I had to visit my folks on Cape Cod this weekend. Got a later than expected start due to getting stuck in traffic Friday night on the way home from our Trout
outing on the Farmington river. But I was able to get down to the cape early enough to get on the water before much of any boat activity got started on the
lake which was perfect glass when I arrived. I took out my pontoon boat for an hour and half and though the sun was high and the water perfectly still I
managed to convince a few nice smallies that my goldie was a tasty herring 
. Any managed to get sun burned knees in the process 
.
I actually saw many nice fish cruising the shallows but clear calm high sun conditions were not ideal for outsmarting these weary fish. Also, the herring fry are still a little small. As the fry grow larger they will be easier to imitate and the smallies will become more aggressive. Surprisingly I did see a number of smallmouths still on their beds protecting fry.
One smallmouth I saw on a bed in four feet of water was easily four pounds and a remarkable dark bronze color. Given that the males usually protect the beds I have to say this was one very very impressive fish and wonder how big the female was.
Sunday I got back out on the lake for a while later in the afternoon after the rains subsided. I hoped the overcast and slightly choppy conditions would work in my favor but I wasn't able to beat my big fish from Saturday. That fish gave me one heck of a battle really had me wondering for a while if I was ever going to successfully land it. Thats what I love about smallmouth fishing. Pound for pound they put up one heck of a battle. Anyway, I managed a half dozen fish on Sunday but the biggest was smaller than the largest one in the photos below.
No photos from Sundays afternoon smallmouth fishing since it was still wet out and I haven't invested in a waterproof digital. This area should really turn on in the next couple weeks as the fry grow and I can't wait!
On the way home I stopped at a friends house whos place fronts on another pond the herring spawn in. I arrived about a little over hour before sunset. I had rung him as I hit the road and he happened to be on the water fishing and encouraged me to stop by on my way off cape. So when I arrived at his place I rung him to tell him I was at the dock. He said he would be right in to pick me up but I had time to rerig and fish a while before he arrived. Upon arriving he apologized for taking soo long getting in to the dock but that he had hooked into a monster chain pickerel right after he hung up.
The fish towed the jon boat around a bit and gave him one hell of a fight. When he finally got it in the boat he could not believe how big it really was. He had his boga grip and it weighed in at an impressive 4 Pounds!!!!
He just moved into this place so he is still get acquainted with the water. This would be my first outing on this secenic fish laden pond. We went right back to the hot spot that gave up the humugous pickerel but not much there so we worked our way north checking out some other areas feeling our way around.
As the light began to fade we jumped back down to the south a bit and I was watching the water go under the bow and began to notice some clouds in the water from fish we were spooking so we stopped. Several casts later I hooked up on an olive cat's whisker. The fish jumped shortly into the fight. I got a pretty good look and knew it was a decent one. Next thing I know the fish is towing the jon boat around. First to the right then to the left and continues to the left until we do a full 360! Bottom is only a couple feet down so the fish can't dive and continues to pull the boat forward but is getting closer. Finally he spins the boat and comes close enough for my host to grab the leader. But even after a prolonged fight the fish is still got spunk and it surges out of reach. I again work him back to the boat and my host reaches in the water and scoops him up by the belly fearing the 8lb leader would POP if he tried to hoist the bass in the boat. Its a beautiful Largemouth.
Out comes the boga grip for a weight. 4 Pounds! Lucky number today I guess
.
Sunday nights Monstor Man eating pickerel-
Heres a shot with a size 14 foot
for scale-
Fighting the big LMB-
The 4 Pound LMB-
A fine way to wind down a great early summer weekend of fishing and the best fathers day present of all!
. Any managed to get sun burned knees in the process .
I actually saw many nice fish cruising the shallows but clear calm high sun conditions were not ideal for outsmarting these weary fish. Also, the herring fry are still a little small. As the fry grow larger they will be easier to imitate and the smallies will become more aggressive. Surprisingly I did see a number of smallmouths still on their beds protecting fry.
One smallmouth I saw on a bed in four feet of water was easily four pounds and a remarkable dark bronze color. Given that the males usually protect the beds I have to say this was one very very impressive fish and wonder how big the female was.
Sunday I got back out on the lake for a while later in the afternoon after the rains subsided. I hoped the overcast and slightly choppy conditions would work in my favor but I wasn't able to beat my big fish from Saturday. That fish gave me one heck of a battle really had me wondering for a while if I was ever going to successfully land it. Thats what I love about smallmouth fishing. Pound for pound they put up one heck of a battle. Anyway, I managed a half dozen fish on Sunday but the biggest was smaller than the largest one in the photos below.
No photos from Sundays afternoon smallmouth fishing since it was still wet out and I haven't invested in a waterproof digital. This area should really turn on in the next couple weeks as the fry grow and I can't wait!
On the way home I stopped at a friends house whos place fronts on another pond the herring spawn in. I arrived about a little over hour before sunset. I had rung him as I hit the road and he happened to be on the water fishing and encouraged me to stop by on my way off cape. So when I arrived at his place I rung him to tell him I was at the dock. He said he would be right in to pick me up but I had time to rerig and fish a while before he arrived. Upon arriving he apologized for taking soo long getting in to the dock but that he had hooked into a monster chain pickerel right after he hung up.
The fish towed the jon boat around a bit and gave him one hell of a fight. When he finally got it in the boat he could not believe how big it really was. He had his boga grip and it weighed in at an impressive 4 Pounds!!!!
He just moved into this place so he is still get acquainted with the water. This would be my first outing on this secenic fish laden pond. We went right back to the hot spot that gave up the humugous pickerel but not much there so we worked our way north checking out some other areas feeling our way around.
As the light began to fade we jumped back down to the south a bit and I was watching the water go under the bow and began to notice some clouds in the water from fish we were spooking so we stopped. Several casts later I hooked up on an olive cat's whisker. The fish jumped shortly into the fight. I got a pretty good look and knew it was a decent one. Next thing I know the fish is towing the jon boat around. First to the right then to the left and continues to the left until we do a full 360! Bottom is only a couple feet down so the fish can't dive and continues to pull the boat forward but is getting closer. Finally he spins the boat and comes close enough for my host to grab the leader. But even after a prolonged fight the fish is still got spunk and it surges out of reach. I again work him back to the boat and my host reaches in the water and scoops him up by the belly fearing the 8lb leader would POP if he tried to hoist the bass in the boat. Its a beautiful Largemouth.
Out comes the boga grip for a weight. 4 Pounds! Lucky number today I guess
.
Sunday nights Monstor Man eating pickerel-
Heres a shot with a size 14 foot
for scale-
Fighting the big LMB-
The 4 Pound LMB-
A fine way to wind down a great early summer weekend of fishing and the best fathers day present of all!
