PowderBeard

Yup, and only tow vehicles, trailers, and boats with Mass registration. A lot of guys in NH and CT are not happy. When I can steal a neighbor's for the day I'll let you know.

Tough day out there today. Thought we would smoke them as the water is in the upper 50s, clouds, no wind. I went through a whole bag of jig trailers since every hookset would send a 1/4oz or 3/8oz back at my face and a single claw missing. Just wouldn't eat it. Ended up with 8-10 largemouth (nothing over 2 lbs,) on the finesse worm or 3.5" swimbait and about 30 slime darts.

Wow. Quabbin temps are still in the upper 40s, most smaller areas are in the low-mid 50s. Similar to last year around here, first wave of smallies did not start bedding up until the first week of June but beds were present for weeks prior. Cooler mornings just kept pushing them back down.

Mom thought it was pretty funny as did the rest of the family. I could not get a picture of me with it for size so had to improvise. She is almost 9 months old for reference and about 18 pounds. Conservative guess was the bass is 8.5-9 lbs. I compared my measurements of it to a friend who just got a certified 9-2 largemouth (his was 22" long and had a girth of 19") and he insists its >10 but I don't think so.

Got a giant out of the Quabbin on Wednesday. Was the baby's first largemouth experience.

Hit Lake Warner in Hatfield yesterday since the Oxbow is closed. Pretty awesome looking water. One whole shore was a river channel 5-8' deep with trees down. The opposite was 2-3' lily pad fields. Found some pretty cool old foundations and stone walls with the sidescan unit. Eight largemouth but nothing over 2.5 pounds (all came on the jig), a handful of pickerel on the swimbait, and even a 16" rainbow on the damn Ned rig. The first warm day brings out all the stupidity. Dozens of folks out in canoes or kayaks, no care for social distancing around the boat ramp or that Mass requires life jackets until May 1 given cold water temps. At one point I'm fishing a jig 20' from shore and two yakers (who have hundreds of feet to go behind me) tried to cut between the boat and shore.

Nice! This was a few weeks ago. 16" cast iron for reference. Biggest rainbow yet so far.

Yea it is a bummer. I got burnt out tournament fishing, was doing 30+ a year at one point. Really enjoyed fishing the Bassmaster Weekend Series years ago but it was a grind (12-14 hour days on the water, hours prepping, zero sleep, driving for hours). I might get back into it again.

I accidentally catch them bass fishing. I've probably caught over a couple dozen rainbows and browns this year. Had a 4 pound brown last week. All of them have either come on lipless cranks or blade baits yo-yoed. So if fishing in a lake with sparse cover and salad over 8' I let the bait drop to the bottom, snap it up and let it fall back down, almost all the way to the boat. I hate seafood and fish. I'm the same way. Second date with my now wife I choked sushi down thinking I was going to puke each time. I throw everything back but my wife and some other family members love it so I keep trout and salmon I find. I did try lake trout last year and it was actually pretty damn good. No fishy taste, just like the best chicken you've ever eaten.

Lots more time to fish during the quarantine. Still lots of rumors and rumblings about the Quabbin opening so I've been hitting some new waters. Amazing the number of trout stocked this year in Massachusetts. Been our 5-6 times thus far and more trout than bass, and that is not on purpose.