Category: Fishing

Date: April 21, 2018

Time: 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Location: Fishing Spot: South Watuppa Pond, Fall River, Massachusetts

Weather: Sunny but cold and very windy. Multiple layers of clothing !

Air Temperature: Low 30’s to start. High 40’s/Low 50’s to finish

Water Temperature: 46-50 degrees (cool!)

---

Notes:

This was a fishing trip of firsts for me…

• First time bass fishing in such cold temperatures
• First time fishing this specific pond
• First time fishing in a bass club tournament

I honestly had no idea what to expect… the conditions were very tough nevermind the fact that I was fishing in my first ever bass tournament. I had recently joined the South Shore Bassmasters Club and this was their first tournament of the season.

Despite being frozen to the core preparing my boat for launch in the parking lot, I somehow managed to get launched and ready to fish without any issues.

Oddly enough, or, as it turns out, fortunately enough, I caught my first bass on my fifth cast of the day ! It was only 1 3/4 pounds but I had a fish in the boat ! I recall thinking to myself with surprise that the fish are biting despite the cold conditions. I used a black football jig with a dark blue craw trailer.

How wrong I was !!! This first bass would be the only bass I would boat the entire day. I did get bit off by a pike and did manage to land a pike a bit later in the day but that was it.

At the weigh-in, I learned that I wasn’t the only one having a tough day. There were many anglers that zero’d today. The largest bass caught was just 2.3 pounds.

In any event – looking at the positives – it was a great learning experience on many fronts.

Some Photos of the Day:

 

 

Date: April, 2018

Time: Afternoon

Location: Fishing Spot: Whitehall Reservoir, Hopkinton, Massachusetts

Weather: Overcast, some wind but not a gale at least. The tolling motor got a workout.

Air Temperature: Low 50’s

Water Temperature: 40-42 degrees (chilly!)

---

Notes:

I had zero expectations of catching any fish today it all. The entire reason I was out at this time of year was that I had cabin fever… I’d just picked up my boat from winter storage and needed to get it out onto the water to make sure it would run and operate as expected when I needed it for a tournament later in the month 🙂

My boat ran great even in the cold water conditions and I was pleased by that. I did not actually catch any fish on this trip. However, I was able to spend some time over in the deeper sections of the reservoir that I’d typically not been able to in the past. There were only a couple of other boats out  which was nice as there was a lot of freedom to roam around and sit in areas where there’s typically a fair amount of boat traffic. I made a lot of mental notes as to where new drops and rock piles etc. were that I’d not known of before.

No fish but lots of information gained so it was a worthwhile trip for sure !