Well, don't expect any secret to be revealed here, nope, cannot do it, cause there is none to share! Luck is my secret, and sometimes it does things pretty well for you.

We went at Gate 31 last Saturday and Don suggested we fish our spots in reverse order from what we usually do. So we started from the channel that goes off on the left of the launching area where I caught a nice amount of largemouth last year around the same time. And the funny thing is, if you look at the pictures, you will see the same type of weather, cool and overcast.

I switched quickly from the usual plastic worm to my early-season best catching lure: the lizard! That river has a lot of grass at its bottom, so I thought that would work probably better. We fished down the river, the wind blowing down the boat at a pretty nice pace. It did not take long to catch the first largemouth, letting the lizard come down from the edge into the river. And voila:

This one was 3.8lb:

Then another one, 3.2lb:

and Then Don came back strong with first, a smallmouth of 1.8lb:

and he added another 3 pounder largemouth to our catch list for the day:

I have to say, i was super happy, we had a really good day, it feels good catching nice fish, and after the end of the Summer I had when we did not catch a single decent fish for weeks, this feels more like the normal routine :-)

We have (well I do) only have 2 more week ends of fishing, I hope we can catch as many nice fish as we did last week, that'd be a great ending for this 2007 fishing season!

Go fishing with Don!

Oh boy, what the Hell is up with me lately. Not able to land one simple decent fish in weeks, it hurts I tell you.

Last week end, we made it back to gate 43 at Quabbin. There is only a few weeks left at Quabbin since it closes late October, and on top of it, I won't be able to be in the middle of Quabbin without any signal on my cell phone starting the next 2-3 weeks as the baby birth is getting real close now. We'll probably go to Quaboag this week end and then Gate 31 next week end, then I need to stay close from home or I am a dead man :-)

Saturday was not such of a good day. Cold and rain in the morning for like 3-4 hours...oh yeah, you gotta love fishing to be out there in this type of weather, no kidding.

But as always, Don pulled it off. Don't expect any picture of me, I caught 2 fish I think, and really it would have been a waste taking pictures of it. I missed quite a few, but until it's in the boat, it does not count right?

So here it is:

This one is a 1.9lb smallmouth:

Then a smaller largemouth:

Then he caught this 2.2lb largemouth:

and finally this beautiful 3.1lb largemouth near "The Spot":

I previously said, Don took his long time friend Dennis fishing a few weeks this Summer and in September when I could not make it. Dennis caught quite a few nice fish, from what I heard, because if I am solely relying on the picture Don took, I am not really sure how big Dennis's fish were!!! :-)

This one was a over 3lb largemouth bass - Dennis' largest catch ever (right?):

To me, that counts as half the size since that's all we can see! hehe.

Dennis, I feel your disappointment, i've been there, Don's got big fingers and can't see well, so he's got a tough time to take the shot....HAHAHAHAAH, JUST KIDDING DON!!!

Dennis, if you have pictures, feel free to get me some of the pictures you took so I can post it on the blog...as long as they are not pictures Don took cause we need to see the fish :-) WOW, shot #2 Don!

Alright guys, off to get some work done, thanks for reading!

Saturday should have been a lucky day, 777 (July 07 2007), but it wasn't, really. Well, I should not complain, as many guys fishing on week ends would probably want to catch the nice smallmouth we caught this week end.

We went to Gate 31 for the first time this year and worked some of the spots we know pretty well. We did not catch anything on the main drop off area, so we decided to move on the other end to fish more drop offs. On the way, we hit (seriously, the prop did hit!) a shallow sandy area...after checking on the engine, Don suggested we tried fishing around it, with crazy drop offs of 30+ feet around it, it looked like a great spot.

It did not take long for Don to successfully back up his suggestion! A nice 2.8lb smallmouth bass, and we got a video:

We kept working on the area and I landed another smallmouth, 2.2lb:

Weeks go by and I am getting my A$#@# kicked by Don! Another week, another beat up.

First let's acknowledge something: I have changed. Last year I would have literally exploded if I missed a fish...this year, it takes like 3 or 4 nice misses for my blood to boil! Part of it is, I don't really care, I am a happy camper cause i-gonna-be-a-daddy-soon, so other stuff don't matter (even people driving at 29mph in a 30mph zone...)! And that's the truth. I am really excited.

But I gotta give a round of applause to Don, because Mr. Don knows how to catch fish and it proves it week after week! If my count is right, Don caught 6 or 7 fish and over 10 pounds total last Saturday! That's pretty damn good.

Here is a video of one of the nice smallmouth he caught:

I think Don caught 4 largemouth first, all keepers, and then 2 really nice smallmouth within 10-15 mn interval. I miss my first smallie of the season before Don had caught any smallmouth, but that freaken fish jumped out of the water like a whale and the hook did not get set correctly..bummer I tell you.

Here is a picture of the second smallmouth Don caught - a really nice fish:

Well, it's the time of the year. The weather is getting better, the temperature is rising nicely, we get the Spring fever, gotta get out of the house...it's time to go fishing! Don and I had a pretty heavy Winter project, rebuilding the Don's barn...it only took us all Winter long :) but we made it. Well, I just helped, I am no handy guy but I can help "you can do that, nail that, paint that..." I like helping out when i can.

Anyway. Don got the boat checked out, everything was ok, so we decided to make our first trip out of the season. When it's so early in the season, I do not expect much from a fishing day. I hope to catch fish, yes, but I don't expect catching any good size fish. I am not a slow retrieve fishing person, I have a tough time with it, so since the fish are in slow-action-mode right now (until water temperature raises to the 65-70 degrees), I know I was not going to have a great day.

For our opening day, we went to Quabbin this year, actually the pond located at Gate 43, not the main water. Saturday was a beautiful day, a bit chilly in the morning because of the 10mph wind, but it got up in the 70's in the afternoon. As soon as left the boat ramp, Don and I talked about what to expect for the day and we both agreed: "no bass, but pickerels!"...

Let's reach our favorite spots! Full speed!!

Don decided to go with a top water 6 inc long crankbait, and I, as usual early in the season, started with my watermelon plastic lizard.

Within the first 5mn, Don had already caught the first pickerel of the season.

We really fished one area in particular that day, but we did not find any bass. We ended up with around 20 pickerels, all of the same size or close, some gave better fights than others, so it was a great day to get the feeling back for casting and striking.

...and only largemouth! I won't complain at all, neither will Don. What started as the worst day, ended up with the nice catch of several good size largemouth bass.

Gate 31 and Smallies

Gate 31 at Quabbin is most known for the smallmouth fishing. We caught quite a few smallies all over the place, and we still have so many areas to discover. The rocky structure and numerous drop offs all over the place offer a paradise for smallmouth bass. Yesterday was a first, unexpected I'd say...

Guess what...the weatherman got it wrong AGAIN!

The weather forecast from Friday night announced a shower or two passing by Quabbin on Saturday. If you read this blog, you know we can deal with showers, we did all year long! Good rain gear and motivation are the only things you need! Lucky us, we got both. So we decided to meet around 9:30AM, take our time, since we had planning to go out only 2 times more, better try to enjoy the day.

After 15mn on my way to meet Don, rain started to fall down..."hmm, that is probably the shower or 2 they talked about...", well no. 45mn into my trip, rain is still coming down and at one point, it's pouring down like a very bad thunderstorm. By the time I meet Don, it is still raining. We still give it a go (of course we're at Gate 31!) but as soon as we get on the water, the "good luck" from fellow anglers on their way back to the dock is a sign that this is going to be tough on the water!

If you do not believe me, check out this weather radar report for yesterday...I could not get it for the morning, this only covers this afternoon when it did not really rain much...still, blue is 1/2 inch of rain...imagine in the morning!

After a hour and a half of fishing and not a bite, we are ready to give up: rain is pouring down on us, literally, the wind gusts pick the cool up from the top of the water, we are drifting at 5mph, we are basically freezing our butts off...We finally reached an area where we can relax for 1/2 hour before leaving....and the unexpected started!

Largemouth, largemouth and...largemouth!

I had one of the best days of my fishing career honestly. Here is what happened: the area we were taking a break in had lots of weed at the bottom, a major split area with a lot of bait fish, and nice dropoffs around 15' to 19' deep...so we joked about it being the perfect spot for largemouth bass. Using a senko (after trying several crankbaits and spinnerbaits), I started to cover the main part of the area (the deepest) and after several casts, I was getting hits. Nothing huge, small guys playing and pulling on the senko. But finally something took my worm and stretched my line out:

1st Largemouth 2.3lb

I then caught another largemouth around 1.5lb and a smaller one...Don did not get a chance to catch any, but he was getting lots of hits. The wind started to push us down towards the dock which was good because time was running...and time was also running for Don to catch something! My lucky day kept getting better: I ended up catching a nicer largemouth:

2nd Largemouth 2.4lb

And then another 1.5lb...And, of course, another nice largemouth one right after that one!

2nd Largemouth 1.8lb

What about Don?

You could wonder what Don was waiting for...yes Don, what were you waiting for!? HAHAHAHAH. Seriously, Don was not taking any nap (this time ;-)), but he was working a lot harder than I was, first because he had to handle the boat all day long and yesterday was Hell), but also because he was trying to catch ONE bass!! The dock was getting close and pressure started building up on him to catch something...well, OF COURSE, Don finally did!

Look at that smile! Don is a Happy Camper!

Wrapping up the day

Don ended up catching largemouth one after the other! We ended up with around 10 catch I believe, most the catch happened within a 2 to 3 hours timeframe. We had at least 6 or 7 keepers and that makes us really happy! Finally a good day...and thank God for the rain gear!

This week end, we went back to Gate 43 on Quabbin. I was sick last week end, so Don went on his own to Gate 31 and did not really catch anything. To be honest, after the past few weeks, we were not expecting much...but since Quabbin is closing soon, we have fish the gates at least once more each...

Late start....9:30AM meeting

Well, since the weatherman AGAIN expected some possible early showers (when you listen to these guys it's like it's going to rain all morning long), we decide to wait, just call each other early in the morning and see how things go from there. So we ended up meeting at the Gate 43 around 9:30AM, which actually made our morning really relaxing.

Fish where ya know the fish is!

We directly went to our usual #1 spot near the little dam. Only after 1/2 hour of fishing, Don caught 2 bass in a row, around 1.5lb each, both on Senko...is the day going to be like that? Not a bad start at all, so yeah, we were starting to feel like it could turn out to be a great fishing day...finally!

First Smallmouth

Second Smallmouth

The magic spot (I can't tell....)

There is one spot we know we always catch fish from...and big ones, largemouth bass usually. They feed off an old river 20 feet down and every time we get there, we catch them. Last year, Don caught 2 BIG bass in a row, I believe 2 casts apart from each other, and these bass were monsters. I think I might have a picture somewhere, I'll post it when I find it.

I also cannot precisely disclose the location of the secret spot for specific reasons, which I won't get into...but Don knows why ;-)

I threw my green with black seed senko at the spot and after 2 casts, BING! a nice 1.5lb largemouth...I guess he did hit the right spot...Don follows up with a nice 2.3lb of which I made a video (while trying to find the fishing net...I knew i'd get yelled at if I did not grab it quickly ;-) )

Basically we caught these 2 nice largemouth with 4 casts in 5mn of being on the Golden spot...damn birds ;-)

Wrap up a nice day

We cannot complain, it was a very good day, the weather was beautiful, we caught 5 really nice fish, and I have a really funny picture of Don! Come on Don, you've got to agree, this is a hilarious picture!!

Second Smallmouth

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Today wasn't a day to spend outside, we probably went through 20 showers and basically spent the day in our rain gears. Gate 31 was a first for me, Don went the previous week already where he caught 3 nice smallmouth bass within a few hours (and he broke my smallmouth record of the year!) so we decided to give it a shot for a full day.

Gate 31 is located of route 122, it is really easy to access coming from East (route 202) or West (route 202 or route 122).

There are some great dropoffs, an average of 20 to 30 feet deep which is perfect to fish for smallmouth bass. Here are 2 spots we tried:

...but the wind really picked up and showers came over to say hi as Don can prove on that picture!

Yep, the weather really turned for the worse...

We did not get lucky really, we caught around 8 smallies, all on Senkos. Here is a video of Don catching one of them:

We also missed 3 nice fish: one could have been a largemouth bass that Don alsmost caught in shallows waters (real clear waters, around 4'-5' deep), the 2 other ones were smallmouth.

The largest smallie for the day broke my line when I got it near the boat...well, I thought I could grab him like pro anglers do...BIG MISTAKE! Don offered the net, I said no, and I paid the price! That fish could have been a smallmouth record breaker for me so far this year!! Ouch!

Quabbin is such a gorgeous place, take your kid(s) on a boat (rentals available), and go enjoy a nice day on Quabbin! There is a lot to watch like these cool duckies (does anyone know what these are?? Leave a comment if you do, thanks!):

Wrapping up the day...

We did not have a great day, but still good some luck. I want to go back at Gate 31 when the sun is really out, the bass probably move for closer from shore (since they were not here today!!) and we should have a great fishing day...I guess we'll figure this out really soon ;-)

We're on! Don beat my record for the largest smallmouth of the year!

Don went fishing on Monday (Memorial Day) to Quabbin Gate 31, great area for smallmouth bass. Don told me that he missed a few smallies but accomplished to beat my smallmouth record so far this year: a 2.8lbs Smallmouth! And he was not lying, we've got the picture!!

Back to the Quabbin reservoir this week...we could have gone fishing somewhere else (Quaboag river) but it seems that fishing isn't that good so far this year, maybe because of the weather we've got so far in May, lots of rain. I drove by the river via Route 148 in the morning and the water is really high for the season, so that could be it, the bass are still in deepest part of the river and have not yet moved up. Well, hopefully within the next few weeks we can try going over there, with higher temperatures and the water warming up, the fish should start becoming a lot more active and aggressive...we have some great memories of fishing the river, we caught lots of nice bass at Quaboag in the past few years and our largest pickerels.

7:00AM: we meet again...and on time!

I reached Gate 43 right at 7:00AM, so Don, I don't want to hear anything! I was NOT late! These damn state patrollers have the tendency to slow me down on the Mass Pike...I have nothing against them, they do their job, it's just that I think the 65 speed limit on the highway in 2006 is ridiculous...OK, I'll stop there.

7:30AM: we're on the way...but what's going with the engine today!?

As you already know, the engine has been causing Don a few headaches...well, we are not sure if this the reason why, but maybe because we had a lot of humidity in the air this month (it rained 6 days in a row, and not small showers, hurricane style showers!) but the engine was dying on me every time I would put it on neutral...really odd. When running full speed, we had no problem, but it would not idle properly....God knows what really happened. Don is going to put some dry gas in it and we'll see how next week goes. I'll write an update about it.

7:45Am: Windy Morning...what the Hell!

Ok, I am not crazy about rain showers, but worse is the wind! Plus when you are the one managing the throlling engine, it stinks big time! The weather was beautiful, but we knew this was not going to last with that powerful wind pushing heavy clouds to our direction....

Actually it did not rain, but I wish it did, because the fishing was horrible! We did hit the 2 or 3 sections we are usually lucky with and we did not catch one single fish until probably late-morning...And these smallies were nothing to be excited about.

10:45AM: Time for a strategy meeting...

Don suggested that we move up to a spot we actually never fished, because every time we would get there it is always crowded. I was totally okay movin' away from the dam (ie:damn hehe) area and try to reach more tree or island cover because the wind was killing us.

11:00AM: Let's move on!

Wonder how it looks like when we go full speed (okay, 20 miles per hour top!) on Quabbin?? Don looks really concentrated, doesn't he? Well, you actually have to, shallow waters run at you within seconds and if you don't pay attention, well, you'll probably leave a propeller behind for sure!

11:15AM: Where we Never Fished...

As expected, we were not the only ones (AGAIN!) trying to fish the area. There were two boats, one was actually moving out slowly, but the other seemed not ready to move yet! The guys were really smart, as you probably figure out when looking at the picture below (check out the video also), there is a pretty intense stream of water coming down and the bass are probably hunting outside of the active zone, just waiting for baits to come by...and these guys were right on the spot!

We patiently waited for a 1/2 hour before they left. We really wanted to cast our baits within the same area, not really caring about its surroundings...and that was a big mistake!

11:50AM: First nice Smallmouth Bass for Don!

I cannot believe we did not take a picture of that smallmouth, it was probably around 1.75lb, really a nice fish that Don caught on the left side area (see the picture below) using a plastic worm...you cannot go wrong using plastic worms all season long!

So the guys finally left and we got the chance to fish on that magical spot. We caught one or two bass, and missed quite a few as well, we could not hooked them up correctly, but, it appeared that the bass were right there as expected, feeding on anything that came by them, only plastic. Interesting thing: we did not get ONE hit on spinnerbaits.

12:30PM: Time for lunch

We took our lunch break (thanks Brenda for the awesome sandwitches, as always!!) and one boat came by. Since we are nice guys, we moved out from the hot spot and stayed outside to let others get in and get a chance to fish it...

1:20PM: Big Rocks can hide Big Bass!

So, the boat was finally leaving the area and we decided to get back to fishing...Don spotted a shallow water area near the big rock (see the photo above?)...and wahoo, we got the adrenaline back in our bodies!!

A 3.8lb largemouth bass, so far the largest of the season! And believe or not, but Don kept casting right back on the area for almost one hour, missed another BIG one and caught 2 smaller ones...Big rocks DO hide big fish!

2:25PM: Where is my luck today..."Don, What About a Last Cast?"

I am not complaining, I had caught a few bass so far that day, but missed quite a few in a row and nice ones...i was able to get them close from the boat, nice keepers, but they would fight hard and get away. Don and I decided we had a lot of fun and it was time to call it a day...But I decided to through my lizard in the the water one last time, and BOOM! Big hit, lots of pressure, but a miss...Damn it, what the Hell today!? Reeled back in, and throw again in the same area...and BOOM! Again, that time, he is hooked, and giving me a great figh! A nice smallie, 2.7lb which will make my day! That smallmouth was waiting for baits to go by. You cannot really see it on the picture below, but its stomach was ready to pop! And it gives me a count for the largest smallie so far this year!

2:30pm: Largest Small & Large mouth Bass so far!

Not a bad day at all...I guess there was no need to wake up at 5:20AM, because we did not catch any fish until late morning...that gives me an idea...

Let's Go Fishing at Quabbin!

For the first time to the 2006 season, Don and I went fishing to Quabbin. If you are not from the area, the Quabbin Reservoir is one of the largest man-made public water supplies in the United States (412 billion gallon of water!!) and is the source of drinking water for over 2 million people. Click on the following link if you want to learn more about the quabbin reservoir history.

This is a beautiful place, as you can see ;-)

Meeting at 8AM...well, 3mn late ;-)

We decided to meet around 8am on Saturday morning at gate 43, which is the gate we most often go to. From that gate, you can fish the reservoir or you also have the option of launching your boat into the Pottapaug Pond which has some great largemouth fishing (we plan on going in the next few weeks, so I'll post something about it).

Gate 43 was quite busy, probably 10 to 15 boats already in the water by the time we got to the parking lot. There is a "fishing" fee at Quabbin: $2.00/person + $4.00/vehicle.

If you do not own boat, you can rent one half day or for a full day: Full day: (Boat & Motor) $30.00 + $4.00/vehicle = $34.00 Half day: (Boat & Motor) $10.00 + $4.00/vehicle = $14.00 This is really a good deal to take your kids, family or buddies out for fishing.

8:30AM - Launching the boat...

We launched the boat really quickly, we probably deserve a Master of Sciences in "Boat Launching"...and the engine started without any problem. So here we are, leaving the boat launch area, cruisin' on Quabbin:

We weather was gorgeous, but chilly and breezy. I advise anyone: if the local weather man announces a 10mph wind (or more) and a outdoor temperature of ~40 degrees, wear some Winter clothing! The wind carries the cold and humidity from the water and it ends up feeling like 30 degrees or less on the boat! Damn cold!

9AM - It's Time for the Fishing Strategy of the the Day!

Don and I usually fish specific areas from Gate 43, where we've been lucky in the past. Early in the season, we want to hit places we know well, it's difficult enough to catch any fish in early Spring, so go where you know the fish is! Later on in the season, we try exploring new areas.

We ran first using silver spinnerbaits and tiger crankbaits. We knew we had to go deep and reel back really slowly. After the first hour, even though we had not caught any fish, we saw a few following our baits back to the boat which made us realize that we were using the right lures, but these smallies were not ready to attack.

10 AM - Too windy...I Hate fighting the Wind ;-)

The wind was blowing a lot so we decided to move up from the dam area and cruise down alongside drop offs, the wind carrying us down.

We had the pleasure to see 2 bald eagles: one of the eagles seemed to be sitting the nest and the other one was a few trees away:

This was quite a beautiful wild scenery...

11:15AM - Here we go! First Smallmouth of the Year!

This year, Don is really on fire, I have to admit this. First time fishing at the Swift River, and Don caught the first three trouts of the season, now at Quabbin, he catches the first smallmouth bass. What's left for me?! I guess the 1st largemouth, Pike, Pickerel, Walleye, Salmon or Laker...hmmm...wait a mn and read below, this one will get off my list really soon! Anyway, kuddos Don, you did it, first smallmouth for you (around 1.25 pound):

12:30AM - Lunch time

The wind stopped blowing us around...that's actually really odd but common for the Quabbin reservoir: the wind usually blows all morning long and then stops by Noon time. The wind also switches directions like crazy...try figuring this one out ;-) So we did not think twice, as hungry as we were, it was time to eat and try to get back to fishing quickly to enjoy the rest of the day.

1:15PM - A few hits and finally I catch my fish of the season!

FINALLY! YES, F-I-N-A-L-L-Y!. We reached another dam area, with depth around 30 to 40 feet deep. So, while Don was napping ;-), I switched from a spinnerbait to a 6" pumpkin lizard on a Gamakatsu Jobee Pro Hook, let the line go deep and wait for some action. That smallie was not big, probably not even a pound, but it felt good catching a fish on my new rod and reel. I also caught another one later on, around the same size, nothing to get excited about.

Fishing on Plastic Worms for...Lakers??

Since the plastic lizard seemed working for me, Don decided to go back to the "old goodies": a 6" long Watermelon Yamamoto Senko...and there it is: we did not expect the following to happen:

Yep, a LAKER! 22 inches long, probably 4 or 5 pounds, a "monster" (I know, you can probably hear me saying it 10 times, I got excited, sorry!) caught on a "plastic worm"...well, go figure this one out as well! In the past few years of fishing, we heard stories from guys catching lakers jigging a plastic worm, but to be honest, I thought there were myths! Well, Don did it AND took away another fish of my list! Thanks Don, I REALLY appreciate it...hehe ;-)

2:50pm - Let's Call it Quit with 3 Smallmouth Bass and One Laker

Not bad at all for the first day at Quabbin. Honestly, I was not expecting much (from myself for sure), but we did pretty well, better off than the previous years on the first day out on the reservoir. A total of 3 smallies and a laker (BTW - Don missed a big fish, could have a been a salmon for what I know!), and a few sunburns ;-)