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Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports


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Had the day off today, decided to take advantage of the calm winds, dense fog and go to a bigger shallower lake than I’ve been fishing lately.  Water temp was 38, managed to get on a decent bite.  5 bass, 8 pickerel and white perch.  Threw a jerk bait and a Spinnerbait shallow all day, caught fish on both.  Biggest bass was 3lb 10oz, also had another 3lber all the rest were mid 2lb range.  Hopefully this milder weather holds out for a little longer.

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On 12/25/2023 at 1:58 PM, MassYak85 said:

so I'm not getting blown around in my yak haha.

Even though I have a pedal drive kayak, I sometimes use a 7 pound claw anchor or a drift sock when I want to work windy areas.  

 

I fished in Sandwich this afternoon and came up with a bunch of yellow perch, three of which were over a pound.  A blade bait and 2.8" Keitech on an under-spin did the trick.  Water temps were 44.x and air pressure was 30.2.  It was overcast and near calm.

 

I'm gonna get out somewhere tomorrow too.  Haven't decided boat or kayak yet, but it'll be in smallmouth country (Plymouth/Cape Cod). 

 

Good luck @MassYak85

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13 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

Even though I have a pedal drive kayak, I sometimes use a 7 pound claw anchor or a drift sock when I want to work windy areas.  

 

I fished in Sandwich this afternoon and came up with a bunch of yellow perch, three of which were over a pound.  A blade bait and 2.8" Keitech on an under-spin did the trick.  Water temps were 44.x and air pressure was 30.2.  It was overcast and near calm.

 

I'm gonna get out somewhere tomorrow too.  Haven't decided boat or kayak yet, but it'll be in smallmouth country (Plymouth/Cape Cod). 

 

Good luck @MassYak85

What drift sock do you use? I've debated trying that I think I coukd rig it to my anchor trolley.

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I bought one from Austin Kayak, made in the USA, but they're gone now.  I've used it on my trolleys too.

 

I fished my favorite deep pond in Plymouth today.  Caught a tank of a pickerel (4-1) with a Walleye colored jointed Rapala Shad Rap deep in short order.  I spent the rest of the day throwing a blade bait, Ned, Senko, paddle tail swimbaits, and lipless cranks, but that was all I could get.  I marked fish on the bottom, deep, in 30+', but couldn't get any takers.

 

There were two other plastic boats there today, which is a lot, and I talked to one guy as I was leaving.  He caught 5 LMB, 2 SMB, and a pick.  We fished in similar areas with similar baits.  I guess it was his day and not mine.  

 

Water temps were 45.x.  It was overcast and calm.  Air pressure was 30.1.  

 

The trip's highlights were the bald eagle and loon I saw.  I know I shouldn't bawk at a four pound pickerel, but I hoped for some good bass.  

 

Another day.

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Made my last trip (!?!?!?!?!) for 2023 today, launching in Sandwich around noon-o'clock and fished until dusk.  I threw the kitchen sink: jerkbait, lipless, blade, jig, Ned, and a couple different Keitechs.  My Lowrance's screen was blank everywhere except for 25-30' where I managed a solitary white perch on a 2.8" Keitech.

 

Water temps were hanging in there at 44.x.  It was overcast with some drizzle and just a breeze from the SW.  Air pressure was 29.6, a big drop from 2 days ago.

 

Happy New Year and good luck to the rest of you if you're getting out...

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That's a lot of time to put in for one perch! You should hit the trout ponds and increase the odds of catching a few fish.  

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Fished 2 new ponds today in search of my first winter giant. First pond was a grind but i found them. Got 3 bass biggest was 3-6 on a jerkbait, missed a good fish on the lipless, got a crappie and a few picks. They were on the wind blown shore. They wanted a jerkbait and lipless. Saw a lot of fish on top though. 
Hit a random pond real quick before sunset. Got a couple big picks and one dink bass. Jerkbait and swim jig 

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On 12/30/2023 at 3:13 AM, Don51 said:

That's a lot of time to put in for one perch!

Tell that to the bass.  

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20 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Got 3 bass biggest was 3-6 on a jerkbait

I think @Saltysmalljaws has his jerkbait hooks in you now … feels good, doesn’t it?  


Congrats on a nice close to ‘23.

 

I’ll be in your neck of the woods Tuesday in search of my first ‘24 bass.

 

Happy New Year!

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46 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

I think @Saltysmalljaws has his jerkbait hooks in you now … feels good, doesn’t it?  


Congrats on a nice close to ‘23.

 

I’ll be in your neck of the woods Tuesday in search of my first ‘24 bass.

 

Happy New Year!

Been grinding the jerkbait for a year now. Feels good to have some decent ones I know that work. The biggest fish this year 7lbs 10 ounce came on a jerkbait 

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Checked off January with three nice smallies out of my favorite Plymouth kettle.  They were between 2 - 2 1/2 pounds and had that 'winter wallow' 43 degree water will do to ya.  My Lowrance showed them stuck to the bottom in 10 - 12'.

 

I threw the normal assortment: blade bait, lipless, jerkbait, DT10, and various Keitechs.  All they wanted was a 2.5" dark green tube dragged about as S L O W L Y as I could.

 

The weather was pretty blue-bird, near calm.  Air pressure was 30.  

 

A good first trip for '24.

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Took the Ranger for it's first '24 outing.  Threw the normal winter assortment: jig, 3" paddle tail, T-rigged Swim-Senko, jerkbaits, blade bait, and lipless.  I got one hit.  That one hit counted.  A 3.88 pound, 19 3/4", Larry found its way to my boat deck.  The baby bluegill LV500, dragged S L O W L Y down a slope in about 20' of water.  I didn't feel any type of hit, the line just got heavy.  

 

Water temps were 40.x - 41.x, it was partly cloudy, and westerly winds  slowly increased as the day went on.  Air pressure was 29.8.  

 

So far 2024 is starting off pretty good.  Good luck to everyone else getting out there.

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The storm Wednesday should nuke most of the ice. Looks like the middle of the month we might start making some progress if there's any hope of an ice season lol. Not holding my breath and I'm perfectly fine if Spring wants to start in early March or late February like it did last year haha. 

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2 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

The storm Wednesday should nuke most of the ice. Looks like the middle of the month we might start making some progress if there's any hope of an ice season lol. Not holding my breath and I'm perfectly fine if Spring wants to start in early March or late February like it did last year haha. 

Come down and fish the cape with us! Dogbone and myself are always getting out all winter. Just a short drive 

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3 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

The storm Wednesday should nuke most of the ice.

You have to move closer to the Cape…. I’m 45 minutes from ‘the bridge’ and haven’t been iced out in the last 4 years.

 

It’s worth the drive.

 

What a trip - @Mr. Aquarium and I think alike….

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Got out and froze for 2 hours this morning, water temps were 35 degrees air temp was about the same.  No wind for the first half and hour but then just enough of a breeze to freeze wet hands.  Managed one bass that went 2.58lbs on a jig, dragging across rock piles in 15’.  Pretty sure I missed a couple more but it was a very light bite.  Did get a handful of perch and one pickerel on a jerk bait working the drop off from a flat to deeper water.  Happy that the first trip of the year didn’t result in a skunk.

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First trip of the year. My first fish was a 5lbs 10 ounce. Super stoked, never got a winter 5 before. 
I hit a shallow pond. Never been here in winter but I fished the area where I did well last March.  Wind was cranking couldn’t get em on jerkbaits glides or lipless. The wind was making it really difficult to fish.  On my way back to the ramp after an hour or so of struggling I hit a section of trees with a jig. Missed one right off the bat.  Pitched the jig way up, that 5er smoked it! Next cast got a 3. Worked my way through these trees picking off a few more. 
 

total was 5 bass. 5-10, 4-2, 3-0 and 2 dinks all on jigs in the trees. 
 

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48 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

Shallow cover fishing in the winter huh? Way to get them I would have never thought to try that. Was it a wind blown shore?

it was so windy, that everything was a wind blown shoreline! 

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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I drove by Houghton's Pond and Blue Hills Reservoir OTW home from Bass Pro this morning and we're just about iced out there.  Houghton's was 75% covered and Blue Hills was 50-60%.  

 

I'm not very optimistic with the COLD weather we're getting over the next couple days.

 

Hopefully Cape Cod stays open.... 

 

CONGRATULATIONS! to @Mr. Aquarium for an awesome first trip out!

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Thanks guys. Im so pumped! One of my best winter days. Never did well for bigger fish in winter! It was so windy I was a bit nervous. I was afraid I was going to flip my kayak if I got a bad wind gust 

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I got on the ice the last two days. Had pretty consistent action on the tilts and did good jigging too. Lots of pickerel and crappie the first day, almost all bass the second day. Biggest was maybe 3lbs. The ice was 3-4 inches.

 

I wanted to take advantage because the weather looks like it's trending warm again, with 50 degree rain Thursday Friday and then back in the 40s after that for the foreseeable future. Not loving these 1 week long winters lol. But if it means open water fishing in early March I can't complain. 

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