DogBone_384

I’m down the Cape with my family and packed a kayak with plans to fish half a day before they arrived. I arrived in Harwich, parked in the bike trail parking lot, unloaded and rigged my kayak, and carted it down the bike trail to launch at Hinckleys. To my surprise, the Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) that owns the property surrounding the bike trail, is well underway improving the area you used to be able to drag a car-top down to the water and launch. Under construction is a nice looking walkway with drainage runoff leading down to what I’d call an observation deck where the pump house stood. The ramp looks like it’s made for wheel chair access, but getting a car-top down it looks like a NO GO. There is an unimproved dirt road everyone used before the land trust bought the land, but it’s chained off to prevent vehicles from driving to the water. HCT bought the land to block private developers from the defunct cranberry bogs around Hinckleys, which is good. As far as getting car-tops down there, we’ll see what it looks like when completed. Any-hoo, I didn’t get the kayak wet, but fished a couple topwaters from shore after dinner. Unfortunately, I came up empty.

I use 3M tie wrap mounts that sometimes do the same. I use contact adhesive to remount them. It works well.

If I were given a NRX, it wouldn’t matter the model. I’d say thank you and go fishing.

Welcome. You’re in the right place!

I pack more than I need in the truck and decide what goes on the kayak when I get to where I'm going. I stick with a pretty 'normal' mix but switch up depending on my mood: MH/F casting - jigs and Keitechs, big worms, etc. Usually a Kistler Helium. MH/MF casting - bladed jigs, lipless, and bigger crankbaits. Usually an older 7'3" Kistler KLX. LMH/F (light-med/heavy) casting/spinning - tubes, medium T-rigged stuff. Always a Kistler. M/MF casting - Kistler KLX 6'9" M/MF. My dedicated jerkbait rod. ML/F casting/spinning - for finesse plastics, Ned rigs. M/F spinning - drop shotter, right now a 7'2" M/F Douglas LRS. I switch this one frequently. Most of my rods are Kistler. I added a few Douglas and FX Custom rods this year thanks to the Bait Monkey and Outdoor Show pricing.

Congratulations on joining the plastic Navy. There are a few threads here on rigging kayaks. I'll recommend anchor trolleys on both sides, some type of fish finder, and at least one USB port. That's just a start ...

Use it.

MASSACHUSETTS: Firstly, a Fishing Hall of Fame would require a $100,000 committee to analyze the benefit to the state and a second, $200,000 committee to make necessary recommendations to the Governor. If created, there would be annual fees and taxes. I then would nominate @Fishing Rhino and @Mr. Aquarium.

This is how it panned out for me. I got back into fishing around '12-'13 and started with a couple BPS rods. Those evolved to Abu Veritas, Veracity, and some first generation 13 Omens. I then bought the odd Loomis & St. Croix if I found them on sale. Finally, I bought a couple of Kistler rods on sale and have stuck with them since. They're high quality, light, very sensitive, and made in Texas. They work for me. I've dabbled here and there with Douglas and Fish Extreme over the last couple years, but go out with my Kistlers 99% of the time. So to answer your question, "why an expensive rod?": they're lighter, more sensitive, and feel better and less expensive rods.

I think prime time is here. I took a ride to Plymouth this morning on the gut that the cooler nights we've had lately got things going. Water temps at two ponds were 74.x and 76.x respectively. I nabbed a dink smallie and a couple yellow perch with an Emerald Rapala PXR Mavrik jerkbait and a four pound LMB at the smaller pond. I marked a few BIG bait balls with bigger targets around them and pulled up 2, 3, and 3.5 LMB, in that order in 20'-ish water in the bigger pond. I had one top water blow-up but it missed. All three LMB came on a bluegill flavored Rage Menace on a 1/2 oz jig head, tossed right through the bait balls (I'd like to think I was that accurate!). Winds picked up significantly by 1100 hours, but that was OK because I told boss-lady I'd be home after 1200-ish. It was mostly overcast and air pressure was 30.1. Overall, one of my better trips this year. Oh yeah, water levels at both Plymouth ponds was down at least 4' from earlier in the year. I have one this year but I only half count it. It was through the ice in February.

I never thought of this. I'll give it a go, thanks.

It's been cool the last few nights... here comes the FALL FEED .... get on it!

Just like Glenn's mustache!

I’ll add to Kistler’s customer service stories. I called Kistler Rods to pay for my wife’s custom rod invoice and Trey answered the phone. He spent a couple minutes to talk to me about the build. I wonder if you’ll get the owner if you call other high end rod companies to pay an invoice.

Firstly, WELCOME TO BASSRESOURCE. I'm a huge Kistler fan. They're light and sensitive, made in Texas. In addition to 'normal' ML, M, MH, and H power rods, Trey has what he calls light/medium-heavy (LMH) and heavy/medium-heavy (HMH) power ratings as go betweens for customers that want, say a medium heavy butt section but a medium tip. I have LMH spinning and casting rods that make great Senko/tube/1/4 oz jig rods. You can save money by signing up for his emails and catching sales he has pretty frequently. Best of luck adding to your arsenal.

I brought my TM to Bass Fishing Electronics in NH this morning. I brought my kayak too, coincidentally. I hit a lake close to Steve's shop and spent 3 1/2 hours tossing a jig, bladed jig, T-rigged worm, Hula Grub, weightless Senko, lipless, shakey head, and 3.3" swim baits and came up empty. I saw plenty of frye in the salad, but they wouldn't tell me where their parents were. OTW back to the launch I came across a young couple in a kayak. They asked how I did. I told them how I'd done and within a couple minutes the young man pulled up two bass. I stayed in that area for about 15. minutes, but still nada. Water temps were 82.x when I launched and 85.x when I left. It was hot, humid, and almost calm. I've goose egged more than half my trips this month.... I can't wait until September!

Again, no love from Massachusetts! 🙃 I'm lucky to live near Cape Cod, which froze over for the first time in five years last winter. I'll fish year round if there’s open water. January's a crap shoot. I'm happy if I catch ONE bass in open water. I usually catch my biggest fish in February and March. Numbers are 'meh'. April and May is mixed bag. I find Cape Cod bass are on a different schedule than Plymouth to Canton. I try not to fish beds. June - August: is usually a dink fest. I've never quite figured out where they go or what they want. September - October: Numbers and size are better than Spring time, but I never seem to time the 'fall feed' right. November - December: If Cape Cod doesn't freeze, I break out the blade bait box. Numbers are OK, but the fish are bigger.

I ventured 'over the bridge' yesterday and today to check off August. I took the kayak yesterday, launching at 0630 and well, did what I usually do at this pond: two yellow perch, one white perch, two SMB (1 & 2 pounds, respectively), and a 4 pound pickerel. Everyone except the toothy critter went after an emerald green Rapala PXR Mavrik 110 jerkbait. The pickerel snatched up a white Yamamoto shad on a dropshot. I called it quits a little after lunch. Water temps were 76.x when I launched and 80.x when I packed up. It was pretty bluebird with 5-7 mph winds from the SW. Air pressure was 30.1. I took the Ranger back to the Cape today to play around with the Active Target more. I launched just before 0700 with another boat and two completely rigged kayaks. I spent the first hour resetting my Ghost trolling motor in attempt to get the ANCHOR to work. I started working again and off I went. It was a grind, and the only fish I caught were three TINY LMB, barely bigger than the Rapala jerkbait I tossed. Two of three were smaller than the lure. The third might have been twice the jerkbait's size. I can say they were my first fish I located and caught with FFS. I tried a pile of different lures all over the place with only a few machine gun bites from perch. My TM started acting up again and after checking and rechecking its programming and connections, I packed up and went home. Water temps were 74.x when I launched and 78.X when I left. Winds were 11-12 mph from the south. It was fairly overcast. My Ghost is going to Bass Fishing Electronics in NH tomorrow. My #1 kayak has a leak I can't seem to fix, so #2 might just go with me to NH. Since I'm driving all the way up there to drop the TM off, I may as well fish for a while to make the trip, hopefully, worth it. I'll add that I got a 20% code for Rapala a while back and bought a few of their PXRs. They have a nice downward stance, come in really good colors, and catch fish. They're $18 on Rapala's website, but $15/16 on other sites. I'll now buy these over V110's, especially for the dough.

Can't. They're not MA compliant ....

I use an Excel spreadsheet to log my catches.

Happy hatch day @A-Jay

I have a ‘17 RT178 with a 70 HP Yammy on it. I do all my own maintenance. Oils & filters about $125. Boat registration is $66 for 2 years, trailer registration $20/year. $454 this year for insurance, through Progressive. If I use a tank of gas for the season, that’ll run about $65. $87.62 for MA sporting license (fresh, salt, and hunting ((w/archery stamp)). $63 for NH non resident fishing. $59 for VT non resident fishing.

Welcome Back.

Got out locally yesterday afternoon for a few hours. Visibility was almost NIL. The launch looked like pea soup. The west and south ends looked like coffee. I started on the shore with thick vegetation with a frog, changing to a T-rigged worm, bladed jig, punch rig, and 3.8" Keitech along the way. Nothing happed there so I moved between deep and shallow areas, focusing on docks, points, and any structure I could find. After three hours of nothing, I packed up and left. Water temps were in the low 80's (6 degrees warmer than my last trip here two days ago), winds were light and picked up about the time I left. There wasn't a cloud in sight and air pressure was 30.2. I spoke to one guy coming off the water as I launched. He struck out. Later in the trip I chatted with another guy panfishing. He said he caught 3 when he usually gets 20. I goose-egged the last four trips here over the last week. I'm heading back to Plymouth/Cape Cod as soon as possible.

I’ll go with the membership. If money’s not a factor, go with the bigger boat. I have a Ranger RT178 I paid almost nothing for and fish alone most of the time. I’ve spent a lot of time with @Fishing Rhino on his 20’ Nitro over the years and love the space and storage. Had I not come across my Ranger when I did, I’d have gone for a bigger rig. Best of luck picking out your boat.