It’s been one hell of a heatwave, and the fishing has gotten a bit harder. Last weekend I spent the majority of my weekend by the pool, but the jig heads have been busy!
Nelson was only able to get out once this week where he competed in the MAKB Western Division stop #5 at Cheshire Reservoir where water temperatures were at 80 degrees to start the tournament and climbed to about 83 by 2pm. He reported that after trying a couple techniques with no luck, top water, Chatterbait, Spinnerbait, he switched over to a pattern he’d found last year and started catching. I
Nelson found all of his fish in the shade or on structure that created shade, including docks and lay downs. He reported that he could only get bites on a weightless soft plastic stick bait skipped under the docks or lay downs. One funny thing I noticed was that the bigger fish were under or near pontoon boats, other style boats would have nothing. Although most of his fish were small he put together a limit good enough for 3rd place out of twenty two anglers. Between largemouth and rock bass I caught almost 40 fish. Another great day on the water. Good luck out there.
Shawn the Fisherman also fished Cheshire Reservoir, as well as a solo trip onto the Connecticut River.
Shawn says that the Cheshire Reservoir fished as expected, with countless bass smaller than 13 inches hitting any subsurface lure anglers threw at them. It’s a great place to take inexperienced anglers to get them on some fish and build confidence!
The Connecticut River had higher water temperatures, reaching up into the low 80’s. Shawn said that was higher in this area than he’s seen in the past, and the larger gamefish seemed to have moved deep to cooler water. He did pick up a handful of smaller fish on finesse jigs, but bites were few and far between.Try to fish deeper, cooler water as this heatwave has lifted and fishing should get back to some sort of regularity soon.
Jerry was also on the Cheshire Reservoir this week for the MAKB West tournament. He said that after pre fishing for two hours catching 13 and 14 inch fish, he was optimistic for Saturday. Jerry said that on Saturday he couldn’t find more than 13 inches or less, and pulled in 38 bass for the day along with a few bluegill and a couple pickerel. Cheshire would be a great place to take kids bass fishing they will catch’em!
Bobby Roast Beef got out to fish with a couple of podcast listeners and trivia greats for an early morning session, “up da’shires”! He said he had to do some ramp magic to repair the vent rudder on the kayak, and finally managed a few largemouth throwing weightless soft plastics up shallow under over hanging trees. Seemed like it was a bite where they weren’t really committing to it, just sort of lazily swiping at the bait.
Tuesday, Bobby was able to burn a couple hours where he managed two on a ned rigged creature bait, pitching to shallow wood. He said that with the storm the night prior he knew they would be sketchy about biting. He sent it again in the kayak on Wednesday late morning and had to grind for 5 hours before he finally got a bite! Landed a nibbler and was just glad to not get skunked! Salt session coming atcha this weekend!
Tim hit that border lake again for another club tournament on Sunday, where the bite was tough in near 100 degree weather. He says that the heat wave definitely affected the fish, as his previous pattern did not come through. Tim said he battled all day with a Texas rigged stick bait on boats and docks but lost the winning fish due to a mental lapse. He said that he went about 3 hours with no bites as he pounded docks when he finally hooked a good fish. Tim said he fought it to the boat then the line snapped. I realized the line was frayed from pounding the docks for three hours and I never re-tied. Always check your line , don’t get complacent, it can bite you right in the @$$ and cost you a tournament.
The heat seems to have dropped a little, and this weekend is looking very nice in the high 70’s to low 80’s and (hopefully!) no rain. Stay safe out there and have fun. Tight lines!!
Wild Woman 