2024 Fishing Thread

[Mountain]

Caught my limit of decent size rainbows at Walden Pond today. They all put up a solid fight with several jumps out of the water. Took some concentration to keep them hooked and a couple tossed the hook once they were in the net. Walden- who knew? Seemed kinda funny to drive out of the country towards Boston to fish, but damn that's some pristine water! Not as pretty as when fresh caught, but here's one of them getting ready to be eaten. Vintage Solingen knife a gift from a forum member. I have a couple bigger very similar knives from my Dad and Gramps.

 

[pupchow]

First trip out. Local res is closed due to some debris that the rangers aren't qualified to clean up, so I took the kayak to a state park. A handful of dink pickerel and a couple of undernourished largemouth were landed. My attempt to locate crappie failed. I did pull some pickerel from 8-10' down, which was odd. On the way back, a monster-sized tom crossed the road in front of me, a couple of miles from home. I chose poorly today. but the weather was pleasant and there was only a small crowd on the water.

 

[ChevyGuy91]

2 weeks ago a buddy and I did a 12 hour trip on the Yellowbird out of Hampton and had a blast. Caught a lot Haddock and Acadian Redfish to keep and threw back countless shorts and Pollock and Cod.

 

[bruins2015]

Any recommendations for 6 pack saltwater charter captain in MA?

 

[blindndead]

I tried my best to catch something last weekend anything! but all I did was waste $4 on nightcrawlers..

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I tried my best to catch something last weekend anything! but all I did was waste $4 on nightcrawlers..

At least you got out and got some fresh air. If you don’t have any stop and pick up some power bait in bright colors like rainbow, chartreuse, or neon green and give that a whirl.

I’m hoping to hit Quabbin the end of the week.

 

[blindndead]

At least you got out and got some fresh air. If you don’t have any stop and pick up some power bait in bright colors like rainbow, chartreuse, or neon green and give that a whirl.

I’m hoping to hit Quabbin the end of the week.

Yea! Cool I see it in the shops but never tried it. Thanks for the tip Ill give it a try.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

Yea! Cool I see it in the shops but never tried it. Thanks for the tip Ill give it a try.

It floats so it will float off the bottom making it easier for fish to find.

 

[pupchow]

Going to give this contraption a try. Because no matter what I do, there's always some line twist when I spool spinning reels myself.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

Going to give this contraption a try. Because no matter what I do, there's always some line twist when I spool spinning reels myself.

Meh…. That’s what pencils and toes are for.

 

[MassPete]

Spent $1600.00 gearing up for fly fishing this year. This is my first trout on a fly rod. Expensive little fvcker, isn't he.... Now I see why this sport is so addictive. For the 1 hour I spent out there, I didn't think of anything else except fishing. It's therapy...

 

[Mountain]

After the next 199 you catch, that little fvcker only cost you $8. Pretty cheap entertainment these days.

You're in a very nice part of the country for trout fishing. Mass does a nice job for stocking and many habitats are nice enough that you get some big holdover fish. May hook a few this afternoon. Kinda hoping I catch a brook trout, which were recently stocked where I'm going. I've never caught a brookie bigger than a sardine, which is what I caught in the Smokies.

@MassPete What rod & reel did you end up with?

 

[Obie1]

Finally made it to the Quabbin. That place is getting more and more crowded (thanks Internet). Four and a half and four and a quarter smallies, the second was caught on a lure invented by Fred Arbogast in 1938. This particular bait has been in my tacklebox for at least 20 years. When the fish are pressured, sometimes you have to use things no one else is.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

I need to get out there before the water warms up and the salmon go down deeper.

 

[MassPete]

I got the Sage 590-4 Foundation setup… I knew nothing. The guys I work with that have experience with fly fishing enjoyed watching me spend money.. very happy with it so far. I wanted to get something nice that I can pass down to the kids and grandkids.

 

[MassPete]

I bought the rest of my gear at Stone River Outfitters up in New Hampshire. Wanted to patronize the local guys.

 

[Mountain]

Finally made it to the Quabbin. That place is getting more and more crowded (thanks Internet). Four and a half and four and a quarter smallies, the second was caught on a lure invented by Fred Arbogast in 1938. This particular bait has been in my tacklebox for at least 20 years. When the fish are pressured, sometimes you have to use things no one else is.
View attachment 878564
View attachment 878563

I have some vintage Jitterbugs. Maybe some new ones too. Great lure for bass. Those are some nice smallies.

 

[Mountain]

Oh, dupe by a day. @Admin or a mod- combine w/ the first one?

 

[Mountain]

I got the Sage 590-4 Foundation setup… I knew nothing. The guys I work with that have experience with fly fishing enjoyed watching me spend money.. very happy with it so far. I wanted to get something nice that I can pass down to the kids and grandkids.

You really can't go wrong with a Sage rod. Actually my first fly rod was a sage package and damn- that was ~40 years ago! That rod is still in my regular rotation and I'm bringing it as a spare today.

 

[Obie1]

You really can't go wrong with a Sage rod. Actually my first fly rod was a sage package and damn- that was ~40 years ago! That rod is still in my regular rotation and I'm bringing it as a spare today.

My good friend and one-time roommate was the Northeast rep for Sage so I have a few. Great rods and they age well. Sadly my friend died of cancer last fall.

 

[Mountain]

My good friend and one-time roommate was the Northeast rep for Sage so I have a few. Great rods and they age well. Sadly my friend died of cancer last fall.

What a great job that must have been! Bit of a dream job for many.

My old Sage ended up being the lead rod today. Brought a TFO with a zonker tied on and the Sage with a wooly bugger, both on fast sinking lines. The wooly bugger was the hot fly for rainbows and we caught our limit plus a few released. Didn't keep any of the other fish but we caught about a half dozen perch, 10 decent size pan fish, and somewhere over 30 crappie, maybe close to 40! The weather was crap but the fishing was insane.

 

[peterk123]

I got the Sage 590-4 Foundation setup… I knew nothing. The guys I work with that have experience with fly fishing enjoyed watching me spend money.. very happy with it so far. I wanted to get something nice that I can pass down to the kids and grandkids.

Nice setup. All the big guys are putting out good rods these days. My main rod is a 6wt orvis Clearwater. Cost me 200 bucks new. Great rod. And I beat the shit out of it. I'm sure it sees 100 days user per year.

As you get the itch for another rod and you truly want to kick the fun factor to the next level, go on Amazon and pick up a 50 dollar 2wt maxcatch fiberglass rod. A ten inch fish will give you the fight of a lifetime. It's what I use in the mountain creeks. I prefer that over a 20 inch rainbow on the river all day long.

Fly fishing is a heck of a lot of fun. And you don't need to spend a lot of money. But the higher end stuff is awful nice.

Wait until you start tying flies. It's like reloading.

 

[Obie1]

What a great job that must have been! Bit of a dream job for many.

My old Sage ended up being the lead rod today. Brought a TFO with a zonker tied on and the Sage with a wooly bugger, both on fast sinking lines. The wooly bugger was the hot fly for rainbows and we caught our limit plus a few released. Didn't keep any of the orher fish but we caught about a half dozen perch, 10 decent size pan fish, and somewhere over 30 crappie, maybe close to 40! The weather was crap but the fishing was insane.

He loved the job. He knew every tackle shop from Mass to Maine, NH, and VT. He gave fly fishing lessons and got to fish all over the region. He drove over 50k miles a year and you couldn't find a person who had a bad word to say about him. The only thing he hated was manning the booth at the annual fishing show in Suffern NY. Once I thought 68 was old; now that I'm there I see things differently.

 

[Dennis in MA]

SIL was out in his kayak under the Braga Bridge in FR this AM. Bagged several stripers. Brought home one keeper. It was a feeding frenzy. He was texting us from the water - my office is just up hte hill so I could sometimes see him fishing. After about 15 min, he started catching fish. Like LOTS of them. One after the other. He was on the water at 9 and off by 10:30 or 11. I have no idea why there and why that time/day. He had it planned out based on some stuff. He almost didn't go last night and he would have just come into work but I reminded him it was on the calendar so off he went.

 

[millbilly]

Made it out this morning to a local pond. Everything against me, mid morning, casting into strong wind, sun at my back. But was able to land one rainbow on a wordens yellow spinner. I'm just waiting on my new, first, fly rod to arrive.