The weather, until today at least, has been pretty great this week, with significantly warmer weather. The water temps are finally getting up there!
I was able to get out once on Sunday for a couple hours at one of my favorite places in the hilltowns. Fishing from shore, trying to entice some stocked trout to bite, I was only able to manage a handful of pumpkinseed. Nothing exciting, but it was exciting for me to just get out with my boyfriend and catch some fish. It was warm, muggy really, with water temps around 60 – 62 degrees and a bit overcast. While we bank fished my brother was out on the same lake in a kayak. He had much better luck pulling in a few bass on a ned rig along with a beautiful brown.
Next week I will have some saltwater fishing to report, I am taking a trip with some ladies off the coast!
Tim got out this past Sunday for a tournament up in the hill towns where water temps were up to 65 degrees. He reports that fish were on beds and had a case of lockjaw. Tim also said that the smallies were more aggressive than the large mouths. He ended up with a mixed bag of smallies and large mouths, but unfortunately didn’t have the weight to win. Tim also hit Congamond on Wednesday morning where water temps were 68-69 degrees. Plenty of rock bass guarding the beds, and he caught 4 with a drop shot.
Shawn the Fisherman got out twice this past week. His first stop was at a central Connecticut lake for the second Three Belles Outfitters Trail stop. He reports that the nibblers were everywhere and hitting everything, but the bigger fish were far and few in between, and seemed still to be in prespawn mode. He said that they were pretty skittish and taken on finesse techniques.
Shawn’s second stop was a quick send in the Connecticut River, launching from Jigs and Bigs Headquarters with his main man, Bobby Roast Beef. We battled a nasty wind and fast current that were working in unison for a couple hours, and managed to take a handful of Smallmouth kayaking. Finesse won the day again.
Shawn says that this late spring has the bass all over the place as far as spawning and reminds us to read the water. Really look for nature’s signs when on the water to see at what stage the fish there are at.
Nelson only got out once this week where he also competed in the Three Belles Outfitters tournament series stop number 2 down in CT. This was a two lake tournament and the lake that he picked had water temps in the low 70’s, and the bass were already post spawn. Nelson reports that since he had never been to this pond it took a little while to figure out where the bass were located. He found them shallow and very tight to wood and patches of reeds, even in the reeds. He reports catching most of them with a weightless soft plastic creature bait and also had some action on a ned rig and chatter bait in deeper water, but the size he needed for the tournament wasn’t there. Nelson said that although he caught the biggest bag for the lake he was fishing, he ended the tournament in 4th place overall. A win in my book!
Nelson also reports that bluegills were on beds and destroying his soft plastic lures. As water temps keep rising and the bluegill spawn takes place, bluegill colored lures are a great choice to try and get a bigger bite. Summer temps have arrived and the fishing will only get better for the next few months. Good luck out there and stay safe.
Ryan the Butcher got out a bunch these last 7 days with only one of the days in Mass forr the second stop of the Old Glory Outdoors big boat trail. Ryan reports that the water temps were right around 72 degrees all day which made for a lot of empty beds already. He said that he had to really look hard to locate some fish, so way shallow still doing their thing. I was able to sight fish a few of them with soft plastics and finesse style. Erratic moving baits we’re getting it done thru the weeds along with the finesse bouncing thru. Ryan was Able to put a decent bag together and pull off a 2nd place. Congrats man!
Rya Also spent some time in the Ct river just south of Massachusetts. He was able to put an absolute clinic on big stripers, American shad, and smallies. All top water action there!
Last but certainly not least we have a new member of our jig head team, Jerry Howes. Make sure you follow him on Instagram! Jerry has been hunting and fishing for most of his life and loves the outdoors. Growing up in and living in the hilltowns of western Mass hunting and fishing is just what we do. He bought his first kayak to try getting into bass fishing and he was hooked. I now am a member of Massachusetts Kayak Bassin and fishing bass tournaments and really enjoy Multi-Species tournaments also.
Jerry was able to get out twice this week with the first outing on a 263 acre lake in Berkshire County where water temps were 59 to 62 degrees. He reported that he thought the bass may be moving up on beds but he saw none. Jerry caught eleven bass, 2 smallmouth and 9 largemouth on a variety of bait: Jerkbait, jig , ned, and Dropshot. He also had 6 Pickerel on a jerkbait , 3 yellow perch and a bluegill. The trout were rising quite a bit at dawn and he caught one on ned rig.
On Jerry’s second outing of the week he fished pond in a hilltown of Hampshire County where water temps were 64-65 degrees and it was overcast with southwest winds. He said that the bass were just starting to make beds, but weren’t trying to protect their nests just yet. He caught a few bass sizing 12 to 14 inches on jerkbait and ned’s. Jerry also reported that crappie and rock bass were on beds, and were aggressive. He reports that the pickerel were biting like always, with a total of 22 caught, but only average sizes ranging from 14 to 17 inches.
Although today was a bit rainy and on the cooler side, the next few days are going to be HOT with weather predictions in the 80s and 90s. I am still seeing stripers being pulled out of the CT river, with some on the larger side.
Don’t forget to listen to the latest episode of the Jigs & Bigs podcast! In fact, if you’re headed out onto the water by your lonesome and you like quality content and quality entertainment, grab your headphones! Give a listen while you try to catch a lunker. Bobby Roast Beef and Shawn the Fisherman put on one hell of a show!
It is going to be a beautiful weekend, so get out and fish!
Wild Woman 