Seasonal Confusion on Quabbin, 5/5/16

[Will Wetline]

It's 4:15 a.m. and I"m on the road to meet Eric at the Q. The air temp is 43º and it's raining lightly. The past week had been gloomy, unseasonably cold and leaves me feeling under enthused. Good numbers of smallies should be cruising the flats by now, looking to set up housekeeping for the spawn. I barely kept the skunk off last trip. Harumph.

But really, who is confused? Not the smallies. They're doing exactly what Mother Nature hard wired them to do. They're not much brighter than a bag of hammers of course, equipped with a brain the size of a smallish chickpea. I'm anthropomorphizing again, a fun game but not helpful in a search for smallmouth. A realistic assessment is, considering the continuing blah weather conditions, the fish will still be relatively deep and reluctant to jerk the rod out of my hands.

Met Eric at Gate 43 with Scott N.'s boat in tow. (Thank you, Scott!) Eric, always deferential and showing poor judgment again asked, "Where do you want to start?" I suggested a mid lake rock hump and flats.

Here, as at other locations we fished, the water temp was 51º - 52º. It took several hours for the air temp to reach this and it never got a whole lot warmer.

Was hoping for a blade bite at the upper end of this bait's effective range. Didn't happen. A jig on the bottom didn't entice them. What did work was a suspending jerkbait retrieved at a moderate clip. Here's Eric's first fish:

I followed not long after with a smallie that measured but was below show off size.

We continued drifting and casting for a while and then decided to try different water.

Blade baits again did not work nor did suspending jerks or a bright red crank. The rubber skirted, twin tailed jig did, however.

The bottom was a field of rocks and boulders like the shoreline above and, since bass didn't intercept my hair jigs quickly enough, I sacrificed two to Mistress Quabbin and decided not to waste more. It was getting gusty (20+ mph) at this time anyway and, conscious of Scott's generously loaned hull, we cautiously made our way back to the big flat where we started.

"Bassmaster Eric," I said resignedly, "We could be doing worse, but they're not exactly active. Why don't we use the electric for controlled drifts along the deeper areas of this flat and see if we can fool a few that are moving up?"

We did this for several hours, hooking up now and then.

When it's slow going I tie on a Lucky Craft Pointer 78. Eric stayed with a lightly weighted X-Rap in the 4" size which netted him 6 smallies and several lakers for the outing. Among them, the patient and persevering Eric hooked his second 4+ lb. smallmouth of the season. 

To sum up, I think we can fairly say we did okay for a cool, gray, Quabbin day.

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

Fun read. It's been a slow warmup in the Great Lakes too this spring.

[DogBone_384]

Good read. Sounds like my last couple of outings in eastern MA.

I don't feel as bad now knowing it's just slow conditions...

Best of luck next time out!

[A-Jay]

Success comes in various shapes & sizes.  Being able to have it on those type days is no less rewarding.

Nice job.

Congrats

A-Jay

[Ski]

Good reading and congrats! Looks like a nice fishery.

[Hurricane]

Nice!

[roadwarrior]

Excellent!

 

["hamma"]

Even those cooler gray days with wind, I miss out there. I know all too well how days can go out there, but whether you catch fish or not, it's always an experience to remember. The smallies are plentiful and the largemouth exceptional. then yet, any species you can catch in Quabbin has the potential to be the trophy of a lifetime. The scenery is unmatched in mass, and the waters clarity rivals any in new england, even sebago! She can be a b****, or a 200 fish a day fishery,  glad you 2 did ok on a tough day

Congrats on your success

[Paul Roberts]

Nice! Fish, scenery, and narrative.

I hear you... It is awfully satisfying to get a good solid run or two under your belt that let you know you're not completely clueless, or maybe worse -not simply playing a lottery. Hey, you did pretty well by day's end. I think the smallies would've rather have been on fire too. But, as you said they really don't have the choice. And, so, neither do we. I don't think I'd really want it another way. Nowadays it's too easy to find things more predictably gratifying.

[Bankbeater]

Good going! The weather around here is warm for a couple of days and then chilly for a few days.