Here you have it folks, the latest fishing report AND some exciting news about Jigs & Bigs and their new partnership with Dark Horse Tackle.
Nelson was only able to make it out once this week for the MAKB Catch-em All Summer brawl, and the Jigs And Bigs Midsummer Mayhem, and the forecast called for rain and storms. Just as I was pushing off the shore at 6am, I saw a flash of lightning so back to shore I went into my truck to wait it out. I ended up losing about one hour of fishing time for the tournament. Nelson said that it rained throughout the day with some absolutely intense downpours. Some of them were so heavy that he stopped fishing and just hunkered down until it slowed down resulting in more lost fishing time.
He reported that he caught all of his fish on one lure in one color: a weightless stick bait in black and blue. They didn’t want anything else. He tried several different power fishing or moving baits like chatterbaits, crankbaits, top water, and spinnerbaits but said that the fish just didn’t want any of it. Nelson also mentioned that each one of the bass was caught on the outside edge of lily pad clumps or in holes in the bigger lily pad fields. Despite the heavy rain and losing some tournament time the fishing turned out great. He landed almost 40 bass and 1 pickerel, he just didn’t find any big ones.
I ended the tournament with a 2nd place for the Mayhem and 6th place for the Summer Brawl. The fishing is really good right now especially if you can get out there just before these storms and cold fronts come through. Get out there and be safe!!
Ryan the Butcher got out on Saturday reporting and said that the water temperature was 79 – 80 degrees. He was able to use one rod all day and got big smallies and largies to bite on top, non stop! Nothing better than targeting bait balls and getting these fish to explode through the bait balls at the surface. Every fish was caught on the Ark fishing pencil. I just kept moving to where the bait balls were going !
Tim had a team tournament out in the eastern part of the state on what he called “tornado Sunday”. Luckily, they avoided the nasty weather and only had to deal with occasional rain but constant 15-20 mph winds. When you see local homeowners coming out to batten down their boats and get the call from the wife telling me there were tornado watches you tend to get a little on edge. Tim said that they started off well landing four fish in the first two hours on a ned rig and a crank bait but the wind proved to be difficult and their bite turned off. Tim said he even lost 4 fish due to the wind, he said that he could only get bit on light weighted baits, but the downside to that was it was tough to feel the fish and he couldn’t get a solid hook set. It was a slow day for most but there were teams that figured them out. Thankfully the rain held off until the drive home… through a deluge of rain through a flooded Providence. At least I got the boat washed!!
Bobby Roast Beef was able to get out Tuesday for a quick afternoon session at a highly pressured lake that he said has delivered more small slime darts than any other body of water in his area. He was out searching for a pickerel for the J&B Multi Species Challenge but after locating some fish all he managed was a handful of nibbler sized largies. Bobby said that caught them all on topwater, running a plopper style bait and a popper over submerged grass. The money was a super slow retrieve.
Saturday Mr. Roast Beef headed out to put eyes on a pond he hadn’t fished in a decade, located up da ‘shires. Knowing this pond could deliver the size fish he needed for the J&B MidSummer Mayhem online derb, and do so with plenty of them, he reported that he was able to figure out a pattern fairly quickly. Matching colors of my finesse plastics to the color of the water, I was able to hook up with a decent sized Largemouth (which for this pond, was surprising), and then I managed a few additional throwing other various presentations to see how they might fare.
As fantastic as this spot would have been for the tournament, the lack of cell service took it off the table. So, Sunday he headed out to a new body of water for the derby. Unfortunately, just as he rigged his kayak and was about to take it to the launch he got the notification of tornado warnings. The weather did have storms in the forecast, but I’m not about to mess with anything as intense as tornados. So, I packed it up and went to get some coffee. The night prior I had recorded a fantastic segment for Jigs and Bigs with Josh and Zech from Dark Horse Tackle. We were discussing extreme weather conditions and how the key to putting yourself in these dicey situations is to make sure you have a plan. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a plan; and that’s exactly why I decided to stay off the water. Have a plan folks, and wear your PFD!!!
Then on Wednesday with a little opening in his morning BRB decided to stop by a favorite honey and give a few casts with a new finesse jig he’s been toying with; well he hooked into a tank bouncing this jig slowly along the base of a dam!
Don’t miss the latest Jigs and Bigs episode where you will get the exclusive update on the new partnership with the show and Dark Horse Tackle! Check it out here for all the details – they also have a great deal for their fans and you can save 15% off your first box in a Weekend Warrior or Dabble Pack month-month subscription using code JIGSANDBIGS15 at checkout!
Enjoy the weekend folks, stay safe and TIGHT LINES!
Wild Woman 