dorfonfishing

I really haven't been able to fish as much as I like since we bought the house on the Charles River last May. I've spent too much time dedicated to home renovations and yard work. That's all done now and 2014 is shaping up to be the "Summer of Fishing".

The Mrs. and I received two new kayaks for the wedding in December and I've been looking for a chance to pop my "kayak fishing" cherry. With my wife out of town for a girls weekend I thought Memorial Day would be the perfect opportunity.

I launched the yak behind the house a little later than I normally would have, around 10am. I started upstream towards the South Natick dam pitching a black/blue flake worm. Only about 20 minutes in, I land my first bass. Only about 1lb. I continue to work back down the river with the same set up catching another dink and a pick. Then the rain starts coming down. There was no thunder or lightening so I decided to stay out on the water a little more and was rewarded as such.

20 minutes later I get a big knock on my line. I set the hook and the fish books it upstream. He puts up a good fight but I'm finally able to lip 'em. I didn't have my scale on me but I would guess is around 3.5lbs. I've included a few picks so you all can be the judge.

Now the rain is still coming down as I move to the other side of the river. Only about 10 minutes later I get a huge hit. This one felt even bigger than the previous. I set the hook and it immediately goes for cover. Unfortunately he got stuck on some hidden structure and I'm unable to get the right leverage in the kayak to free him. A few minutes of trying to get the line free and it snaps. I'm pissed because he felt bigger than the guy I landed but I'm happy to have caught my biggest fish in a kayak. It's definitely going to take some time to get used to. It's a lot different than fishing out of my jon boat. Especially trying to take a selfie of you and your catch.

It's starts raining even harder so I decide to head back up river towards home. All and all a pretty positive first experience in the kayak.

Sam and I decided to try out a new honey hole last Saturday. We were on the water by 6am. It was a hot one so we decided to pound the pads with the frog. 20 minutes in Sam had a huge blowup on the frog in open water but couldn't land it. This fish was huge but we weren't sure if it was a bass or a pick. He proceeded to boat 3-4 decent size bass including a 4lber.

After a slow early afternoon we decided to move to deeper water. We found a nice little drop off and started throwing deep dive crank baits. I still hadn't caught a fish all day. Sam hits on one. A few minutes later I land a monster only to have it break off a few feet from the boat. We don't give up though. I finally get a 2-2 1/2 lber in the boat. Sam pulls in a 5lber and finally I land a slob, my personal best at 6lbs. It's the fish in my profile pic. We finally get off the water around 5pm, boating about 10 fish including a 4, 5 and 6. Not a bad day.

So I took the jon boat out on Lake Waban yesterday as I was dying to try out my brand new 55lb thrust trolling motor. We were on the water at around 7:30 and ready to go.

We started working some jigs around the stone wall on the east side of the lake with no luck. We continued over to the cove on the East side and that's where things started to heat up. I moved to a shallow diving crank bait and with the 3rd cast, boom 2lb lmb. So my buddy ties one on too and catches that little dink for his first fish of the day. My next fish was my best of the season. I couldn't find my scale but my estimation is close to 4lbs. We stayed in there for about an hour and a half picking up nine fish total, 5 bass and 4 pickeral.

I decided to move to the South cove just to mix it up. It's pretty weedy already but no lillys yet. First cast and boom, nice 2 1/2lber. We stayed there for about an hour catching a few more fish.

I started crawling back towards the boat launch hitting the other coves. At one point I hook a monster pickeral. Again no scale but he was at least 4 1/2 lbs. He put up a great fight diving under the boat. I hooked him real deep and couldn't get the treble out so I had clip the hook off. I couldn't get the right angle so I completely ruined the bait I had been catching fish on all day.

I tie on a deep diving baby bass crank bait and pick up two more bass in the 2lb range. All in all we caught 19 fish, 11 bass and 8 picks. It was a very productive outing.

I caught this one Saturday morning at the Woerd Ave Culvert in Waltham. I went out to grab coffee for my girlfriend and figured she wouldn't mind if I wet my line a bit in the process. I was only out there for about 45 minutes but was able to nab this little guy just in time to make it home before the coffee got cold.

I was down the Cape for Labor Day weekend and decided to try a spot up the road from my cottage that I had got skunked at earlier this summer. I had heard there were bass, trout and even salmon in there. I got there about 6:30am on a beautiful late summer morning. It's times like these that make me love fishing. I tie on the in line spinner give it a cast. 3rd cast and knock, knock, bite. 1lb Larry. 4-5 casts later and boom, another one about 1.5lb. I stayed there for about another 30 minutes before I decided to move up to Long Pond where I was skunked. I wish I had just stayed at Flax Pond for longer. Still, I was rewarded for waking up early.

Stopped by the dam again tonight for a half hour before dinner and nailed this nice looking smallie. I tossed a black/blue flake senko Texas rigged along the shadows and caught him on about my tenth cast. This bugger faught harder than any fish I've caught on the Charles all summer. As soon as I set the hook he darted straight up stream then zigzaged back through the shallows. Took a nice bite of my thumb when I went to lip him. He was about 18 inches and my guess is 3 1/2 lbs Very satisfying little fishing reprieve.

The bad news was my girlfriend and I had to dog sit for her parents and sister's dogs. The good news is they live on Kingsbury Pond in Medfield and have a canoe.

I started out yesterday at about 8:30am. I began by working a jig in and around the pads, nothing. I moved to a 5" watermelon senko and still not even a bite. Finally I tied on this Purple Flash Popper I had just picked up at Bass Pro Shops for $2.99. Third cast and boom, nice little 1.5 lb. I moved to the other side of the pond by the Grist Mill to work the edge of the shadows and picked up two more around 1.5lb. Right before heading in at around 10:30, I grabbed one a little bigger that gave up a nice little fight.

This morning I launched the canoe at about 7:15am and fished until about 9am. Using the Purple Flash Popper with a quick retrieval, I got another 4 fish with the biggest one being a solid 2lbs. No lunkers but I did land 8 quality bass in about 4 hours of fishing over the two days. Definitely my best trip of the summer. I think I'm going to have to invest in a canoe really soon.

I hit the Norumbega Conservation Land at the end of Islington Rd. in Auburndale. I got there around 9am and hooked this 1lber around 10am. The east side of the river is good even late morning before the Sun creeps up over the trees.