MassYak85

Got another 5lber! Got a really late start, like after lunch late. Water was high from the rain so we tried targeting areas of inflow to start. I had a defcon crankdown tied on and absolutely blew it on two fish. There was a stream pouring down a hill into a cove and a couple laydowns right in the area. Got the defcon to deflect off one branch right in front of the stream. I saw the fish roll over trying to throw the bait....good fish, never hit her with hooks. I thought the bait hung up on the branch and never set it...hard to say size but I'd guess at least 4....maybe 5. Next laydown, perfect cast....crank down, deflect...boom another fish, again didn't set the hook (idiot). This time I hooked it but not well, it came up and threw the bait by the boat. About 3lbs that one, not a heartbreaker. The other fish was still in the back of my mind. With those fish I figured there was a pattern to go by. We went to another inflow and I didn't get any more interest in the defcon, switched to my go-to 10" power worm and fished the channel the inflow creates. Good bite, set the hook and I knew right away it was big. It jumped close and I thought for a second I had another 6. But she "only" went 5.41. I'll take it though lol. One more 6 and I'll have hit my goal for the year of 5 over 5 including two 6s. This has been my best year ever for big fish! This makes the 3rd fish this year that would have been my PB in previous years. I thought I was aiming high with that goal, so stoked to actually be on track to beat it! I'm sure that other 6 won't come easy though. Next year I'm gonna be ambitious and set out for 10 over 5 including a 7. I also saw another guy out there fishing worms slow haul in a beast. Looked at least 5 maybe 6.

Dude same! It'll be overcast with some drizzle and a little wind and I always think I'm gonna go out there and just lay into them on the big baits but it's always the days I'm not expecting it I catch a good one.

I'm so paranoid about having a backup scale and backup batteries lol. Guess I need to forget the scale at home to catch the true monsters lol.

Luckily a massive cold front kept the lakes somewhat sane this weekend in New England but yesterday I did see a paddleboarder take an unplanned plunge into the thickest, nastiest patch of lily pads in the whole lake.

T-wing is nice but I'm a braid to leader guy. It kills me that Daiwa has gone all in on the T-wing for their nicer stuff. Don't get me wrong the t-wing is awesome but I wish they'd redesign it to be more friendly with leader knots. The channel when the reel is engaged is just too narrow. I have a couple tatulas I still use but the fuegos are my workhorse reels. Easy to work on, lots of interchangeable parts with the tatula series for tinkering and upgrading (I made a 5 speed fuego using a tatula gear set for my cranking rod), you get the magforce braking system still, and they're all around just solid reels. Hard to beat for the money.

Had breakage issues with uni to uni personally. Juts don't have confidence in it. Alberto is what I tie 90% of the time. I can tie the FG but just never got to a point where I was 100% confident in the finish of it. I like the blood knot for higher lb test leaders (over 20lb). I really only use it for swimbaits.

At the start of COVID when dobyns rods were on sale for 40% off I couldn't pass it up. I scraped up the cash to snag some champion series including an 807 and 867 swimbait rods cause I knew I would never get that opportunity again. Also not quite as exciting but it was for me at the time. Dicks sporting goods a while back had berkley power worms at half off and Berkley was also running a rebate which combined made them like 75% off I think. I got as many bags as the rebate allowed I think. I'm still fishing those worms lol. They're one of my staples in the warmer months.

Spinnerbaits. At first glance it's like...why would a bass eat that...it's got to be the most unrealistic lure there is. But they're my favorite and the lure I have the most confidence in 90% of the time.

It'll be in the back of my mind this fall and next spring for sure. I've been slowly mixing the swimbaits in more heavily. Definitely paid off yesterday although this spring I couldn't put down a red spinnerbait. Absolute killer once the water temps touched 50. You got your 7 in the middle of summer though right?

Thanks! I got a 5.40 as a kid and managed to tie it exactly twice in the last 5 years. It was starting to feel like a curse lol. So stoked to break it and then jump into the 6 club in the same year.

Thanks man! I was stoked! That fish is a looooong time coming for me.

Broke my PB for the 2nd time this year! Bite was super slow today, tried fishing deeper and did manage a couple but even the pickerel weren't having it. I tried to stick with swimbaits today but also had a spinnerbait tied on which is what I got my first two fish on. We moved shallow looking for fish in the thick milfoil beds. I was fishing a 3 piece PB rat and she just came out of nowhere in like 3 FOW and slurped it down. I saw her belly when she rolled and knew it was big but didn't know until she was in the net I had a new PB. She went 6.26 and puts me back on track to hit my goal of 5 fish over 5. Two more to go.

This might be kind of sad but I'm most excited for that tiny waterproof terminal tackle box from spro so I finally have a box to store split rings, snaps, and swivels where they won't jump across compartments. That and I'll probably get some deep wiggle warts.

If you're talking true finesse vs just a finesse "cut" I like the keitech tungsten football jigs. Very small profile and light wire hook you could set on spinning gear and light line. I like to pair it with a double tail grub. With that said it's not really suited for fishing around wood or any heavy cover really. For a finesse "cut" jig Beast Coast make the hustler hybrid that has that small skirt/profile but with a beefier hook and weedgaurd. I think they made it with smallies in mind.

Interesting, for some reason I thought this only applied to the champion series and above. Thanks!

Well I broke my first rod today... It was a dobyns fury spinning rod, could have been worse I guess. I basically high sticked it while testing my drag for a drop shot with 5lb line lol. Of all the ways that's not how I pictured that happening. Fishing wasn't amazing but the numbers we got made up for it. On a completely unrelated note (?)...any cool ideas on what to do with the broken rod? I've seen people make lure retrievers out of them but open to other ideas. I think I'm gonna try and salvage the guides for future repairs at least.

Hit Webster this morning until early afternoon. Hardly a soul out there first thing, a few brave water skiers and other fisherman came out later. Weather was...gross for this time of year. Felt like October. I tried a crawler I picked up this spring for the first time to see what all the fuss is about. I got 3 decent ones on the crawler, biggest maybe 3lbs. And a couple more on on a wobble head creature bait out deep. Bite was a little slow overall.

Gonna be a cold rainy one Saturday to start off the holiday weekend. Should keep the pleasure boaters home! Think the cold front will hurt or help the fishing?

The best way is probably with a weigh bag of some sort but the way I like is you take you favorite scale and remove the hook, and add a plastic Rapala gripper to the end. No harming the gills and no holes in the fish.

I'm a braid to leader guy for almost everything. I never feel I'm at a disadvantage and any play I want to add to a setup is done with my rod selection and drag. When I hear people say stuff like "braid rips out treble hooks"...all I can say is I've never had that problem. I'll take the sensitivity of braid any day.

My best fish last Fall in MA came on a Cl8 baby possum. That thing is LARGE.

That's a TOAD pickerel! Did you get a length? Once they get over 20" I enjoy catching them cause they fight so well but it's always dissaponting setting the hook into a 2 footer thinking you've got a new PB bass on for a second. I had one go 25.5 a couple years ago in like 25fow on a Carolina rig of all things. I was sure I had a 6lb bass on for about 2/3 of that fight.

I grew up in Hopkinton. There are good fish in Whitehall and like @Dunks N Dinks said the lake has a lot of diversity. The South section has some deeper structure over 20+ ft and the North section has shallower flats with scattered submerged stumps and some great lily pad fields. Would I dedicate a boat to fishing it? No. But if that's gonna be your "home lake" it's a fun little place and you can occasionally get rewarded. Can be very hit or miss sometimes. But if you're trailering there's countless lakes within an hour drive. It's a busy place though. The parking lot is massive so you get lots of tournaments as well as lots of recreational activity in the warmer months.

Me and my dad had a great father's day fishing weekend. Yesterday we hit Norton Reservoir for the first time. The bites came in windows but we each got 8 and of good average size too with most fish being close to 3lbs. Biggest went 3-9. Got on a good pattern at one point drifting with the wind. Spinnerbait got it done for my dad and I put it to them with my favorite summertime bait...10" power worm. Today we slept in a bit and stayed local. The numbers were even better than yesterday but the size just wasn't there. Biggest might have gone 2.5lbs with most fish in the 1lb class. But one of my better numbers days in years. I got 16 bass and my dad got 8 with plenty of pickerel to go around as well. Most of mine came on a spinnerbait although I did pick off a handful off a point on a dropshot. Managed a couple on the power worm again as well. Have a good father's day everyone!

Didn't wanna brave the brunt of the storm so decided to wait until late afternoon to head out for a few hours. Actually did fairly decent for a short trip. Managed a VERY spawned out female that went 19 inches, skinny as hell though probably was just over 3lbs on a topwater bluegill swimbait. Got a bunch of smaller fish and pickerel on spinnerbaits as well. Whitehall is usually mobbed this time of year between boats, kayakers, and hiking. We were the only vehicle in the parking lot on memorial day weekend...doubt I'll ever see that again. I can't think of a crazier weather swing between weekends. 90 last Saturday with full sun gear to having to dress like it was early March with a full rainsuit on top the next. Real feel was in the THIRTIES today. Wild.