I noticed Canton Res was wide open on the way back from work today. I have a feeling that the next few days will skim it back over tho.

 

Congrats on the 5 lber DogBone!

24 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Congrats on the 5 lber DogBone!

Thanks, but I don’t think it was over 5.

I had the day off yesterday!  Fished a few spots. 
pond 1 I haven’t fished much but caught good fish here. Never tried it in the cold.  Got a 4.6, 20 Inch fish. Fat and healthy but empty stomach.  She choked a real prey. Couldn’t get another bite. 
 

pond 2, a favorite cold water spot. Caught 5 fish from 4-530pm,  they all came on the tube. Missed a few. Biggest went 3.6. They all came on a wind blown point.

 

pond 3. A buddy told me he was going to fish so I went. He cancelled, got stuck at work. I ended up with 3 topwater bass, Sherpa and Psycho gill. Nothing big 

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. 

On 2/23/2022 at 6:51 PM, Jigfishn10 said:

I noticed Canton Res was wide open on the way back from work today. I have a feeling that the next few days will skim it back over tho.

So much for open water.

On 2/28/2022 at 7:52 AM, Jigfishn10 said:

So much for open water.

Same story as always Jiggy.  You have to drive 'over the bridge' to find open water.  I tossed the waders in the car and headed out, and, yes, I drove 'over the bridge' and found Snake Pond open enough to wet a line.

 

I threw a Damiki blade bait, Rapala jerk bait, and a 3.8" Keitech on an underspin and came up empty.  I'll be back there tomorrow with my kayak. 

Packed up and headed south this morning. As I launched at one of my favorite SMB ponds in Plymouth I noticed water in my kayak's hull.  Sure enough, I found a leak, so back home to fix it.

 

I patched the leak with a Gator Guard patch kit and loaded my other Lure 11.5 and went to try to salvage the day.  Ponkapoag was still locked up at the beach/launch, and Canton Reservoir's fenced off (CLOSED) where you launch.

 

Hopefully the weather will be good enough to get out tomorrow.  We'll see.  If not, next week's supposed to be in the 40's.

Looks like we'll have 1 more day of cold weather and then we start an accent to a warmer trend.

60*'s on Sunday with rain. That will certainly open things up.

 

Over night lows look real promising for an early spring...I hope

 

I have some rebuilding to do on my mooring, hoping to get up to Maine to order the materials and have it done by Memorial/Launch Day.

On 3/4/2022 at 8:27 AM, Jigfishn10 said:

60*'s on Sunday with rain. That will certainly open things up.

Drove by my go-to (though somewhat trespassing) smallie spot last night. Even before the warm temps today and tomorrow the northern half was melted. My first MA fish last year came on April 3 at that spot… we’ll see what happens this year

I found some open water at Hopkinton and Whitehall Reservoirs this afternoon.  Sadly, no fish found my baits.  Mostly fished the big stuff and a Hudd.  Nice to get out for the first time this year though.

That was a grind. Spot number 1 was tough, guys there for a bit before me got some good ones on jerkbaits and a 5er. I got one on the new glide bait, few other whacks on a different glide. Fished another pond, missed a big fish on a real prey, had another monster follow it to the boat. 2 small bass and 2 pickerel on a jerkbait.
Got my PB pickerle at 5.5lbs

2 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Got my PB pickerle at 5.5lbs

That thing must’ve put up a hell of a fight. Did you get a length?

9 hours ago, bass.slayer69 said:

That thing must’ve put up a hell of a fight. Did you get a length?

don’t know the length, I measured it on the net handle tho.  Thought it was a giant bass. Destroyed the jerkbait 

I dropped my Ranger in Billington Sea yesterday despite the forecast.  The rain passed quickly, but the sustained wind only got worse.  I lost interest and bailed after a couple hours of pulling up weeds.  I threw a couple jerk baits, a Chubble,  BX Brat, Ned, and 2.8" Keitech on an underspin.  

 

Water temps were 42.x, it was cloudy to sunny with winds 15 - 20 mph from the SW.  Air pressure was 29.9.  

 

On the positive, water temps are rising and this week's weather looks good.  Ponkie should be open, so I'll be there later this week.

 

Congrats to @Mr. Aquarium for some good catches in tough winds.

Do you guys throw bright red/orange baits in early spring here in New England?  Like lipless, squarebills, chatterbaits (firecraw), etc?  Just wondering what others opinions are on red in early spring.

 

On a side note, I fished Hopinton and Whitehall again for a few hours this morning.  Skunked again.  0 for 2 on the season.  Was very surprised to see a boat out on Whitehall with half the lake still iced over.

Obviously a lake half open sort of fisherman...

17 hours ago, Frezzy said:

Do you guys throw bright red/orange baits in early spring here in New England?  Like lipless, squarebills, chatterbaits (firecraw), etc?  Just wondering what others opinions are on red in early spring.

 

On a side note, I fished Hopinton and Whitehall again for a few hours this morning.  Skunked again.  0 for 2 on the season.  Was very surprised to see a boat out on Whitehall with half the lake still iced over.

Yes, red is absolutely a great option in the spring. I've had great success on red lipless cranks and squarebills ticking them over the tops of the new weed growth. If your bait isn't grabbing weeds every few casts you're in the wrong spot. 

Good luck this spring everyone!

Dropped into Ponkapoag late this morning and stayed until mid afternoon.  A 4lb. 4oz., 21", LMB made it to my kayak, biting a threadfin shad Chubble square bill along the north shoreline.  I hooked onto another good bass with a green pumpkin/orange/silver chatterbait, but lost it.  I had my drag too light and was using a crank bait rod whose tip was too soft and gave up enough slack for Mr. LMB to escape when I set the hook.

 

I also threw a couple jerkbaits and a 3.8" Keitech on an underspin that didn't produce.

 

Water temps were 43.x, air pressure was 30.1, and winds were light from S/SW.

 

Today sure makes up for last March, where I goose-egged the whole month.

On the board for 2022!  Got 3 slime darts at Whitehall today.  Only fished for about 45 minutes.  Not the target species but it was nice to feel a tug.  All on the Vision 110 in perch.

15 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

Dropped into Ponkapoag late this morning and stayed until mid afternoon.  A 4lb. 4oz., 21", LMB made it to my kayak, biting a threadfin shad Chubble square bill along the north shoreline.

Been meaning to try Ponkie as it is only 10 min from my house but it just seems like a weird place to fish… just a 6 foot deep tub filled with weeds not too much structure - do you just have to work around to find them? Nice fish as well especially for March 

19 hours ago, Frezzy said:

On the board for 2022!  Got 3 slime darts at Whitehall today.  Only fished for about 45 minutes.  Not the target species but it was nice to feel a tug.  All on the Vision 110 in perch.

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.

38 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

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.

 

No.  I'm stuck on the bank (well I use waders).  The very southern part of the lake is still frozen over.  I fished again for a few hours this afternoon.  Skunked.  One bass boat out.  He got skunked as well.

 

Think I need to go buy a small jonboat with 10HP or Kayak to fish this place.  

 

5 hours ago, bass.slayer69 said:

do you just have to work around to find them?

Pretty much.  This time of year you'll find them along the northern shore where it transitions from rock to vegetation.  Medium heavy gear is a minimum there and leave the treble hooks at home after mid April.  There are big fish in there, and it's great when you find them.  Most of my LMB over 4 pounds came from here.  

 

I've never had much luck in the western part where it's really shallow.

5 hours ago, Frezzy said:

 

No.  I'm stuck on the bank (well I use waders).  The very southern part of the lake is still frozen over.  I fished again for a few hours this afternoon.  Skunked.  One bass boat out.  He got skunked as well.

 

Think I need to go buy a small jonboat with 10HP or Kayak to fish this place.  

 

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. 

I was out on the Concord looking for Pike and got the skunk. Nice day to be on the water though...