MassYak85

I've heard rumors the fish wasn't actually caught at Sampson. The place it's rumored to have come from does have a Herring run though.

Gave it a half-hearted attempt at a couple local ponds right before the rain. Nothing to show for it.

I have 3 of the older tatula rods. I assume the new ones have the same blank but I could very well be wrong. I thought they were true to their rating, maybe a hair fast compared to the rest of the industry. I have the 7'2" H, 7'2" MH, and 7'4" H. The MH is a "regular" action (mod fast IMO) and probably my most versatile rod. Not what I'd call a "crank rod" but it's got enough give to fish treble hook baits. I use it for jerkbaits and topwater, as well as spinnerbaits. It's not ideal for much but it's the one rod I'll take to go bank fish with cause I can fish so much on it.

I can carry 7, I usually bring 5 or 6. I rigged a milkcrate with some of that PVC board and some PVC tubes to add 4 additional rod holders to the two built in to the kayak. There's also a tube for a flag (or 7th rod) and my net.

Got out on Webster for the day. Managed to finally get on a few bass. Nothing big but managed some smallies. We didn't really get on a pattern but our bites were still deeper. We happened across some trout in the afternoon. They just stocked it with Browns yesterday and they seem to like bass lures more than the bass lol. Nothing sporting about laying into a bunch of young and dumb stockers but that doesn't mean it isn't fun lol. Crushed them on a tailspin. I'm still looking for that BIG spring bite.

7 as well. Sometimes 8 or 9 for really light braid.

My biggest dissapointment amount spinnerbaits is the trailer keepers. Very few even have them and the ones that do are rarely good. The Jackal Doon has a good wire keeper but my issue with that bait is the hook is very thin wire. Not really great for fishing around cover.

Hit up a local spot in central MA this afternoon. It was BUSY for anytime of the year but unheard of for March. I think everyone was itching to get out with this weather. That said, I didn't see a single fish landed between us and every other boat and kayak out there. Brutal day and hard to swallow a skunk following yesterday's heartbreak. I was thinking the second day this warm after a cold front in the spring they would be chewing like crazy but it felt like one of those "bluebird skies, dog days of summer" type of day. Even the pickerel were nowhere to be seen. Water was slick all afternoon and the pressure has been rising. Do you guys feel the "post frontal" thing still holds true this early? I would think they would turn on with these unseasonably warm days.

Made the trip down to Wareham today. I stuck with the big baits and it aaaaalmost paid off. We were fishing a windblown shore and I got bit shallower than I was expecting on a real prey golden shiner. I set the hook and immediately broke off on 25lb leader at the bait. My initial thought was "d**n pickerel" but about 15 seconds later a fish came to the surface to shake the bait and while I didn't get a great look at it, it didn't look like a pickerel ?

Freetown. I always find it funny how there's so many unique names for the hundreds of lakes and ponds around the state and then we have like 10 "Long Ponds".

My dad and I hit Long Pond today. It was only our 2nd time there ever so we did a lot of exploring. Tried figuring out what the deeper structure looked like and tried to target that. The wind made that difficult so we did a lot of driving around to start. When we got there there were 2 foot waves rolling down the lake. Found a couple deep spots that seemed promising but "deep" on that lake is like 10ft. I managed a healthy pickerel on a tailspin on a drop-off outside a cove. The North end of the lake was a few degrees warmer and sheltered from the wind a bit (thank God). We didn't manage any bass but found more good size pickerel up shallow. Felt good to set the hook on something. We actually started at Snipatuit but it was high and that launch isn't great unless you have a truck. I had his entire SUV about 5 feet from shore and the boat still wouldn't come off the trailer. So Long Pond was plan B.

Nice fish @Mr. Aquarium! Gotta be 4 to 5lbs at least right? I'm debating just going all on on the big baits, at least for the spring.

Yea it depends how much black ice there was, the top white ice will deteriorate quick in this weather but if there's a solid base of black you can squeeze in some "safe" T-shirt weather ice fishing trips. Usually the edges are the first to go so getting on to the ice at all is usually the tricky part. The enticing part is usually the last couple weeks of the season can be some of the best. My best day on the ice was in late March one year, in a spot like 30 feet from where there was open water along the shore. 50 degrees and rapidly melting 6 inches of ice. Would not advise doing that though lol. It was a pond I know extremely well its the only reason I attempted it.

I find usually they prefer a chatterbait, swim jig or spinnerbait on a given day. I usually try all 3 unless they're hammering the first one I try. Usually I am a spinnerbait guy, but have had some good seasons with the swim jig especially pre spawn.

I was part of the group that wanted to learn everything when I started really getting into it. Looking back that wasn't the way to go about it, you realize it doesn't matter how many techniques you know the important aspects of fishing usually has little to do with what's on the end of your line.

Agreed i have never caught anything over 3lbs in Cochituate. I'm sure there's some decent fish but the effort/reward that place has given me has been the lowest of all the places I've fished. I've caught a pin pickerel there nothing else to write home about.

You guys think the temps the tonight and tomorrow night will skim over the lakes in SE MA or are they already too warm to reverse course at this point?

Yea all my big slammer bites have been like that. It's one of the things that surprised me when I started fishing swimbaits. You're expecting these big fish to just crush these baits but it's usually a pretty subtle bite. I've been fishing in wind before and even though I was looking at the bait only knew I got bit once the rod loaded.

I had my first "WACK" hit on a hudd in the fall. It startled me I was just creeping a 68 on the bottom and something just freight trained it into the bottom of the lake. I missed the hook set unfortunately. I know Matt Allen usually says the small fish hit harder on those baits but it still got me pumped up for the rest of the day.

Agawam Mill Pond? I plan to fish it more this year but haven't put much time in there yet. I think it's fairly shallow so I'd guess weedlines and subtle drops (like 4/5 feet into 7/8) would be the name of the game there. I heard the locals started a program a few years back to try and control the weeds but I'm not sure what effect it has had on the lake.

Yea I'm hoping to get out this weekend without having to cross the canal.

Has anyone driven by Snipatuit or the Nip recently? Wondering if that area has open water yet.

This weekend I think should blow open most of the lakes in your guys neck of the woods. Central MA probably still has a couple more weeks. I'm getting the itch lol. I can feeeeeel it haha.

I like to say getting skunked is "paying your dues" as a fisherman. If you were guaranteed to catch fish every time everyone would do it.

With winters getting shorter MA has been open-water fishable in the first week of March in recent years. Judging by the long term forecast looks to be the case this year as well.