Shawn Dominik

There’s a New King in Town

October 28, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

This past Saturday, Massachusetts Kayak Bassin’ closed out the regular season with our first-ever championship! With few big bodies of water to choose from in the state, and even fewer somewhat central to both the eastern and western divisions, we settled on Webster Lake, which is most famous for having the longest name of any geographic feature in the country.

No, not Webster Lake; the tongue-twisting Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, which roughly translates to: “Whoever named……

The Grind of All Grinds

September 19, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

The Western Division wrapped up its first season yesterday with the grind of all grinds at Lake Garfield in the mountain town of Monterey.

We had a dozen anglers, a foggy start, and a tough bass bite. The juvenile Pickerel bite, however, was on fire.

Garfield has both largemouth and smallmouth, but by the midway point of the day, just over a handful of fish had been submitted. Nelson da Costa took an early lead……

First Early, Second Late

August 28, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

Saturday, eight of us journeyed to the northwest corner of the state for the sixth Western Division event at Cheshire Reservoir. Big fish were at a premium there, but the race for second place literally came down to the last minute.

Cheshire Reservoir has two fishable basins (north and middle), but we weren’t allowed to portage across the road separating them. If any of us wanted to switch basins during the day, we would have……

Traveling Route 57 to the Championship

July 25, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

After a couple venue changes thanks to the US Army Corps of Engineers and Mother Nature, Nelson and I slapped together a list of ponds that are located pretty closely to each other on or near Route 57 up da’ ‘Shires…

And The Route 57 Run was born!

Noyes Pond, Twining Pond, Upper and Lower Spectacle Ponds, West Lake, York Pond, and Thousand Acre Pond hosted thirteen anglers today under bluebird skies and a setting……

Experience Pays Off

June 13, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

Saturday, the Western Division held it’s fourth event of the year, on the stretch of the Chicopee River in Chicopee that I grew up fishing. Access is extremely limited nowadays, but we were able to secure safe parking (thanks, Paul Bunyan’s Tree Farm) to risk our gear and health getting the boats down the banks of Cooley Brook to access the river.

The first three hours of the day were a complete drenching…….

A Battle Between East and West

May 16, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

Yesterday, an “angler’s choice” two-pond event went down at East and West Waushacum Ponds in Sterling. The water temps were about ten degrees apart, placing the fish in different stages of spawning, with the West Pond being more or less done and the East just beginning.

Thirteen anglers took to the water for this one, and with a couple exceptions, the field stayed packed together, with nearly everyone filling out limits.

Nelson da Costa was……

Big Win Up da Shires

May 9, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

Yesterday was the second MAKB Western Division Trail stop, a two-lake random-draw event at Buckley Dunton Reservoir and nearby Yokum Pond in Becket.

Two very different water bodies. Buckley Dunton is timber filled, and the closest the west has in similarity with A-1 out east. Yokum is closer to a shallow kettle pond, but does harbor a population of smallmouth.

After pre-fishing both, my prediction was that numbers would come from Yokum, and lunker……

Dogfight at Quaboag Pond

April 11, 2021 Shawn Dominik0 Comment

Before I get going on how the first MAKB Western Division tourney played out, I’d just like to thank Ken Wood for letting Nelson da Costa and myself roll out a division on this side of the state. I’ve said it before, but if we manage to run things even half as smoothly as he does, then I’ll consider it a success. Also a huge thanks to Nelson for stepping up to help me……

Massachusetts Kayak Bassin'