Even in this excessive heat and humidity our Jig Heads were able to get out this week for some fishing!
Nelson’s on a family vacation down in North Carolina, but don’t think that’s stopped him from fishing. He’s been shark fishing. He reported the fishing was tough the first few days because of the water being so dirty from storms out at sea. On Tuesday the water finally started clearing up and the fishing picked up. Throughout the day he hooked into and broke off 4 sharks, before finally landing one. He will be fishing hard during the rest of his trip, trying to beat his PB shark from the beach of 51″. Good luck man!
Tim fished Congamond again and caught 20 fish fishing docks with weightless senkos chasing bait balls of alewives. Throwing a reaction bait through the bait balls was the ticket, and he got a 4.64 pound largie under a big ball. Tim reported water temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s. Yesterday he hit the Connecticut River and water temps were about 80 degrees. Tim said he saw plenty of smallies but wasn’t able to entice many to bite. He caught three and lost three on various soft jerkbaits and top waters.
Brett only managed a couple of short outings this week due to the heat, and then the rain. He made his first fly fishing outing with a friend. Both of them landed one brown, and missed a few others. Brett also caught a decent rainbow while going for bass using a deep running crank bait. He said that he advises staying away from the trout for a little while as even the faster moving streams felt pretty warm. For Brett this was his last go for trout until fall, or until he can find some cold water. He managed some small panfish in deeper pools along the river on Sunday evening, and missed two decent smallmouth tucked in against deeper rocky banks. He reported also that the pike are still hungry in the evening and early morning hours.
Andy fished Shaw pond in Becket over the weekend and reported water temps of 71-74 degrees. He caught all pickerel; the first few on a crank bait, run over the top of the weeds. Then he switched to Texas rigged plastics and caught more of the same. Andy said all were between 14 to 18 inches. After some chores and a resupply of his soft plastics Andy did some shore fishing on a very busy Otis reservoir. Used some more weighted plastics in a submerged weed bed to pull out a few more pickerel, the biggest there was around 16 inches.
Ryan was able to get out a few times this week, both from shore and in his kayak. He reported finding great success from shore tossing around the craw on a Texas rig and punch weight, along with whopper ploppers as the sun went down. Ryan said multiple species on the plopper this week including big crappie, yellow perch, and largemouth. Shifting gears to his kayak outing with a friend, the were throwing nothing but topwater into the wind. Ryan said that didn’t catch anything giant, but there were lots of fish to be caught! Some on big wake baits and others on fellow spooks/ploppers.
Shawn the Fisherman reported that if we want to know the details of his week outside of Western Mass, we will have to tune in for the next episode of Jigs & Bigs. Don’t forget new episodes air every Tuesday!
Stay safe out there this weekend if you’re out fishing, as we all know that long weekends bring out the recreational boaters, water skiers, jet skiers, and other water enthusiasts. Enjoy the holiday weekend, and as always, tight lines!
Wild Woman 