MassYak85

Went out with maly dad for his first time out this year (my 2nd). Water temps were 47 degrees and air temps well below that when we launched. I expected to find them deeper but we caught all our fish in less than 5 feet of water. Chatterbaits did all the damage and I stuck two 4lbers to cap off a 13 fish day. The bite died pretty abruptly around noon. Most of the fish we got in a small stretch within an hour. I was hoping we were just gonna wail on them all day the way it was going but it was a lesson to never take for granted those bite windows.

Oh I'm definitely being too picky lol. I'm a tackle junky always looking to fine tune stuff. I love war eagles and megabass and stanleys and a few other favorites but the itch to improve is still there haha. Thanks for all the responses guys! There were a few mentioned I haven't tried yet.

Jackhammers seem to be the gold standard for chatterbaits. Usually with any bait I buy no matter how good there's always one tiny detail I'd change. Really the only major exceptions that I consider "perfect" baits are Jackhammers and Vision 110s. As a huge spinnerbait fisherman I have never been able to find "the one". I always have some issue with them. Whether that's the hook (too short, not good quality, too light wire), the skirt material or quality of it, the blades and hardware, the actual wire. It seems somewhere on every one I've ever tried I can find a fault, and I've tried a loooot. And my biggest issue with most of then is the lack of a good trailer keeper. The only one I know of that has the same style keeper wirh the doubke wire barb like the jackhammer has is the Jackal Megalo Dooon, which is a huge bait and not something I would typically throw. The standard Dooon size has a pretty good single barb keeper too but definitely has that Japanese finesse "touch" to it because the hook itself is bendy as hell. Has anyone found "the one" for their spinnerbait fishing?

I'm obsessed with the Tatula reels from Daiwa. Are they the best? No. But the braking system is great for the money and they're just great workhorse reels. Easy to clean, easy to customize. Just great all around reels.

Just ordered some more vision 110s and various other things. I'm really excited to try the new 6th sense divine spinnerbait. My biggest complaint with most spinnerbaits is their trailers keepers are garbage or non existent. The screw lock seems fire. Hopefully the rest of the bait is top notch. I just need them to come out with more colors.

Made it out today. It was colder and windier than I hoped. The bite was on though and I found them right where I hoped. Most fell to a vision 110 in perch, but I was able to pull a few extra from those areas jigging a lipless. Had a split bag of largies and smallies which is unusual for the lake I was on. Got 7 in total, lost at least 3 more that I think got the jerkbait hooks on the outside of their face. Also got a couple pickerel and a crappie. Pretty good day to start it off, but nothing over 3lbs.

I'm going out tomorrow for the first time this year. Hitting the lake I grew up fishing so I'm optimistic I can put something together. I just gotta remember to not force anything. Hoping for a good jerkbait bite or if I'm lucky a chatterbait bite.

There's tons of stumps past the island so just be careful. Easy to overturn in high winds especially if you bump one wrong.

Nothing weird about it it's just the way it is. We've got so many lakes and ponds but most are small with limited parking. Being a little secretive helps not having to wake up at 3am on a Saturday in the summer to get a parking spot at your favorite pond. Not telling you what to do but guys aren't just doing it just to be a-holes they've been burned before. Finished cleaning all my reels so I'm ready to go as soon as we get a bit of a warm stretch. This week is looking cold again but not cold enough to lock up more ice I don't think. That said I will probably meep my swimbait and jerkbait setups handy in case I want to shore bang for an hour or two.

I grew up in Hopkinton and have fished A1 a bunch of times. It is a fun fishery. I've had encounters with big fish, heard stories, but never actually landed anything over 5lbs there. But it has a good average size and is fun if you like frogging or heavy cover fishing. It's generally fairly shallow and weed choked. There's tons of stumps especially past the island. Very unforgiving for any kind of motor. I've had some of my best days ever there about 10 years ago from a kayak but even personally (I'm only 25) I feel like it's fallen off in recent years. Not quite sure why.

I'm guessing you either locked into a striper or hooked a carp

Winthrop in Holliston? I've fished it a couple times in the Yak. Seemed like a good place but I struck out hard when I went during the summer.

Ice fishing season just around the corner by the looks of it!

If we get blessed with a nice day this month I might sneak out one more time we'll see. I did get some waders this year.

Helped my dad put his boat away Saturday. Sad to see the season end but I focused on other things this year and put fishing to the side a bit. We'll see what next year brings.

With the weather this year it'll probably be 50 on the cape at some point in January ?

I think I've got one or two more trips in me around Thanksgiving for the year. The kayak will always be on standby if we have a warm winter though. I think January is the only month I have not launched it.

Got out on Webster today. Was hoping it would be good before the storm but we struggled. There were tons of huge bait balls but they didn't seem to have bass busting on them and we weren't able to pull any fish from them. We did manage a few but they were sporadic and we never got on a pattern. Tough day overall. What do you guys do when you see so much bait but the bass don't seem to be with them? Are they just nearby waiting for a feeding window?

I do love a good blade bite! That sounds like a great day!

Gonna feel like summer again this weekend! I don't think I'll be getting out. Every time we get a crazy warm swing like this I seem to strike out hard.

Been a while but I got out today with my dad. Tough bite. I managed two small ones and some perch on a jerkbait but that was it. They wouldn't touch a spinnerbait or chatterbait and wouldn't take a lipless jigged on the bottom either. Water temps were mid 50s.

Fished Friday and got the skunk for bass, fished yesterday and did better, got 7 fish on a chatterbait. Not big ones but some solid fish mixed in. Very subtle bites though.

Got out for the first time in a while for the afternoon. Got 3 small guys on a dropshot and some good whacks on a spinnerbait including a 4lber. 5 fish in total and lost another. As much as I usually fish a spinnerbait I've definitely learned a lot this year about fishing them. 4lber smoked it on the fall, a bit tricky to feel that bite sometimes especially with the wind bit setting the hook on the slack line is always fun.

I'm gonna start heading out more as we start transitioning into Fall. Hoping for at least a couple big ones before the year is done.

I went pretty hard last year and it paid off but this year I made an effort to ease back and focus on other things. And you're right it's fun to just go out sometimes with no expectations and junk fish. One of my better days this summer was just going out on a busy afternoon for a few hours. I just fished a dropshot, no electronics, just enjoying being on the water. Ended up catching some good fish though. When I'm in the "hunt" for that next big fish it's an itch I can't shake and can make me laser focused on just that where I let my other interests fall to the side. It's fun but definitely takes a toll.