The past week has been full of lots of wind and still water temperatures that are slowly on the rise. That hasn’t stopped the jig heads! They have been busy this week.
Tim reports that the water temperatures are slowly moving upwards. He said he hit his local lake twice since the last report and that water temps were 53-54 degrees. He said that the bite was still shallow with some off bites coming in 15-18 foot range. Tim reported that rattle traps, ned rigs, and spinner baits all worked for him this week. Being windy lately, he leans towards a spinner bait and says it hasn’t let me down. Focus on wind blown points and shorelines and you’re sure to get bit.
Berkshire Brett managed to get one trip this week where on Sunday morning he got out with a friend and hit the banks of one small lake with no luck. Then they moved to the river and fished some slow water below a damn where his friend managed one 11″-12″ smallie. I had a few follows but ended up with zero bites. Brett also mentioned that he hopes for more luck in the upcoming week and is excited to use his new fly rod.
Bobby Roast Beef reports that bank fishing has been an absolute grind. He said that the windy conditions have him using lots of spinner baits and it seems they’ve been the most effective presentation. He mentioned that all of the fish that have been active seem to be in less than 3′ of water, and said that smaller profile baits have also been more effective.
Shawn pre-fished the mighty Connecticut River in preparation for the next MAKB Western tourney with his main man Nelson. He reported catching a handful in shallow cover, which due to the lack of rain this week, is already exposed land, so he’ll be fishing blind this weekend.
Shawn also reported that water temperatures have stayed in the low 50’s, and recommends to keep seeking warmer, shallower waters to find fish trying to warm up for prespawn feasting!
Nelson fished his MAKB Knockout round 1 on Saturday where he chose to fish a section of the Quaboag river where he’s had great success over the past few years. Unfortunately, the river rose about 12 inches and the water temperatures dropped 3-4 degrees in just a few days. He could not find the bigger bass so he will not be advancing to the next round. I have no complaints as I caught several bass and crappie on weightless creature baits in very shallow water. On my way back to the ramp I witnessed a woman tip her kayak and fall into the 55 degree water. Luckily she had her PFD on and it happened in shallow water. She was able to easily get to shore. Make sure you’re wearing your PFDs!
Nelson’s next outing was with Shawn where they went to check the current flow of the CT river to see if it would be at a safe level for our MAKB Western Division trail stop #2 this Saturday. He reported that the river has come down quite a bit in the last few days.
Nelson also reported that the river is filling up with shad and stripers, especially below the Holyoke dam. Get out there and get ‘em!
That’s all for now, get out and fish! Tight lines everyone!
Wild Woman 