Fishing 2021

[PowderBeard]

2 hours ago, DavisStraight said:

sure will, you fishing shore or boat? I used to have a nice 15 foot bass boat but built a house so I sold it, looking to pick up another one, probably look for a 20HP so I have the option to take it to Quabbin.

Have a 16' "bass boat" for the Quabbin. Complete rebuilt from just the hull. Has a 20hp Mariner and does low 20s. Have dual 7" Garmins and 24v 70lbs Minn Kota with the co-pilot system. If you are looking for a Quabbin boat look for the older 80s hulls, 0* rise and  lighter hulls so great in rougher water and quick. I could put a 25hp 4-stroke on for the Q but just love the older two-strokes. I might get it washed again in September to fish the last month of the Q, we'll see. Drop-shotting smallies in 30-50' this time of year gets boring. 

 

[radarman]

I may have hooked a good size shark on Marconi beach today on a big Kastmaster.  Pulled 200yds of 50 pound braid off and never slowed down for a second.  I was fumbling to crank down the drag to no avail whatsoever... If the line hadn't snapped when I grabbed the spool either the rod or I were going in.  Zero chance.  

[DavisStraight]

On 8/12/2021 at 4:15 PM, PowderBeard said:

Have a 16' "bass boat" for the Quabbin. Complete rebuilt from just the hull. Has a 20hp Mariner and does low 20s. Have dual 7" Garmins and 24v 70lbs Minn Kota with the co-pilot system. If you are looking for a Quabbin boat look for the older 80s hulls, 0* rise and  lighter hulls so great in rougher water and quick. I could put a 25hp 4-stroke on for the Q but just love the older two-strokes. I might get it washed again in September to fish the last month of the Q, we'll see. Drop-shotting smallies in 30-50' this time of year gets boring. 

 

Looks similar to the Starcraft I had for the Quabbin, do you have downriggers?

[Whineminster]

2 hours ago, radarman said:

I may have hooked a good size shark in Marconi beach today on a big Kastmaster.  Pulled 200yds of 50 pound braid off and never slowed down for a second.  I was fumbling to crank down the drag to no avail whatsoever... If the line hadn't snapped when I grabbed the spool either the rod or I were going in.  Zero chance.  

Any seals nearby? I was at Marconi a few weeks ago.....nice beach but the rocks at the wave break iare tough. 

[Whineminster]

 @PowderBeard I'm fishing the CT river for smallies in central NH this weekend......any tips? Near Fairlee VT

[PowderBeard]

11 minutes ago, Whineminster said:

 @PowderBeard I'm fishing the CT river for smallies in central NH this weekend......any tips? Near Fairlee VT

I've never fished the CT River north of Hinsdale, NH. That said my go to for smallies in the Barton's Cove to Hinsdale area has always been a smaller 3" paddle tail on a 1/8-1/4oz head in 8-10' breaks on the edge of grass beds. Similar to this set up but usually in a perch pattern. If you find one slow down because there will be more. River smallies don't roam alone. Other go to baits, if there is limited grass/wood then a ned rig with small TRD. Lots of cover, can't go wrong with a good old jig/paca or chatterbait.

 

 

 

[Ginx snewx]

16 minutes ago, PowderBeard said:

I've never fished the CT River north of Hinsdale, NH. That said my go to for smallies in the Barton's Cove to Hinsdale area has always been a smaller 3" paddle tail on a 1/8-1/4oz head in 8-10' breaks on the edge of grass beds. Similar to this set up but usually in a perch pattern. If you find one slow down because there will be more. River smallies don't roam alone. Other go to baits, if there is limited grass/wood then a ned rig with small TRD. Lots of cover, can't go wrong with a good old jig/paca or chatterbait.

 

 

 

Fall runs of salt water ftw.

[tunafish]

Me and my 7 yo get to go out in Casco Bay 1x a season on my buddies charter.  First striper he's landed solo, earlier today.

[Whineminster]

On 9/3/2021 at 8:06 AM, PowderBeard said:

I've never fished the CT River north of Hinsdale, NH. That said my go to for smallies in the Barton's Cove to Hinsdale area has always been a smaller 3" paddle tail on a 1/8-1/4oz head in 8-10' breaks on the edge of grass beds. Similar to this set up but usually in a perch pattern. If you find one slow down because there will be more. River smallies don't roam alone. Other go to baits, if there is limited grass/wood then a ned rig with small TRD. Lots of cover, can't go wrong with a good old jig/paca or chatterbait.

Thanks for the tips!  I did land a decent one on a black and blue jig, and another on a maroon and black Yamamoto. Overall caught a bunch.....place is loaded with them! Also a couple small largies

[PowderBeard]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:05 PM, Whineminster said:

Thanks for the tips!  I did land a decent one on a black and blue jig, and another on a maroon and black Yamamoto. Overall caught a bunch.....place is loaded with them! Also a couple small largies

Sweet! I've been fishing the jig exclusively the past 10-days or so. Ever since those couple of 45* mornings I'm seeing lots of fish with craws in their throat. Thinking about starting to make my own over the winter. Seems pretty simple and I'm sick of breaking 1 or 2 off every time out. Plus, I'm not a fan of a lot of colors and designs out there. I'd model them after this. The original Terminator Top Secret jig from about 10 years ago. A heavy finesse jig, 1/4-1/2 oz with a 3/0 hook, 3" rubber skirt, hidden line tie, rattles, and a wire hanger for keeping the trailer up. Would probably only cost about $3 a jig. Would only need them in a watermelon blue for early in the year, black, and green pumpkin.

 

 

On 8/25/2021 at 10:00 PM, DavisStraight said:

Looks similar to the Starcraft I had for the Quabbin, do you have downriggers?

I do not. Still catch lots of lakers and bows early and late in the year on blades and the drop-shot.

[Whineminster]

10 minutes ago, PowderBeard said:

Sweet! I've been fishing the jig exclusively the past 10-days or so. Ever since those couple of 45* mornings I'm seeing lots of fish with craws in their throat. Thinking about starting to make my own over the winter. Seems pretty simple and I'm sick of breaking 1 or 2 off every time out. Plus, I'm not a fan of a lot of colors and designs out there. I'd model them after this. The original Terminator Top Secret jig from about 10 years ago. A heavy finesse jig, 1/4-1/2 oz with a 3/0 hook, 3" rubber skirt, hidden line tie, rattles, and a wire hanger for keeping the trailer up. Would probably only cost about $3 a jig. Would only need them in a watermelon blue for early in the year, black, and green pumpkin.

Yeah very similar to mine, except mine is more of a football head.  I have a pair of rattles....maybe I'll try putting them on this weekend.  I was also using a bass pro cajun trailer in black and also hooked on a night crawler.  

Is that what you found in Barton's? Place is loaded with them?

[PowderBeard]

16 hours ago, Whineminster said:

Yeah very similar to mine, except mine is more of a football head.  I have a pair of rattles....maybe I'll try putting them on this weekend.  I was also using a bass pro cajun trailer in black and also hooked on a night crawler.  

Is that what you found in Barton's? Place is loaded with them?

Barton's has a lot of them but they move around a lot due to the fluctuations in water level. If they have not opened the dam and water is high then they will be right on the shorelines. If they have recently dropped the water they tend to be on those first breaks in 6-10'. They do always seem to be actively feeding though due to the current and cooler water. When you start getting south on the river where it is more tidal they definitely have specific feeding windows that only last short periods of time. 

[amarshall]

Stole the older son out of school today, going tuna fishing

[Whineminster]

Smallmouth starting to school up - saw about 200 of 'em in 6 feet of water up in NH. Weren't biting anything, but some honkers in there. 

[PowderBeard]

17 minutes ago, Whineminster said:

Smallmouth starting to school up - saw about 200 of 'em in 6 feet of water up in NH. Weren't biting anything, but some honkers in there. 

Yup. Was on the Holyoke section of the river yesterday. Found a one great school where I had a fish or followers on the jerkabit every cast for about 20 minutes. 

8-12' seems to be the magic range or the edges of gravel flats that drop from 2-3' into 6-8'. My forearms are sore from so much jerkbait fishing. 

[tunafish]

While SNE was enjoying the sun on Saturday, we were socked in with clouds all day, but it the cloud cover, lack of wind (dead air), and relatively warm lake water made for some great large mouth action.

[Ginx snewx]

2 hours ago, tunafish said:

While SNE was enjoying the sun on Saturday, we were socked in with clouds all day, but it the cloud cover, lack of wind (dead air), and relatively warm lake water made for some great large mouth action.

Nice fish

[neslihan]

how to register fishing boat.

[Sugarloaf1989]

I went trout fishing with my niece about two weeks ago on the Lackawanna River. My sister lives in Milford, Pennsylvania. Didn't catch anything, but had fun. This river was completely dead 100 years ago with acid mine drainage and other industrial pollution.  Now it's crystal clear and stocked twice a year. I invited her and her husband to come to Connecticut and we can fish in the Farmington River. 

Despite being handicapped,  I can cast sitting down. 

 

[PowderBeard]

Had a great day out last Thursday. Went out of the CT River-Oxbow section around 11am. Fished the main river for smallies until about 2pm. Current was just too strong, not even a follower. Went into the Oxbow flipping the jig around wood for an hour. Nadda. Frustrated after 4 hours without a bite I started throwing a suspending jerkbait in 10-15' of water in front of the wood I was just flipping and that's when it got fun. Boated about 15 largemouth in 90 minutes, only one fish under 2 pounds. Biggest was 4-11 lbs., best 5 went about 17 lbs.  My best bag out of the Oxbow.  Water was 43-44* in the main river, 45-46* in the Oxbow. The week prior I had a 5-11 largie and some other good ones from the wood when the water was 2-3 degrees warmer, I think it just was not warm enough for them to move onto it so they were suspending just off the hard cover. You can notice the bellies on the fish, they had/were seriously feeding up for winter. 

 

 

 

Notice the talon scars on the top of this 4-11 right below the spiny dorsal fin. Some bird almost got her when she was younger.

 

 

This jerkbait has been absolute magic this year for fishing more than 10' of water on the Quabbin and CT River. Strike King is making decent baits again. 

[Sugarloaf1989]

10 hours ago, PowderBeard said:

Had a great day out last Thursday. Went out of the CT River-Oxbow section around 11am. Fished the main river for smallies until about 2pm. Current was just too strong, not even a follower. Went into the Oxbow flipping the jig around wood for an hour. Nadda. Frustrated after 4 hours without a bite I started throwing a suspending jerkbait in 10-15' of water in front of the wood I was just flipping and that's when it got fun. Boated about 15 largemouth in 90 minutes, only one fish under 2 pounds. Biggest was 4-11 lbs., best 5 went about 17 lbs.  My best bag out of the Oxbow.  Water was 43-44* in the main river, 45-46* in the Oxbow. The week prior I had a 5-11 largie and some other good ones from the wood when the water was 2-3 degrees warmer, I think it just was not warm enough for them to move onto it so they were suspending just off the hard cover. You can notice the bellies on the fish, they had/were seriously feeding up for winter. 

 

 

 

Notice the talon scars on the top of this 4-11 right below the spiny dorsal fin. Some bird almost got her when she was younger.

 

 

This jerkbait has been absolute magic this year for fishing more than 10' of water on the Quabbin and CT River. Strike King is making decent baits again. 

Do you ice fish in the Oxbow? Driving home from skiing,  I often see people ice fishing that area. 

[PowderBeard]

On 11/22/2021 at 6:00 PM, Sugarloaf1989 said:

Do you ice fish in the Oxbow? Driving home from skiing,  I often see people ice fishing that area. 

I don't ice fish, not enough ADHD medication in the world for me to sit around when I could be skiing. I would love to get a big pike through the ice though, on my bucket list.

I hit a popular shallow lake last Monday with a new approach and had a memorable day. Water was 41-42*, could get nothing going on the jig or jerkbait. Starting "yo-yo'ing" a blade bait in 6-8' and ripping it out of old grass beds in the middle of no-where. Something I had seen have a lot of success in southern lakes - specifically Florida lakes and Guntersville - during the winter but never tried. The fish had clearly never seen it, I had times where 3-4 largemouth were following the blade to the boat. Rare to see a largemouth follow a bait in, never mind 3-4 grouped up doing it. Put about 30 keeper largemouth in the boat in about 2 hours, none over 3 lbs though. Also a ton of "slime darts," one was over 4 lbs. with a big sunfish in its gullet. Left early because my fingers were ready to fall off between them getting wet, wind, and 40* air temps.

Definitely need to alter my rod choice, was using a 7'2 medium action rod with 12lbs. flouro but I think a glass/more parabolic rod would have kept them hooked up. It's a balancing act because you need a rod with enough backbone to rip it out of the old grass but soft enough tip so the trebles don't rip out of their mouth. Funny how smallies and largemouths differ. I've found smallies have much tougher mouths so you either need to drill them with a heavier wire hook or "pinch them" with light wire. In the spring I was using the same blade with more of a medium-heavy rod and lost very few smallies despite their acrobatics. 

The Rapala V-Rap has been my "go to" blade this year in a couple different colors. I used to use all the old "Silver Buddies" but the rattle system is a game changer imo. I will be stocking up on more, and probably trying some new hooks on them next year. It's a pretty fun bite. Where the jerkbait you go to snap it and feel weight or a pull, the blade you go to lift it up and get the same experience.

[tamarack]

"Slime dart"?  Pickerel?  (My initial thought was snakehead, but they're not that far north - yet - I hope.)

[PowderBeard]

8 minutes ago, tamarack said:

"Slime dart"?  Pickerel?  (My initial thought was snakehead, but they're not that far north - yet - I hope.)

Sorry for my slang but you got it! Oooof, no snakeheads yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they made an appearance in the Hudson or CT River in the next 10 years though. At one point I'm pretty sure Maine was "managing" the pickerel issue. They seem to have completely over taken some lakes in SNE. Some places you catch 4-6 pickerel for every one bass, and 90% of the bass caught in those lakes are 12-14". I'd like to see some research done on how they effect bass fisheries.    

[tamarack]

10 minutes ago, PowderBeard said:

Sorry for my slang but you got it! Oooof, no snakeheads yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they made an appearance in the Hudson or CT River in the next 10 years though. At one point I'm pretty sure Maine was "managing" the pickerel issue. They seem to have completely over taken some lakes in SNE. Some places you catch 4-6 pickerel for every one bass, and 90% of the bass caught in those lakes are 12-14". I'd like to see some research done on how they effect bass fisheries.    

Downeast Maine used to have no size or bag limit on pickerel - it's the region of hammer handles.  When I was at forestry summer camp (1974), while on our section cruise we encountered an old beaver pond of an acre or so on a trout-y looking brook.  On a Sunday day off I hiked in with my fish pole, and a dozen casts yielded 6-7 pickerel in the 10-12" size before I gave up.  Trout couldn't compete there, though the bigger waters (like Princeton's Long Lake, right off the summer camp peninsula) had fine smallies - found none bigger than 15" but lots of action.