Report; 7/30/17

Since our catch ratio has decreased, we tried to shift over to a new body of water. Same reservoir - the Quabbin - but at the north end. There is a little pond, across the main access road, from the main body, which has produced some decent crappie for us in years past. Some over the 2 lb. mark.

But it's been years since we fished it. Wish I could tell you we were successful, but I cannot. We never got the chance to fish it! The "launch" per say (if you want to call it that), is very shallow with a soft bottom. Could not get Walt's boat off the trailer. I tried my best. This old body just isn't what it use to be! So we gave up.

Not to be put off from fishing, we shifted over to the main body on that end of the reservoir. A very productive area for early season lakers and smallmouths. But yet unexplored by us - for crappie. We hit a lot of water today. Drifted and cast from 8 am until 1 pm when we pulled off. All we had to show for our efforts was one small bluegill and one small perch. Now here's a picture of a "real" fisherman:

Attachment 271278

Loons need to eat fish. A lot of fish. So, we checked out the areas they were frequenting. Guess they knew what we were up to, because wherever they were, there were no fish! We did find plenty of bait, which was mainly small, first of the year, yellow perch:

Attachment 271279

Yep, that's solid yellow perch. I know, because I caught one! But no fish were frequenting the many bait balls we marked today. Just not sure what's going on with this reservoir, but with all the time and effort we have been putting into it as of late, there is little to glimmer us a decent ROI (Return on Investment for you less manufacturing orientated folks).

We tried 1/16 & 1/8 oz. heads with a variety of plastics; straight tails, curly tails, paddle tails and grenades (Shhhhhh!). We didn't actually drop grenades. But heaven help the poor fishies if I had one on board today!

A fine day overall to be out on the water. I think I've got enough tanning for 2017....time for some fish! Here's what the day looked like:

Attachment 271282

You just couldn't ask for a prettier day. I believe our failure to connect is due to the lack of experience we have in this section of the reservoir. This lake is HUGE. At least 10 miles long by about 3 miles wide. With islands, shoals, channels and ditches everywhere. Not sure if we want to spend a lot of time on the main body, but we have a desperate need to connect with some decent crappie - and soon! Will keep you posted. :)

[QUOTE=Crestliner08;3462341]

beautiful scenery. i bet they some good eating gritters in them hills too.

Do you guys have a topo map of the reservoir? That might help narrow your search for other, more productive areas you can reach easily?

We have detailed maps of the entire lake. It's a matter of investing the time in trying to narrow down the likely spots to fish. As there are no obvious brush piles to target, we have to just eliminate water, piece by piece. Which is what we did on Sunday. Unfortunately, the water we eliminated was not very productive - to say the least! :)