Happy Thursday friends! Here we go with another great fishing report out of Western MA!
Andy had only a short time to get out and hit Otis this morning where water temperature was 75 degrees and the air was 72. He said that all the fish he caught today were on PB&J colored ned rigs or a natural salmon pattern crank bait with a 12.5 inch perch being the biggest at that time this morning! He also mentioned that there were lots of fish hanging out at the bottom in about 16 feet or so.
Tim’s first trip out the week was a club tournament out at a shallow water reservoir in the eastern part of the state where he reported water temps in the low 80’s. Tim managed 12 bass and nne 22 inch pickerel stating that the bass he caught were up close and on the “right ” side of wood, not the left, always on the right and although not big fish, but keepers. He had four of his five fish limit on that pattern. Often times you need to key in on those specifics in order to catch. Next Tim went hunting with some moving baits to see if he could get on some bigger fish. While he was in search mode he said that he saw a bass breach twice near a patch of Lily pads so he threw the trolling motor on high for about one hundred yards. Four casts later I boated the three pounder that I saw jump and a 1 and a half pounder off the same patch. Again, paying attention to my surroundings I was able to fill out my limit as well as cull out some dinks. In the end I managed to squeak out a win with just under 8 pounds. Tough blue bird skies!
Tim’s next time out was at local Congamond on Thursday, and it was another scorcher with a water temperature of 81 degrees. He said the fish were not chewing and he managed 4. One was 10 – 12 feet down, dragging a ned rig and the other three were near docks on a 1/16 weighted soft plastic. Tim said on one cast he hooked a pound fish and saw another fish come out with it. I quickly grabbed a Senko and threw next to it. As I boated the first fish the other hit the Senko. I boated that fish as well, a double! Another tip right there. Always have a follow up rod ready to go that way you can toss something for those followers!
Bobby Roast Beef has been a busy angler! His first day out fishing since the last report was on Saturday when he headed out early to be on the water for sun up where he found slick calm water at a highly pressured local spot. I was focusing on catching a chain pickerel for the Jigs and Bigs Multi Species Scavenger Hunt, and I selected this spot because of its reputation for an abundance of small chain pickerel. He mentioned that his last visit here delivered nothing in the slime dart department, so he had to give it another go, making a run to a spot he said he hadn’t fished in a couple of months, but has delivered in the past. Bobby made sure to keep an eye on his downscan and noticed some fish in the mid column of the deeper sections that he passed over. Made a few casts with a finesse swimbait with no bites, so I pedaled onward. Once he reached his target location, he said he decided to start with some topwater to take advantage of the low light conditions. I threw a plopper style bait from Doc Master Baits (Giggity) that I received in the July box from Dark Horse Tackle. My focus was to cast across a nearby weed bed and bring it over the drop off, no bites. Next, he covered the area with a finesse swimbait and got a good thump on his 3rd cast, but after not getting another tap, heI switched to a ned rigged creature bait: about an inch shorter and a bit more subtle action, but the same color. One nibbler in the boat ate it on the drop, down pretty deep. Then he started to make long casts and would stroke the ned to get more of a yo-yo effect, trying to maximize the action in that deeper water. My next fish was that hard to find pickerel, and I don’t believe I have ever felt joy like I did from catching that skinny 12.5″ snot rocket!
He said that knowing full well, you shouldn’t leave fish to find fish, he kept at it with this stroking technique and what happened next blew his mind. Bobby said that after a few big hops, without feeling a bite, his line just started to drift to the right, slowly and then he swept to the left and realized that he did in fact have a fish on the hook. What I didn’t expect was to catch this size fish in a body of water with a serious reputation of housing all dinks. I caught the largest LMB I’ve ever caught at what we affectionately refer to as Congamond Jr.
It was at that point he decided to make the effort in tracking down some crappie and after checking some areas where he had spotted them and caught them in the past he went without a bite. As the recreational boater community made it clear that this was now THEIR domain, made my way to the launch and managed two more dink LMBs on the way. That’s more like it Junior!
Fast forward to Tuesday of this week when Mr. Roast Beef headed up Da ‘Shires where he had Northern Pike, Smallmouth, and Crappie on the agenda. He launched the green goblin at Onota at 8am and focused on fishing the southern section of the lake. Right out of the gate he hooked into a medium sized pike on a finesse swimbait. This would have been my first ever catch at Onota, my first ever pike, and another much needed point in the online tournament too… if that bastard hadn’t shaken off right as I was grabbing the friggen net!
I should mention that I did immediately re-tie my bait as that pike left some good abrasions on my fluorocarbon. Making his way south, he kept himself off the bank in about 8 to 12 feet of water, and would cast up shallow with a swimbait; if he got a tap on it he would follow quickly with a ned rig. After catching a good amount of rock bass, Bobby did manage to hook into his first Smallie on the swimbait. Little guy but he had some serious spunk, amazing fight both on the hook and trying to measure this feisty bugger! Smallmouth Bass… check! He said that he went all the way south without another catch, but managed to see an amazing grouping of carp; even some mirror carp in there! In total there were 16-20 giants swimming near the first few docks, and some would breech the water out deep. Amazing animals!
Once he started to make his way back north up to the ramp he said that he would cast out to his left again, out into deeper water. Bobby managed an even bigger smallmouth, but this guy was too short for any 5, so he snapped a pic for the gram and sent that silly sumbitch on his way. The whole day I was hoping I might return to the spot where I hooked that pike to MAYBE get another shot at him or another. I didn’t. Ultimately the heat of the day chased me off the water and I headed back in.
Finally, yesterday, he met up with a fishing buddy that had a similar box to check in their list: a bowfin! They met up at 7:30 at the launch and hit all the spots where he had seen and caught bowfin in the past: lots of show water and heavy cover. He said that as he was throwing a popping frog and fishing it very much like a popper, he got so many swipes at the bait it really had him convinced they would eventually get it in their mouth. Each missed strike, I would follow up with a Texas rigged weightless stick bait. No bites. He tried swapping the color of that Senko as well and finally after hours on the water he hooked up! Unfortunately it was a largemouth, and not the bowfin I was after. Again the heat of the mid day sun chased me off the water and I went to hydrate and luxuriate in the AC.
Don’t miss this week’s episode of Jigs and Bigs! Shawn is back behind the mic with the scoop and they also talk about one of the most important parts of the sport – keeping it FUN!
If you’re heading out this weekend it’s looking like we have some good weather, albeit some storms on Saturday. Stay safe out there folks and TIGHT LINES!
Wild Woman 