Fishing at the Class Reunion

May 2011-NH

A Very Slow Start

Fishing yet another overcast day in the 50's yielded yet another zero.  Fired frogs, flukes, and worms on Sr's pond and nothing but a pickerel to speak of.  Gotta break sometime soon...

(from phone)

First Fish of 2011

2011 is off to a slow start. After pitching a 6 man super skunk in what was supposed to be the FWD Classic, a full 8 hrs of fishing in rain and overcast skies on Long Pond produced nothing. Then, during a 10 minute temporary tease of sunlight I landed three fish in rapid succession - a crappie (aka. calico bass), perch, and large mouth. The crappie was caught on a baby bass jerked around on a 2# Gamakatsu EWG and the other two on a green super fluke fished with a huge 5# hook. So the Crappy's first catch was, quite appropriately, a crappie. Seems that the fish are dying for this spring to actually start too.

I'm digging these rubber fluke baits worked slow and paused, like a perch would behave. Just ordered another round and plan to run a yellow marker along the sides of a few. Also rigged a small octopus hook (also called a finesse wide gap) to about an inch of line connected to the larger 5# hook after getting balled at and nibbled a bunch. Might try a weighted swim bait hook to drop it down some.

I'm thinking that this weekend marks the start of the real season with Saturday and Sunday set to deliver at least a little sun and >60 degrees. Will work some local ponds and expect Tommy to check in with a win or two from the southland.

Probably most impressive are the instant messages from newest member to the FWD team, BL claiming to be scouting some shore fishing spots. I'll post pictures of his new boat shortly after he tries shore fishing.

The Spring Classic That Wasn't

The temperature outside was a balmy mid-60's. Unfortunately, with a water temperature of 48 degrees there was no love to be had from the fishes. Three boats and six men took to the water with high expectations on Fri morning. By lunch time Saturday they had boated one 4" perch, two fresh water clams, and the skirt of a dead hooker. That officially ended all fishing activities and possibly any interest in the sport for the two rookies.

Down but not out, the organizers of the 2011 Spring Classic have changed time, location, and format to rebound from the disaster caused by Tommy's sperm. This year's Classic will be re-held on Father's Day on Long Pond. The tournament will necessary be shrunk to two shifts. All other details to be determined...

2011 Fishing With Dummies Spring Classic Line Up

The Preview

It's that time of year again. Time to shake off the cobwebs of a miserable New England winter on one of the most challenging testing grounds in bass fishing - an early spring cold water kettle lake before the spawn. Last year's event was an unprecedented success resulting in the first ever, FWD Classic Champion, The Dumbest. His Saturday performance featured two fish totaling > 10 lbs. His Sunday performance kept his team in the money all weekend. His fall into the lake kept everyone laughing.

This year's Classic will be different in so many ways. Last year's rookies Tommy & Senior are a year wiser. The fleet will see a 100% increase in gas motors with the Worm now joined by the Crappy. The catch total will jump from top 3 fish to top 5. As importantly, 2011 will see a 33% increase in the number of competitors and, due to Tommy's inconsiderate sperm, a month earlier start date. And who are these new competitors? Little is known of these two greenhorns whose combined on-lake hours rival Tommy's total catch in last year's classic.

The Rules

There will be a pre-fish on Fri morning with the first official leg of the tourney starting Fri afternoon. The second leg will begin Saturday at 8:30 and end at an agreed upon lunch hour. Saturday afternoon begins the "no senko" round where all competitors must expand beyond this staple bait. Finally, the last leg runs from Sun morning to lunch.

Categories

Friday Night Round

$20/Man - $120 Prize Pool

Random Teams

Single Biggest Fish - $40

Top 5 Fish, Team - $80

Saturday Morning Round

$20/Man - $120 Prize Pool

Random Teams

Single Biggest Fish - $40

Top 5 Fish, Team - $80

Saturday Afternoon Round

$20/Man - $120 Prize Pool

Random Teams

Single Biggest Fish - $40

Top 5 Fish, Team - $80

No Senko Round

Sunday Morning Round

Every man for himself, but pull randomly for teams on boats?

$10/Man - $60 to the biggest single fish or 3 fish sack?

Overall Prizes

Biggest Fish of the Weekend

$10/Man - $60 to the biggest single fish

Smallest Fish of the Weekend

Picture taken and used for next year’s logo.

Falling into the Lake

One year disqualification from tourney, or a whiskey shot

There will be three boats on the water: The Game Changer, the Worm, and the Crappy. Two have motors. Due to technical constraints, the boat breakdown is going to have to be negotiated further.

The Teams

Drawn at random from http://www.random.org/sequences/?min=1&max=6&col=1&format=html&rnd=new . I chose the last day's line ups and the boat configs to keep things rotating.

Friday:

Tommy & Lanny (Crappy)

Jr. & Dumb (Worm)

Tos & Sr (GC)

Saturday I:

Sr. & Jr. (Worm)

Lanny & Acky (GC)

Tos & Tommy (Crappy)

Saturday II:

Tos & Acky (Worm)

Jr & Lanny (GC)

Tommy & Sr (Crappy)

Sunday:

Tommy & Acky (Crappy)

Jr & Tos (Worm)

Lanny & Sr (GC)

Let the games begin

Car-Top / Canoe Fishing Ponds in Massachusetts

It's painful trying to find lakes that allow motor boats in Massachusetts. It seems like every search dead ends with either a no-motor regulation or a half-assed site trying to see something but offering nothing useful in return. In the process, I stumbled into the Mass Wildlife Pond Maps website which is a nice resource for scouting expeditions in the trolling motor-powered Game Changer.

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pond_maps_nd.htm

Gas Motor Friendly Bass Ponds and Lakes of Massachusetts

I can feel the pull of a new boat purchase getting stronger. And since there are no new bass boats posted on Craigslist's Boston, North Shore, South Shore, Lower New Hampshire, Maine, or Connecticut sites that I haven't already scouted, it's time to make a list of boat-accessible bodies of water in the great state of Massachusetts. For now, this will serve solely as a reference to raw materials but that may evolve over time.

Criteria for this list is must be within an hour (more of less) of FWD headquarters which is just north of Boston and must be motor friendly.

Assawompset Pond

Located less than two miles from FWD Team Member Tommy, The AssWomp and it's neighbor Long Pond are two of the largest and supposedly best fisheries in MA. We shall see.

is.

View Larger Map

Hamilton Reservoir

The Hammy is way to far from home to even be listed here. However it just happens to be on the way to Uncle Soeren's house. Suppose we're headed down there and I just happen to have a boat in tow and gear on board...

View Larger Map

Lake Chaubunagungamaug,

Beyond it's very entertaining name, this place is on the list because the terrain looks phenomenal and it too is on the way to Uncle Soereno's house.

View Larger Map

Lake Cochituate,

Finally, a lake within easy striking distance for the North Shore contingent of the FWD team. Plus it looks like different parts of the lake are accessible by boat. Need to do a bit more homework on this one but could be a gem.

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Long Pond,

(See Assawompset)

Norton Reservoir,

Can't find anything that confirms Norton is motor friendly but it's close enough to Tommy to include. Plus that island in the middle looks interesting.

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Quabbin Reservoir,

Awesome. Can't wait to hit this one. Should be an awesome place to run the new fish finder's down and side imaging.

View Larger Map

South Watuppa Pond,

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Wachusett Reservoir

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And a nice boat ramp directory website:

http://www.nesportsman.com/ma/boat_ramps/Boat%20Ramp%20Directory.shtml

Review of the 2011 ASA's Bass Academy

A quick glance at last year's pattern of posts to Fishing With Dummies reveals that both the fishing and posting cooled as the water warmed. Rather than accept a 3 month season three members of the FWD team ventured out to Worcester to spend $50 of our hard earned money on the ASA's (whatever that is) Bass Fishing Academy.

Here's how it went down: 5 sessions were offered over 5+ hours of Friday afternoon. The $50 buys you a weekend pass to the fishing expo. The speakers were a mix of local pros and apparently national figures. Probably about 50% useful tips, 30% war stories, 10% gratuitous product plugging, 10% people asking stupid questions in hopes of either inflating their heros' egos or getting free stuff tossed to them.

Broken down by speaker:

Gene "The Machine" Ellison - Clearly an experienced teacher. Ran a great show and I probably took 2 pages of notes during his talk. He walked a fine line between a very useful tutorial on sonar and Humminbird infomercial. Either way, it worked. I learned a ton from him and I look forward to buying electronics worth more than the Worm. Plus, he's from Sommerville MA.

Zell Rowland - I'm new to the sport but it was cool to meet a legend. He's sort of a cross between Tommy Lee Jones & Ron Burgandy ("I'm kind of a big deal"). I would have preferred more tips on fishing, particularly his specialty which I gather is top water. Ends the talk with three pretty cool Zell tricks. Not sure if it would be rude to share them after The Machine asked us nicely not to spread the content around on the internet.

Danny Correira - The networks are missing out on this guy. After watching dozens of fishing shows filmed down south and trying to apply it here, I have a real appreciation for local knowledge. Plus he's just way out there. He's the pot brownie opposite of Charlie Moore's 8 ball act. It was probably not a bad thing having The Machine steer him from time to time and asking good follow up questions. His point about green plastics, yellow swim baits, cranks in NE lakes all makes sense. Definitely buying at least 1 of everything he showed (except swim baits). Would love to fish with that guy.

Mark Zona - Zona's the Animal House Bluto of the fishing world. He basically took the guitar out of Danny's hands and smashed it into both walls before giving the Pearl Harbor speech about flipping tubes. Unfortunately, in 1 hour I took three notes. Clearly some people were there to meet the stars and connect with them personally and I can appreciate that. But as a student attending an "academy" I would have preferred more content. Tommy didn't see it that way. Said he was feeling it was all technical before Zona and his talk was a nice jolt to the seminar.

Steve and Joe Lucarelli -My favorite session and these guys aren't even on the bill. Local knowledge, straight shooting father son combo. The fact that I have had some (my only) success with the senko makes me eager to try the drop shot methods they showed. Videos were great too. One criticism; they started their session by offering a pack of $8 yamasenkos to whoever asked a question. It opened the flood gates and led to a somewhat disjoint session but still dotted with great tips.

Not sure if I'll do it again but it was well worth the trip. My 2011 shopping list was very much influenced by the day and I look forward to reporting back on the lessons learned.

2011 Pre-Season Shopping List

Plastics

• (2) 5/16th jig head w Strike King Coffee green tube
• (2) Bitsy jig, green, size?
• (3) 5" green senks

Top water

• (1) propeller bait
• (2) spinner baits, 7/8th oz., yellow w #8 colorado blade
• Spinnerbait - all chartreuse (skirt and blade) and chartreuse and white
  (skirt and blade) double willow leaf 3/8 or 1/2 oz.
• (2) small treble hooks for spinner bait trailer
• Bomber Long A color gold
• Crankbait - Storm Original Wiggle Wart color code 37
• 
  

Deeper water

• 65 lbs test braided w 10lbs fluorocarbon lead (rethinking this)
• (4) drop shot weights (size?)
• "o" rings for wacky rig (for drop shots)
• Berkley minnows, split tail (for drop shots)

Electronics

Big questions here. Spend the money to rig the worm? New boat? Which electronics?

Tommy's TV Fishing Show Review, 2011

There are a number of other fishing shows that cover the whole country and fishing for a variety of species. I find catching one of those once in a while are good as well. I have not seen Zona's show or anything else on the Outdoor Channel. Everything I watch is on Versus and ESPN.

Basspros - I like it - very geared towards education. A little product salesy.

Big Bass Challenge - 4 guys at different levels on the same lake in a one day contest. Entertaining and somewhat educational.

FLW Outdoors - follows the flw tour events. Not geared towards eduction, but if you watch to learn, you will.

Bassmaster - follows the B.A.S.S. tour. same as above.

Hook N Look - I find the host to be annoying, but this might be the most educational. They fish half the show and dive the other half. When they dive you get insight into where bass congregate, what your line looks like under water, what your presentation looks like, etc.

City Limits - this is Mike Iacanelli. He's a little nuts for my taste and I don't find the show that educational, but it can be entertaining.

Angling Edge - not sure on this one, but I think I liked it.

Charlier Moore - 2 thumbs down

Roland Martin, Hank Parker, Bill Dance - they each have a show and I really don't like any of them. Mostly infomercials

Bass to Billfish - not educational, and really not that entertaining either other than a hot chick from time to time

Surviving the Winter with Bass Academy 2011

There's 3+ ft of dirty snow in Boston and I've got 3 Bass Pro Shop catalogs and $100 in gift certificates burning a hole in my pocket. But before burning through $100 in 5" green yamasenkos and red hooks, I'm investing in my education. This year's off season starts with the realization that I've come as far as I can with youtube videos, books, and binoculars aimed at the nicest looking bass boats on the Bow. Time to get some tutelage starting with Bass Academy - 4 hours of lecture from pros, local and otherwise in lovely Worcester MA. Fellow members of the FWD team have enlisted as fellow classmates with two things in common: 1) we're not very good at fishing anything but senks in the spring and 2) we will not be sharing a nugget of knowledge with Brian who has opted to skip the event and freeload off our newly acquired smarts.

The event:

http://www.sportshows.com/bassacademyma/index.html

Will let you know if this is worth while or the equivalent of paying $50 and 6 hours for more useless youtube advice from fishermen making their money in the lakes of Georgia, Florida, and Cali.

Holidays are Over - Time to Start Planning the Attack

How else does one survive a New England winter than to start planning the Spring run? I've managed a walk along the shores of the Bow and with the water level down 7', a few new nooks and crannies have been marked. Early planning has begin for the FWD Spring Classic (looks like April 30, May 1) and the Bass Pro Shop catalog has arrived just in time for me to start burning through my Christmas gift cards.

The preseason enthusiasm is tempered by one unfortunate fact. Despite last year's FWD record catches, we are still painfully limited to success with one and only one presentation - the 5" green yamasenko. And while that produced in the spring, as soon as the water neared 80, the fish clammed up. So this year begins like last year with research into alternative approaches. But now it's time to move beyond the youtube videos and articles.

To increase the likelihood of success, Dummy and I have begun researching local guides and I've started studying jerk baits. There's even talk of 1 half of 1 day of the Classic featuring a "no worms" clause. More to follow.