DogBone_384

Anyone want to try to get a group together to fish and cookout one of these weekends? My first thought is Nickerson State Park AFTER Labor day and when most kids are back in school. Cliff and Flax offer up some pretty good smallie fishing. I can't do anything this weekend, but I'll be down the Cape September 8 - 10. I've got two FeelFree Lure 11.5s and a Native Redfish 10, but no bass boat.... those go to single and retired folks .... Any other dates and locations? Just tossing it out there. I've fished there a couple times. Didn't have much luck. Not one of my top picks. I didn't expect too much today, being a nice calm beach day after the thunderstorms and hail we had come through last night. I don't think it would have mattered much if we'd fished somewhere else.

Fishing Rhino made the drive to my territory this morning. We launched at Little South around 0845 in Plymouth and made our way over to Great South. It was a warm, sunny 'bluebird' day and the fishing proved it. We did OK until about 1045. From 1045 to 1430, when we finally threw in the towel, proved futile even though we threw a good selection of baits at various depths. I got two SMB, around a pound each, on a green pumpkin/red hula grub drop shot, and a nice LMB that I dropped while trying to snap its photo. My LMB was over two pounds and was caught on a grn/red flake 6.5" Kut Tail worm on a 1/4 oz. shaky head. The water temp was 79.x with a slight breeze from the E/NE. Barometric pressure was 30.1 All in all it was a very typical day for this pond. I think I'll skip the shallow water and focus on deep drop-shotting and crank baits next time I fish here.

Yeah, nope, a Lure 11.5 won’t fit. I’ll bet it gets WAY more than the 15 MPG my truck gets. Hope you get yourself a fishing kayak. It’s a bag of fun!

FeelFree’s price for the Overdrive is spot on for what the market supports and its build quality. It’s a well put together unit, featuring heavy gears/drive components and stainless hardware. Consider the price of a Hobie Pro Angler. The Lure, OverDrive, and MotorDrive combined are roughly that price point. Native, Old Town, and Ocean Kayak all retail for roughly what the Lure Overdrive will. FeelFree’s advantage is that you can buy their products a-la-cart. You can buy the Lure by itself and the Overdrive at a later time. Austin Kayak’s website has Lure Overdrives on sale at 15% right now, putting the 11.5 under $1,900. . As far as transporting. I have a full size pickup. Most of the time I toss the whole thing in the bed, but when I take more than one kayak, the seat and Overdrive unit come out and I put both kayaks on my ladder racks. Again, take your time picking out a kayak. Best of luck.

Firstly, don't let your first trip kayak fishing in a rental form your opinion. If the shop rented you a FeelFree Lure, they must be a pretty good shop. The 11.5 is $1,000+ without the pedal drive. Secondly, I doubt a rental shop's going to rig their rentals the way a private owner would, with fish finders, anchors and trolleys, etc. Maintenance and keeping track of all that gear would be cost prohibitive, at least to me, as a business owner. I bought my first Lure 11.5 in 2015. There are three things that sold me on it: The seat. It's ALL DAY comfortable and fully adjustable. Wheel in the keel. It great for moving it around from my truck to the launch, beach sand not included. Stand up stable. I bought a second one with FeelFree's Overdrive pedal system in 2018. I also bought the SonarPod for trips to shallow, weedy ponds. Having the choice to pedal or paddle is huge. I agree with other's about getting a rudder. The Lure's flat bottom gives it great stability, but it is, like another member (whose name I don't remember) said, "paddling a bath tub". I don't really need it when paddling, but it's a MUST when pedaling. I'm heading out on it this afternoon and will snap some photos as to how I've got it rigged and post them. FeelFree's customer service is awesome. They return calls and emails. A great group of guys for sure. Regardless of brand loyalty, it's best to look at as many different brands in person and paddle them if you can. The fishing kayak market is full of awesome rigs. Best of luck if you decide on getting your own kayak!

'about sums it up for me ....

They did but I thought it would be TOO much. It’s enough that I bought orange rod socks when I bought my truck.

I learned that the fish are deep, drop-shotting works, and I don’t fish enough.

I’ll go with #2. USS or CV/CVA is up to you.

I have Kistler's 7' M/F Mag-2. I use it primarily for wacky Senkos/finesse T-rigs and figure it'd work just fine for drop shotting. My current drop shot rod is Abu's Ike 7' M/XF. This is my first season with it and so far so good. I like the tip. I also use this rod for Ned rigs. I prefer Kistler over Abu, but I couldn't pass up the IKE because of price. I'd wait for Kistler's to go on sale, either on Kistler's or TW's site. Best of luck.

Best of luck if you do. Have you named your aircraft carrier yet?

Just walked onto my patio to calm and overcast weather. What a perfect time to be out on the water! Hope some of you get out today! I’ll be out tomorrow afternoon... location TBD.

It's on/off for me. Locating the fish is surely the key. Google Earth shows a good view of the place. You can ALWAYS pick LMB out of the cove farthest from the canal and the bowl around the left point. I've measured depths of 40+ feet past the island heading towards the south cove. As far as LS, I fished it once or twice. Like you, I've never pulled anything larger than a couple pounds from there. My best SMB and LMB from GS are just under 4 pounds, with most in the 1 1/2 to 2 pounds range. Mr. Aquarium's pulled some pigs out of there, fishing nights, using swim baits.

I dropped into Great South in Plymouth around 1500 and stayed until dusk, starting with the same Sexy Shad drop shot that proved successful at Great Herring. A 15 ounce white perch nabbed it on the first cast. It hit hard enough that I thought I had a good SMB. I worked the drop off along the west bank and came up with a 1_4 SMB on a drop shotted green pumpkin/red Hula Grub. From the west bank I pedaled into the far cove, tossing a wacky rigged 4" Perch Senko and a Perch Sexy Dawg topwater. A 2_4 LMB inhaled the topwater in 6' of water. It had a big head but could use a couple Whoppers. From the cove I drop shotted the southern shore, drifting E - W 10 - 25'. The drop shot didn't produce so I went back to the Sexy Dawg. A 1_1 white perch smashed it like it was a 5 pound SMB. I trolled a bright red/pink DT-16 back to the beach and caught a 1_3 white perch in about 30' of water. I caught one more SMB, 1_6, on the 4" wacky Senko right before dusk. An interesting afternoon where white perch were the dominant fish and almost bigger than the SMB I caught. Great South is an interesting place. It was nearly calm while I was there. Water temps were 77.x - 78.x and the BP was 30.0.

Same here, but I fish my Kistlers & Abu Garcias 90% of the time so I’d have to say they’re my favorites. Eight !?!?!?!!!?!? I think four is a lot when out on my Lure.

I fished the one on Cape Cod last year. Didn’t do well.

Fishing Rhino and I hit Great Herring at dawn and stayed until about lunch when the wind picked up significantly. Tom did well, catching 5 or 6 good Sallies and 1 nice Larry. I started S L O W but redeemed myself with a 3_5 SMB on a 4” Keitech Sexy Shad Swing Impact, drop shotted. I finished the day with three more SMB, a LMB, and a fat Pumpkinseed that thought he was a 5 pound Sally the way he hit the drop shot. There’s also one big ‘ole Pickerel out there with my favorite Yozuri topwater stuck in its face. I lost 2 good fish too. It was mostly cloudy when we started and cleared up quickly. Water temps were 80.x, and barometric pressure was 29.7. Wind was light, from the south, until about lunch time.

Most were caught on the ledges, right off the bank. All were dinks, so I’d look deep for bigger fish. As far as fishing a Ned rig, BassResource is the best place to learn about it.

Firstly, welcome to the forum. If you're going on a weekend, get there well before 6:00 AM opening if you want to get out early. I've fished it twice this year with mixed results. My reports are written above. You'll likely get LMB by fishing near the launch. Without a fishfinder, look for shallow areas that look light and fish the edges where the water looks darker. Most of the shoreline drops off quickly. Mount L and Mount Zion (on map below) are good examples. Here's a Quabbin map link: https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/03/27/quabbin_reservoir_fishing_map_2018_0.pdf You might find more detailed maps on sites such as Navionics or Lowrance. Best of luck out there.

Yes, we rent their boats. They’re not fast, but do the job for short money. I’ve caught decent numbers, but this year’s size/weight is way off. Topwater’s been very slow. I’m gonna fish deep and slow the next couple trips.

I pull my rudder from its mount when I move my Lures over any grade or sandy/rocky surfaces.

Fishing Rhino and I made another trip to the Quabbin today, launching right on time @ 0600 and stayed until about 1500. It was cloudy in the AM and cleared by mid morning. Tom, like always, picked a bass up just beyond the launch. We travelled far and wide today and couldn't find anything over about a pound. I caught sixteen SMB and one rock bass that combined, didn't total 2 pounds. I threw a variety of topwater and crank baits, a wacky Senko, and the ONLY bait that worked today: Canada Craw Ned. Tom said the water temps were in the low 70's. There was just a breeze in the morning that picked up some throughout the day. BP was 30.1.

I caught a good one with a hair jig at Quabbin reservoir, a great smallie water. Smallies fight harder, but the salmon barrel rolled and made a heck of a mess in the net. I caught another at Long Pond in Plymouth in cold water, but it was only a couple pounds and didn't have a lot of clout.

Salmon tastes good, but smallies fight better .... to me, catching fish is catching fish. I'll take pickerel if the bass aren't cooperating. My two cents.

A++