Post by srhacksaw on Jul 29, 2021 16:36:34 GMT -5
I've been trying out increasingly distant but local waters, and spent a morning on Gale Meadows Pond. I got here late morning as a few bass fishermen were leaving and kayakers, canoeists, and floaters were entering. The fishermen had mixed luck. I knew it wasn't an ideal time to start, but any time really is a good excuse to get on new waters and enjoy the day.
While I think bass are the main target for for people there, I was secretly hoping for big pickerel. I thought it would be a possibility to catch a MA size one, as at least one has come from there before.
It's a deceptively large pond. The put-in is small and narrow, and only by rowing a fair ways does it open out into a sort of Tee shape. I headed to the left section for no particular reason. It shallowed up quite a bit, and there was a beaver dam at that end. There was so much floating weed in that area that I figured I'd just try a weightless senko type worm rigged weedless. Of course that also works on bass, but a faster retrieve seems to irritate pickerel, too in my experience.
First cast near a stump something hit, not too big. I failed to hook, but the retrieved worm had some tooth marks, so I figured I was on the right track. Some more casts and I finally tangled in brush on the shoreline. I pulled my boat in by the line to unhook, but the branch let go before I got there. Worm was mangled up so I put on a new one, and rowed back out to another section.
This spot had a clear patch of surface between heavy floating weed. I shot the bait in there this time I let it sink to the bottom before retrieving. And then I felt a really heavy strike. Not like a bass just sucked it up. Definitely a heavy fish strike. But the line went slack almost immediately. When I reeled in the reason was obvious. The senko was cut in half as if with a razor blade. Uhhhhh..also not a bass.
After that I spent the late morning exploring, catching small bass of 1-2 pounds, and a number of mostly hammer handle pickerel. Nothing very big, and nothing like that first strike. The day got hot, and I finally got tired of rowing and made ready to go home. Pulled the boat, set it on the racks, tied it down.
The trip was a success, just the beauty of the place, the unusual shape of the pond, the newness of it, new water. And a moment of excitement when something powerful and unknown hits, and recedes back into the imagination. Another monster of the deep.
While I think bass are the main target for for people there, I was secretly hoping for big pickerel. I thought it would be a possibility to catch a MA size one, as at least one has come from there before.
It's a deceptively large pond. The put-in is small and narrow, and only by rowing a fair ways does it open out into a sort of Tee shape. I headed to the left section for no particular reason. It shallowed up quite a bit, and there was a beaver dam at that end. There was so much floating weed in that area that I figured I'd just try a weightless senko type worm rigged weedless. Of course that also works on bass, but a faster retrieve seems to irritate pickerel, too in my experience.
First cast near a stump something hit, not too big. I failed to hook, but the retrieved worm had some tooth marks, so I figured I was on the right track. Some more casts and I finally tangled in brush on the shoreline. I pulled my boat in by the line to unhook, but the branch let go before I got there. Worm was mangled up so I put on a new one, and rowed back out to another section.
This spot had a clear patch of surface between heavy floating weed. I shot the bait in there this time I let it sink to the bottom before retrieving. And then I felt a really heavy strike. Not like a bass just sucked it up. Definitely a heavy fish strike. But the line went slack almost immediately. When I reeled in the reason was obvious. The senko was cut in half as if with a razor blade. Uhhhhh..also not a bass.
After that I spent the late morning exploring, catching small bass of 1-2 pounds, and a number of mostly hammer handle pickerel. Nothing very big, and nothing like that first strike. The day got hot, and I finally got tired of rowing and made ready to go home. Pulled the boat, set it on the racks, tied it down.
The trip was a success, just the beauty of the place, the unusual shape of the pond, the newness of it, new water. And a moment of excitement when something powerful and unknown hits, and recedes back into the imagination. Another monster of the deep.
. I think the Meadows gets more fishing pressure than it may have in the past, but it's a gnarly place for bass to live and grow. The milfoil presence make it all the more so. It's a beautiful place. Check out Lowell Lake in Londonderry 
another beauty.