Cheers to Thursday and, of course, to fishing! Another week into July and our jig heads did not disappoint!
Joe was able to get out a few times this week on the kayak. With the temps reaching 90, it was all about shade and cover, so he decided to punch pads and flip a creature bait in any shade he could find. Joe reported that the 6th sense stroker craw and the Fresh Baitz scorpion produced the best, and says that the rains have the fish biting, but flooding has them in places you might not see them typically. Don’t be afraid to throw in places you typically wouldn’t. Joe also reports that morning and evening topwater bites have been abundant as well.
Nelson spent most of the week camping in Vermont and did not fish in freshwater, however he did make it down to the Niantic CT area on Saturday for the Three Belles Outfitters Trifecta Tournament with Shawn and Sara Pendergast. This was a saltwater kayak fishing tournament, and the top prize went to whoever could catch the longest combined length of a striped bass, bluefish, and fluke. There were also other categories such as longest total length for best 5 stripers, longest black sea bass, longest sea robin, and longest dogfish. Nelson was lucky enough to catch a sea robin that won that category!
They ended up catching several sea robins and fluke mostly on white jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp grubs. Nelson was also able to locate a school of stripers in the 24-26″ range, but they were focused on tiny bait fish and wanted nothing to do with what he was throwing. I tried several different lures but they just didn’t care. This tournament was so much fun and I recommend it to anyone that fishes the salt in a kayak. I will definitely be doing this one again next year.
After a week of convalescing at home without getting out and fishing, Tim was able to get out to Congamond this afternoon where water temps were 80 degrees. He reports that all the recent rain still has the water all clouded up and dingy. Time reports the fish were hanging around the docks to get out of the sun and that he was able to coax them with a wacky Senko. He got a couple blowups on top water baits, but they seem to be relating to the shade better.
Shawn the FIsherman is back in town and got out 4 times this week. First was out in the salt with Nelson and Sarah Pendergast of the Maine Yak Anglers. All 3 of them managed to land numerous sea robins and fluke along the Connecticut shoreline of the Long Island sound. Nelson’s largest sea robin also took the lunker prize. Congrats to him!
Shawn’s second trip, and first freshwater trip on the east coast in about a month, was to a Berkshire waterbody that he’s rather familiar with. He reports that he was pretty shocked at the lack of visibility in the normally crystal clear water due to all the recent storms. He only had a couple hours on the water, and made the most of them with a 20″ beast of a largemouth and a handful of close relatives spending some time in the kayak. He also landed a 19+” pickerel that went into the currently running Jigs and Bigs multispecies tourney. Shawn said all fish hit on differently dressed jigs.
His third outing was a pre-fishing trip with Deryk of Three Belles Outfitters. They headed to a central MA lake that Shawn will be facing off against regional powerhouse Mike Morcone in the 3rd round of the MAKB KO tourney. Again, the water was extremely cloudy, and he managed to junk-up a handful of largemouth. Now I have to develop a successful gameplan!
Finally, today, Shawn got out to a valley pond with our friend, the one and only, Bobby Roast Beef. Their initial destination was a no-go due to still lingering floodwaters on the only access road in. They called an audible and went to a smaller, nearby pond that has a reputation for being hit-or-miss. Well, it was more of a miss for Shawn than Bobby, as he left the water with a smelly skunk in his boat, and Bobby had coaxed a nibbler to his. Nice job under some wacky conditions, Mr. Roast Beef!
Don’t forget to listen in on Tuesdays to the Jigs and Bigs podcast with Shawn the Fisherman and Bobby Roast Beef! As always, tight lines!
Wild Woman 