MassYak85

Just got a new job so I have to do check out some places to lice in NH this afternoon so figured I'd swing by the expo in the morning. The expo was WILD. Guys showed up yesterday I guess and they didn't want people camping out so they started handing out numbered wristbands as a placeholder in line. I never even stood a chance at a Gill nevermind a Trout so I went to the Sherpa booth instead to snag one of his new crawlers.

I use straight Pline PF original in 20 or 25lb for most swimbaits. Remember with braid to leader if you have a backlash with baits that heavy something has to give. I use 65lb braid to 25lb leader for big softbaits and use a blood knot. Make sure you're very confident in whatever knot you choose. I only use it for softbaits because trying to drive home a 12/0 beast hook requires some extra power. But any treble hook baits I strongly recomend against it. I say this as someone who fishes braid to leader exclusively for conventional fishing.

Almost every time lol. Even a good day I question if I should have tried to upsize my bite. I'll usually have a couple days a year where it feels like I truly threw the kitchen sink and came up empty. In your situation I would have tried some sort of reaction bait. Doesn't matter how cold or warm the water is sometimes you can't entice them to eat...you have to trigger them to bite. Just last weekend I spent most of the day fishing jigs and slow presentations around deeper drop offa near spawning flats. Wasted like 8 hours doing that only to finally pick up a jerkbait and a lipless at the end of the day and start to load the boat.

I really want a Psycho Trout but I also don't want to stand around in the rain for 5 hours to potentially still not get one lol. I'm not sure how crazy it's gonna be. Apparently people were standing in line in the snow before sunrise at other expo. If I'm gonna be wet and miserable I'm gonna at least be catching fish while doing it haha. My compromise to myself might be getting my Psycho Gill painted over next winter. I've seen some insane bluegill patterns on social media. Mine is one of the realistic wrap collabs in Crappie but the hooks have torn the wrap to shreds and it's missing both eyes lol.

Yea you seem like you're on a good bite this spring, no bait is worth missing out on that. I might say screw it and go out too.

Anyone going to the swimbait expo this weekend? I kinda want to try and grab a Psycho Trout but not sure I want to wait in line for hours in the rain either haha.

Dude! That's awesome! You've had a heck of a start to the season, congrats! Now onto that elusive 9lb club!

I keep a log and will still record lost fish, but if I don't land one it's still a skunk. But if I lose 5 I'm not gonna put it down as a "bad day" conditions wise or stategy wise if I just forgot how to land fish that day haha.

Got out today. Very odd day. I thought I was gonna end with a skunk but managed to get 7 fish in the last hour on a jerkbait and lipless. The reaction bite is sometimes all that really works and I went to it too late. The fish seemed like they had backed off a bit with the recent cold nights and we found them in like 15FOW. Got 4 quick on a vision 110. With time running low before we had to head out I decided to abandon what was working and switch to an LV500 to try and get a big bite a littke deeper out. I managed 3 more fish, lost another. No big one unfortunately but did get a nice 2.5lb smallie to end the day.

This cold snap is certainly not ideal haha. Looks like warmer temps at the end of the week, hopefully will get the fish back in the mood for the weekend.

It was about as good a start as I'd hoped for. Fished Quinsig with air temps in the low 40s and plenty of wind. My hands are still numb lol. My dad got a nice Swaver fish to start us off probably 2.5 to 3 lbs and very fat. I decided to give the bigger glides a shot in hopes of a spring giant but only had smaller followers. Then of course I gor my first fish on a tiny little tailspin lol. And go figure it was 5lbs 3oz haha. Sometimes the big baits don't always pan out I guess. The fish had a smaller head and was short but was basically a football. Doesn't get much better than that for the first bite of the year. I got another decent one maybe 2.5lbs on a chatterbait in the same area. I was hoping to get some deeper smallies on blade baits but they weren't cooperating. I did manage a few big yellow perch though.The wind was going good so I had to try some wind blown shores with a spinnerbait, which paid off. I got 4 more fish and a big pickerel I thought was a pike at first. I think it was just shy of a pin (so was the bass by half an inch). We called it quits when feeling in our hands started to become an issue haha. Water temps were still low to mid 40s. Fish were definitely feeding up a bit and we found some shallower than I would have guessed but not on spawning flats yet. If the wind wasn't such an issue I would have liked to fish jigs a bit more on those deeper breaks but it was pretty brutal and hard to keep bottom contact.

Nice! Gonna head out foe the first time tomorrow. Will definitely have the chatterbait tied on.

I've actually never really measured it even though i keep a log. I take a ment note of how it is conpared to normal at a specific lake. Maybe ill start to accurately log it though.

That's a giant! Congrats! Now your giving me the itch to get out there haha.

I've found here up North it kick on even in the mid to upper 40s if conditions are right. I had a great stretch last spring throwing a red spinnerbait with gold blades on drops on the outside edge of spawning flats. Slow rolling it bouncing the bottom.

Gonna be a couple weeks before I can get out for the first time I think. I think this year I won't be going all out like I did last year. Got in 50 full or half day trips last year, definitely won't hit that this year. I've got some hiking goals I wanna hit and I'm looking at changing jobs and moving closer or back to MA so it might be a chaotic year. Hopefully I can get at least a few bigger fish though.

The Central MA pike can be elusive. I've still never caught one around here. Or should I say I've still never landed one. I've broken off a few in Quinsig while going for bass I would have loved to get a closer look at.

It's a nice place for smaller boats. Big enough to explore but enough areas to take shelter on windy days. The lily pad fields on the North Western shore in the summer are pretty expansive and a kayak is great to really get in there with a frog or punch rig.

Do you know what the water temps were at on Whitehall? I grew up in Hopkinton, kinda surprised the ice went as quickly as it did.

Got out on the ice last Sunday for probably the last time. Tilt action was very slow so I tried jigging which I usually don't do much. That paid off I did much better jigging than with the tilts. Got a few perch, a few pickerel, a couple bass one being about 15" which is a nice fight on an ice rod. Also had a nice rainbow probably about 15" as well that hit right below the ice. My sights are set on open water now. Gotta respool some reels and get tackle together this weekend I think.

A handful of things I guess. Just experiencing nature is a part of it. "The puzzle" as others put it is the main drive I think. I'm kind of a perfectionist so the drive to learn more and piece everything together is a thrill in itself. The tackle side of things plays into that as well. There's also a certain mystery to it. You never know what that "next cast" might bring. I don't think "the itch" is something everyone has either. I think that's what turns something from a hobby to a passion. You just can't wait to go again. Sometimes I really have to force myself to put time into other things. I truly think I could go every day if I was able to.

Gonna try for one last ice fishing trip this weekend but spring is coming fast. Edges are blowing open quick with this weather.

At this rate they could probably open it on March 16th lol. I was on 10" of ice yesterday in Westborough but it was slushing up on top, probably lost an inch. The forecast for the next two weeks doesn't look great for ice either with rain and 50's in the forecast for several days. Could be an early spring which I won't complain about. Crazy winter though. We got a late start and it seems like an early ending but some of the best ice we've had in years because of that cold blast. We had 8" of solid clear black ice before that Noreaster and over a foot in some places afterwards.

It is but it's also the best quality ice we've had in years. 8 inches solid black is rare nowadays.

8" today in Central MA! There's still open water on Quinsig in worcester if you're willing to repel off the 290 bridge lol.