Thursday once again, and lots of good content here this week! Unfortunately for me the weather kept me off the water last weekend, but the jig heads have been busy!
Shawn the Fisherman got out on the water only once this week when Three Belles Outfitters hosted their 3rd trail stop of the year at Mansfield Hollow in Connecticut. Shawn said that the passing front the night before dropped temperatures about 20 degrees, and the 20mph wind was miserable all day. He found his fish around vertical structures, rocks around a tunnel underneath a road, and a large dam, and was able to put together the winning bag by throwing ned-rigged creature baits of various sizes. Conditions correctly predicted a grind of a day. By downsizing and focusing on such structures, I was able to make the most of it.
Nelson also headed to CT for the Three Belles Outfitters Trail series stop # 3 at Mansfield Hollow where he says he spent most of the day junk fishing. Nelson caught bass on several different lures including chatterbait, spinnerbait, drop shot, ned rig, and a weightless soft plastic stick bait. He said that In the last two hours of the tournament he figured out a pattern and caught a few upgrades including his biggest of the day by casting a stick bait deep into vegetation and twitching it out slowly. They wouldn’t touch it any other way. Nelson said that although the strong winds made it frustrating at times to stay in position to make the right casts, it was a great day overall. He finished the tournament in 2nd place and took the bass lunker pool with an 18.75 inch largemouth! If you fish in CT and have never tried Mansfield Hollow, I suggest you give it a try. There weren’t any giant bass caught during the tournament but this place definitely has the potential for giants and I can confirm that it does have pike also.
Cousin Jon Got out twice this week including a bank send with the family Friday night. He reports catching a couple of nibblers on ned rigged creature bait as well as one decent largemouth on a swimbait jigging just off the bottom. He also got out in the kayak on Father’s Day where he reports he had another “nibbler fest” again on ned rigged creature baits up shallow. Jon said a couple also hit a swimbait and crankbait. The largest of the day hit a perch looking chatter bait.
Tim got out twice this week, once out in eastern Mass for a team tournament. He reported that the cold front hampered their fishing, while others did pretty well. Tim had to downsize to a weighted straight worm to get his bites. They weren’t chasing for me at all. They ended up with five fish.
Next for Tim came an outing on Congamond in the new boat with the infamous Bobby the Roast Beef! The day started out real slow, and they hit the shoreline near docks between 2 and 10 feet of water, but the bass just weren’t cooperative. They decided to make a move to some main lake humps where the bite turned on for the both of them.
Tim said while trying to measure a pickerel for the Jigs and Bigs tourney, he fired out a ned rig and let it soak. The next thing he knew he felt the rod/line bump and heard a splash, and quickly realized that he was hooked up. A nice 18 inch smallie performed some nice aerials and a fight! They gave that hump some time then fished another lake hump and a deeper drop where they boated a few more. Tim also ended up with one nice largie off of a dock. He reminds us that when the bite is not what you’re expecting it pays to try different techniques as well as structure and depths. The fish are there, you just have to get the right combination together!
Jerry Got out a few times this week, the first being in Berkshire County on Saturday morning.He hit the water around 5:30 and when the rain started thetemp dropped 13 degrees in two hours; talk about a cold front! Jerry only caught a few pickerel and two largemouth bass. Monday evening he reports he fished a smaller sized pond in Berkshire County mostly known for trout fishing. The water temperatures were around 68 and he found some largemouth. He caught five 13″ to 18″ on neko rigs and neds.
Finally, last night a fellow MAKB member reached out to go fishing and they had a good time putting nibbler after nibbler in the kayaks. He reports that the bluegill beds were all empty, they were off-shore in schools and the bass were on them. I had 24 bass from 8 inches to 16 inches, 6 pickerel, a few crappie and bluegill. It was a lot of fun! Get out on the water every chance you can, happy fishing.
Don’t forget to check out Bobby Roast Beef and Shawn the Fisherman on the Jigs & Bigs Podcast! You can listen on Apple, Spotify, and more – I guarantee that it’ll be the highlight of your week!
The weather is looking like it might actually be SUMMER like this weekend, possibly getting up into the mid 80s on Saturday and Sunday. Fingers crossed! Enjoy the weekend out there folks, get out and fish!
Wild Woman 