 29.7 at 4:30 and 29.95 when we left at 8:45. I wonder if that was why the bite was so different than usual. It was a good afternoon, with Evan catching a couple decent picks and having fun.

Welcome to the forum. Finding your depths without a chart or castable fish finder is easy. Take a jig you know the fall rate, cast it out and time its fall until the line goes slack. That'll estimate your depth.

Sounds about right ...

Hit Ponkapog last Friday evening and Saturday morning. Friday yielded two bass, a 2-2 and a 4-3, both on swim Senkos. I wasn't there more than an hour and a half, to two hours. The rest of the family was at work, so I figured why waste the time. Water temp was 80.x. ADD: It was a good chance to try my new Kistler Helium 7' M/XF. HOLY SMOKES is it light. My first impression is that it's a light M, especially compared to my medium Veritas' that I use most of the time, but those are known to run a little heavy. I like the tip, and with a banned reel and 30# braid I'd say it might be the most sensitive setup I have. I'm going to toss some lighter texas rigged worms and play with other reels to reassure myself with the $249 I paid for it. I got there Saturday morning after dropping my daughter off at work. I fished the western part of the pond by the furthest point, planning on the wind pushing me up towards the camp ground. Worked a 5" swim/hula Senko in bass flavor texas rigged with a 1/16 oz weight to help it along and through the weeds. I caught a little yellow perch, a really ticked of pickerel (that managed its way out of my kayak before I could get the scale on it), and two small bass. No scale breakers, but it beats a blank. The wind got tough by lunch time, so I bailed around 11:30. There were four other kayakers there. I didn't notice them catching much. Water temps were 79.x and a front had gone through Friday night. Hoping to get out Thursday night with a friend's son who beat Lukemia and can now handle our 10' kayak himself this year.

Congratulations! Pepper looks like another PB. Things will settle down and you'll have some great fall fishing.

Check this thread out:

Spent a few hours at Ponkapog Sunday afternoon, after getting there, unloading, and forgetting my paddle ?, reloading, roundtripping, and unloading again. The weather couldn't have been better. Water temp was 80.x and wind was light. Ponkapog is down 1.5' since I was last here. One kayaker was leaving as I arrived and said he'd caught a four pound bass. I managed two bass and a pickerel. The yellow perch were active, nipping the tails off a few craws & worms. Bailed about 3:00 to get back to work. Drove to Long Pond in Plymouth after work Monday AM. Water temps were 74-75.x and the BP was dead on @ 30. I started at the far end, in the little bowl, working around fallen trees & docks. I pulled my first LM out from under a dock, for sure I thought I had a new PB ... but my scale told me just under three pounds & 17" long. I have to check my scale ?!?!?!?. I pulled one more bass, almost the same size from another dock. That was it though, by lunch the wind made it futile to try keep my kayak in cast ble areas. So far this season's been pretty good. No bigguns, but numbers and size are better than '15. I've gotten much better reading my Lowrance and hitting my targets.

Geeze Mike, you caught the aquarium .... Congratulations!

Spent Friday at Morton Park with the family & friends. Got to fish a chunk of the day. Caught 6 bass, all on a T-rigged gourd green Zoom U-tail. The biggest was just shy of two pounds. I did a much better job reading my Lowrance & hitting my targets. The best part of the day was putting a friend's 8 YO daughter on the front of my kayak and helping her catch her first fish, a yellow perch. oh yeah, water temp was 72.x, the wind was light, and not a cloud in the sky.

Welcome.... Go to the thread Klubba (Lang?!?!) mentioned. If you're headed south to MA look up Eastern MA reports, also in the Northeast section.

I have a Gen3 Revo SX and sometimes experienced 'random' backlashes like you describe. I sent it to DVT for a super tune and cleaning. When it came back it was a new reel, casting smoother and farther than I could have hoped. The finicky-ness was also reduced, though not completely. I occasionally backlash it 'randomly' and find it happens when I have my wrist angle off at 11:00. Usually later in the day when my concentration's off. My solution is to tweak the cast control settings from time to time. Lastly, keep practicing with it. Best of luck!

Finally getting a day off... Hitting Great Herring @ dawn ? ADD: Hit the water at 0530. It was surprisingly cool and expectedly windy. Water temps were in the low 70s and BP just about 30. I started at the point left of the ramp with a green/red flake swim Senko, green/red NED, and my trusty smallie colored, jointed Rapala. Not much happening here, just one dark small mouth on the NED. I moved down the East shore for the first time to see what was there. I managed just a few hits on the Rapala until I got to the docks North of Camp Bourndale where I dropped a 4" wacky rigged Senko at a dock's ladder and sure enough, a nice smallie, just shy of 2 pounds accommodated me. By 1100 the wind was too much for my kayak so I made way to 'the red house' where I managed two more smallies, two Larrys, three perch, and one really bright Pumpkinseed/Sunny (?), all on a yellow perch flavored jointed Rapala. Had to beat feet at 1300 to get to work by 1500. Nobody broke my scale, but all in all a good day, despite the wind.

That's a big change ... I bought one in '13 and didn't find it a great feeling rod.... maybe it's time to revisit the brand.... I'll throw $20 on the table that the monkey stays in his guest room !

It's a breeze to add accessories to the Lure. Mine is a '14 and required a scupper mount for my Lowrance's transducer. I found good rubber grommets at Lowes and ran my wires in the hull and can stow the Lowrance connector cables inside when I'm not using the kayak. It's a nice, clean install. FeelFree has accessory mounts for their rails. The new Lures have an electronics pod if I'm not mistaken. I have one rod holder and Lowrance mount on the front rails. I use a second Scotty rod holder on the rear rails to troll. I also added anchor trolleys to both sides. FeelFree also has a big console that sits in front of you, connecting between the rails, but that's much more than I need. Visit their website. Of my plastic fleet, my Lure is my favorite. All day comfortable and light enough to hoist onto my ladder racks at the end of a full day fishing.

X2

Congratulations! And welcome to your next addiction ....