@Mr. Aquarium all those caught in MA?

 

And what lure was it?

Also

What did you catch your PBs on? 

7 hours ago, Banned User said:

@Mr. Aquarium all those caught in MA?

 

And what lure was it?

Also

What did you catch your PBs on? 

The walleye, lake trout, drum, most of the smallies, white bass and musky were in NY, the bones, fluke, tog, scup and sea bass were in RI. The rest were in Ma, had some good trout fishing in the spring down the cape, some decent bass but nothing big. 

I took the Ranger down to Cape Cod for a couple days to get catch #1 for 2026. @Saltysmalljaws and I took off for the big smallie lake on the assumption it was open. To our surprise, it was locked up - a rarity for this lake. We drove to SIX other waters near by that were also locked up.

On a last resort, we went to a lake I'd just as well never fish again, and sure enough there some open water. We drove back to Jake's house, got a couple shovels, and returned to the ramp to break up enough ice to get the Ranger in the water.

We fished from about 1100 to 1600 hours, marking almost nothing. We were out fishing in January, that was good enough. Another boat, not a bass boat, showed up around 1500 and dragged a water skiier around for about half an hour. Water temps were 33.x-34.x.

We ventured further east on day two and found more open water. The ramp was clear and like Thursday's lake, was only partially open. We marked a fish here or there, maybe 5 total. We covered the open water twice in about two hours, without a sniff, packed it in. Water temps here were 36.x. We threw the normal winter assortment.

We drove to another lake nearby, but that one was locked up solid.

Trip #1 was fishless, but my AT1 behaved much better than last season, which tells me the old battery was too small/tired. It was good enough just getting out.

Is it spring time yet?

I took a ride around to see what my 'regular' ponds looked like.

Most are still locked up with thin ice.

• Little Pond was partially open.

• Long Pond, Plymouth was mostly open.

• Mashpee-Wakeby was mostly open, with some thin ice at the ramp.

A couple more days with sunshine and tmperatures above freezing should open things up.

I was told Monoponsett is open.

Ask @A-Jay about Lake Menderchuck. I didn’t have time to drive that far today.

I'm planning on getting out this weekend. Good luck to everyone if you get out.

The ponds in my area are all frozen over with some open patches. Still unfishable.

Long Pond, Plymouth huh, I've never had any luck there. Although, my son caught a very nice brown trout there and I've seen some very large bass roaming (usually roaming away from me!).

Also, that is the pond where a sculler rammed me with his boat like a Ben Hur movie.

6 hours ago, Angler Andy said:

Long Pond, Plymouth huh, I've never had any luck there.

I've found good bass all the way down the south end where it gets shallower. Also remember it's 100' deep just beyond the ramp, so think DEEP. There's not a lot of structure, so you just have to find them.

The weather was nice again today so I took the Ranger to Cape Cod. There was some skim ice at the ramp, but I removed enough to launch. I stayed deep, focusing on spots @Saltysmalljaws and I found them last winter. I marked a couple 'here and there' and threw the normal winter baits and came up with a bunch of empty clam shells bound with a big ball of line someone must have discarded.

Water temps were 36.x when I launched and 35.x when I left. Winds came from the south and picked up pretty good by the time I left. Air pressure was 29.9.

Clam shells weren't exactly what I planned for my first catch for '26 ... 🙄

I'm starting to get "The itch" again lol, been too long since I've been out

24 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

I'm starting to get "The itch" again lol, been too long since I've been out

Me too, only 10ish weeks to go.

I took advantage of the weather, packed the kayak and headed south. The first five ponds I passed by in Plymouth were still locked up. The sixth had open water, so I went for it. Number six is a trout/LMB pond and like Cape Cod last week, was not open in the high percentage bass areas.

I tossed a jig, tube, blade bait, and drop shot around the 'best' locations I had access to but came up empty. There were a few shore fishermen looking for trout. I didn't see any one catching anything.

Water temps were 38.x and winds were very light. It was partly cloudy and air pressure was 29.6.

Four straight goose-eggs isn't how I planned on starting 2026. I can't wait until my 'go to' SMB pond opens up so I can get on the board!

You gotta keep in mind that it’s January and very cold out. Don’t get discourage. It’s hard gettin bit this time of year especially in the super cold ice water.

9 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

You gotta keep in mind that it’s January

I know. I'm just waiting for THAT little SMB pond to open up.

Do any of you guys use ice rods in open water? The biggest thing I've learned ice fishing is just how subtle those cold water bites can be. 80% of my bites jigging on the ice I don't even feel, I just see the rod tip slightly deflect, but my regular bass rods are not responsive enough to see those kind of bites. I'm curious how using an ice rod in the open water with a hair jig might do.

7 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

Do any of you guys use ice rods in open water? The biggest thing I've learned ice fishing is just how subtle those cold water bites can be. 80% of my bites jigging on the ice I don't even feel, I just see the rod tip slightly deflect, but my regular bass rods are not responsive enough to see those kind of bites. I'm curious how using an ice rod in the open water with a hair jig might do.

Try a light action rod! They are super sensitive. Even a ned rig/drop shot rod. I just got a Euro tackle rod it’s super light, sensitive and fun. When you hook up to a nice bass on a rod it’s a blast.

10 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

Do any of you guys use ice rods in open water?

No.

It looks like ICE FISHING is on the menu until further notice....

Who's going to the New England Fishing Expo in Marlboro this weekend?

@DogBone_384

If all goes well, I plan on being there Friday.

January's come and gone. I got out four times but came up empty, so my streak of catching fish in open water every month up here is shot.

Since we're having a REAL winter, and we're going to get into the 30's this week, I'm going to get my ice fishing gear out of the basement. It's better than nothing.

I went to the New England Fishing Expo yesterday. It was expensive.

11 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

It was expensive.

Wudgyagit?

On 2/1/2026 at 8:28 AM, DogBone_384 said:

I went to the New England Fishing Expo yesterday. It was expensive.

Precisely why I didn't go this year haha

On 2/1/2026 at 8:28 AM, DogBone_384 said:

I went to the New England Fishing Expo yesterday. It was expensive.

I went to the Springfield Sportsman's Show a few years. That was a lot of fun. But I forgot about it the past few years but I probably won't make it this year because not only do I not have money to buy anything, but I probably can't even afford the admission price since I went from zero to two car payments.

Looks like a warming trend coming up for us here in MA. 40*s is on the menu for our 10 day. Our overnights are still upper 20*s/low 30*s but we have couple of rain days sprinkled in so lets hope some of our waters start to unlock a bit in the next few weeks and we can get rid of this fricken snow!

Almost there!

BTW - I hate February

On 2/1/2026 at 7:49 PM, Banned User said:

Wudgyagit?

A couple Douglas Outdoors rods, a FX Customs rod, a new Lews swimbait reel, a Lews spinning reel, and an Old Town Sportsman 120 PDL Pro.

My cats are going bonkers, it's finally above freezing, and the Blue Jays were making a racket this morning while I was shoveling the driveway...

SPRING's almost here!

17 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

A couple Douglas Outdoors rods, a FX Customs rod, a new Lews swimbait reel, a Lews spinning reel, and an Old Town Sportsman 120 PDL Pro.

My cats are going bonkers, it's finally above freezing, and the Blue Jays were making a racket this morning while I was shoveling the driveway...

SPRING's almost here!

Last time I went my dad got talking to the guy at the Douglas booth and ended up getting the DXC 805F as a swimbait rod. Got a decent deal on it so it was comparable price to a Dobyns Champion series. I must say I was pretty impressed by it's versatility. Solid backbone and can handle heavy baits, but the tip is soft enough to still fish smaller swimbaits. He's usually throwing 2-3oz baits and it handles them well. I think it would even do well with a Hudd. The 2 piece design where the handle detaches is pretty cool if storage is a concern. He also got a deal at another booth on a Lews 300 reel so he walked out with a whole new setup haha. He outfished me last year for the first time since I was a kid haha.

44 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

He also got a deal at another booth on a Lews 300 reel so he walked out with a whole new setup

I bought the same. My new Douglas is sitting next to my Champion SB rod.

The Champion has a Tatula 300 on it. I'll take both out for a couple trips and compare them.

1 hour ago, DogBone_384 said:

couple Douglas Outdoors rods, a FX Customs rod, a new Lews swimbait reel, a Lews spinning reel, and an Old Town Sportsman 120 PDL Pro.

Nice!

When I alked to the dudes at the lews table they tried to sell me that orange custom Pro. I had never seen it before or ever heard about the paramag breaking system. When I asked about it he couldn't really say much. So I popped it open and took a look.

Then I went on to explain it to him, from what I could deduce by examining it. I schooled this guy on his own product he was trying to sell, and he told me wrong info about another reel there that I corrected and showed him.

I must admit I'm curious about the paramag breaks, especially the pro model with the knock off SV spool. But they didnt build my confidence in it that's for sure, and definitely not for $300