Bassachussetts

I guess I will just try to stay out of the vegetation. Learn to fish the edges of them I suppose. I don't get much open water fishing because I don't have a boat, and obviously there is usually a lot of vegetation by the shore

Thanks for your reply. I think I will continue to try to be effective with a straight up texas rig w/ 1/8 oz tungsten bullet. I'm also considering trying out a ned rig as I've been reading that it is a very effective rig for light tackle.

I live in Northern Central Massachussetts. There aren't a lot of large lakes nearby for me to fish, so I primarily only fish small ponds off the shore since I have no kayak/boat. I've noticed that most of the water bodies I've been scouting have heavy vegetation and cover. A lot of lily pad fields and heavy moss/mucky bottoms. I'm a beginner angler and read a few articles for a versatile "beginners" fishing outfit. So I ended up buying a Berkley Lightning Rod, 6'6" Medium Light and a Pfleuger Triton TI35 reel. Finesse fishing appeals to me, as I can't afford a bunch of expensive lures, let alone losing them. So I aim to fish mainly soft plastics with inexpensive rig setups. This all being said, I feel like I made a mistake getting a ML rod, and should have gone M or even MH, due to the heavier cover, vegetation and mucky mossy weedy bottoms of my local fishing ponds. Should I return my rod for M or MH?

Hello fellow Mass anglers! I'm new to fishing the central/northern MA area and having trouble finding some nice bodies of water to bass fish. So I was hoping you folks could give me some suggestions. Here are a couple of points to note: 1. I'm strictly shore fishing as I have no kayak/boat. 2. I have a lightweight fishing outfit (ML Rod with 6# Test) 3. I'm fishing mostly plastics as I'm a beginner angler and can't afford expensive lures I live in Shirley, MA currently, so if anyone knows some nice places to fish within about 30 mins of that area I'd really appreciate any recommendations. Thank you

Thank you for the advice on additional rigs for my setup! I will read up on those. Also, thank you everyone for the warm welcome, I can tell this is a great community already.

Thanks! I planned on 1/8 ounce weight, but I think I bought longer worms, should be alright I suppose. I also bought offset EWG 3/0 hooks, are those too big?

well my outfit is balanced, but everything I've been reading makes it sound like texas rigs are more for "heavier" outfits.

I fished as a kid and always loved it. Recently I decided to get back into it as I want to get my family more into the outdoors life. I did some homework and wanted an outfit that would be versatile. I bought a 6'6" Berkley Lightning Rod, I believe a Medium Light model. I paired that with a Pfleuger Trion 35X spinning reel, and some 6# test mono. I want to get into bass for starters as it seems like they are likely easier to locate in my central MA location than most other species. So I started reading about different techniques, rigs, etc. I like simplistic approaches and don't want to spend a ton of money on fancy lures, etc. So the Texas and Carolina rigs seemed fitting for me, but the more I read about them, they all seem to recommend much heavier test line, like 10 and 12#. So my question is, will my outfit be able to fish the texas and carolina rigs effectively, or is my lightweight line going to hinder me? Any and all feedback and suggestions are welcome. Keep in mind, I'm strictly shore/bank fishing mostly small bodies of water as that is really the only thing local to me in northern/central MA.