Happy (almost) Halloween folks! The bite seems to be proving a bit harder, but that’s not stopping the Jig Heads from finding the fish!
Jerry reports that it has been a slow bite lately in the Berkshires for him. Last week the fish were on fire and this week I can’t figure the bite out. Sunday Jerry hit the Connecticut river in the morning looking for some smallmouth action in a spot where he caught twenty back in July, but he says he got skunked and left the river and hit a Hilltown lake on his way home. This spot only produced a dozen Yellow perch on dropshots, and no bass.
Sunday morning Jerry hit Lake Buel, and once again yellow perch dominated the bite. Even so, he did manage to catch six small largemouth trying a variety of different colored soft plastics which ended up being orange. Even the pickerel have been closed mouthed.
Tuesday afternoon Jerry hit his local lake and managed to find a few largemouth on a green pumpkin chatterbait and one smallmouth on a ned. Then yesterday he fished Onota lake for four hours in the morning only catching one nice largemouth on a white and gold spinnerbait. Then he headed to a smaller body of water in Becket for a few hours with the same results: a few yellow perch. Water temps have been up and down over the past week ranging from 51 to 56 degrees or somewhere in between even on the same body of water.
Nelson got out a couple times this week. His first outing was out on the Cape with Bobby RB, Shawn TF, and Scott Wood, winner of the Jigs and Bigs Jighead Experience. They hit the same pond that Shawn and Nelson fished the weekend before and he had found a decent bite in very shallow water. Nelson said that this trip was completely opposite, as he found fish chasing herring in deeper water.The water temperatures had dropped by about 4 degrees and the fish moved to deeper water; this time the water temperature was hovering right around the 60 degree mark. He caught them on a crank bait in 14 feet of water and suspended in 25 feet of water with a drop shot. It was a great time fishing and hanging out with these guys and I can’t wait to do it again.
Nelson’s second outing was on a pond in North Central Mass that he said he has only fished a couple of times. In the past this pond has produced big largemouth, which is what he was hoping to find. The water temperature was in the low 50’s. He reports that he was only on the water for a few hours and although he didn’t manage to find any of the giants, he did catch over a dozen largemouth. He caught them deep in the weeds with a weightless soft plastic stick bait and in 10 to 12 feet of water on a dropshot.
Water and air temps are getting to the point of being unsafe if you happen to fall in the water. Please wear your PFD’s at a minimum. Fishing should be decent for the next couple of weeks but with the colder temps forecasted it’s going to get tougher. Get out there while you can. Good luck! Be safe.
Shawn the Fisherman reports that The Jigs & Bigs crew ventured out to the Cape in search of warmth, food, and fish and is happy to report that they batted 1.000 for the day. The cooling temperatures finally triggered a reaction lure bite, and he landed his first four fish on a combo of bladed jigs and lipless crankbaits. From there, he upsized and slowed down just a hair to a 110 size jerkbait and caught largemouth until darkness fell.
Shawn also got out Thursday with cousin Jon locally where fishing was tough, but he nabbed 3 nibblers doing some Dropshotting. Then we ate Arepas.
Fall feeding is here, and it’s not going to last long. Get out while you can, and remember that PFDs have to be worn at all times from Sep 15th to May 15th in Massachusetts. You don’t want to end up as the FTG volunteer on Jigs and Bigs
Tim reports that once again he hit up local Congamond on a dreary Tuesday morning. The air temperatures were very mild and water temperatures were in the upper 50’s. Tim managed two bass and one pickerel, landing one bass on a spinnerbait in about a foot and a half of water. Next, he hit deeper water looking for bait balls where he managed a largemouth on a C-rig off a main lake hump. While I was out in deeper water I saw plenty of good size trout swimming and rising, so if that’s your game get out there. Til next week…….fish on!
Get out and fish while you can folks! Tight lines!
Wild Woman 