Heard Pond – Wayland

First ice of the year. The last week+ of below freezing weather was just enough for a solid walking surface of ice, 3+ inches. I stopped by and picked up Andy at 5:30am. After filling up the gas can, driving to the pond, unloading etc… we were on the ice and totally setup before 6:30am. After dumping the old auger gas and topping it off with fresh gas and oil the auger started up and idled after one pull!. Not bad after sitting since last March. Once the sun was out and we could see across the pond we noticed 2 additional groups of guys already setup and standing around. Using medium Shinners with steel leaders (Pike?) we setup our traps in the typical 2 rows of 5 fashion. An hour in, Andy pulled up a nice Crappie (pic). After another hour we drilled 4 more holes and moved the four outside traps to other further locations. After four more flags, and no fish I pulled up this fat Pickerel (pic). By 10am we were packing up the gear. Even though the action was slow and a bit cold, it was nice to get a couple of fish this early in the season.

Norris Reservation - Norwell

My brother, myself, and my son took a 30 minute break from a family gathering and drove down the street to Nobs Reservation to see if there were any Rainbows biting.
Nobs is where I stopped in one day to take a few casts and caught a few nice Rainbows.
I took maybe 10 casts with my black/silver Rooster Tail and my son was casting a gold goldfish.
No hits. It was cold, I think it was only 40 degrees but it felt much colder.
I should note, I managed to cast my Rooster Tail into a tree on my last casts. This is the same Rooster Tail I've been using since April.

Heard Pond - Wayland

I met Andy at 5:30am in Sudbury, after grabbing coffee we were pulling up to Heard Pond just at day-break. Cold. Very cold. I believe it was 27 or 28 degrees when I woke up. Ice continually froze up my rod eyes as well as my line guide on my bait-caster. A good chunk of the back cover was crystallized with a thin sheet of ice. We were pretty much there (at least I was) for one reason: Pike. I ran 3 rods with steel leaders. One with my large silver/black willow blade spinner bait, one with a large silver Blue Fox spoon and the bait caster I switched between my Squirrel tail Aglia #5 and a large Mepps Musky Killer (pictured). After making at least 2 full passes around the pond I had one solid strike and managed to land one nice Largemouth (pictured). Andy did a lot of trolling and pulled up 2 nice Yellow Perch. The water was very low and the spinners were constantly picking up weed. This might have been m final open water trip until Spring.

Assabet River - Ben Smith Dam - Maynard

I stopped in just before dark and took 20 of so casts total. I took a few casts into the falls, a couple across the rips and the rest at the rotted tree. No hits at all. Amazing what a little rain an d a few days can do. Just before I left I tied on the small Zarra Spook and again, no hits.

Assabet River - Maynard

I took off for roughly 30 minutes and stopped by the dam to take a few casts. I was surprised to see how much the water lever had risen after only a day of rain. It seemed as if the water level came up a foot, at least. It didn’t help much anyway, the water is still a couple of feel below normal. I had only one hit out of my 30 of so casts. Surprising since this spot has been so hot lately. Something of size snapped at my Rooster Tail. I noticed a slow flash and saw a silvery side of a fish. It was hooked for no more than a second before my spinner started up again. Skunked at the dam.
Later in the day I took my wife to a craft fair at the Maynard Elks and decided to check out the river with he kids. I took out my rod; now with a small Zarra spook tied on I was able to take a few casts. One small hit, probably a Sunfish, nothing else around. The water also seemed a little high and fast moving. The clarity seemed fine but the fish just weren’t there.

Assabet River - Ben Smith Dam – Maynard

Again, back at the Ben Smith Dam. This time I fished the Falls and down past where I normally fish. After catching only one Fallfish I drove over to the other side of the river. I climbed down the bank and was able to fish the other side of the river that I have been looking at for years. I’m not exactly sure why I never went over there before, I never really needed to. But now, with the water so low, I was running out of places to cast. 6-4-2 was my ending creel. 6 Fallfish, 4 Largemouth, 2 Pickerel. The Bass and Pickerel were all pretty small. I did manage to pull in one long Fallfish. One Pickerel that I landed was bleeding from the gills. A bleeding fish is usually not a good sign. Unfortunately, I was forced into some emergency oral surgery to free the treble hook that was deep into the fish’s throat. Once released, he snapped back into action and swam away.

Assabet River - Ben Smith Dam – Maynard

Again, back at the Ben Smith Dam. This time I fished the Falls and down past where I normally fish. After catching only one Fallfish I drove over to the other side of the river. I climbed down the bank and was able to fish the other side of the river that I have been looking at for years. I’m not exactly sure why I never went over there before, I never really needed to. But now, with the water so low, I was running out of places to cast. 6-4-2 was my ending creel. 6 Fallfish, 4 Largemouth, 2 Pickerel. The Bass and Pickerel were all pretty small. I did manage to pull in one long Fallfish. One Pickerel that I landed was bleeding from the gills. A bleeding fish is usually not a good sign. Unfortunately, I was forced into some emergency oral surgery to free the treble hook that was deep into the fish’s throat. Once released, he snapped back into action and swam away.

Assabet River - Ben Smith Dam - Maynard

I revisited the Ben Smith Dam today. Same time, same place. This time I tied on a small green Zarra Spook and danced it through the current. Everything seemed to nip at it. I ended up catching 3 small large mouth. One was large enough to pull some drag but still less than a foot. Please let me remind you that I’m on an ultralight. After 15 or so casts I reverted to the black and Silver Rooster Tail #1/8oz.
Casting just under the waterfall in the whitewater was just enough to land another big Fallfish. This one still had some red/pink colors in it’s head and gills. Before I headed out I took about 3 or 4 casts in the same exact spot, something was hitting my spinner in the same spot every time. On my last cast a small Pickerel chased it and managed to hook himself pretty good. (Pictured) Notice the black stripe near it’s eye, a tell tale sign of a Pickerel.
The difference between a Pickerel, Pike, & Musky

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwpdf/dfw_esocidsposter.pdf

Assabet River - Ben Smith Dam - Maynard

Taking a class this week has allowed me at least 30 minutes in the morning to take a few casts on the Assabet in hopes of catching a Brookie (Trout). I took about 30 casts using a 1/8oz black Rooster Tail with a silver blade. On the second casts I pulled in an enormous Sunfish that gave a decent fight. Pound for pound, a Sunfish fights as good as a Northern Pike. If 2 and 3 pound Sunfish were common, nobody would fish for anything else.
I ended up catching 2 small Largemouth and 3 Fallfish. One of the Largemouth might be the smallest I’ve ever caught (pictured)
I read an article yesterday about some testing that was done in July to see how beneficial it would be to take down the Ben Smith Dam. Apparently the Phosphorus is so bad that taking the dam down would help? If so, say goodbye to the Assabet from the Ben Smith Dam up to Gleasondale in Stow.
The study was done by the Army Corps of Engineers and it included removing 6 of 9 dams and dredging three feet in different spots between A-1 in Westborough to the merge with the Concord River in Concord. I don’t believe the tests/study resulted in positive findings that removing the dams would be beneficial to the environment.

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus

Whitney Pond – Winchendon

On the way home from the Connecticut River we stopped at Whitney Pond, an ice fishing favorite of ours. Thinking it was a little more protected than the river, we launched on the railroad path. The wind was just as bad. With me on the motor, I couldn’t keep the boat straight. The wind was blowing us everywhere. In the first 10 minutes we were taking some cover from the wind in a small cove when I landed this beauty using a Mepps #5 Aglia Squirrel Tail. It only weighed in at 3.12 but was a nice fish for a bad day. It was my only fish of the day. After battling the wind for another 15 minutes we tossed anchor and fished shiners on the bottom. Andy landed a nice Yellow Perch with a shiner. We lasted maybe another 30 minutes and headed home.

Connecticut River – Hinsdale, NH

We made an early trip up to Hinsdale not knowing what was there waiting
for us. As soon as we launched the boat Andy and I both commented on
the wind. It was breezy. Then, after struggling across the river and
motoring up the left side, there were times were we were barely moving.
The motor was unable to keep up with the wind & currentcombined .
Also, the floating and semi buoyant debris was just too much for
trolling. Every other square foot of surface was covered with leaves.
The wind, leaves, sticks and wind was just too much. After making it
past theBrattleboro Bridge we came across white caps and decided to pack it in and try another spot on the way home.

Whites Pond – Concord

After much thought on where to fish, I made a feeble attempt to troll Whites Ponds via canoe and paddle. I had a hunch that my Walleye rig would prove to catch a Trout in Whites. First off, the wind; it was windy and cold. I made a manual pass around the entire pond once. Half way around I decided to fish a night crawler on the bottom. I was surprised when I was unable to reach bottom with 50’ of Anchor line in the area I was in. Once I finally hit bottom I broke out the Aqua Vu (Scout XL) to see what was happening on the bottom. After lowering down 50’ of cable I was shocked at the amount of slime and murk there was. There was an easy 24” of algae and loose sediment. I envisioned a nice stone and gravel botton. It was totally dark at 50’. I was able to adjust the infrared light just enough to see roughly 2-3 feet visability. There were no signs of life. There was also no fish biting. Skunked
Aqua-Vu site: http://www.naturevisioninc.com/

White Pond - Concord

We had plans to fish White’s for Rainbows first thing this morning but it was pouring outside when we woke up. We waiting until about 7:30am and headed to the pond. As soon as we closed the car doors the rain returned, and heavy. After walking nearly 1/3 of the way around the pond to the one and only spot at White’s I fish, we were both soaked. We setup 3 rods and puffed air into night crawlers w/ a slider and split shot on the bottom. After about 3 minutes my son’s rod started to jiggle. It wasn’t out very far or deep. After setting the hook and watching him reel it in I was almost convinced it was a Trout. He pulled in a small Sunfish and didn’t seem to care what it was, he was excited. Soon after releasing the Sunfish the rain picked up even more and we packed up and headed for the car.

Connecticut River – Hinsdale, NH

We finally made the trip up Rt119 to the CT River. After leaving my house at 4:30am, we launched at a marina just before the bridge at Brattleboro, VT at 7am. When we launched the boat it was no warmer than 40 degrees, 44 at best. I left my winter hat on for the next 3 hours. We trolled thru the fog up river. Right away a little Smallmouth hit my new shad crank bait I was testing. After an hour of so of throwing the crank bait at the shore I started to troll using a deep diving Rapala. Andy also trolled a deep diver. Keep in mind the ultimate goal for this trip was to catch Walleye. Andy hit a nice Smally and a decent Walleye using the Rapala.
I received a tip before I headed north to troll deep for Walleye using a spinner w/ bait. At first, I used a 2 hook worm harnesses with red beads. I caught a few small Smallmouth and Andy was using an Erie Dearie Walleye spinner with night crawlers.
Without much more luck, I took and old spinner and removed the treble hook, clipped on a snelled hook with a beaded spinner (see pic) and made my own Walleye rig. It worked – I finally hooked in to one (pictured). We were fishing a ledge in about 20 or so feet of water, I used a triple ring swivel and a long trolling weight to help the rig dive.
Andy’s Erie Dearie eventually snapped and he too made a Walleye rig out of a spinner and snelled hook. We were both using Night Crawlers on our rigs. Andy also caught a monster Sunfish as well as the largest White Perch I have ever seen (pictured). It was massive. Why he didn’t keep it (for eating or mounting) I don’t know. I was a great catch. He released it.
At the end of the (7am-4pm) day the stats were as followed:
Matt: (11) Smallmouth, (1) Largemouth, (1) Yellow Perch, (1) Sunfish, (1) Walleye
Andy: (11) Smallmouth, (2) Sunfish), (2) Yellow Perch, (1) White Perch, (2) Walleye
33 Fish Total. Back home at 6pm.

Walleye info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walleye

Mill Pond - Maynard

I took the kids to the Mill Pond tonight after work, they were begging me to go.We dug a quick ½ dozen worms from the compost and headed down to the pond.
In all the years I’ve been fishing the mill I have never, ever, seen the water level so low. So low!
There is now an exposed elevated transport from, probably from some type of steam, water, or possibly train/cart track from years ago. The water was extremely green in color and we noticed a dead Mallard, things did not look good. Worms and a bobber did not even produce a single bite. I on the other hand was casting a #1 Mepps Aglia and landed what could have been the smallest Bass I’ve ever seen.

Sudbury River - Wayland

5:30am I met Andy at his house. We launched the boat at the Pellam Island Rd Bridge. 48 degrees. To me, it felt cold and i always had trouble with my hands in the cold, especially when they get wet. We motored up river for about an hour and the water just got more shallow as we traveled up river. We finally turned around and headed past the bridge to thte railrod trussel. I ended up with 5 Pickerel and 2 small Bass. The largest of the Pickerel managed to hook himself pretty good. I ended up performing minor emergency surgery on his tongue, we wasn't happy and he survived.
Andy caught a few Pickerel and Bass as well. Nothing camera worthy.
I did happen to find a sought after Mepps Aglia Dressed with the buck tail. The only problem was this was a #4 and not a #5 (the magic lure). I caught one Pickerel on a black willow blade Spinnerbait, 2 Pickerel and an English spoon (similar to a large Swedish Pimple) and the rest on the #4 Aglia.

Heard Pond - Wayland

After a heavy soaking rain all day it didn't lookas if we were going to be able to fish on our regular Tuesday outing. As Andy and I both drove home, we contacted each other, the rain had stopped and we agreed to meet at Heards. Conditions seemed perfect. Overcast, cool air, warm water after a storm. Fishing was slow to say the least. Right away Andy and I caught small Bass, both white in color. Andy used a Senco, I used a #5 Rainbow Aglia.
After making our way around the pond it rained off and on. Fishing the shallows on the back side you could see huge rippled wakes from huge fish getting spooked by our boat an/or bait.
Andy was dragging a Mepps #5 thru the shallows and hooked into a huge fish. It pulled our boat around. At one point it began stripping so much line and drag off of Andy;s reel that I began to chase it with he trolling motor. After nearly 10 minutes Andy had the fish right at the boat and it kept diving, he could raise the fish at all. Finally, with his rod bet in half, the fish slowly rose to the surface, hooked in the back at the base of the dorsal was an enormous Carp (pic). A real beauty, that weighed in a 14lbs, 4oz. A great fight. I was able to net the fish with one hand as I operated the motor. We continued around the front of the pond and I ended up picking up a couple of small Crappie and another Bass, I think Andy also landed a couple of Bass and possibly a Pickerel.

Crystal Lake, Willis Lake, Mill Pond - Maynard, Sudbury

My oldest son has been begging my to fish so I took him out for a couple of hours to see if we could find any fish. We went across the street to the compost pile and dug a dozen worms in less than 5 minutes. It was hot and water levels everywhere were down. Still in a drought.
The first stop, Crystal Lake in Sudbury. We walked thru the woods and found a perfect little dock for casting. This lake (small pond) is very similar in proximity to Willis and has the exact water clarity as Willis, plenty of Tannin. After about 10 minutes we had only one bite and it was a small sunfish. Pleased with the catch, we moved on for more action.

Next stop, down the street to Willis. Yet even a larger dock, much more casting room and very little obstructions for a minor who's learning to cast. Even with huge night crawlers and using a bobber, the fish weren't biting. They more or less have moved to deeper and shadier waters.
Just before we packed it up I noticed the bobber was missing. I told junior to reel in the slack and that there was a fish on. As soon as the bobber was at the dock (you couldn't see 14" thru the water) I noticed he was pulling in a small painted turtle. Luckily (for both myself and the turtle) he wasn't hooked well and let go just as we were about to pull him out of the water. My son was very disappointed.

Yet still he wanted more so we made one last quick stop at the Mill. Using crawlers we tried for more Sunfish and finally, he caught I think 3, all within a span of about 5 minutes. As he drifted off into boredom and put the rod down I took a few casts with a Senco and manage to hook up a couple of times and lost what looked like two small Bass.

XYZ Street - Hull

I picked up my uncle-in-law and an old high school friend at 5:45am and headed to the beach at XYZ Street. Conditions seemed perfect. 1/2 tide on the way out, and a nice day was expected. Not only that, people were catching Stripers everywhere. Myself and John used Mackerel Chunks and my friend used clams. Unfortunately after the sun came out, so did the waves. Small swells were rolling in and there was a lot of weed in the water causing the line to be weighed down and also move the bait around on the bottom. It proved to be a major pain that required re-casting every 15 or so minutes. Yet again, no bites, no fish.

Wachusett Reservoir - Clinton

It's been at least 4 or 5 years since I've been to Wachusett Reservoir, and with the day off for my son's first day of school I knew I could slide at least and hour or two in. I had my 3 yr old with me so fishing was tough and the terrain wasn't the best for a little one. I took my two favorite lures and climbed down the bank with my son. After a few casts I noticed that to the left and right as far as I could cast the water was only about 2 feet deep and just under the surface was weed. Keep in mind that it's almost 90 in the sun. Needless to say I continued to fish without a bite or sign of life. We headed home after about 15 minutes. It was a nice ride anyway.

Willis Lake - Sudbury

After much thought and the decline in local water levels (especially the Sudbury) Andy and myself decided to try Willis Lake. A place we both used to visit 10+ yrs ago. Willis is actually a wide open oval shaped lake that is roughly 6ft deep along the edges with little weed and 8-12 ft deep across the span. One thing everyone notices and comments on at Willis is the tannin. It's dramatic. I couldn't see my spinner bait until it was almost right nix to the boat. The visibility in the sun is only about a foot, 18" at best.
I stuck to the basics and ran both my willow blade and rainbow dressed Aglia all the way around the lake for 3 solid hours. Besides the 2 hits I landed 2 fish. Both large mouths (pictured). Both weighed in over 3lbs. The picture taken at dusk was just under 4lbs, both taken with the black/silver willow bladed spinner bait.
Andy also managed to land a couple of smaller Bass. Very slow action but it ended up paying off in the end.

Tannin Wiki: Tannin

Sudbury River - Sudbury

Again we met at the Sherman Bridge. This time we head up river and nitoce immeadiatly there is no vegitage floating by and the water is up nearly a foot. It was overcast all day and the temp was right at 73 or so. Perfect. I picked off a few Bass with the same Ranbow Aglia and a couple others with the lizard and I took acouple more with a salted worm. The worm is basically all Andy uses and it seems to do well for him. They are heavy and durable. Andy lost a nice one, close to 5lbs. She jumped right near the boat and his worm shot right out. He also laneded a decent Pickeral. -I forgot my camera the last few times we've been out.

Hull Gut - Hull, MA

Saturday morning - no kids. Wife and I drove to the Gut. She read and I took about 50 casts with the surf rod. I started out with some metal hardware. Specifically a heavy 3oz cast master. No hits. The crrent and wind were almost too much to fish. After a wlking the entire beach of the gut I snapped on my famious Nantuchet orage Ballistic MIssle. Again, no hits. I did notice a rather large (and dead) Sand Shark on the beach that the SeaGulls were picking at.

Sudbury River - Sudbury

Sherman bridge again. This time things are different. The water is extremely low and floating, rotting, vegitation is everywhere. In some cases mud islands with grass growing float by in the current. What's also different is the fishing. I did well. I caught maybe 8+, not exactly sure to honest. I caught 1/2 of them on my rainbow coloerd Aglia #5 and the others I caught on a lizard worm. Yes, a lizard worm. I've had a bag of them for 10 yearas and never even bothered with them. I also landed a decent Pickerel on a Lizard. Andy also did well.

Sudbury River - Sudbury

Andy and I met at the Sherman Bridge landing at 5pm. Again with the heat. This time we headed down River towards 117. As stubborn as I am, I stuck with a #5 Dressed Aglia (rainbow) and my willow blade spinner bait (which finally lost it's willow blade). I caught a couple of small Bass on the Spinner bait and one Bass on a top water Matzuka popper. The Mepps paid off. I caught a decent Bass and then this beauty (pictured). Finally a nice Bass. Andy also did well, I think he counted out almost 15 Bass, he biggest of the night is pictured. I also landed a small Crappie and believe it or not, I pulled in a small cat (pictured) using the #5. I should submit the picture to Mepps.

Mill Pond - Maynard

I took the two kids to the Mill to see if we could catch a few Sunfish. First off, every turn of the shovel revealed huge night crawlers in the compost pile. Much different from a few weeks ago when we could only find a few. Jr. caught I would say close to 10 Sunfish. All pretty small. The last one he pulled in had bright blue and green dots. Would have made a nice photo.

Mill Pond - Maynard

I stopped by the Mill Pond to take a few casts on my way to work (had to). I literally took 10 casts and got right back in my car. I used the same #1 Aglia. One tap on the last casts and that's it. Hot weather and warm water. I did notice a turtle lurking.

Sudbury River - Sudbury

I met Andy last night at the River and we launhed at the Sherman Bridge. We had one of the best nights fishing all year. At first I was hitting average sized Largemouths with a dressed #5 Mepps Aglia. I switched bake and forth from the Mepps, my large willow blade spinnerbait, and a green & white Matzuka Popper. The popper actually produced the most fish. Several Bass a couple of Crappie and a nice Pikerel. I caught one Bass at 2lb 10oz. Lots of action, we fished until dark, 8:45.

Buzzards Bay - Cape Cod

Myself, my brother and son set out to do a little trolling off of Pocasset in Buzzards Bay. We launched my fathers 12' Game Fisher equipped with a 5hp Nissan o/b in the Pocasset River opposite the Tahanto neighborhood. We trolled four or five hundred yards off shore and within the first 10 minutes I had a nice strike. I was using the same broken back blue Rapala. I ended up hooking a small Bluefish in the skull. It was a decent fight. My brother caught a similar sized fish. As he trolled out to slightly deeper water we realized tat we were in too small of a boat. We were getting soaked with waves nearly coming over the bow. With my 5yr old with me, we turned back to shore, we were all soaked. My brother an I both had other strikes that didn't produce any fish. The strike I had stripped nearly all the line off me reel (650ss).

Barlows Landing - Pocasset

I spent the afternoon with the kids catching minnows in our minnow trap, netting shrimp and small Eels in the tidal pools at Barlows Landing Beach. As a joke, I took my niece's miniature Barbie fishing rod (that I bought) and hooked a nice plump chub minnow on the hook. After casting it out and allowing it to sit for about 3 minutes I happened to glance over at the rod and noticed it nearly bent in half. I yelled for Jr to pick up the rod and reel it in. Before handing the rod to him I gave it a quick "yank" and felt a solid set. Pictured is the Scup Jr reeled in using a minnow we caught in the trap using a piece of Rye bread. Also pictured are a few minnows from the trap that the kids were playing with.

Barlows Landing - Pocasset

We launched my fathers 14' aluminum today at Barlows Landing and headed out to a small Ledge Maybe 2 miles from the boat launch. We fished the bottom in hopes of anything but Scup but that's all we ended up reeling in. I ended up landing a monster (pic) my father actually kept it. On the way back in we trolled. I clipped on a broken back Rapala with a steel leader. Just before we made it to the launch, I hooked into a nice Bluefish. I fought him all the way to the boat, once I got him to the side of the boat, I leaned over, grabbed the leader and pulled the fish out of the water and immediately noticed he was foul hooked in the gill plate. Once the fish was airborn, he flipped a couple of times, banged his head off the side of the boat and ended up back in the water. I counted it as a catch, my father and brother thought differently.

Pocasset River Bridge - Pocasset

Myself, my brother, and father went back to the bridge again for the high tide. Stripers were rising everywhere for minnows.Using worms, I ended up reeling in 2 small Sand Sharks and a 12" Flounder. My brother also caught a Sand Shark. We made all attempts to catch the jumping Bass with spinners and lures but no bites.

Pocasset River Bridge - Pocasset

Jr and I drove over to the Pocasset River bridge to see if we could pick up anything off of the bottom. We used see worms ($6 p/d) We/he ended up landing a small Perch (pic). I headed back to the bridge later that evening with my father to fish the incoming tide. Still using the same worms, I landed one Scup off of the Bottom, 2 small Sand Sharks, one small Eel, and a small "schoolie" Striper. Not bad for 40 minutes.

Sudbury River - Wayland

Andy and i met at 5pm at his house. For the first time we tried another location of the Sudbury River. We launched off of Pelham Island Rd (close to Heards). Right away, within about 5 minutes and close to the launch I landed a small Perch on my dressed Mepps #5. The at least an hour past and back to back Pickerels. Both similar in size. One had a nice lump in it's stomach appearing to have just ate something. Both on the Mepps #5.Andy caught a few Perch, I think a Pickerel, and this Bass (pic). One my last cast of the night, I lost my dressed Mepps. That Mepps alone landed 80% of my fish so far this year, including 4 Pike. Also attached was a nice light weight steel leader.

Hull Gut - Hull

I fished the shoreline of Hull Gut for a few minutes on Sunday morning. I was throwing a weighted eel (only 9"). I also ran a steel leader, in case of Blues. After about the 15th or so cast, my eel became entangled with a partially submerged lobster trap. I lost an entire cast worth of 17# test line, a new ball bearing swivel, a nice steel leader and my brand new orange weighted eel. 15 casts=$20.

Town Pier - Hull

I took Jr to the town pier on the 4th to see if we could catch something (anything) off the bottom. My father, uncle, and father-in-law tagged along and met us there. First off, there was barely a place to stand with all the crab "fisherman". I had one solid strike and nothing else for an hour.
Jr and my father-in-law didn't catch anything either. I did see one woman pull up a nice Skate. Used clams, the pier bait shop did no have any seaworms. The bait dealer actually microwaved the frozen clams thinking he was helping us but he actually cooked them and we were unable get the meat to stay on the hook. -skunked

Assabet River - Mill St Bridge - Maynard

On the way home I stopped briefly on the bridge to check out the water level. WAY down. Just a trickle. I could see a couple of pools but for the most part, 1' was the average.
I took a few casts with my Mepps and managed to pull up 2 small Dace and lost a couple others. They've headed for the deeper cooler pools which can't really be reached from the bridge. I did notice a very large Snapping Turtle swim close to the bridge to take a closer look at all the activity. He thought I couldn't see him but little did he know the water was 1' deep and I was looking right down on him. Big snapper, 35lbs? A mother duck and hatchings managed to swim by without him even noticing.

Mill Pond - Maynard

I took Jr. to the Mill Pond on Saturday to kill 20 minutes. We dug up 7 or 8 worms and headed down for a few casts. Right away the Sunfish were hitting. He pulled in 3 small Sunfish. He loves it. I didn't catch anything using a dressed Mepps #1 silver. No hits.
We did notice one oddity, just as we were ready to head out I noticed a small turtle right in front of us. I ran to the car to get my net. I laid down on my stomach right on the bank, extended my arm out and lowered in the net. As soon as I attempted to scoop the turtle he back peddled away. The strange thing is, I have no idea what type of turtle it was. It was a little bigger than a softball and had a long skinny protruding neck with a pointy head and long legs. It didn't look like any of the "regular" turtles we see. (painted, snapping, sun, etc...)

Heards Pond - Wayland

I met Andy at 5pm at Heards. Hot - at 5pm it was still in the high 80's and humid. Conditions seemed perfect. Right away I caught a Largemouth using the black willow blade spinnerbait.
Then, for nearly an hour no hits. The pond is very weedy. I kept throwing the willow blade and a dressed Mepps #5 the entire time. I caught maybe 8 Crappie and a couple of small White Perch on the #5! Andy also did well with the Crappie. He also landed a few small Bass.
As we fished the back side I threw my Mepps far into open water and received a massive strike. I pulled in this nice Pike (pic). A great battle against the drag (12# test)
Before the trip was out, I ended up landing a really nice Pickerel, my PB this year for sure. I actually thought it was another Northern until he got right to the boat.

Worlds End / Town Pier - Hull

I headed out in the boat to fish the incoming tide around Worlds End (solo). It was very windy. I trolled from Roackaway all the way to Sunset point. By the time I turned around the motor started to sputter. I packed it up and cruised home. I did manage to get one decent strike. Other than that, nothing else.
Later that morning (home by 8am) I took the wife and kids to the town pier to use up the rest of the seaworms on the bottom. I witnessed a 7 year old girl catch one of the largest Flounders I've ever seen and another guy catch a Bluefish, right from the dock.
I fished the bottom and only caught a crab. The minnows were stripping my bait on every drop. Depressing.

Mill Pond - Maynard

I took the kids by the Mill pond on Friday after dinner to test out some packaged minnows that my father gave me. (I normally have the kids use worms)
We used bobbers and the minnows. Not even a hit. I used a small Zarra spook and even a minnow on a bare hook. No signs of life.

Deep Sea - (out of) Gloucester MA

I tagged along on a private charter out of Gloucester (thanks to Cisco Systems).
We were on a 50' party style fishing boat. We motored out 20 miles to fish a ledge. Over a 2 hour ride just to get there. A the first stop I fished (and held on to) the bow. A majority of us fished clams on the bottom. We were using 16oz weights due to the fact that we were fishing at 230' of water. It was deep. I was shocked to see how much line went out on my first drop down. All I could think out about was how much of pull it was going to be pulling up the 1 pound weight from 230 feet below. Immediately, 2 small Cod were pulled in. We continued to fish for almost an hour (no hits) and we pulled up and moved. We moved maybe 4 times and ended up in 280' of water. I ended up catching a Cod (undersized - they must be 24") and one Sand Shark (Spiney Dogfish).
I don't have pictures of any because the mate walked right over, tore the fish off the hook and tossed it back in. When he unhooked the Dogfish he deliberately snapped it's neck.
At the end of the day there was only a few Haddock and a nice Wolffish in the bin.
After the 2 hour ride in, it was a long day and my legs were a little tired fighting the 2-4+seas.

Sudbury River - Lincoln

I may have had one of the work outings in some time. Andy and I met as we did last week at the Sudbury River Canoe launch at 5pm to fish Fairhaven Bay and surroundings. I literally went from 5:15 to almost 8pm without even a bite! As this skunking unfolded, Andy was upto 6 or 7 Largemouth using salted worms. I was throwing both my dressed Mepps 5 and my black/silver willow blade spinnerbait. In frustration I took a few casts with the salted worm and did get a few nice strikes. I actually lost what appeared to be a decent Bass. Finally, I catch a small Bass on the Mepps. Around this same tiem Andy lost a small Pike. Just at dusk around 8:30pm right in front of the canoe landing I caught this Bass (pic) using my Mepps. In the end, Andy caught 7 or 9 and one weight close to 3 lbs. No other species other than Largemouth Bass were caught.

Provincetown - Town Pier

On our way home from the Cape we stopped by the Provincetown town pier to see if anything was on the bottom. Right away I noticed the pied was lined with kids fishing and they were catching Flounder. I couldn't believe it. Everyone was catching fish. After stopping into the local bait shop (Nelsons) I picked up a bag of frozen Sand Eels (pic). I user a flounder spreader with 2 hooks. Right away I could feel something tapping on my hook. Whatever it was begin to strip my bait every time I lowered it down. It was deep too. Finally, I felt tap-tap-tap and then I just set the hook. I ended up foul hooking a Perch (Cunner). A nice one. No picture. Then about 10 minutes later I caught a small (what appeared to be) Pollock. Nice way to wrap up the weekend.

Asaabet River - Powder Mill Gate - Acton

I made a quick stop by the Powder Mill gate on my way home for a few casts. With my Mepps 1 still tied on from the last time out I took several casts and nothing was touching it on the flow side of the dam/waterfall. I moved over to the flow side of the gate and tied on a small green Zarra Spook and on the first cast into a stiff current a nice small fat largemouth attacked it. A touch reel up and across the current with 6# test. Then, a few more casts later I caught one a little bigger 1lb+ (pic). A nice fat (but short) Bass.

Assabet River - Mill St Bridge - Maynard

I stopped by the Mill St bridge on my way home tonight. I only had a few minutes, people waiting for me at home. I took 5 casts on one side and managed to pull up a small dace. I crossed the street and took an additional 10 casts and caught a similar fish. The water has fallen dramatically. Every cast something hit my lure. I threw a dressed Mepps #1 silver.

Sudbury River - Lincoln

Andy and I finally made plans to meet at the Sudbury River after work. The exact same place we use to meet and fish at 10+ yrs ago. We built a dolly system to wheel the boat down to the river, it seemed to work well. We fished up the river towards Rt2, thru Fairhaven Bay and maybe a 1/4 mile upriver past the bay. Fishing was pretty good. I ended up catching 2 Largemouth and 2 Pickerel. All decent size. The larger of the Bass is pictured. I only used a dressed Mepps #5 silver and a black and silver willow blade spinner bait.
Andy also did well. He caught a nice Yellow Perch, a couple of Bass and a nice Pike (pic).
We fished right up until about 8:30. Andy landed his Pike just before we called it quits.
I should also add that one of the wheels on the dolly snapped on the way back up the hill.
3/3 - we've caught Pike the last 3 times we've been fishing.

Heards Pond - Wayland

Andy and I went back to Heards Sunday morning. I only had a few hours to fish. I met him at 4:50am, loaded up the boat and we were in the water at Heards at roughly 5:20am. I piloted the boat, and at roughly 30 or so minutes in I landed a nice Northern (pic). We fished all the way around the pond and made one pass down and back through the center trolling. On the back side I caught a couple of small(er) Largemouth's and trolling I caught a few Crappie and a small Yellow Perch on an old Rebel that I've had in my box forever. Just after my Northern, Andy landed a solid 2+ lb Largemouth on a salted frog. I was home at 8:55am.

Heards Pond - Wayland

What a night at Heards. Of course the first thing I noticed when I got in the boat was I forgot my digital camera! As usual, for me, things started very slow and didn't look good. I fished for nearly an hour without a major strike. Behind me, Andy was catching fish and within the first 10 minutes he landed a Pike (pictured). This immediately depressed me but only made me try harder. There was no need to get creative or change anything other than my thinking. I went out with steel leaders ready to go. My original intent was to fish for Pike and anything else I caught would only be a bonus. Using 2 rods, I ran a large black and silver willow blade spinner bait on a spin combo and my other bait casting rod, I ran a Mepps 5 silver with a buck tail on a steel leader. I ended up catching 2 small Largemouth on the Spinnerbait. Andy on the other hand was making his was to catching everything in the pond. He caught about 10 Crappie, a Bass, White Perch, a couple of Yellow Perch and believe it or not, he caught a small catfish trolling a jig spinner. It was shocking.

Casting my Mepps over and over into open water away from shore finally paid off. With a long cast around 7:30pm I had a very strong strike. A Northern Pike! Finally, a decent fish (pictured). After a few quick photos with my Treo phone the fish was released and very lively. Sorry, no high-res digital pics. To make things even better, just as we were finishing up I landed a nice Pickerel. Nice enough to make me think I had another Northern on.

Asaabet River & Mill Pond - Maynard

Thursday was a long day. I had a lot planned with a day off. Drive to Hull, pickup my outboard, attend a pre-school graduation, go to the doctor and fish.
After returning from the southshore and before the graduation, I stopped by the Ben Smith Dam for a few casts. In only 2 days the water seemed to have dropped significantly. I was able to take roughly 20 casts landing 2 Fallfish (Dace).

After the Graduation I took Jr. to the Mill pond (after digging worms) and did out best at fishing high-noon and direct sunlight. The Sunfish were nowhere to be found. He did end up catching 2 small Sunfish but it actually took some time and effort. I landed one on a Mepps 0.

Assabet River - Mill St Bridge - Maynard

I made a quick stop over the Mill St bridge on my way home Tuesday night. I stopped, parked, took about 15 casts and landed 3 fish, all Fallfish (Dace). One was almost 12" and another had red coloring. The water is very high and moving quick. The Dace didn't seem to mind. As long as the spinner blade was moving in the current, they seemed to chase it and nip at it.

Town Pier - Hull

The entire family stopped by the town pier at the gut and fished seaworms on the bottom. Just for fun, we decided to use the worms I bought for trolling in hopes of a Skate or a Flounder. It was cold and I already knew that this was going to be a short trip. As soon as we lowered the worm down: tap-tap.....tap-tap-tap and up reels a small Sculpin. I wasn't exactly sure what it was at first. The kids loved looking at it. That's all we caught this weekend. See pic.

Worlds End - Hull

I took my wife out for some trolling at high tide. 1:30 high tide and hot & sunny. First off, I need a new tube eel. The tube I was using is simply too heavy for fishing 6-8' of water. I continually got hung up on the bottom. It was very frustrating to say the least. No other activity, no strikes.
Later in the day I took Jr to the town pier and used the Aqua-Vu underwater viewing system. It was amazing. Very clear. We saw starfish, crabs, school's of small fish, and I did happen to notice a large fish swim by in the distance, I couldn't make it out.

Assabet River - Mill St Bridge - Maynard

Myself, my father, and my 2 boys stopped by the Mill St Bridge to test out my new lowering sling. In an effort to test the sling I make several casts off the bridge using a Mepps#1 Silver Bucktail. In a very short time (10 minutes) I was able to pull up 3 Dace. If you cast far enough there is a small pool behind a rock that always holds fish. Lowering the fish down rather than dropping them off the bridge is actually fun for the kids. The only problem is the height of the wall on the street. It's very low and not a place for kids.
The last fish we pulled up was the largest. I let Jr. reel it in and lower it back down with the sling.
(pic)

Assabet River - Mill St Bridge - Maynard

In an attempt to change venues for quick fishing, I stopped at the Mill Street bridge to take a look. The news is good and bad. A high bridge with a swift current below with no ground access. I took about 15 or so casts and caught 3 Dace (Fallfish). One was a monster, see pic. The trouble with this spot is the height of the bridge. It's too high to drop fish back in to the water. I need to make a lowering sling to release the fish. The pic of the Dace is very similar to the one I caught earlier this month. A great fight w/ 6# test and a fight against the current.

Worlds End - Hull

I took my father out trolling for the 10am tide. Back to Worlds End. This time a light rain moved in. Neither of us seemed to care. I continued to use the spinner. My father used an un-weighted tube eel. It seemed to do the trick with a sea worm on the tube hook. He landed two nice undersized stripers. Frustrated, I changed to a eel, nothing. I kept hooking the bottom. I need an unweighted eel. Fishing in 5 feet of water simply does not work with a weighted lure. See Pic.

Mill Pond - Maynard

We had about an hour to kill so we took the kids down to the pond t show our casting and catching abilities to mother. Impressed to say the least. Jr. landed a small Largemouth and pile of Sunfish. The Bass managed to flip himself off the hook and roll down a hill right into the water before I could snap a picture. Fooling around I too caught a couple of sunfish. All with worms.

Worlds End - Hull

I woke Jr up at 6 and drove straight to Hull for the 8am tide. After arriving around 7:15, I managed to buy bait, install a rod holder, take off my motor and change the lower unit lube, all before 8am. We trolled the Hull side of Worlds End using a spinner trolling sea worms. I had one heavy strike and ended up landing a small schoolie. One strange thing to add, we noticed a Deer running full speed on the beach. I was able to snap off a picture. Water is still cold. See pics.

Assabet River - Ben Smith Dam - Maynard

I stopped yet again to the Ben Smith pool and took a bunch of casts. The water is still high but dropping. I maneuvered myself into one tight spot and managed to take a couple of casts and managed to land a nice Crappie using the same black and gold Rooster Tail. In another spot down river 10 yards I landed a small Dace. On my way out I stopped p tot he dammed side of the river and took an additional 10 or so casts. No hits. I noticed a lot of fish rising for mayflies and other nuisance bugs.

Delaney Project Pond - Stow

I met Andy at the Delaney Project Pond in Stow last night.
Conditions looked perfect. We fished the far right and backside with the Coleman Crawdad. The pond is already very weedy. Lilly Pads and other aquatic vegetation has started to choke the pond. That didn't stop the Pickerel. I went nearly a solid hour without a strike. Any landed 4 Pickerel, one really nice one and a few Largemouth. I caught 2 Pickerel and 2 Bass. I fished 2 rods, one willow blade spinner bait on a bait casting rod and a salted rubber frog on my spinning rod. Andy ran similar gear. I was the pilot.

Mill Pond - Maynard

Last night before dinner we visited the Mill Pond again. This time we stopped behind our neighbors house and pulled up a few nice night crawlers out of a compost pile for the trip. In a matter of 20 minutes, Jr. landed 6 Sunfish and a nice Yellow Perch. One of the Sunfish was a monster. I probably should have kept it and registered it for him with the state. No doubt a state pin fish. Both the Sunfish and Perch are pictured. I took a few casts with a black/gold Rooster Tail, few hits, no fish.