New Ice Fishing Bait Spotlight

We have added a spotlight for a NEW Ice Fishing Lure out for this coming ice season from CLAM PRO TACKLE.

 

Built using a similar design concept as last year’s Bomb Spoon, the new Time Bomb adds an elusive sound that fish know well. The clicking, ticking sound of prey moving along bottom. The underwater world is full of chirps and ticking sounds, but nobody has been able to replicate the ‘bottom click’ better than this. Time Bomb is a fast-dropping bait with an amazing array of attractions. Tiger-bar pattern in six color schemes. Swarovski gem eye. Glowing epoxy treble. The deal-sealer is the brass element and how it clicks against the other components. It took a lot of tinkering, but was worth it. Tick, tick, tick. When will your Time Bomb go off?

 

New Fishing Product Spotlight at BWS OutDoors

Fishing Report September 19 2014 Massachusetts

 

Conditions: Sunny skies, 45 degree start to 65 degree air temperatures, 66-70 degree water temperatures, moderate winds and best bait – dropshot a 4 inch BearPaws Shad

 This is to be my 5^th day in a row on the water and decided to head back to the same lake that I was on day one as I needed to redeem my trip from yesterday. I started the morning fishing shallow shorelines by casting weightless plastic shad bait right onto shore and twitching it back to the boat through the emergent grasses. The waters had definitely cooled in these backwaters of this lake and after a while of fishing here, definitely could tell that the fish that were here before, have vacated the area for deeper and warmer waters.

The half of the lake that I started in is basically only 3-4 feet deep and the whole basin is cooling off fast so figured to spend the rest of the day fishing the other half of the lake that is deep with a lot of bottom contour irregularities.

The main lake had been dredged many years ago and the plan was to do the whole lake but issues arose and only half was completed. This has changed this lake from being a swampy sewer infested city lake to a lake that only some anglers know that it holds some very nice fish in it. I know a lot of people that have grown up around this lake and now when I show them pictures of the fish that are being caught; there are a lot of shocked faces that goes along with it.

 

Continue reading this report: Fishing Reports at BWS OutDoors

 

 

Massachusett’s November Tide Charts added

We have added the November Tide Charts for Massachusetts to our Tide Chart’s page on our website BackWoods Sportsman OutDoors.

MA November Tide Charts at BWS OutDoors

New Hampshire’s Atlantic Herring Days Out Meeting October 3, 2014

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Section will hold a meeting on October 3, 2014, at 9:00 a.m., to review landing effort and discuss ‘days out’ measures for 2014 commercial herring harvesters. The meeting will be held via conference call.
The 2014 Area 1A allowable catch for Trimester 3, October 1 to December 31, was set at 8,142 metric tons.

NH OutDoor News at BWS OutDoors

Connecticut’s Annual Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp Artistic Competition Begins

Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is once again encouraging artists to enter their waterfowl artwork in the annual Migratory Bird Conservation (Duck) Stamp Art Contest. The winning entry will be featured on the 2016 Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp. The inaugural contest in 2012 was won by wildlife artist Richard Clifton, whose depiction of three wood ducks appeared on the 2013 Connecticut Duck Stamp. The 2013 contest was won by John Brennan, whose depiction of hooded mergansers graced the 2014 Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp. Last year’s contest was won by Guy Crittenden with his depiction of northern shovelers.

CT OutDoor News at BWS OutDoors

Fishing Report September 18 2014 New Hampshire

Conditions: Sunny skies, air temperatures 50-65 degrees, water temperatures 65-70 degrees, little wind to start with a stiff wind by days end and best bait: 4 inch French fry style plastic worm

I wanted to make a trip to a Southern New Hampshire lake but the one I wanted to fish has a long idle ride down a river to get to the main lake and my time wouldn’t allow for fishing there. So I ended up at a smaller lake that has always been good in past years but as of lately been a tough lake to figure out for catching better sized fish.

The morning started out fairly cold but at least the sun was shining and giving you a warm feeling as the time went along. Another objective of fishing this lake today was to finish mapping the lake on my Lowrance electronics for finding lake features that I was unaware of as well as getting setup for the upcoming ice season. It didn’t take long to find a location that had an underwater island towards the middle of the lake that came up to 5 feet deep on the top.

Once I found the top of this island, I put out a marker for a reference so that I could have a bearing as I used the graph’s fishing around it. There were areas that had some sparse grass on and there were also areas that you could tell that there were gravel and rock. Fished for quite some time here in varying depths and you could tell that there were some panfish in a few locations, and did get one solid hard hit that when the battle started, it ended just as quickly when the line broke. These areas that have gravel and rock you have to constantly check your line for any frays that may lead to the line breaking.

Wasn’t able to get a fish to the boat here and my search was on once again looking for new areas. Tried another couple of sunken islands with no returns and moved to an underwater point that has yielded fish many times in the past. As I worked to outer edges of the point, the water was 5-8 feet deep with a lot of grass, and didn’t take long and got that tap on my plastic worm. Wasn’t a big largemouth bass but at least it was a fish as it was getting to that point of frustration of not catching anything.

Worked around this location for a while and that was the only fish that was caught. Moved to a large flat area that was thick with grass that the previous trip here, was the only location that fish were caught in. this day they were not biting here and you could feel the aggravation starting to set in that not being able to figure the lake out, was getting quite annoying.

At this point it was time to start fishing the shorelines with a shallow diving crankbait and try and find some active shallow fish. Starting on a deep shoreline, was casting to some reeds and a fish grabbed on with a bit of size but as soon as I felt the bite, the rod went limp and the fish was gone. This was getting to be the theme of the day that there was getting to the point that the wind was taking over the lake no matter which area you were in.

So decided that I had other things that needed to get done and pulled the plug and headed out to getting the boat ready for the next trip tomorrow. Tomorrow will find us back on a city lake that we were on Monday and look for some deep water bass…so until next time may your lines be TIGHT and you have a FISH ON….
 

Fishing Reports at BWS OutDoors

Updated Kids OutDoors events for the week of 9/30-10/6

We have updated our KIDS OutDoors page for the week of September 29 thru October 6. This weeks outdoor education event dates and times are listed now and take advantage of these if your kids are wanting to learn and then get into the OutDoor hunting and fishing activities.

Kids Outdoors BWS OutDoors

Connecticut’s DEEP Begins Fall Trout Stocking

Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) today announced that its 2014 autumn trout stockings have begun. From now through mid October, DEEP is releasing 30,000 trophy and adult sized trout into selected waters throughout the state. Among the areas scheduled to be stocked this fall are twenty-three lakes and ponds, fifteen rivers and streams that include twelve of the Trout Management Areas (TMA), and eight Trout Parks.

BackWoods Sportsman OutDoors

New Hampshire offers Free Outdoor Adventure Talk – Hunting Dominant Bucks

Get an edge on that big buck in the woods this fall by coming to a free deer hunting talk by local hunting expert Dave Priebe on Wednesday, October 1, 2014, at 7 p.m. at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, N.H. No pre-registration is required.

Whitetail deer hunting in New Hampshire can be challenging. Priebe’s presentation, “Hunting Dominant Bucks,” takes some of the mystery out of it.

BWS OutDoors NH News

Fishing Report September 17 2014 Massachusetts

 

Conditions: Sunny skies, air temperatures started around 50 getting to 70 degrees, water temperatures in the upper 60 degree, light winds and best bait – 4 inch French fry style plastic worm

As I map more lakes that I have been fishing lately, I find areas that I like to fish off shore that has structure that I didn’t even know was there. So today started fishing an area that has an underwater point that comes out and there is an indent into it that has had fish in the past. With the late winter we had last season, so many of these lakes the weeds have not even grown typical and when there is weeds it is sparse at most. Also, there is a lot of thin clogging grass that grows in a number of these lakes that I am finding this year.

I fished all around the point tip and went into the indent as well and couldn’t get anything to bite. The next location was an underwater hump that came up to 8 feet deep and this hump had a lot of weeds on it but fishing all around it couldn’t find anything that was going to bite. Next was to move to one of the few points on the lake and the one side drops quickly into deep water and wasn’t able to find the fish here as well.

Now it was time to do more mapping of the lake that I haven’t done yet and after a while of doing this, I had found another underwater hump that I didn’t even know was there. Once I marked out this location, mid lake hump, it didn’t take long and I was into some largemouth bass. I was fishing the 4 inch French fry style plastic worm and they liked it here. Wasn’t able to catch any large bass here but the 1.5 pound fish were giving up some very nice battles coming back to the boat. After working the area over and the fish had dried up I had moved to another couple of locations on the lake.

The first location was another underwater hump and this wasn’t yielding any fish here as well. There is a huge flat that comes in front of a creek inlet and typically in the early season this area holds numbers of fish, but as the water is cooling, haven’t been able to get them going here. The last location was a deep water shoreline that I ran with a crankbait but same results came from here.

For the day there wasn’t a lot of fish caught, but being able to find new locations is what I am trying to do with this open water season. I still need to come back here once more before ice up and finish mapping a portion of this lake. So until next time may your lines be TIGHT and you have a FISH ON…

 

 

Fishing Report September 16 2014 Massachusetts

Conditions: Overcast skies with rain falling later morning, air temperatures low 50’s, water temperatures near 70 degrees, light winds and best bait – 4 inch French fry style plastic worm

Had an appointment first thing in the morning but was able to get to the water by 9:30AM and also before the rain started to fall. There was no wind to start the fishing and very overcast skies and as the morning went on the rain started to fall and luckily it never really got to heavy of a rain but just enough to make things somewhat miserable.

There are two locations that I target on this pond and started first on the ridge in the middle of the lake. The ridge is only a few feet wide at the top of it and drops off into deep water on both sides. Typically the fish are sitting on the right side edge and there is one sweet spot that has a few rocks that attracts the fish. Fished all around this area and was not able to get anything going to bite and followed the ridge all the way to the end with nothing biting. Off to the left of the end of the ridge, there is a small underwater hump and worked all around this area as well and still haven’t been able to pull a fish out of this location as well.

Time to make a move and towards the other end of the pond there are two underwater humps that have gravel and sand on top. Fished all around the first one and was not able to locate any active fish. Moved over to the underwater point that has gravel and rocks on top and was not able to get any bites except for sunfish were pecking at the bait. There is a saddle in between these two locations and is around 12 feet deep. As I was fishing through this, there was a bite and the fight was on to a beautiful largemouth bass that gave up a great battle. The rains were still falling and with the cold temperatures was making it difficult keeping your hands warm so that you are able to feel the fish biting.

After not getting any more bites here, motored back towards the ridgeline but started at the beginning and worked my way back to where I had started the day. the fish just were not going to really cooperate today and you can really tell that fall is setting in and this lake the fish haven’t put that fall feed bag on quite yet.

That will conclude my day 2 of 5 days of fishing and tomorrow is going to find me a bit further north in MA and hopefully do some grass fishing and dig some big girls out. So until next time may your lines be TIGHT and you have a FISH ON…

 

 

Fishing Report September 15 2014 Massachusetts

Conditions: Sunny skies, 50 degrees air temperature warming to 68 degrees, 66-70 degrees water temperature, light winds and most productive baits - Rapala Scatter Rap shallow diver and a 4 inch plastic french fry worm

Starting this week of a 5 day fishing week at the new pond that we have been fishing and hoping to see if we can locate some of the nicer bass in the lake. Will start in the same areas as last week and that is shallow shorelines with a weightless shad plastic bait. Did notice that as soon as I turned on the electronics that the water temperatures had dropped 10 degrees in a weeks time. Worked the shallow bay right off the shoreline and just couldn't get any fish to bite as I think that the colder water temperatures may have driven the fish out or locked them down. After working this area for a while with nothing to show for it, headed to the other end of the lake and started fishing the shorelines here casting the Rapala Scatter Wrap to the shorelines and was picking up smaller bass here and there. Just couldn't get anything of size going and only had an hour or so left, decided to go deep and fish the 4 inch french fry worm looking for the bigger fish on the main lake structure. Was getting a few bites and just couldn't get them to connect until I thought that I had hooked the bottom as the rod bent over. It didn't take long and you could tell that it wasn't the bottom as the fish started to move. This lake has a huge carp population and the whole time it was on my mind that I had hooked into one of these. The fish was digging and refusing to come to the surface and the rod was totally bent over. I have not had a fish fight like this in quite some time and at this point all I wanted to do is see what was on the other end of the line. When it finally surfaced it was a solid 3.5 pound largemouth and it sure give up a great battle. I didn't have a lot of time left so never really able to totally work the area to see if there were any others hanging around. Not quite the day like I had the week before but fish were still being caught and that is all that matters.

Tomorrow is a rain day but if it doesn't rain much, you will find us on the lake once again...so until next time may your lines be TIGHT and you have a FISH ON...

Fishing Report September 8 2014 Massachusetts

Conditions: Sunny skies, low 70's air temperatures, 80 degrees water temperatures, moderate winds and most productive baits - shallow Rapala Scatter Rap and weightless plastic shad

There is a pond that I know of that many of my freinds grew up around and from years past, no one would consider that there are fish in this waters. Over the years there was some extensive work to the pond to bring it back so that fish and people can enjoy it for years to come. Half of it was worked and the other half they were not able to finish the dredging and everything else that went along with it. So the half that didn't get done, it is still muddy and around 4 feet deep as the better end gets to depths of 18 feet deep and had hard bottom in many locations.

So arriving at the landing, I decided to fish it during the week sk that I would mainly have the pond to myself. There were a couple of older gentlemen launching before me and after talking with them, I was now pumped to get onto the water. Started fishing just up from the landing and being it is shallow and no structure, worked the shoreline with jigs, spinnerbaits and weightless plastic shad darters. It didn't take long and I was into some fish and quality ones at that. The pattern that I was finding was key this morning was shorelines that had shade and some weeds and casting the plastic shad to the shoreline and working it back was producing the best. If there was sun on a particular shoreline there was no fish caught or bites detected. But once back into the shade again the fish would start biting. So this was the pattern and used it as long as I could.

As the morning went on, the shade was fading away and had to find another new pattern for finding the fish. Tried a number of lily pad fields and had a few small blowups but no hookups were hapenning. So I moved down to the other end that is deeper and tried a different tactic. Since most of the shorelines are fairly deep, I worked most of them with a Rapala Scatter Rap and was starting to catch fish once again. Along with good numbers of bass, there were some nice perch caught as well.

After fishing here now, this pond is definitely on my list of city lakes to fish and will be back there fairly soon once again...so until next time may your lines be TIGHT and you have a FISH ON....