Report; 8/9/19

[Crestliner08]

We hit the Quabbin again today, launching around 7:45 am. Air was 60 degrees with the water at 80. Nice breeze to start out with which really got us psyched up. But it didn't last. The breeze all but died by 10 am. This is what our day started out like:



We've dealt with two days of severe thunderstorms and power outages, so a day like this was filled with hope. On the trip up there we passed a couple of large flocks of wild turkey, with their quickly growing offspring. No deer on this trip, but we get to see a couple of eagles. I took this picture even though I couldn't see the eagle through the camera finder. I knew he was there and sure enough....



Not a great shot, but you do what you can.

We marked fish and bait throughout the main basin area. Not marking any large schools of crappie (or bait), but sufficient numbers to keep our spirits up. Here's a typical screen shot:



We side pulled jigs all morning using the trolling motor on the starboard gunnel. Moving along at a pretty good clip too. Pink/chartreuse/blue/white in various combinations of those colors on 1/16 & 1/8 oz. ball heads did the trick. Slider grubs and straight tails were the most productive styles. Even my old tried & true "gray ghost" horse head spin caught it's share today.

Walter definitely had and maintained the "hot rod" today. When we pulled off at 12:45 pm after lunch, we had caught & released 81 fish; 8 bluegill, 1 lonely white perch and the rest our target species, the crappie. A good day side pulling two rods each with multiple doubles and a grand finale of a "quad" with 4 crappie at the same time. Great fun!

Anyway, here are some samples of the fish we landed:











No really outstanding specimens, but more than enough to make for a very interesting day, with a fine fishing partner. Hopefully we'll do a repeat within the next few days. Hope some of you had an opportunity to wet a line today - or any day! God Bless America!