Eastern Ma & New England Area Fishing Reports

[1984isNOW]

@Sputterbug she's a fatty! What did she hit?

[Sputterbug]

@1984isNOW

Got her on a spinnerbait real shallow. She had a fishtail coming out of her throat. 

[guidoStow]

T-storms before dawn delayed my start but I finally connected with a few more SMB today. Water was 57 degrees, air was around 50 and it was blowing...

 

 

 

 

[guidoStow]

On 4/29/2024 at 7:23 PM, MassBass said:

Nice brown. Jerkbait by-catch?

A 4" bass streamer fly bumping the rocks in 20' of water...

[guidoStow]

Another suburban friday morning... Beat the rush hour traffic and was on the water by 7:00. Chill and overcast with a breeze. Water temp was had fallen back to 56 degrees.

 

 

 

[MassYak85]

Got a solid 4-11 in a pre-spawn staging area on the MDC 3pc Perch Crankdown yesterday. She was long enough for a pin but not quite thicc enough to be a 5. The search continues.

[1984isNOW]

26 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

.

What part of MA? I feel like most of the north shore us still waiting to warm up. Was thinking of trying some smaller bodies of water that might have warmed a little quicker

[DogBone_384]

I had a good couple days on Cape Cod last week.  The bite was consistent, including two SMB just under 4 pounds, a white perch a shade under 2 pounds,  a catfish, and a couple of nice brown trout.  The trout and catfish came to the kayak via Stunna 112+1.  A handful of very healthy white and yellow perch made it to the kayak too.  I only caught two LMB during the trip, but I was targeting SMB.  A jerkbait was about the only bait I needed at all but one pond where all the smallies wanted was a blue tube.

 

Water temperatures were 57.x - 59.x.  Air pressure Wednesday & Thursday was 30.0.  Friday was 30.2.    

[MassYak85]

19 hours ago, 1984isNOW said:

What part of MA? I feel like most of the north shore us still waiting to warm up. Was thinking of trying some smaller bodies of water that might have warmed a little quicker

Central MA, water temps were just a hair under 60.

[MassYak85]

If you guys can get out tomorrow I'd take advantage. Cold rain the rest of the week looks to set things back a good bit. 

[guidoStow]

13 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

If you guys can get out tomorrow I'd take advantage. Cold rain the rest of the week looks to set things back a good bit. 

This spring has just been one set back after another...

[Sputterbug]

Got out for a few yesterday, nothing but pickerel. Todays gonna be good though.

[ne_dan]

I've been out 5 or 6 times since my last report.  Once in the kayak and the rest from shore.  Kayak trip was ok nothing to write home about.  Seems like most of the bigger fish have pulled back from shallow waters around here, and gone tight lipped .  Shore fishing for Smallmouth in the local river has been great though.  Multiple days with pretty much no stop bites in the all the areas you'd think in moving water.  Lots of topwater fish as well.  Friday I had 4 fish over 2.5lbs, which for the river I was fishing is good.  Biggest was 2.8 and came from a little eddy below a dam right above some rapids, fun fight trying to get it through the short section of class 2 rapids.  Everything has been on a 4' tube and a Choppo 90.  

[1984isNOW]

7 hours ago, ne_dan said:

da

North shore dam or south shore?

[DogBone_384]

I took @Fishing Rhino out on my Ranger yesterday.  We couldn't launch at a private pond near his house, so we went to another big, shallow lake nearby.  The water looked like coffee and there were no signs of life.  Try again next week.

 

I stopped by a pond on the South Shore and managed a small Yellow Perch on a jerkbait that was bigger than it was.

 

Water temps were in the low 60's.

[Mr. Aquarium]

This has been one of the worst springs for bass fishing I’ve ever had.  Took a break for a bit. 
caught my first stripers of the season the other day, caught 3 25-26 inches. Few whacks and missed fish. 

[DogBone_384]

15 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

This has been one of the worst springs for bass fishing I’ve ever had.

Sorry to hear. Gimme a call, we’ll head out on my boat & get some Smallies!

[guidoStow]

A couple more SMB before the swimmers crashed the party

 

 

Water was just under 58 degrees so the long pre-spawn continues...

[MassBass]

7 minutes ago, guidoStow said:

A couple more SMB before the swimmers crashed the party

 

 

Water was just under 58 degrees so the long pre-spawn continues...

Bass were on beds weeks ago Charles river...I reckon the biggins have already spawned secretively and are post-spawn.

[MassYak85]

2 minutes ago, MassBass said:

Bass were on beds weeks ago Charles river...I reckon the biggins have already spawned secretively and are post-spawn.

I feel like in years that we have a "false spring" and weather is very badk and forth the bass kind of "stealth spawn" during those brief windows of warmth and by the time the steady warmth is here and we're all expecting to see spawning fish it's too late for a lot of the fish. Just a theory but some years it does feel like I "missed" the spawn waiting for those ideal conditions. But nature always finds a way to make do.

I picked up an 8" Punker on Facebook Marketplace. The price was right so I couldn't pass it up. Tried it a bit from shore today and the action does not dissapoint. But damnit if fishing that thing isn't a workout. I was pumping the rod pretty hard to get the side to side action it's famous for. 

[guidoStow]

3 hours ago, MassBass said:

Bass were on beds weeks ago Charles river...I reckon the biggins have already spawned secretively and are post-spawn.

Did you happen to get a temperature reading at the Charles? It might have had a smidge of impact on the timing...

[MassBass]

11 hours ago, guidoStow said:

Did you happen to get a temperature reading at the Charles? It might have had a smidge of impact on the timing...

No I didn't, but consider that increasing daylight cycle is just as important if not moreso to when they start spawning.

[guidoStow]

2 hours ago, MassBass said:

No I didn't, but consider that increasing daylight cycle is just as important if not moreso to when they start spawning.

Interesting. I've always read that it was temp that was the driving factor...

Thanks!

[1984isNOW]

6 hours last night from multiple banks from about 8:30p-2:30a.

 

2 dinks on a chatterbait. Saw a couple small bass on what looked like prepared beds or borrowed sunfish beds. They were afraid of everything I threw at them. Scattered immediately and would barely come back to check out my lure.

 

Brutal

 

But I did see a couple big snapping turtles and some monster Carp - had to be at least 36 inches. Now I'm looking into Carp fishing haha

 

I hate that I moved to the North Shore

[Sputterbug]

Got a 6.4 tonight. Very end as it was getting dark. Maybe 2 feet of water in a grassy area. Hadn't got hardly anything all night, and for the past 2 weeks for that matter. Caught on a plastic worm, she waked up on it just after it hit the water. 

 

Also caught my first fish on a 7" glide bait.