Where to go?

I recently purchased a brand new 18' Lund Rebel Sport. Since I'm new to the boating scene I have been getting comfortable with it on the Merrimac River. The reason for this is the Merrimac has a half decent boat ramp which was perfect for a newbie like myself.Well, now the time has come to venture out and try my luck on a lake that holds some decent largemouth bass. I was planning on heading out this Saturday.

The issue I have is where to go? I'm not to familiar with any of the local lakes in my area of MA. Questions like "Which one's have decent public access for my boat?" "Will my 18' boat be too big for this location?" "How many potential navigational hazards are on this body of water?" Etc. Also, I currently don't have the boating license required for NH so that is out of the question for now. There is one catch though......I would like to stay within 45 minutes of my HQ here in Lawrence. Any suggestions for this new boater guys?

Here's a link to the list of access points. It describes what kind of ramp each bow has. http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/fba/access-sites.html

Thanks....that info is a big help.

Use Google Earth, Google Maps, Navionics Web App to research places to go. There are tons on places to go fishing in MA. Half the fun of fishing (for me anyway) is finding new places to go..... enjoy the new boat!!

Navionics is super helpful if you don't have GPS on your fishfinder. I would also recommend Bing maps over google maps for finding new spots and access. Bing maps is very detailed in satellite picture, more so than google.

Bing Maps is good, but on Google Maps (in the map mode, not satellite) you can click on the street/road next to a lake or pond access point and it will give you an address. Enter that in your GPS in your car/truck and drive right to the boat ramp.

That's true. I've also done that before on the iPhone maps for tournament fishing. What maps you use depends on what you're looking for, I guess