DogBone_384

I spent a couple hours this afternoon at Sunset Lake in Braintree. Didn't mark much but managed a good pickerel on a ghost chartreuse shad LV500 in about 20' of water. Water temps varied from 42.x to 45.x, winds were stiff from the SW, and air pressure was 29.7.

Not if you're away from the bank a little bit, which for deep cranking, I'll assume you will be. The only thing you'll have to watch out for is hitting it on a back swing. I keep my swimbait rod in my crate's middle rod holder so it's directly behind me.

I fished a private pond on the 'South Coast' this morning and it paid off. I started with an assortment ranging from a yellow perch BBZ-1 to a California Craw Ned. All I needed was a yellow perch Vision 110 jerkbait. I didn't feel a strike, just dead weight. My Rapala's scale display was foggy (shopping for a REAL one today), so today's LMB was 4.65 or 5.65 ... Either way, it was 19" long and F A T. Water temps were 40.x, winds were 5-8 mph from the SW, and air pressure was 30.3. February's turned out to be a pretty good month. I went 0-7 last March. I plan on making up for it this year in a big way.

I'll be in Dennis Port 14 - 17 April...

Drove to Hedges yesterday with my waders for some afternoon SMB hunting. It was the first time I had my rod tip and bait cast reel freeze. Didn't catch anything and am going back today. Went back to Hedges today and caught a nice SMB and a porker of a yellow perch, both on a Real Gizzard Yozuri 3DR shad crank bait. I had enough of the wind about mid afternoon and moved to Little Long Pond. It was my first time there. I came up with a 2 pound, 18" pickerel on a grn-pumpkin/chart Ned. Water temps at Hedges were 38.x and 41.x at Little Long Pond. Winds were 15+ from the S/SW and air pressure was 30.3. Tomorrow's plan starts at a private pond down 'the South Coast'. From there, who knows.... ADD: I lost a side plate to one of my reels from the beach to the parking area at Hedges... With some patience, I found it.

Welcome.

February's checked off the list. I fished a small, shallow pond in the back of a Plymouth industrial park for 'the heck of it' this afternoon and came up with a small LMB. The little fella took a 3.8" bluegill flash Keitech on a gold bladed flashy swimmer. I visited a second small pond in Norwell and came up with a really nice looking LMB on a perch Rapala Shadow Rap Shallow. I also spent some time driving around the South Shore. Most ponds were at least half open. With a warm weekend ahead of us, looks like February's gonna close out with open water.

I prefer weekdays too. I have a flexible work schedule and Tom is retired. It works out well. Also, Tom turns 80 this soon, so I’d like to get him out as much as possible this year.

I found open water in Hanover, Ma. today. Threw a bluegill chatterbait, grn—pump/chart Ned, Rapala & Megabass jerkbaits, a perch Yamamoto Heart Tail, and a YP BBZ swimbait. Unfortunately I came up empty. Water temps were 38.x, it was very windy from the SW, and air pressure was 30. I drove by Bloody Pond, Hedges Pond, Great Herring, and Little/Great South too. They’re still very locked up. I left my truck packed up and ready to go for tomorrow. Howdy to @je1946. Good to see you posting again. It’s been a while. Maybe we can get a group to meet up at the Quabbin this Spring.

I use Milwaukee M12 & M18 cordless tools. They’re good quality. I have 11 year old batteries that still hold a decent charge.

Rapala.

I’ve worked on cars for the last 40 years. This thread’s got me curious. Found this: https://nhoilundercoating.com/soy-based-wiring-how-to-help-keep-mice-out/

You're pond sounds like one near me but you're about 30 degrees too high for a bluebird winter day, so here I go: 1-3: Texas rigged soft baits in small, medium, and large. 4" Senko, 3.8" Keitech, and Yamamoto Kreature. 4: Vision 110 jerk bait. 5: Chatter bait. Colors would be based on water clarity & what kind of forage you have there. I throw lipless crank baits and blade baits all winter, but avoid them in shallow weedy ponds.

A chipmunk chewed through my Mom’s VW’s harness a few years ago. Turns out that VW uses soy in their wire insulation. A Google search revealed other auto manufacturers are too. How would I fix it? Split loom on harnesses that don’t have it or wrap existing loomed harnesses in TESA tape. TESA tape is a cloth harness tape used by auto manufacturers.

A MH/F or MH/MF between 6'10' and 7' would be my pick for a 'do a lot' rod. I'm partial to Kistler rods myself, and throw jigs on a KLX 7'3" MH when on my boat and an older 6'9" Helium TS when on my kayak. Kistler has a few different lines ranging from $149 to $499. You could easily have them build something custom that easily falls in your budget also. Drop them an email telling them what you're looking for and see what they recommend. Their quality and customer service are top notch. They're made here in the US too. I called them up to pay an invoice and Trey Kistler answered the phone, a nice touch you're not likely to get with other rod companies. Best of luck picking out a rod.

Sure is a strange state we live in.... Westbrorough is closer to me than Harwich. Open water to 10" of ice. Google Maps says it's 10-15 minutes longer for you to get to Harwich than for me from Quincy.... might be worth the drive if you have the time. Hedges, my 'go to' SMB pond looked pretty slushy the other day. Hopefully it'll open up by month's end. I've still not caught my 'February' fish.

Quabbin's expected opening day is 16 April, weather permitting.... ? ... ? https://www.mass.gov/doc/quabbin-fishing-season-handout/download

Welcome to BassResource.

Took the Ranger down to LPH yesterday and fished with @Saltysmalljaws for the afternoon. We marked targets on the bottom of drop offs in 25 - 30'. We covered a lot of ground, throwing small finesse baits and towards the end of the day various treble hooks 'just for the heck of it'. It was very windy, from the S/SW (making LPH a wind tunnel). Water temps were 38.x and the air pressure was 29.9. Although we came up empty, it was good enough to get out on the boat on a nice day. There was one other boat on the water too, and he came up empty too.

I took the long drive to Cape Cod again yesterday, but with a kayak and gear. I fished Flax pond from late morning to early afternoon and Hinckleys from mid afternoon to dusk. I came up empty at both waters, throwing an assortment of small/large Keitechs, jerk baits, crank baits, and at one point, a Mepps spinner. In hindsight, I should have thrown at least a couple different colored and sized jigs. Hinckleys was 1/4 open when I launched and roughly 1/3 open when I left. I marked a lot of targets suspended in 17 - 20' at Flax and 12-15' at Hinckleys. Water temps were 37.x at Flax and 39.x at Hinckleys. Winds were 15-17 mph from the S/SW and air pressure was 29.8 and falling. Congrats to @Mr. Aquarium for finding open water and catching a couple nice bass on 'our side' of the bridge.

Happy wife ….

The “Honey-do” list is ALWAYS completed….

Good timing @Jigfishn10! I'm chomping at the bit to catch my February open water fish, so off I went, searching for open water. After a nearly 200 mile round trip, here's what I found: I found open water in Nickerson State Park! Flax and Cliff ponds are fishable. Cliff is wide open and Flax is 80% open, with ice floating in the middle. Long Pond, Harwich, is also wide open. Partially open are: Hinckleys: 1/4 open @ beach. Mash-Wake: Mostly open. Unfortunately, the ramp is locked up. Seymour: 1/2 open by beach. Sheep: 1/2 open. Beach/launch is locked up. Locked up are: Bloody Pond, Bucks Pond, Cahoon Pond, Hedges Pond, Jacobs Pond, Lawrence Pond, Mystic Lake, Peter's Pond, Pimlico Pond, Ponkapoag Pond, Snake Pond, Sunset Lake, and Wequaquet Lake. With warm weather forecasted this weekend, there'll be more open water to fish, if you're willing to drive some.

Not well. Just ask @Mr. Aquarium and @Saltysmalljaws… They’re great @ listening to my rants.

My occasional drop-shot baitcaster is a 7’ ML/XF Kistler Helium with a Shimano Core50 on top. I use spinning gear most of the time.