DogBone_384

Tossed the waders in the car and went to Hedges late this afternoon, armed with a 1/2 oz. Damiki blade bait. I pulled wilted salad from the get go, and 15 (or so) casts into my trip blew a wind knot that snapped my lead - braid connection and sent poor Mr. Damiki to the bottom. It was dusk and I didn't feel like trying to pick at 15 pound braid apart, so home went I. I'm getting out once or twice more this week, whether it's on foot, by kayak, or boat.

MR. AQUARIUM STRIKES AGAIN! Congratulations Mike!

Me too… ^^^^^^^^

I fished 2 1/2 days last week, starting at Wequaquet, moving to Long Pond, and finishing at Monoponset, in Halifax. Monday afternoon was Wequaquet and a short stint at Long Pond. I did well, numbers wise, with a mix of LMB, white and yellow perch, and a couple picks, all on a GG Trout Vision 110. Long Pond told a similar tale, with a mix of white perch and SMB. All fish were small, but action was consistent, and were caught on wind blown shores. Water temps at Wequaquet were 54.x and 57.x at LPH. Winds were 15+ from the north. Air pressure was 30.1. Tuesday was a grind at LPH. I fished dawn to dusk and @Saltysmalljaws met me before lunch and stayed until his kids got out of school. We threw the kitchen and bathroom sinks all over the place and came up with perch, and only perch. We didn't really mark much as far as bait balls either. The weather was nice, almost 60 degrees and sunny, almost late Spring bluebird-ish. Air pressure was 30, and winds were light from the southwest. I had to get back to reality Wednesday, but I had the morning to fish. I stopped at Stetson Pond on the way home but found a fallen tree across the launch. I moved to Monoponset and found the water temps 52.x - 53.x. I threw a variety of baits and came up empty. Air pressure was 30 and winds were 5 - 10 mph from the NW. I walked Blue Hills Reservoir yesterday afternoon, tossing a KVD, Rapala, and Lucky Craft jerk bait. Struck out there too. It's time to break out the hair jigs and blade baits. ?

I use spinning and casting rods for jerkbaiting, all medium Kistler KLXs, depending on jerkbait size/weight. I use 6’6” and 6’9” casting and had a custom 6’9” spinning rod made to match my casting rod. I use Seaguar Invizx on all the reels and work with my left hand, which seems natural to me.

Two things to try: reaction baits (jerk baits, chatter baits, etc.) and S L O W stuff like jigs, hair jigs, finesse soft baits. Start in whatever order you want, and switch if one's not working. If you're inexperienced at any of these techniques, YouTube is very helpful. And if neither works... blade baits. Lastly, read through this thread. It's got almost a decade of Eastern MA fishing in it. You're bound to find help!

Welcome.

Short of a 12 pound bass, this is the best fishing you can have... welcome to the forum.

I had about an hour before dusk, having finished the day's work that included front brakes on my truck, so off to Blue Hills Reservoir went I. I tied on a perch Vision 110 and came up with a cute sunny, not much bigger than the bait itself. A good warm up for my trip to Cape Cod next week.

I watch a TON of YouTube and Tactical Bassin's Matt Allen recommends these: MEGABASS VISION 110 HOOK UPGRADES... Split Ring Replacement- Owner Hyperwire Black (Size 2) 110 Replacement Hook- Gamakatsu Finesse Nano Treble (Size 5) 110 Junior Replacement Hook- Gamakatsu 1X Black (Size eight) ?

I dropped into Jacobs Pond yesterday morning for a couple hours. Threw a perch Rapala Shadow Rap Shad, Elegy Bone Megabass X-80 Trick Darter, and 5" green/red flake Senko, and came up with a decent size crappie on the Trick Darter. A pickerel also grabbed the trick darter and ran, but I had my drag too light and it let go when I tried to set the hook. Water temps were 53.x - 54.x, air pressure was 30.2, and winds were light from the west.

Thanks... I'll look for them. ..... Dropped into Ponkapoag for a bit late this afternoon. Threw a perch Rapala Shadow Rap Shad, green/chart Fluke, bluegill Yozuri square bill, a 7.5" green pumpkin Kut-tail, and a T1000 Whopper Plopper 130. I needed only the Rapala, getting one pick and one short (but fat) LMB. Light, short jerks did the job. Water temp was 54.4, air pressure 30.1, and cloudy. Surprising was that the vegetation was still thick and healthy, compared to Hedges and Sunset Lake.

Smallies ???? I’ve never caught one there.

I had a similar outing this afternoon @ Hedges. I packed my waders and drove down after work. I threw a bluegill chatterbait, perch Rapala Shadow Rap Shad (shallow), perch Jackall Rerange, 3.3" Keitech w/underspin, chart/white spinner bait, and orange/brown wacky Senko (last few minutes "hail mary style"). A lot of work for not even a whiff and a LOT of wilted salad. Best I can figure is that everyone was out of my casting range since I was in waders. Todays highlight reel was the baitfish and polliwogs along the shore and one bat that flew around above me at dusk. I'll be on Cape Cod 11/8 -11/10 with my Ranger and kayak hopefully I'll find some fall bite before we all break out our winter gear! Add: I looked at my log and wouldn't you know it, I caught SMB in early November here the last two years with blade baits .... ?

With water temps approaching the 50's, I recommend getting out your blade baits. If you don't have any, I do well with Binsky and Damiki brands. I'm planning on Plymouth on Monday and Cape Cod for 11/8 - 11/10. Best of luck to everyone getting out.

Flip a coin… then go!

I started with a 3.5 pound folding anchor, which didn’t do much. My 7.5 is a folding grappler too, to correct myself. I got it at West Marine.

Do you have an anchor? I use a 7 pound claw and have anchor trollies on both sides of my kayaks. Works like a charm!

I found a hole in the nor'easter, tossed my waders, a spinning rod, and tackle bag in the car and drove to Hinckleys pond to try my luck. There were scads of baitfish cruising the shore from the word go. I tossed the jerkbait for a bit, then switched to a chatterbait, hoping to get a reaction. After an hour and a half of pulling up green slime, sticks, and a couple clam shells, I packed up and parked at Seymour pond and walked to a section of LPH where it drops off almost immediately. My jerkbait and chatterbait, again, did nothing. Within a few casts a 2.82 SMB made it to shore with my green/white Zako buried in its lower jaw. A big thanks to @Saltysmalljaws for sharing his LPH expertise. I made a few "hail-mary" casts along Seymour's shoreline on the way back to the car and came up with the same green slime Hinckley's gave me. I had my lightweight waders on and the water didn't feel cold. Wind was stiff from the E/NE and the air pressure was 29.6.

Another short mission, this time to Sunset Lake. I ran out of light in less than a hour. Managed two picks on a clown Vision 110jr. It was drizzly, with winds about 10 mph from the northeast. Air pressure was 30. Water temps stayed just shy of 61 degrees.

Got done with the day's duties and took off to Blue Hills Reservoir (BHR) just before dusk to wet a line. Five or six casts into it a 1.62 pound LMB bit my clown Vision 110jr. Stayed a few minutes longer, until it got too dark to see. Going to get out tomorrow afternoon and Tuesday. The season's getting short. Best of luck to everyone else getting out there!

Congrats! Feels good doesn't it.

Down the Tackle Warehouse rabbit hole! Hold off on new rods. I've built a heck of a Kistler arsenal... you should try some out and wait for their sales. Compared to the Kistlers I own, that St. Croix MH/M I believe you sampled feels like a broom stick. I have a few bait cast setups around 10 - 12 ounces spooled up with braid.

Just watched a YouTube video on this today. On my list.

I learned the FG knot recently too, and experienced the same problem. I found that I wasn’t cinching the wraps tight enough while building the knot. Keep practicing. At first I’d get only one of four or five right. After a lot of practice, I got it down pretty good. Good luck and keep practicing.