JG233

Thanks guys, I appreciate it!

Any recommended guides for the lake? I'm going to be in SD for a weekend in a month or two. I was hoping to get some fishing in too.

I moved to Arizona a few weeks ago. I'm planning on heading out to try to bank fish next week. It'll be about a month or so before I can buy a kayak, so that's the best I can do right now. I'm posting up a bunch of pictures here from my year of New England fishing. It was a good one! I did great with numbers and caught some decent sized ones as well. Unfortunately I don't have a good picture of my PB LMB caught in March. I also included a bonus picture of fishing in Mexico! Only LMB caught on a super slow summer day. The path toward my favorite place to fish. One of many SMB caught at the Quabbin. Some nice SMB caught down on the Cape. Viva Mexico!

I'll be living in Phoenix for the next year or so. I arrive in less than a week. I'm looking forward to fishing in a totally new region. I imagine there will be some adapting to do. & I guess I need to buy a kayak as well!

It was my first time fishing the Quabbin, all in all, it's a very cool place to fish. I wish I had gotten there in the spring before the dog days of summer set in. @DogBone_384 brought his fish finder and trolling motor, I think both were a huge help. We did pretty well given the conditions. He definetely got the big fish of the day on dropshots. I had a great time fishing. I got a couple good-sized-smallies that fought like hell. Here's a couple pictures: I also fished Great Herring last Thursday. I caught smallmouths there on ned rigs and wacky rigged senkos: At both locations, I caught smallmouths with some length, but very little bellies.

Off the top of my head, I primarily fish: wacky rigged senkos, single and double tail grubs on jig heads, ned rigs, swimbaits, texas rigged rage craws, shaky head worms, fat ikas...I've done well with all of those this year.

That sucks DB, sorry to hear it. I tried fishing the Keitsch Fat Impact thingy last time out. I got a couple fish on, but nothing epic. Fat IKA's and wacky rigged senkos outperformed it. I'm going to try it again next week, fishing it slower, off the bottom. The fish were energized on Monday. I caught one near the canoe that danced almost all the way into the boat.

We had a pretty quiet day at Wampatuck. It was windy. I spent a tons of time paddling to position the kayak. I caught one excellent LMB on the ned rig, I'd estimate 4+ lbs if I'm being conservative. I caught a small bass, a perch, and a bluegill as well. I lost a good sized LMB around noon while fishing around an island near some pads and rocks. I was getting hung up there while using the ned rig, so I resorted to dragging it slowly through the weeds and rocks. As a result, I didn't get a great hookset on a fish; it jumped a few times and threw the hook near the kayak. I learned a bit more about reading electronics and managing the wind in a kayak. @grampa1114 most of the large bass I've caught this year have been on the Okuma reel you recommended paired with a St. Croix ML rod. Good stuff!

Thanks Tom, hoping to get into some big smallies. I can fish next Tuesday as well, are you available to go out then? I've got to drop the car off at my mechanic later on in the week.

@DogBone_384 and I are going to do some kayak fishing early Monday morning. Anyone else interested in joining us? We haven't decided where to fish yet, but weigh in here if you want to meet up.

Lots of great fishing over the past couple weeks. I've done well with both numbers and size. There have been a few 30+ fish days and lots of fish 2-4 lbs, all of them fought like hell. I'm going to be moving to Arizona in mid-August, so I'm soaking up this New England summer while I can. Hope you all have a great 4th of July!

Woof!

It seemed like they were in a feeding frenzy when we went out. Every single fish we caught had a gut from feeding. We could even see the tail of a smaller fish in the throat of one of the big 5 lbers.

So @Fishing Rhinoand I had one of those days the other day. We each caught over 30 fish--so 60 total with a couple of them over 5 lbs. Hell of a day!

How old do you think a New England 10 lber is?

Thanks for the recommendations. There are no smallies in Santuit. We saw lots of beds, but no bass on them. The bluegill, on the other hand, are in full spawn and kicking up a ruckus against the shores.

I made it out twice this week: fished Ponkie with @DogBone_384 on Tuesday and caught about 8 fish, half pickrel, the other half largemouth--a picture of the biggest of the bass is below. I also fished Santuit yesterday with a friend. We did well on numbers, but all were pretty small. I caught about 20 fish, again a mix of pickrel and largemouth. Both days were great. I fished all wacky worms and grubs to great effect.

Woah. Real nice day. Glad to hear you're getting your tech issues worked out.

I'd recommend Vermont. Friends and I always camp and hike there. Most of the state parks are gorgeous and there are great resources online at http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/camping.htm Hope you have a great trip.

I bank fished a local pond yesterday and did well. I caught a LM that was about 3 lbs and numerous smaller bass. I also lost the largest SMB I've ever (would've) caught right next to the shore. I was fishing from some rocks and there's a sheer drop there underwater. I had the fish right right next to the rocks when it made a deep dive and my knot came undone. I tightened my drag up while fighting the fish in--in retrospect, I guess I set it too tight. It's crazy too because I had just retied! I've been replaying it in my mind, and the drag setting seems like the only thing I could've done different to prevent losing the fish. All the fish I caught (or almost caught yesterday) came on wacky rigged senkos.

I fell in up to my knees in early March. My girlfriend had a good laugh at my expense when I got home. So it goes...

Today was pretty good. I fished a local pond from 9 - 2. I started off alternating between a rage craw and a crankbait--fish wanted no part of either. I switched over to a wacky rigged senko and boom, I caught 3-4 lb LMB. I stayed with the senko for the rest of the day: caught another similarly sized LMB, then 2 small (but rowdy) SMB, and then a few more LMB. I think I caught 6 or 7 fish total. I'm bad at keeping count. Hope everyone else had a good day too!

I just got my gear packed up to bank fish tomorrow morning--will report back.

I picked up a small batch of used Rapala jerkbaits from a friend of my Dad's for like $10. I just finished sharpening the hooks on them and I'm excited to fish them for the first time. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go out for another 2 weeks!