Got out locally this afternoon for a quick trip.  Took a goose-egg, but this trip was more to see if I fixed the leak in my kayak.  I believe I did.

 

Water temps were 84.x.

Fished a Cape Cod kettle pond on Jul 18th.

Cape Cod is not a very friendly place to reach certain bodies of water. Town parking permits, restricted to residences only, etc., etc. (Although this honor is not held exclusively to Cape Cod).

Despite that, I was able to fish a pond and I was a little out of my normal element. Water was deep, clear, hard bottom, and very little vegetation. 

One smallmouth on a tube, three largemouth on a wacky, three white perch and two bluegill on a crankbait. All the fish were of decent size and surprised by the size of the white perch and bluegill.

Morning air temps was 78, water temp was unknown but I guess 75-80 since the water was deep.

Clear skies and gradually became cloudy. Winds were slightly breezy and picked up by lunch time.

Overall a good day for me.

Cheers. 

59 minutes ago, Angler Andy said:

Cape Cod is not a very friendly place to reach certain bodies of water. Town parking permits, restricted to residences only, etc.,

100% correct. I fish the Cape from September to April. 

1 hour ago, Angler Andy said:

surprised by the size of the white perch and bluegill.

Don’t be. Cape Cod grows big panfish.

On 7/19/2025 at 12:45 PM, DogBone_384 said:

Don’t be. Cape Cod grows big panfish.

Saw MASSIVE White Perch floating while we were fishing a local lake yesterday. Thought it was a dead bass at first. Definitely was a pin. 

 

We got a late start around 11am and each managed a decent one within the first hour. Mine on a 10" power worm off a point, and my dad with a nice 3lber on the Psycho Gill. From there it was the typical summer grind for most of the afternoon. Water temps were close to 80 and the ones we did run into seemed deeper. The bite was slow and we had a lot of missed bites. I lost another huge pickerel on the spinnerbait. They really love to dig down into the weeds and wrap up. 

 

Later on we tried a deep flat (well deep for this lake i's like 10-12ft) that has a good mix of short grass and rocks. I had a dropshot tied on at this point (usually not a good sign lol) and actually did quite well. Got a bunch of 1-3lbers in this spot that were a ton of fun to catch on the lighter tackle. Also broke off some more big pickerel (d**n things have been stealing a lot of my gear this year). I need to restock on some terminal tackle and drop shot worms at this point. We bailed while the bite was still good unfortunately as the thunderstorms rolled through. Very solid day for middle of the day in mid-July though. Almost makes me want to put together a drop shot rig. 

5 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

Later on we tried a deep flat (well deep for this lake i's like 10-12ft) that has a good mix of short grass and rocks. I had a dropshot tied on at this point (usually not a good sign lol) and actually did quite well. Got a bunch of 1-3lbers in this spot that were a ton of fun to catch on the lighter tackle.

I always see people talking about how good the dropshot is for deeper water, but I love using it in that 6-8' range in the summer time, such an underrated lure for that shallow-mid depth.

 

Cape trip this weekend, managed to piece together some real fun trips.

 

Saturday I went out twice, once at first light and then again before dinner. I got out at 4:20am and struck out for two hours before the action started. I went back to the place where I had the 17 bass day a month ago and found the water to be completely covered in algae. A major bloom must have went on recently and it definitely changed my approach. I targeted thick isolated cover rather than the boat docks and bluegill beds I had so much success on from the last trip. I never managed to figure out a pattern and really had to grind out each bite but I ended the morning with 6 bass - a 15" on a frog, a 19" on a brush hog stuck in the thickest tree I could find, two fish on a karashi, one on a fluke, and one on a bladed jig. Some schooling, some lurking, and some hiding.

 

The evening session was wild, I had two hours before dinner and hit up the local pond. On my first cast I had one come up and eat my bait right next to the kayak, nearly dropping my rod in the process. I landed 8 fish with most being on a black and blue/watermelon red bladed jig, approximately a 16lb bag and a 4lb kicker. Each fish was strong and had some nice thickness to them. The whole place was like a two foot deep weedbed at its deepest so I was a little surprised at how productive it was. 

 

Sunday first light I went to a new kettle hole pond, my biggest foe. I always struggle at these places and can never figure them out, and unfortunately this session was no exception. I really wanted a summertime smallmouth bass however, so I persevered and managed to catch a pretty 17 incher. The bite rivaled that of a striper blowup, peace and quiet interrupted by absolute mayhem and a near heart attack; I was shaking for ten minutes after I released her. I also lost a good 2lbs lmb on a tube when he dug into a submerged tree but made up for it with some dinks off the deep part of a dock.

 

Later I went to a different pond before the rain started and caught 4 on a dropshot in that 6-8' range a few feet off of a half submerged tree, and then went out for 30 minutes before sunset at the shallow pond from yesterday and got a dink on a topwater. Lots of different spots and varying degrees of success this cape trip, and it was a true blessing to experience it all.

4 minutes ago, AverageAngler said:

I always see people talking about how good the dropshot is for deeper water, but I love using it in that 6-8' range in the summer time, such an underrated lure for that shallow-mid depth.

Agreed, in those situations I like fishing 5-6" roboworms on a light wire straight shank hook rigged weedless and fishing it through sparse weeds. Can be really good when they won't touch the larger texas rigged worms. For shorter grass beds and rocks I usually just nose hook with a traditional dropshot hook. Unfortunately the pickerel like them too and horsing out a 24" pickerel from weeds with a medum or medium light rod and 6lb line is usually a losing battle. My one grips with dropshot fishing is constantly untwisting the mess of line that always comes up with the fish lol.  

21 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

My one grips with dropshot fishing is constantly untwisting the mess of line that always comes up with the fish lol.  

No exactly lmao, sometimes I just have an extra long tag end so I can cut off the weight and reattach after I untwist the line instead of retying.

The weeds and snotgrass around here are the reason why I love the dropshot so much and can't stand the ned rig. For how effective it apparently is I just can't get bit to save my life.

6 minutes ago, AverageAngler said:

No exactly lmao, sometimes I just have an extra long tag end so I can cut off the weight and reattach after I untwist the line instead of retying.

The weeds and snotgrass around here are the reason why I love the dropshot so much and can't stand the ned rig. For how effective it apparently is I just can't get bit to save my life.

Man that freaking snotgrass and the black decaying vegetation is a nightmare. There's a couple lakes I fish it's like if they aren't hitting moving baits you might as well go home cause anything on the bottom you're spending more time clearing your bait of crud than actually fishing. I also rarely fish the ned rig. I think it's just more suited to rocky or sandy lakes and most of where I fish isn't that. I'm happy to be able to fish a jig when I can but even that can be a struggle in a lot of areas. 

Didn't get out today, but upgraded my Ranger's electronics.  The bow now has an Elite FS12 with Active Target 1 attached to it.  

 

Going to get out tomorrow and play with it.

11 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

Didn't get out today, but upgraded my Ranger's electronics.  The bow now has an Elite FS12 with Active Target 1 attached to it.  

 

Going to get out tomorrow and play with it.

I think the deeper alewife lakes around here would be a place forward facing would be a game changer. When the bass get those guys schooling they don't really pay attention to much else. Sometimes you get lucky and it's a calm day and you can visually see the schools near the surface and the birds going after them as well but if there's any wind you basically have to luck into one or use side imaging to look around and get close. 

Drove down to Mash-Wake early this morning to play with my new toys.  I'm mentioning MW by name only because the left side of the ramp (looking at it from land) is so blown out from folks power loading their boats, my trailer dropped right off the edge.  There was no damage, but if anyone heads down there, use the right side.

 

Any-hoo, I spent most of the morning setting up my FS12 and figuring out this FFS thing.  My first impression is the SCOUT mode is, so far, my favorite.  I located  bait-balls, structure, and a few fish moving about (assuming they were the bright dots).  Down mode is OK, showing directly under the boat.  I saw my jig coming off the bottom.  I couldn't really make heads or tails of forward mode.  The 12" screen is WORLDS better than my Elite Ti2, and much faster.  

 

I nabbed a nice 2# SMB from under a boat and lost two, about the same size, in grass, at the edge of a drop off.  

 

Water temps were 74.x when I launched at 0730-ish and 80.x when I left around 1500 hours.  Winds were fairly light from the north.  It was as bluebird as could be.  Air pressure was 30.2.  

 

I planned on fishing with @Saltysmalljaws tomorrow, but he couldn't get his permission slip signed.  I also have to look at my trucks brakes.  Another day.

 

Lastly, the C-Map that's loaded on my FS12 is missing the big hump that's in the NE corner of the Mashpee section.  Oh well.

New schedule at work means I lose my three day weekends, not ideal but I do get some extra hours in the day. Did an evening trip to my favorite river system last night and did pretty well. The water was low, muddy, and warm in the low to mid 80s. All perfect conditions for finesse? I usually hit the edges pretty hard but with the lack of clouds and wind I decided to try targeting the deeper channel and I had some good success with a dropshot and 2.8 inch swimbait. I lost a 3lber off of the brush pile I located on my fish finder but was able to land another 3lber and two dinks with another biting but not commiting.

 

Before I headed to the shallower open area I hit the bridge pilings nearby and landed one and lost one on the swimbait. When I reached the shallows the wind picked up a little bit, only by  2-3mph but that was enough to trigger a feeding window. I got one on a whopper plopper and then two more on a bladed jig. I lost another on the bladed jig and at that point I got tired and wanted to go home. I might go again today to do some fly fishing on the kayak; it's been a while since I've done that. While my spring was humbling but informative, my summer so far has been lights out compared to what I have caught in years past. This forum and all those that comment here have taught me so much and I am extremely grateful for all of y'all.

6 hours ago, AverageAngler said:

snip...

 

I might go again today to do some fly fishing on the kayak; it's been a while since I've done that. 

I'd be quite interested in hearing how you do on the fly, that's all I use. I have had a highly interrupted season but I'm hoping to be able to get out more consistently...

Got up before dawn and went back to the Cape.  @Saltysmalljaws was supposed to meet me at the ramp but family obligations came first.  I nabbed a short and fat smallie with awesome stripes straight away on a shallow rocky shore.

 

I'm still on training wheels with the Active Target and had some trolling motor issues, but a hard reset and recalibration fixed everything and off I went.  A bit later I pulled a 3.38#, 19 3/4" smallie out from under a bouy.  I'm still on my one-lure challege, so I had my 3/8oz black/green/blue Beast Coast jig.

 

Water temps were in the mid-high 70's.  It was near calm when I launched and 10-12 mph by 0800.

 

A decent trip.  I don't know if I'm going to fish the Cape anymore this Summer.  I might explore New Hampshire.  I can get to Manchester in about the same time it takes me to get to mid-Cape.

 

3 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

can get to Manchester in about the same time it takes me to get to mid-Cape.

What!? Are you in like Framingham or something? 

 

No reports here, haven't fished in like a month and a half. Tough schedule this season

11 minutes ago, Banned User said:

What!? Are you in like Framingham or something?

Nope. Just south of Boston. Easy as pie getting through Boston at oh-flippin-early.

Gotta be mad flippin early, 3 south is garbage and so is any route into Boston by like 6:30a.

I left for the Cape @ 0430 hours this morning ….

42 minutes ago, DogBone_384 said:

0430

Dam bro, out by 4:30 is crazy, that would put me on average at about 2-3 hours of sleep. It's easier for me to just still be out on the water and head home around then

16 hours ago, guidoStow said:

I'd be quite interested in hearing how you do on the fly, that's all I use. I have had a highly interrupted season but I'm hoping to be able to get out more consistently...

I'm going to have to ask you for tips on how to manage line twist on the leader because goodness gracious it was twisty last night! I still got the casting and playing the fish down but line management has always given me issues. I ended up retiring the rod after an hour but I landed three beautiful bull bluegills on a small popper and a bead head flashy bugger. I really want to do some small water fishing this winter however but that is a different topic for another day.

 

The pond I chose normally has fish basically jumping in the boat but last night the fish were definitely more lockjaw, my fly bites were only when I had it completely motionless which was unusual. What made it more interesting was when I switched to my frog setup the fish wanted it burned over the top. Fishing is so confusing sometimes! Four bass were caught with three on the frog and one on the fluke. My biggest went 19" and ate the frog a whopping three times, each strike was intense with that addicting "SPLOOSH." I can never get enough of it.

 

17 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

A bit later I pulled a 3.38#, 19 3/4" smallie out from under a bouy. 

Almost a pin fish, congrats on the toad!

 

11 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

I left for the Cape @ 0430 hours this morning ….

What's crazy to me is how even waking up this early in the summer by the time you're on the water you missed the sunrise. 

2 hours ago, AverageAngler said:

I'm going to have to ask you for tips on how to manage line twist on the leader because goodness gracious it was twisty last night! I still got the casting and playing the fish down but line management has always given me issues. I ended up retiring the rod after an hour but I landed three beautiful bull bluegills on a small popper and a bead head flashy bugger. I really want to do some small water fishing this winter however but that is a different topic for another day.

 

The pond I chose normally has fish basically jumping in the boat but last night the fish were definitely more lockjaw, my fly bites were only when I had it completely motionless which was unusual. What made it more interesting was when I switched to my frog setup the fish wanted it burned over the top. Fishing is so confusing sometimes! Four bass were caught with three on the frog and one on the fluke. My biggest went 19" and ate the frog a whopping three times, each strike was intense with that addicting "SPLOOSH." I can never get enough of it.

 

 

Leader twist or line twist? 

 

Some flies just spin as you cast them and will twist your leader aggressively. Often poppers are the worst offenders, you can trim the elements that are out of balance (legs hackle or tails) or find another that casts with less spin.

 

If it is line twist, that is often a product of the basic casting technique. Fixing technique is a tricky subject... A more pragmatic solution is to learn how to untwist it quickly:

This trick was posted on the Gink and Gasoline blog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4O5YBSapRg

 

Hope this helps!

(I'd love to hear of a pond where fish are jumping into the boat...)

1 hour ago, guidoStow said:

Some flies just spin as you cast them and will twist your leader aggressively. Often poppers are the worst offenders, you can trim the elements that are out of balance (legs hackle or tails) or find another that casts with less spin.

This is exactly what was causing my line twist. When I tied on the bugger I noticed I was twisting less, but the poppers would knot me all the way up. I guess I should cut the legs down a bit to see how much better it will be. Thank you so much!

 

1 hour ago, guidoStow said:

(I'd love to hear of a pond where fish are jumping into the boat...)

Unfortunately I would have to use the men in black neuralyzer if I were to tell you the exact location, but a hint is that it's part of the concord/assabet/sudbury watershed(one of them but I won't say which one haha). I first learned to fish there as a kid and it holds a lot of great nostalgia for me, the only issue is that over the years a lot of the shoreline access has been made difficult by fallen trees, and it's a drag bringing a kayak 15 minutes into the woods but I do it on occasion...

Yesterday, I fished a Plymouth pond I used to frequent with @Fishing Rhino but avoid now because it's declined significantly over the last five to seven years.  I had the same results I usually do.  I goose egged.  I'm threw a green/black/blue 3/8 oz jig.  I'm still on my one lure challenge.

 

The positives were  a turtle as big as a car tire swam up to the boat to investigate and a pair of bald eagles cruised overhead for a bit.  I used SCOUT mode more and saw my jig live while retrieving it.  I marked a lot of panfish and a few decent marks in deep water.  This Active Target 'thing' is pretty cool.

 

Water temps were 76.x when I launched and 78.x when I left.  It was about as bluebird as could be.  Winds were light and the air pressure was 30.

 

My 'house battery' also gave up.  I swapped one of my TM batteries to get the motor running and back to the ramp.

After wenging about the heat, I had no excuses not to go out when it broke. Back to the new suburban pond. Put in at 5:00am, probably a bit late... Water was 82 degrees air was 71. Found fish on an edge and the surface bite on. Five bass 12-16" lost one that hit right at the boat (so I couldn't get a great hookset) that looked bigger. 2 psycho black crappies one of which came entirely out of the water to destroy the fly. 45 hot minutes and it was done. Much later had a bigger fish on I could not stop with a 8wt who buried herself in the pads and slipped the barbless hook. Then it turned fully off and I just beat the rain which started on the drive home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stayed local this afternoon.  I packed it in after tossing a different colored jigs for almost three hours, covering more than half the pond and coming up empty.

 

Water temps were 82.x.  Winds were 12-15 mph from the north.  It was dry but overcast.  Air pressure was 30.