DogBone_384

My Kistler Heliums are as high end as I get; great rods, made in Texas. As far as reels go, I flip flop between Shimano, Diawa, Abu, and 13 in the $200 - $275 range. While not as smooth as Shimano & Diawa, my 1st generation 13’s have been work horses so far.

If Plymouth was closer I'd love to go for a chase, If you do, it's best before Memorial Day and after Labor day. Most Plymouth waters require a town stickers and are strictly enforced in the Summer. Parking restrictions have been put into place over the years too.

What in the environment changed? Any dramatic changes? Towns around me in MA killed off the vegetation in some waters and that just about killed off catching any quality fish for me.

Tie on a crankbait and find out. I use med / mod-fast rods for my light crankbait fishing and they work well.

Good luck. Foxboro’s variety lacks a bit. I’ve used Stunna 112’s the last couple years in place of Megabass with good luck. They’re great baits for the money. Perch and Northern Lights do well in my waters. Are you on Kittery Trading Post’s mailing list? They have flash sales & on-line coupons and allow the discount for Megabass. I’ve picked up too many 110’s of all colors & sizes that way.

I don't fish on the North Shore, but no matter what there are NO fish in Plymouth .... 😜 There is no accidentally watching fishing videos when we're iced out ... it keeps us looking forward to that first 'TICK' of the season. Good luck with your lab and keep thinking that 'TICK' is only 4-6 weeks away!

STARTING? You're a couple weeks behind @Mr. Aquarium and I. @Saltysmalljaws hasn't been out since last Fall. 😜 Next week's forecast calls for 'normal' temperatures, so ice out is OTW. I pulled a 5_2 out of the ice in Plymouth two weeks ago. I'm confident the big girls are OK.

Husband, Father, son, Firefighter, friend. That defines me.

I was lucky enough to NOT have a desk my entire working career.

Hello and welcome.

Hello, and welcome from Massachusetts.

I called Kistler to pay for a custom build a while back. Trey answered the phone and took a couple extra minutes to discuss the build. Made a customer for life.

Like @Catt, I use a Kistler Helium heavy-medium-heavy in my ponds with heavy vegetation. I bought a Douglas X-Matrix 745F at the New England Fishing Expo. It's build quality is very good and the tip feels somewhere between Kistler's fast and mod-fast. We'll see if that fits the bill when Massachusetts thaws out. I can buy 3 Heliums for one NRX+. The Heliums are great rods and for me, they're as high-end as I need. Good luck finding your rod.

My two spinning rods would be a ML/F for finesse and M/M or MF for crankbaits. My casting rods would be a M/F and MH/F for most everything else. I’m partial to Kistler rods.

I'll say hello to the Cape next time I'm there but ... there are NO fish on Cape Cod! 😶

This upcoming week is supposed to be in the 20s during the day. The last week in February's forecast call for seasonable temps in the 30's. With some luck from Mother Nature, Cape Cod should have open water by mid March. I hope so, I'm JONSING to get back on the water. Until then, ice fishing is it. Best of luck to all of you in the real deep freeze.

I snuck mine in on New Years Day, right before mother nature returned real winter back to SE Massachusetts. It was a 1 1/2 pound SMB. I ‘cheated’ and made my own 8” open water on February 4th and pulled up a 5_2 LMB. Not bad since I didn’t catch a 5er in ‘24. I'll take a stab at my next open water bass will be March 8th.

For me it is. I have side scan on my boat and kayak. I pedal along and mark structure/weed lines/etc.

I won’t spend $$$$ for Edge boxes. I used Pro Latch until I discovered BPS now uses Plano for their house brand. They’re made in USA and I believe I paid $7.99 each for the 3700 size.

Here comes the bait monkey! I'm changing my locks!

After reading most of the above replies .... my answer is .... ....HUMANS ....

Time to book a fishing vacation SOUTH!?!?!?!

I'm augering around Eastern MA/Plymouth and find ice getting thinner the closer to the Sagamore Bridge (the gateway to Cape Cod) I get. Ice was 4-5" five miles from the bridge and 3" at best one mile out. I nabbed one SMB and one yellow perch yesterday. The smallie bit a 1/4 oz blade bait and the perch ate a shiner off a tip up. Cape Cod hasn't frozen in the last few years. I'm hoping for open water by mid March.

I have a few 2nd gen Concept C's. One can't make up its mind if it wants to keep its brake settings for more than a few casts - like it has a mind of its own. I've tried braid and fluro with no difference between the two. The others are fine but don't feel as good or cast as well as my 1st gen Concept Cs. My troublesome one was maybe made on Friday afternoon? Good that you have good ones.

My 3 year 10 month streak of catching fish in open MA water is shot too. I'm making the best of it. I augured holes at two Plymouth ponds this afternoon. Came up empty at #1 and pulled up a SMB and YP (both a hair under two pounds) at #2. The SMB went for a 1/4 oz blade bait straight away. The perch took a shiner via tip up. The perch was gut hooked but I got it freed and let it keep the shiner that was half way down its throat. The ice was 4 - 5" at the first pond but a little sketchy at the second pond, maybe 3" and gray. The second pond is close to the Sagamore bridge. Water temps were 36.x at both ponds. We might just have open water on the Cape by early March if we're lucky.