DogBone_384

Had an afternoon off so I drove to Hedges for some smallie hunting. The weather was perfect, partly cloudy, a light wind from the N/NW. Hedges is a normally clear pond, but today it looked like Gator Aid colored coffee. I tried bright and dark colored treble hook and soft baits with one topwater hit off the north shore. About half an hour before dark I landed a 1-6 SMB on a wacky rigged 5” green pumpkin/chartreuse Senko. I covered most of the pond and really didn’t mark much. Water temps were 75.x - 74.x and BP was 30.0.

Means you have to fish that much more is all ...

Yes, everyone that made it into the kayak from Ponkie were skinny.

I'm too stubborn to do things like that ... it's the Irish/German conflict .... ?

Thanks for the thumbs up. My biggest scale confirmed is 4-12 and yesterday's fish was much bigger. Either way, I'll take it!

I use a ratchet strap between my tie down hooks, running the strap through the kayak’s nose. I tighten it just enough to keep the kayak from moving around.

Tough to say the girth, but my foot is 12”.

I redeemed myself for yesterday’s poor performance at Ponkapog this afternoon. Ponkie is a shallow, weedy pond with little structure change. Finding the fish is really a game of hide and seek in the weed patches. Today I found the right patch, right in front of the only rocky point on the pond and pulled up my personal best. Unfortunately I didn’t have my scale with me, but estimate this fish between 5 and 6 pounds (maybe the membership educated in BIG bass can help based on the photo). I caught four others, each around a pound. I needed only two baits: a 4” green/red wacky rigged Yum Dinger and a T-rigged green/red Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog. The big fish ate the Flappin’ Hog while I let it sit on the bottom. It was in the low 80’s with a fair breeze from the S/SW. Water temps were 73.x and the BP was 30.0. The weeds are starting to wilt, but the water level is low enough to prevent any topwater other than a frog. T-rigs are your best bet.

I met Fishing Rhino at Long Pond in Brewster at 0530 and off we went. I hooked onto a pretty good smallie with my new 3/8 oz under-spin that got unglued before I could get it on the boat (that’s 5 good fish that got off that bait). Not much else happened there for the next couple hours so we packed up and went to Wequaquet. Things were VERY different at Wequaquet.... For the next 4 1/2 hours Tom out fished me at 3 or 4 to 1 where his bass weighed in pounds and mine in ounces. Tom had at least three over three pounds and one over four. He sure took me to school today. The weather was perfect all day. Water temps were 72.x and BP was 30.4.

Hit Bucks pond from 4:30 p.m. to dusk. Had a pretty good trip, getting 5 LMB to the kayak and losing 4 good ones. The two biggest to make it in my kayak were 1-9. A 3.8” Keitech Fat Impact Swing on a 3/8 oz. under spin was the most successful bait. I got one baby larry on a perch colored KVD Sexy Dawg pencil. It was barely bigger than the KVD. Of the misses, 3 were on the Keitech. The hook on the under spin isn’t terribly long so I figure the fish were holding onto the tail and spat me when they got close to the kayak. Water temps were 72.x and BP was 30.1. It was mostly cloudy and little breeze.

X2

Firstly, welcome to the forum. I try to fish year round as long as there's open water. I find that deeper Plymouth and Cape Cod waters don't freeze as soon as shallow waters. I caught fish in open water every month in 2018. Like MassYak85, I had my kayak out in the middle of winter. Like Don51 says, stick with small, shallow ponds. It's easier to find fish and being closer to shore makes for safer extrication should you fall in. When waters freeze over, I try to ice fish at least a couple times. Just prepare for the cold, keep a change of clothes in your car, and ALWAYS wear your PFD.

I placed two small TW orders this weekend. One was terminal tackle and stuff I’m low on and the second some new treble hook lures. As long as I take the wife to Disney every year, she ‘looks the other way’ with my fishing stuff. I think most of us are fortunate that TW ships free @ $50.00 and not $100.00.

Launched at Area 3 just after 0600 and nabbed a 2-8 pick on the first cast with a KVD Sexy Dawg topwater..... OK, this could be good..... My next catch came at 1032, a SMB, measured in ounces and not pounds, on a bass flavored Ned. Catching bait sized smallies continued for the next hour and a half. I managed a pretty good one on a shiner colored DT10 but it spit me in mid air. It got time to head back so I fished the launch area for the last half hour or so. I grabbed another micro smallie and a fat yellow perch on a Canada Craw Ned. Everyone I caught today had a good belly on them. I’d have to say the fall feed-bag in on. Less the pickerel, topwaters, DT’s, jigs (including hair), and drop-shot failed me royally today. I fished some different areas today and really didn’t mark much on the Lowrance. The weather was very bluebird once the fog lifted. Water temps and BP were 74.x and 30.1 respectively. I’ll be down the Cape Monday and Tuesday of next week. I have some homework to do...

Welcome back Mike. Fall crush is upon us. I’ll be down the Cape 9/8-9/10. Let’s try to hook up. I’m heading to the Quabbin in the morning. It’s gonna be post-front, but drop shot & swimbaits deep might just do the trick.

X2

Hit Great South yesterday from mid afternoon to dusk, working deeper than I usually do with a drop shot and 1/2 ounce underspin with 4.3 bluegill flash Keitech Fat Swing Impact. After an hour and a half of nothing, I added various treble hook lures to the mix. I'm still hitless three hours into the trip when a 1-12 SMB, with a good belly, smashed my underspin. I worked the area a little longer without any bites so I moved back towards the canal, trolling a Rapala DT6. A decent white perch hit the DT6 in about 15' of water by the island. That was it for the trip. The weather was as blue-bird as you can get and water temps were 76.x - 77.x. BP was 29.8 with a slight breeze that changed from N to E/NE throughout my trip.

Got an email from Kistler this afternoon. They’re having a ‘19 model year clearance sale. Pricing looks G O O D..

As far as I remember, night crawlers work on ANYTHING!

Pflueger, Pflueger, Pflueger ....

.... I agree with Darren 100% .... Saves my thumbs a lot of work too!

Sounds like my Summer. Numbers haven’t been bad, but size is down. Drop-shotting worked very well the last three times out at Great Herring and Great South. I’m going to GS next week and go really deep.

Amen.... All the other manufacturers have their strong points, but my ‘17 Tundra is the 4th Toy truck in our family over the last 20 years. We’ve gone a combined 500,000+ miles and I’ve never repaired one.

I use Manley brand fishing pliers. They're 7 1/2" long, made from anodized aluminum, and have a side cutter built in that cut braid nicely. I think they look better the more you use them. I also keep a curved hemostat and bone cutting pliers in my bag for gut hooked fish, and hooked people, respectively.

I own Kistler Mg2’s, H2’s and H3’s. They’re great rods, light and a feather and super sensitive. Build quality is top notch. My favorite is a 6’9” MH/ XF. It’s got a short handle that makes it very comfortable while kayak fishing. Being US made is a bonus.