Dead Skate in Hull

Cool picture of a rotting Skate. Two were right next to each other. The weekend before I found two others on the North River. No fishing, still waiting for ice.

Lime Quarry / Assabet River - Bolton/Acton

Fished 4 locations in 2 different towns all in a about an hour’s time.
I wasted most of that time driving out to fish Bolton’s Lime Quarry Brook. Not only was the undergrowth overgrown but the water was really low, just a trickle.
I first stopped at the Lime Quarry Brook in Bolton about a .25 miles down stream from the Bolton Springs orchard. I fished a worm in the pool next to the road. Nothing, no signs of trout. Next, I drove up past the orchard to the quarry lot. I fished the same worm at the first wooden bridge, again nothing. Too overgrown and low water. After that, I drove over to the Powder Mill Gate in Acton. I took a few casts with a Zara Spook on the flow side of the gate and only got one hit. Next, I stepped over below the dam side and caught a small Largemouth and 3 sunfish using a silver no-tail Mepps #1.

Gloucester, MA - Private Charter - CANCELLED!!!

Trip CANCELLED
We were set to go Cod fishing aboard a 54’ Custom sport fishing boat.
At the last minute, the trip was called off by the captain. “High sea’s” and NE gusts up to 30mph with a small craft warnings.
The next available window is 10/14 for Cod fishing.

For up to date real time ocean weather – check this out:
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/box/

Assabet River - Maynard

Fish part of (our) upper Assabet from Russell’s Bridge down to the Ben Smith Dam, then back up river close towards Crow Island.
Right away I tied on a giant Mepps #4. No more than five minutes into it, I landed a nice Bass – about 1 pound.
I later landed 3 more Bass using a good size silver Spinner Bait with a black skirt. The larger of the Bass was about 2 lbs. My biggest Largemouth since last year’s ice fishing. All nice clean healthy looking fish. I also managed to hook into a decent size Crappie with the same Spinner Bait. Andy landed a nice Bass and a Pickeral.
We put good use to the Coleman Crawdad john boat that I’ve had in my yard for 4+ years. I actually ended up giving it to Andy. His old electric trolling motor pushed it great. We were back before 10am.

Worlds End – Hull

Andy and I Fished the 8:30am high tide in Hull on Sunday. Perfectly calm, not a ripple. We trolled back and forth in about 8ft of water roughly 10-20 ft from shore. We ended up catching 9 Stripers in a little over 2 hours. All decent sized schoolies. The pic shown was the largest of the 9 (me). The engine ran great, a little rough for the first 5 minutes but ran fine at trolling speed for 2+ hours. Took the boat home for the Winter. There is talk of a single day launch in a week or two before the Bass head South. A great morning fishing.

Whites Pond - Concord

After getting out of work 15 minutes early, I spent 15 minutes casting at Whites Pond. 2 guys were fishing at the boat ramp so I starting fishing the beach. I left my tacle at home so I was stuck using a small Rapala with a spinner at the top. It’s the same lure I used at the Grist Mill.
I caught two small Large Mouth Bass. Both were no more than 10-11 inches. No trout. There were hundreds of Sunfish, everywhere.

Worlds End - Hull

Trolled from the mouth of the Weir River thru Worlds End cove to Sunset Point and back. We fished Striper rigs with sea worms. Sometimes only in a few feet of water. I had one strike and my brother landed a small Striper (photo). Engine ran fine.

Engine Fixed

A few weeks ago my brother and I were trolling Worlds end. After landing a fish and cutting the engine, I was unable to get it back running again. In the process of pull-starting, the rip cord broke. I ended up taking the engine back to my house to troubleshoot.Steps taken: Replaced the rip cord, replaced both fuel lines, cleaned the fuel filter, removed the carburetor, took it completely apart and cleaned it with carb cleaner, sprayed out the jet, cleaned the choke, rewired the kill switch (kill switch still not working), cleaned the upper and lower cowl, replaced the spark plugs, flushed with clean water, and THE ENGINE STILL WOULDN’T START. Finally, I drained the fuel from the tank and purchased a second fuel tank, mixed in 2 cycle outboard oil with fresh fuel 50:1 mix, and the engine fired right up. Once it was up and running, I played with the rich/lean idle screw and it’s finally all set and tuned-up.

Grist Mill - Sudbury

On Labor Day, we took the kids for a picnic at the Sudbury Grist Mill. I took my rod with me because one time I notice a guy fishing the brook about 10 years ago and he was catching small Bass. I've also seen small Sunfish and even a Hornpout swimming in the brook.
I took a few casts in the lower brook and caught a very small Llargemouth, about 6" long. Then up top at the pond I caught 2 more Bass. One was about 11" and the other was a little over a foot and probably a solid pound. A decent catch on 4lb test. The kids were amazed at the fish. They all wanted to touch it.

World's End - Hull

My brother and I went out and trolled around Hull and World’s End with Bass rigs and sea worms. Everything was going great; the engine was running just fine. I had a nice hit and landed a 22” striper trolling about 10' from shore. As I reeled it in, I cut the engine because we were so close to the shore and I didn’t want the engine anywhere near the bottom, even in neutral. After releasing the fish, I was unable to get the engine back up running. After about the 20th pull the ripcord broke. My brother started rowing us back when a couple of ladies in a rubber raft towed us back, frustrated.

Assabet River - Maynard

I fished the flow side of the Powder Mill gate again last night. This time is fished the flow using a small Zara Spook. I caught 3 (small) Large Mouth Bass. One was decent (pic) the others were small, less than 12”. The last one I caught managed to foul hook himself in the top of his back. The largest of the 3 was a nice fight in the swift current. Ultralight w/ 4# test. (grainy pic taken w/ Treo)

Assabet River - Maynard

I fished the flow side of the Powder Mill release gate with a #2 Silver Mepps last night at 7pm.First cast was a small 12” Large Mouth Bass. After the Bass, I pulled in 6 sunfish within the next 10 casts. I also took a few casts on the bottom side of the dam, there was very little water and no signs of life on that side. 4-lb test with an ultra-light.

North River – Humarock, Scituate

We fished the bottom of the North River (again) and no fish.
I actually had one major strike and whatever it was dropped the bait after about 20 seconds. My father got hung up on a mussel bed and check out what he pulled in. A muscle actually clamped down right on his swivel. I’ve seen this before with fresh water mussels but never in the ocean. Also, later that night, as hard as it was to watch, we witnessed two 12 year olds catch stripers one after the other fishing the ocean side of the peninsula after it sun went down.

Bought an engine for the boat

I picked up a 1984 Mercury 7.5 HP outboard.
The boat is maxed out with a 7.5 so it should move OK. At least, I should have no problem trolling which will be my primary use for the engine.

Boston Harbor - trip cancelled

Plans to head out and fish a ledge near Boston light were cancelled 5 minutes before launch due to the captain’s (JA) daughter going into labor. Trip cancelled at 5:30am.The worst part of this was the night before. I showed up at the bait shop at 7:30pm (they were closed) I used the bait vending machine for a box of sea worms and it suckered me for $6. I went back later on Sunday and instead of getting my money back, I picked up a pint of clams for next weekend.

Pocasset River Bridge

Here's a pic of a Scup. Similar to a Sunfish and just as aggressive.

Cape Cod Canal & Pocasset River Bridge

Fished the Pocasset River bridge on the way home and caught some more Scup and a strange (small) looking fish that I've never seen before. Some type of Perch/Bass.

Fished the Canal again after dinner– too much current. Fished a weighed sluggo. No action.

Bought a boat!

Yes, believe it or not, I noticed a for sale sign on this gem and bought it right there and then. It's a 10' Bristol and it came with oars. We launched it an hour later with my brother and son and actually caught a bunch of scup, a small Tataug, and a Sea Robin. – All with sea worms, getting tired of scup.

Pocasset River Bridge

Our entire family fished the bridge. Right away I landed 10 Scup. They attacked the bait within seconds. It was too easy. I also hooked into a crab. After a while I lowered my drop-line that I bought for my son with a sea worm and caught a small sand shark (photo). We also lowered the minnow trap hoping for some extra bait and didn’t get anything. Later that day at the Pocasset beach, my brother used a minnow caught from the trap with the drop line and caught a Sea Robin off of the jetty, he lost it just before taking it out of the water. Later that night we fished the Tahanto neighborhood jetty and I landed 1 scup, on the way back over the bridge I landed another scup. They were everywhere.

Cape Cod Canal

Spent an hour fishing slack tide at the canal. I tried every lure in the box. I even lost my good orange and white Ballistic Missile Lure that I bought in Nantucket (and caught many Blues with) Caught nothing – no hits. I did notice the game warden making rounds thru the parking lot as soon as it got dark.

Hull – XYZ Street

Fished X, Y, Z Street at low tide with Frank. No hits, too much surf and too little water and tons of rocks, used purple belly clams. Next stop was Hull gut. After an hour and 3 bait changes I finally had a solid hit. I looked over and noticed my rod keeled over and line was peeling off the spool. After a solid set the fish let go. 2+ hrs of no action.

Hull Gut

Fished Hull gut for a few casts using a giant silver Kastmaster – no hits at low tide.

Lincoln Cemetery - Last time

Fished the cemetery pond AGAIN and nothing - no signs of life other than frogs. This was officially my last time fishing the pond. I think it might freeze solid. Siler red-devil like spoon. 20 casts.

Crab Fishing A-Street Pier

Jr & I dropped the crab trap for about an hour at the A-Street pier. We had more fun watching the kids jumping off the pier than we did fishing. The trap was constantly getting jammed due to the rust. We caught just a few crabs. We used a whole porgy for bait.

Assabet River - Again

I took a few more casts – at least 25 both below the dam and above. No hits. The water was still extremely murky and brown. Even the smallest of spinners, not even a hit. Very strange.

Assabet River

Fished the Assabet River behind the old Prescott Paint building below the dam last night.
I took about 20 casts using a brass bucktail Mepps-0. A few small hits. Nothing landed. Water was extremely muky and high from the rain. I lost the Mepps on the final cast.

Lincoln Cemetery

Another waist of 15 minutes. Nothing, not hits, no swirls, no sign of life. I'll keep fishing it until I have confirmation that this pond harbors fish or not. It looks to good to pass up. Mepps-0 again.

Duxbury Beach

Another depressing day (of fishing). Fathers Day.

Purple bellied calms and mackerel on the surf. I thought this was a lock. My brother lands a schoolie about 10 minutes after setting up. For the next 2 hours we moved our gear back every 15 minutes with the tide. No other hits. Hot.

Lincoln Cemetary

I’ve been passing this pond every morning for years. Finally, I pulled over and took a few casts with my ultra-light (mepps-0) and not even a hit. No sign of life other than frogs. Conditions were perfect. I even took a few casts with a small popper. Nothing.
Maybe it freezes solid?

North River – Humarock, Scituate

Me, my brothers, my son, and father, fished the North River for strippers. No bass to speak of. We noticed a few people here and there fishing and the bait shop said "people are catching them".

We picked up some herring and the only fish I landed was a medium sized Skate (using a large hook and large bait). Nobody caught a stripper, not even a hit.

Crab Fishing the Town of Hull Pier

Just missing around killing time with the kids. We bought a beheaded mackerel at the discounted price of $1. We strapped it in the trap using some romex and caught the incoming tide. We caught a lot. A few huge craps and a lot of little-medium sized. The kids like watching them run off the side of the pier into the water

Hull Gut

Fished Hull Gut with my new Penn 650ssn and Pen PowerStick rod. Again, I caught nothing other than the hot sun. It was still a good time. I walked back & forth for about 20 minutes casting while my wife and kids played in the sand.

Stow Brook - few casts

Landed a surprisingly large pickerel. Using a rooster-tail going after brookies, a pickerel got himself hooked pretty good. I only had 20 minutes to kill, well worth the ride to Stow for 10 minutes of fishing.

Sudbury River with Andy

This was a little tough to take. Andy and I are very competitive when we fish together. I got skunked; he caught the biggest fish I've ever seen "landed" in a canoe, this is a carp. Andy made an attempt to use a "salted" worm. After telling him not to bother, he winched in this beast. Blood was everywhere.

Mill Pond - fishing with the family

A really warm day after work. We all walked down to the pond and used up the leftover night-crawlers and caught a few more sunfish. The kids loved it.

2nd time out - Maynard Trout Derby with my Son

45 degrees and a freshly stocked trout pond.

We caught 5 sunfish!

It was fun and even funnier to watch grouwn adults registering their catches for prizes at the "Kids Fishing Derby"

1st time out this year!

We made a quick attempt to see if anything was nibbling. It was an unseasonably warm day and we wanted to test out the new $7 Batman rod. Something was attacking our worm but we couldn't get anything hooked. Probably small Sunfish. My son’s first official time out fishing. This was a decent field test for the upcoming Kids Trout Derby at the gun club later this month.

2007 Dates Fished