|
Date: April 10, 2021 Body of Water: Ashumet Pond - Mashpee/Falmouth, Massachusetts Moon Phase: Waning crescent; New - two days Tides: N/A Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM Conditions: About 45 - 55 degrees; fog and overcast, clearing at about 10 AM to mostly sunny; calm to SW winds at 10 mph; clear green water; 50 - 52 degrees Why not return to Ashumet? Convenient to the boat, mild weather keeping water temperatures preferable to trout, and no realistic prospects for finding the first striper of the year; Ashumet was the wise choice for the day. With foggy and overcast conditions, I switched to a gold/black S7 Rapala on one rod and rotated through a variety of Rapala sticks on the other as I trolled as slowly as possible along the pond's break into 10 or more feet of water. Each rod jumped a couple of times in the fog, but I was a full 90 minutes into the session before I finally hooked up. This nice rainbow had eaten the gold/black classic bait presented 80 feet back in about 8 feet of water, and along my preferred stretch of bank. A stocky 16-incher, this fish had even pulled a bit of drag and had fought vigorously in the slightly warmer waters of the day. Skies were just clearing at this point and a southwesterly wind was stirring. Fifteen minutes later, as I landed my fourth rainbow of the day along this same productive stretch, I noticed that the fog was totally gone and the sky was substantially cleared. Two additional rainbows had eaten the gold and black sinker, while the other had smashed an F9 Rapala in blue and silver, 100 feet back. But given the preference for the S7, I substituted an S7 in blue/silver (remember, the skies were now substantially cleared), set 70 feet behind the rod tip. The remainder of the day was a slow pick of fish and misses. Eight feet of water (+/-) seemed to be most productive; to be honest, 6 feet produced bites, but also caused weed/algal fouling issues. There were more drive-by/swings-and-misses than I'd like, and I lost a couple of jumping fish, as well a couple of seemingly heavy fish. Other than to relax and enjoy myself, my sequential goals for the day had been to catch a trout; to catch three trout (my virtual "limit" and a satisfactorily productive day by reasonably conventional standards); and then to catch double-digit trout (a good day day by any reasonable standard). At 12:55 PM, I was stuck at nine trout (and a bonus, small largemouth bass); I had given myself until 1 PM to reach 10. Boom! Number 10 turned out to be a spunky brown trout and magically bought me another hour of fishing, especially since the ramp appeared to be a mess at this time. The slow pick continued. Trout 11 was perhaps the biggest of the day (approaching 18 inches and fat) and ate the blue/silver S7. Trout 12, pictured below, chose the reliable gold/black S7, set 70 back while I trolled two baits of the same size and design. Despite the increasingly bright conditions, this "dark" lure produced 10 of the day's 12 trout and the single bass. It clearly shined for the day; I was surprised that the trouts' preference remained with this lure as the day wore on. What do I have to say about this? Other than the trailer's winch strap snapping on the short drive from the lake to storage, the day was problem-free and enjoyable. The trout were feistier, and larger on average; at least half of the trout landed were 16 inches or better, with several between 17 and 18 inches and with excellent body condition. It was fun to hear and feel a little bit of drag slippage. Ashumet has provided a bit of a pleasant and productive refuge for me this season while I continue to wait out both COVID and the arrival of warmer water temperatures and stripers. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|
Proudly powered by Weebly