Well it’s Tuesday, not Thursday, but I was on vacation last week trying to land fish off the saltwater! I finally was able to throw a line in the water, as my family was out this past week in Salisbury MA camping in the state park. I tried for stripers off shore of the Merrimack, which seemed extra warm compared to last season as this time. We tried with clams and mackerel and we saw other fishermen pull in fish, but no such luck ourselves. The Jig Heads were busy last week, and the fish are biting!
Tim was able to get out to Lake Congamond a couple times last week. First time was Monday the water temp was 83 degrees and he only managed four fish. He said he caught them on a ned rig in deeper humps using his forward facing sonar; he also caught four pickerel off of wood. Tim said that searching for that elusive dock pattern hasn’t been very strong for him this year. His n0ext outing was on Thursday to Lake Congamond again where the water was 79 degrees, where he finally found that dock pattern he’d been looking for. Tim landed a nice four and a half pound largie underneath the pontoon as well as a pound and a half and a two and a half pound largie. He landed five bass, with the other two on deeper humps with some wood structure. He also caught some more pickerel dragging that same ned rig.
Nelson made it out a couple times last week looking for some multi species upgrades for the Jigs and Bigs tournament. I also missed last weeks report but I have some info that may be helpful. First, he fished the MAKB event #4 The Route 57 Run. This was a pick your lake event with 8 lakes/ponds to pick from. Nelson said that the pond he picked was the second largest of them all and he had only been there once before the tournament. After going around the entire pond fishing shallow and beating the bank. I only had 2 small bass so I started searching deeper.
Nelson said that at 11:30 am he only had a 3 fish limit and was just hoping he would get a limit for the day. Around 12 pm, after moving around and fishing deeper and deeper, he finally found an area with some fish. I filled my limit and even upgraded a couple times. At 1:00 pm, 1 hour before the end of the tournament, he landed his last and largest upgrade: a 20 inch bass that moved him up to 2nd place AND also took the lunker pool. Nelson reports that he caught his first two bass in shallow water around wood and rock with a weightless stick bait. Every other bass he caught was on a dropshot in deeper water, including the 20 incher that was in eleven feet of water around grass clumps. This is a great example of ” NEVER GIVE UP”. A tough day of fishing turned into a great finish in the tournament.
Nelson’s other two outings last week were on local lakes for multi species. He was able to catch a crappie on a small crankbait and trout on a drop shot, along with several small bass and large pickerel. He also reported that the water temperatures last week were in the mid to high 80’s at both ponds. Be sure to get out there early and try some top water near or in the weeds. Dragging a worm in and around the weeds should work too.The fishing has been great overall. Get out there and get em!! Be safe!!
Jerry managed to get out last week a few times. He went trout fishing in a pond in Berkshire county looking for a trout entry for the Jigs and Bigs tournament. He said he started fishing first light Saturday morning and that the water temperature was 74 degrees. On his first cast he landed a 14 inch brown trout on a night crawler. Jerry said that the trout bite was excellent for a couple hours catching ten on a variety of baits drop shotting a green pumpkin Berkley flat worm, ned rigged Zman TRDs, and Mepps red and white inline spinner. Jerry also picked up a few decent largemouth on the same baits in deeper waters of 12 to 18 feet.
Sunday morning of last week he fished another Berkshire County lake a bit larger at 287 acres. Jerry was fishing a hump with some weeds on it and another fisherman, an old gentleman came along and asked if he could fish the same spot and Jerry said it was fine. He was using live shiners so I was interested to see the results compared to soft plastics I was throwing. In an hour’s time he caught four bass to my three. Jerry said that he ended up with a dozen bass, some pickerel, and a couple rock bass. Lastl, on Monday evening he fished another Berkshire county lake for some multi species action where he fished deep weed edges for crappie, bluegills and pickerel trying black and blue soft plastics to start with catching only a couple small rock bass. Jerry said that he switched to drop shot rig with green pumpkin baits which caught a dozen or so crappie, a few bluegill, and five pickerel over 20 inches in 16 to 20 feet of water.
Andy hit up Otis last week where he said that the water temperature was 74 degrees and the air cooled down to 72. He said that it was a soft plastic day! Andy also said that now is obviously a good time to be out on Otis during the week; if you can get out here midweek it will much less stress, for you and the fish.
Shawn the Fisherman caught a handful of nibbler largemouth on finesse plastics last week. He reports that the drop shot and ned rigs on deep weed edges incited bites. Enjoy the waning supermoon bite, be safe and have fun out there!
Don’t forget to check out the new Jigs and Bigs episode available NOW! Good luck out there folks, and tight lines! Check back in on Thursday for another fishing report!
Wild Woman 