DogBone_384

I toss it in my truck’s bed when it’s just me. I strip them down and put the hulls on my truck’s ladder rack when I trailer my Ranger or have two kayaks. The ‘nekked’ hulls weigh about 75 pounds, they’re manageable. It weighs 125 + - rigged.

Here's my net. It's a Yakattack net in a Yakattack holder. Sorry for the delay. I had lots of grown up stuff to do.

For a Kayak, a 5 or 7" does fine, unless you want live sonar and have the budget for it. I have a Lowrance Elite Ti7 on my kayak, mounted on the right side rail. Lowrance's user interface is good, but screen is awful compared to Garmin. I believe Lowrance improved their screens since the Elite series. I have my downscan transducer mounted through a scupper and later added a sidescan unit on a removable arm. I have a 12 aH lithium battery in a Pelican case that's stored in the hull with disconnects so I can remove and charge it. If you have a marine store, or Cabelas/Bass Pro near you that has fish finders on display, go play with them in person and see for yourself. Best of luck choosing your fish finder.

Jigs - Braid w/mono leader and fluorocarbon for crystal clear waters. Chatterbaits - Mono. Crankbaits - Fluorocarbon. Topwater - Mono.

New.

Everywhere I’ve driven from Boston to Harwich are open.

I packed up the kayak, a pile of rods, and half the Tackle Warehouse catalog and drove to one of my regulars in Plymouth. The first three hours was a grind: no bites, not marking much, and uncooperative fish. I started back to the launch and about 2/3 back I was pleasantly surprised by a 4.63 LMB on a chartreuse jointed Rapala Shad Rap in roughly 25' of water. I first thought at least five pounds when I landed it. I'm going to double check my scale. That was it for the trip. I threw small paddle tail on underspin, a @WRB hair jig from @Siebert Outdoors, blade bait, Tactical DD crank, and 6.8" Keitech ALL OVER THE PLACE. Water temps at the northern end were 43.x and 40.x down south. Air pressure was 29.2. Winds were 5 - 8 mph from the south. Mother nature was also good to me this year and opened up water just enough for me to catch fish each month so far, so I'm still on track. Best of luck to everyone getting out, and don't forget the New Hampshire Outdoor Expo, this weekend, at the Hampshire Dome in Milford, NH.

We also live on the coast. The biggest benefit we get is less snow compared to downtown, unless the winds come in off the water.

I bought a tether and silicone case that keeps my phone attached to my PFD.

Welcome to the New England weather pattern!

Maine. I spend a lot of time in SE Mass and Cape Cod and some time in NH & VT. Maine is full of great food, people, and clean EVERYTHING. So why not?

If you choose to change brands, I fish out of a 2018 FeelFree Lure 11.5 with their Overdrive (pedal) unit. It's a very good fishing platform because you can paddle, pedal, or use their Motordrive unit that plugs into the Overdrive unit. The hull weighs about 75 pounds. I'm 58 and can lift it onto my Tundra's ladder rack. It weighs about 125 lbs fully rigged w/ Overdrive and isn't a problem loading into my truck's bed. The best part of the kayak is its seat, which is ALL DAY comfortable. The keel mounted wheel is great for crossing packed terrain, but a cart is necessary for beach sand and longer distances. I have a Elite Ti7 mounted on the right side rail and keep the battery in a Pelican box in the hull's storage. A milk crate keeps my tackle organized in the rear storage. My kayak gets a lot of usage and replacement parts are readily available. FeelFree's customer service is outstanding. Like @nso123, I bought a boat when I want to cover a lot of water. Just food for thought. Good luck choosing your next rig.

Talk about a LAYUP! I'm biting my tongue Mike!

I use a mono leader to add a little cushion. I don't find any loss in sensitivity when compared to a fluorocarbon leader. I'm 'pretty easy' with my hook sets too.

I started out with a paddle only kayak. It was a good kayak and pedal drive wasn't mainstream yet. To do over, I'd have bought a pedal drive. I own two FeelFree Lure 11.5's. Their Overdrive unit is removable and a storage box goes in its place if you choose to paddle, which might be an option because you buy each piece from FeelFree a-la-carte. I remove the pedal drive to store and transport only. If your main reason for buying a kayak is fishing, a pedal drive is the better option. The Lure's hulls weigh about 75 pounds. I'm 58 and can still lift them onto my Tundra's ladder rack. I also have a '99 Honda CRV whose roof rack is strong enough for the Lure and has enough room for the seat, Overdrive, and fishing gear when I take only one kayak. If it's within your budget, I'd recommend getting a pedal drive unit straight away. Best of luck choosing your new boat.

The current records are listed on the state website. Where the next records come from, @Mr. Aquarium will never tell!

Massachusetts has two sets of records, one is catch and have weight verified at an official station. The second is catch and release with photo verification. The former records are: LMB - 15 lbs. 8 oz. in 1975 SMB - 8 lbs. 2 oz. in 1991 The latter: LMB - 25" in 2017 SMB - 24.25" in 2023 I'm putting my money on @Mr. Aquarium breaking the LMB record in the next couple years.

That’s why he’s @Mr. Aquarium!

I fished 4 ponds between yesterday and today, mid-Cape. Two still had some ice on them but there was enough open water to launch my kayak. The other two were WIDE OPEN. The first is 40' deep. I focused on two spots I normally catch good LMB at. I didn't mark squat at those spots, but finally found some marks at 30', got nothing but a couple perch nibbles. Water temps at #1 were 41.x. Pond # 2 is one I don't fish often because I rarely catch anything at. I caught a three+ pound LMB there once on a Ned. Winds were 15+ mph and controlling my kayak was more work than reward. I managed a lap around the place, focusing on the bottom of the 'bowl'. I marked little or nothing until I got to the Eastern shoreline where it drops off like a cliff. After two hours of bouncing around like I was in open ocean, I packed up and searched for calmer waters. Water temps here were 38.x degrees. Pond #3 is shallow for Cape Cod, 10-12' deep in the middle and has beaucoup vegetation in warmer seasons. I managed one 1.56 pound LMB on a green/red flake Senko. Water temps here were 42.x degrees. The last pond is one I've never done well at over the last 10 - 12 years, but the launch is easy and I figured I'd 'hope for the best'. I pedaled to the West corner to a steep drop off where I caught a good SMB a few years ago. I worked my way back to the launch, marking little or nothing. Water temps were 39.x. I threw the normal assortment of winter baits, blade bait, tail spin, T-rigged worm, underspin, various jerkbaits, deep cranks, lipless, Ned, and jigs. Air pressure was 29.7 yesterday and 29.9 when I packed up today.

My most memorable bass is my next personal best...

I took a drive to Cape Cod today so see what was what. For those with boats, Long Pond (Harwich) has a clear ramp but the east & west ends are covered with thin ice. Wequaquet is probably 80% open with a clear ramp. Mash-Wake is still locked out, especially the ramp. Great Herring (Plymouth) has a clear ramp and is roughly 1/2 iced over. Big Sandy (Plymouth) is locked out. I drove by a lot of 'kayak' ponds between Plymouth & mid-Cape. It's a long list and so as not to blow up Glenn's servers, PM me if you want specifics. I figure the Cape will be open if temps stay above freezing for the next week or so.

I don't have any experience with Dobyns rods. To sum up the Heliums, they average 3 1/2 ounces, are very sensitive, and are true to their ratings. Their fast tip has a really nice 'softness' to it, if that makes any sense. My go to jig rods are a 7'3" MH and 7'3" Heavy-Medium-Heavy. Drop Kistler an email. Trey seems like a sharp guy and might be able to give you a comparison. Kistler's are also made here in the US. I have spinning & casting LMH Heliums. I think they make great Senko/Tube/3.8" Keitech rods.

Stayed closer to home yesterday and augured a bunch of holes in Hingham yesterday. There was a foot of open water along the dam but good or bad, I found the ice was 8-10" thick. Quite a surprise. I set my tip ups along the base of the dam and worked around the place. There were three other groups ice fishing. I dropped a black hair jig, chrome/blue Rapala jigging rap, a Spot Green Damiki Vault, and chartreuse/white feather jig through the holes. The best I could do was pester perch that were stuck to the bottom in 20'. The group fishing the western part of the pond set up between two points pulled up one bass and a couple perch. Water temps were 34.x, five - seven degrees colder than the last four years. It was sunny and clear. Air pressure was 30.2. I got some intel that there's some open water on Cape Cod. I might have to take a recon trip to find out for myself. Thick ice in Hingham was a bit of a surprise, and the long term forecast for March calls for below average (cold) temps.

It was!

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