Bassachusettes

Hi All Heading up to Syracuse this wknd and think I might hit up the salmon river with my older brother. We have never fished up there before and although I am an avid Striper and Albie guy I really am a little unsure of what gear and techniques will work best. We have one day to fish and like all fisherman want to be sure we hook up. Here is the question: Should we try to line up a guide or do you think we can figure "it" out through doing some research and taking to some tackle shops up there? Any insight in this area would be awesome. Tight lines

Over the past 10 years of surf castingI have graduated from plastic wal mart reels to penn 550 and shimano saragosa and now I am finally considering buying my dream real a van Staal. With that said I fish with my best friend and he and I promised each other that we would make the investment at the same time. Before we make a rash purchase I wanted to ask the forum on some info and advice...... Will this reel last a lifetime? What size? We fish the canal and some beach fronts and jettis stripers and blues 1 to 5 oz usually Pros and cons of bail vs bailess? Are they worth the money? Where should we buy? Is it versatile? Thanks so much for you help! Can't wait to start fishing!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Everyone this has been very helpful: Currently have a special plano box full of Maria Jigs, Deadly Dicks, White Curly Tail Grubs and Zoom Pearl Superflukes, Hopkins Tin, NeedLEel, Crippled Herring, 2 Crystal Minnows, motor oil colored hogey. I am feeling good! Now the question becomes.....to upgrade hooks or not to upgrade..... Do any of you have any thoughts on whether or not I should upgrade the hooks? Siiwah too or no? Thanks a ton!

Heading down to the Vineyard Sunday for a couple of days chasing Albies. I have fished Albies on the South Side of the cape on a charter on morning but never out on the Vineyard. As a bit of an Albie newbie I have 3 key questions I was hoping you could help with prior to heading down: -While i am familiar with and own several Deadly Dicks and Maria Jigs. Are their other key lures x-raps, swimmers, etc that I should make sure I grab before I head onto the island? I have spinning tackle only so flies wont be an option. Nothing more heartbreaking that casting as breaking fish and not getting a sniff! -I was planning on using my Saragosa 6000 (will this work?) real but need to buy a rod I can use from boat. Can any of you gusy recomend a good boat rod that I can use for Albies and also Bass and Blues. My budget for this would prob be right aroudn $100 but if there is a trmendous rod out there for the money that will last a long time I would potentially be willing to spend more. -Will I be okay with 30lb Braid? What weight leader do you recomend and how much leader? Any insights that any of you can share I would be greatly appreciative.

Hey guys, just recently began getting more and more interested in fishing plugs and building a plug collection. In the past I was content sitting on the beach and fishing live bait. That said now adays I love fishing both the beach and canal with wooden plugs and jigs of course....Please take a look at my picture below and let me know if you guys have recomendations on what I should add to my young collection..... PS. I left all of my jigs and metals out of this picture.....

Stiff tip did mention the canal......he most certainly did......

I live in Boston and have fished up and down the shore of Mass and the cape....a good fishing spot is a good fishing spot is a good fishing spot......there are a handful of great places to fish in the state that get a ton of attention on the web, by WOM, by cell, in books etc....The reason people fish these spots is because they have had luck there, their friends have had luck there, they have seen people catch there etc.....Ever go to a really great Massachusetts golf course on a nice day they are all super busy too.....Bottom line is that none of you own the ditch or the rock you stand at...Why not loosen up and try to share natural resources with others that have a passion for fishing....I for one work 60 hrs a week and I definelty make sure I use all the info available in making my fishing desicions.....i use the web, weather, tides, etc.....In our information age the web is a key component in making fishing desicions.... I dont think this is going to change any time soon......maybe its time for some of you to buy a boat and see what its like when 20 boats are casting on teh same school of busting fish....

Macks can definetly be found in the harbor. Been out 3-4 times per week and have been able to get on Macks most of the time we head out. You will need to drive around a bit have found them in the harbor, just north past deer island, off of the back side of nahant, out by the light house etc etc etc....

Thsi time of year you should have a number of paterns to mimic the variety of different baits you might run into...mack and herring patterns are a must. I would play with different sizes. If you are fishing sandy beach also make sure you have some sand eel paterns.....

If I were you I would consider hopping off at North Station and nosing around any moving water you can find on an outgoing tide near the mouth of the charles. Herring have spawned and as bait gets blasted out of the river the big guys lurke waiting for a nice meal....Many a night I have seen keepers taken right in the city limits......

Hi All. Long time follower but never really one to post. Last night two of my buddies and myself took a short run out of Boston Harbor aboard the Sexy Kelly captained by Captian Mike Kettenbauch. Shortly out of the harbor we quickly found brids working multiple schools of fish on Macs......The results you can see below were pretty epic.......... Once we got back to the dock at Tavern on the Water I had to quickly rinse off and then run up to the TD Garden for Game 3 of the finals. Not another Striper and Tuna story but a Striper and Big Ticket story isnt so bad either!

A book was recently published about the annual fishing derby on Martha's Vineyard. I read the book while vacationing on the Vineyard and I think it was awesome as it let me in on some of the local fishing scene. It also gave up several spots that seem to produce pretty regularly. The beaches at Gay Head, South Beach, State Beach (not my favorite but it produces sometimes.) Go out to Chappy (though I recomend a truck and oversand permit) and fish the rip at Wasque point, the channel between Chappy and the island even makes for some good fishing this time of year. Then the question becomes if you would favor Lobsterville Beach or Manemasha Harbor.....Despite all of these hot spots I caught Bonita and Keppers in Vineyard Haven! There are definetly a number of bait and tackle shops on the island, and since it is an island where everyone fishes you should have no problem finding a good shop nearbye. Eels are king this time of year at night.... Funny fish take small metals though the favorite seems to be deadly dicks... Bait is thick so chunking may work, so may jigging, poppers, darters, spooks etc...... Get your line wet...and if you are looking for something to read...The Big One by David Kinney