9 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I caught 27 this afternoon at my pond and 13 were at least 17 inches long.

Smashed 1,400! 

6 minutes ago, AverageAngler said:

Smashed 1,400! 

 

The first hour was soooooo slow because I was fishing eel grass, which is where they HAD been, but then I found them TIGHT* to shorelines, which is where they HADN'T been. If I fish this weekend, who knows where they'll be? Not me. Good fishing comes from good finding.

 

If they retreat to deep water, I won't catch them because I'm not venturing out there anymore. I dip my hand in the water and I'm afraid. 

 

*I was catching them on casts that punched through the woody bushes as the lure fell, the bushes that overhang the water's edge. They were parked under those bushes. When they hit the underspin, I generally felt nothing. I just saw my line moving in an unexpected direction, so I reeled down and set the hook. Sometimes the lure popped free. 

Last night after work I decided I wanted to see what was going on with one of my favorite ponds that’s had low water for months. I figured all the rain would have helped… and boy did it. It’s the head of a river and water usually flows out of the pond into the river, but it was actually flowing in reverse pushing bait form the river into the pond.. caught one  and a few perch real quick at the mouth of the river before heading home for dinner.

 

Couldn’t help but wake up early and hit it again before work. Caught a few more and bent out a hook on a monster.

As you can tell one of my successful baits was a Ned rig, the other was my flashback mini. The feed is on, we have time left to catch.

 

 

Bent out hooks are the woooooorst feeling

32 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

Bent out hooks are the woooooorst feeling

Second worst to break offs.. both terrible. I only had one legitimate break off I can recall this year.. had some picks bite me off though, comes with the territory I guess.

1 hour ago, TheSwearingAngler said:

Second worst to break offs.. both terrible. I only had one legitimate break off I can recall this year.. had some picks bite me off though, comes with the territory I guess.

I broke off a handfull of biiig (24"+) pickerel over the summer. They're annoying most of the time but when they're that big I prefer to land them (and not lose my lure lol). 

On 10/14/2025 at 8:08 AM, TheSwearingAngler said:

I’m gonna make a bold statement and say it’s the least weedy pond in the whole south shore currently. Come on out Saturday… I found  few spots that really produce.

🤣Wish I could!  I live in Florida now.

7 hours ago, Don51 said:

🤣Wish I could!  I live in Florida now.

I see that now… I lived in Port Charlotte for a number  of years.. was there for Hurricane Charlie.

 

I’m actually gonna head to the other pond in that town tomorrow instead of the one we’re discussing. If you’re ever up here again though hit me up.

 

Tight Lines.

My Live Target is giving me fits.  I spent most of yesterday troubleshooting it and upgrading to a bigger-er battery.

 

I figured I'd stay reasonably close.  I launched around 1100 and was off the water by 1230.  I'm still having some issues with my AT and couldn't get myself focused to really fish.

 

It was windy and water temps were 57.x.  This lake is normally very weedy.  Most of the salad was pretty much dead & rotting.  I didn't mark much of anything where I travelled on the lake.

 

It won't be a problem if I have to send my AT and FS12 to Lowrance.  The season't winding down and I'll likely just use my kayak when I get out.

On 10/15/2025 at 10:04 AM, MassYak85 said:

Bent out hooks are the woooooorst feeling

 

I use WOO! Tungsten Ned heads.  They've got a pretty stout hook.

Sat, Oct 18th.
Mostly sunny with air temps in the AM hovering in the low 40s and by lunch time it was about 60.
Water temps was in the mid 50's. Mostly bright sunny skies. Calm winds from the northwest.
Water levels were still low but not as low as the last time I visited this pond.

I started in the deeper part of the pond and by late morning I moved in shallow. An area with lots of rocks with some pockets of vegetation since most of the vegetation is gone. It was in this area I caught most of my fish.

I had a LMB slam my lure with such aggressiveness, it took me by surprise.

The chain pickerel were in high spirits this day and one was a fat 24 inches long. The others were of good average size.

Then to make the soup complete, a sunfish and white perch were thrown in. I was hoping for a SMB but it did not materialize.

In total, 4 LMB, 1 sunfish, 2 white perch, 8 chain pickerels. 

The lure that shined was a jerkbait.

As I was loading the kayak, another fisherman who stayed deep did not have the same luck as I did. He only caught one LMB on a jig.

Cheers.

Busy weekend this one, I was only was able to fish hard on Sunday but I also managed to squeeze an hour and change at a trout pond on Saturday morning. Saturday was an absolute beautiful experience getting out to a pond that gets loaded up with trout every spring and fall. It was sunny and beautiful with almost no wind and the trout were feeding up. In the small cove I was in there were 8 other anglers trying for trout not including me, and even with that amount of pressure the trout were still on fire. I managed to catch two soaking a worm but the others around me were catching them on a variety of stuff - float n fly, parachute adams flies, streamers, powerbait, small swimbaits, etc. There was an older gentleman that was helping two guys out on getting their first trout, and they each landed one! One nice brook trout and a nice rainbow. Overall a very positive and fun experience essentially shoulder to shoulder with people.

 

Sunday I failed to wake up for a double session, morning and afternoon, but I was able to get in a solid 6 hours from 1-7pm. I went back to the favorite river because my mind needed a good session, and it somewhat delivered. I landed 5 in two and a half hours which by my metrics is pretty darn good. The wind was periodically going strong and the gusts where I got most of my bites. I recently acquired the grass piece and quickly realized that the price and hype was worth it. Three were caught on that lure and I also caught one each on a jerkbait and fluke.

 

I then went about an hour and a half without a bite, mostly because I was trying so hard to force a frog bite; the weeds were still lively in the shallows and I saw a TON of activity in there. After missing a couple of bites I finally had a good take and landed the biggest of the day, nothing crazy but a 2lber in a sea of 1lbers is a welcome addition. After that I covered a ton of water but had no other takers other than a couple of crappie. Overall a very fun and beautiful day on the water. Water temps hovering between 56-58 degrees. Getting colder! I also fixed an issue with my fish finder that I had last week and that had me very happy, looking forward to some colder fishing trips the next few weeks.

I went out to the Charles after work yesterday for a couple of hours before the sunset. I anticipated some wind and when I got to the river it was dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. It was not great conditions, and within 15 minutes I sliced off 2 jigs from what I assume were pickerel, smh. I did catch a perch and lmb on a squarebill shortly after and at the end of the 2 hours I landed a good 2.5lbs bass on a texas rig creature, water temps rose a bit to 57-59, hopefully the feed bag stays on over the weekend. I can't believe I'm wishing for terrible weather on my days off but with all that I hear about bad weather=good fall fishing, I kind of want to see it happen...

49 minutes ago, AverageAngler said:

I went out to the Charles after work yesterday for a couple of hours before the sunset. I anticipated some wind and when I got to the river it was dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. It was not great conditions, and within 15 minutes I sliced off 2 jigs from what I assume were pickerel, smh. I did catch a perch and lmb on a squarebill shortly after and at the end of the 2 hours I landed a good 2.5lbs bass on a texas rig creature, water temps rose a bit to 57-59, hopefully the feed bag stays on over the weekend. I can't believe I'm wishing for terrible weather on my days off but with all that I hear about bad weather=good fall fishing, I kind of want to see it happen...

I may be out on Saturday still TBD. But yea I'm eying the weather not really sure what to expect since I haven't been out since summer. This cold rain we're getting today I imagine will change things quite a bit. I don't think we're quite at turnover stage yet but cool 50 degree rain and overnights in the 40s might get us there quick. After today the weather looks pretty stable for like 5 days heading through the weekend. Like you said I tend to have my better days in the Fall in some light rain or heavy winds. It's nice to be out when it's high 50s and sunny but the fish don't always think so. 

 

Sometimes I get a good wood bite this time of year when the rain brings in more nutrients in the streams and banks and the shallow vegetation is dying they can sometimes stick like glue to the pieces of cover they do still have. Doesn't always work out that way though. 

I think it's time to break out the blade bait box....

2 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I may be out on Saturday still TBD. But yea I'm eying the weather not really sure what to expect since I haven't been out since summer. This cold rain we're getting today I imagine will change things quite a bit. I don't think we're quite at turnover stage yet but cool 50 degree rain and overnights in the 40s might get us there quick. After today the weather looks pretty stable for like 5 days heading through the weekend. Like you said I tend to have my better days in the Fall in some light rain or heavy winds. It's nice to be out when it's high 50s and sunny but the fish don't always think so. 

 

Sometimes I get a good wood bite this time of year when the rain brings in more nutrients in the streams and banks and the shallow vegetation is dying they can sometimes stick like glue to the pieces of cover they do still have. Doesn't always work out that way though. 

Saturday looks like a cloudy and cool afternoon with hopefully some wind, but recently the weather apps have been all wrong with the wind forecast. The bass still are shallow from my last few trips, most bites between 4-6ft of water on moving baits, good luck if you go!

1 hour ago, AverageAngler said:

most bites between 4-6ft of water on moving baits, good luck if you go!

 

Sounds like jerk bait season to me.  Damiki Slim Jack's and Rapala Shadow Rap run shallow.

She looks like a spotted bass. Half dozen bass all 2lbers couple nice perch.  Tubes and under spin did the damage. 

On 10/22/2025 at 7:33 AM, AverageAngler said:

I went out to the Charles after work yesterday for a couple of hours before the sunset. I anticipated some wind and when I got to the river it was dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. It was not great conditions, and within 15 minutes I sliced off 2 jigs from what I assume were pickerel, smh. I did catch a perch and lmb on a squarebill shortly after and at the end of the 2 hours I landed a good 2.5lbs bass on a texas rig creature, water temps rose a bit to 57-59, hopefully the feed bag stays on over the weekend. I can't believe I'm wishing for terrible weather on my days off but with all that I hear about bad weather=good fall fishing, I kind of want to see it happen...

You fish the Charles River basin, below Watertown dam?

11 hours ago, MassBass said:

You fish the Charles River basin, below Watertown dam?

I do occasionally, I see people catch a ton of carp in the colder months, and some people have success with the smallmouth there. I tend to struggle, like 1-2 bass a trip with a couple skunks here and there and the fish are on the smaller side generally. I have more success up near the Waltham dam, that stretch has been kinder to me this year.

Hey all, I keep forgetting about this thread ...  

 

Hope your fishing season went well and you're still gett'n on em.

 

Good luck and stay safe!

 

JF10

Friday, Oct 24th

• Partly cloudy to sunny skies.
• Calm winds.
• Air temp in the A.M. was low 40s.
• Water temps all day was 55-57 degrees.
• Fishing time: 8am - 1pm.

Interestingly, the only fish I caught was LMB. No panfish or pickerel.
Jerkbaits was the lure of the day. The first hour is when I caught most of the fish. Then it seemed to just die with an occasional bite here and there. Mostly up shallow too near the steeper drop offs.

As I fished my way in for the day, one LMB followed the jerkbait but didn't bite. I changed to a different jerkbait, and the same, it followed with no commitment. Then I threw a wacky worm as a followup and caught'em.

All in all, 6 LMB bass, and 3 LMB that shook off the bait.

Hopefully, I can get one more day in before I call it a season.

On 10/22/2025 at 8:21 AM, MassYak85 said:

Sometimes I get a good wood bite this time of year when the rain brings in more nutrients in the streams and banks and the shallow vegetation is dying they can sometimes stick like glue to the pieces of cover they do still have. Doesn't always work out that way though. 

 

I too have collected a file of memories of where and how I've caught bass in the past, but like you, I've learned that past success doesn't guarantee future success. Pretty much the only thing I've learned about bass is that they're always moving and wanting something different and if I'm going to catch them, I have to find them again and again and again.

An invasive fish is taking hold in a unique Maine lake - KTVZ

Just curious ... anyone have anything else to add to this unfortunate event?

Good Fishing

1 hour ago, GreenTrout said:

An invasive fish is taking hold in a unique Maine lake - KTVZ

Just curious ... anyone have anything else to add to this unfortunate event?

Good Fishing

 

Yeah, Maine Fish and Wildlife hate lmb today, but no entity spread as many lmb than them, as they stocked them for years in hundreds of Maine's waters.