Fishing Report - Whitman’s Pond 09/13/2019

[Smallie_Stalker]

Fishing Report - Whitman's Pond 09/13/2019

Skies: Sunny.
Water: Lightly Stained
Air Temps - Mid 60's (Felt like mid 60's)
Water temps: Unknown
Wind: Occasional light wind - barely enough to ripple the surface
Fish Catches: 4 pickerel of various size, 1 small Northern, and about a dozen cookie-cutter largemouth
                    that just barely made 10" with one that almost measured 12".

It was a tough day catch wise. I couldn't get to the spot I actually wanted to fish because the bank in that area makes a steep decline before reaching level ground. After my mishap in New Hampshire i'm still a little gun shy about attempting something like this. My ability to stand for long periods after the knee injury and the foot problems that resulted from it is not great so I had to make a compromise and setup with a chair near by in an area of the pond that offered limited opportunities. Still I was able to manage some catches in-between rests in the chair. Not the catches I'd hoped for but better than nothing.

I was hoping with our cooler air temps lately that the fish may have started moving into their fall feeding patterns but it was a little too early I guess. Here's how the catches went down.

Pickerel

Cover/Depth: Grass beds in 4 - 6 feet.
             
Lure: 3/8 oz Lead Free Bass Jigs bladed jig chartreuse and white skirt with a white blade and a
              3.25" X Zone Lures Rebel Chunk as a trailer, white with the tips of the claws dipped in
              chartreuse dye.

Presentation: Long casts over the grass bed and brought back with a steady retrieve at a moderate
                    speed.

Equipment: Dobyns FR 733C rod Abu Gen 3 Revo Premier reel 30 lb. Spiderwire Glo-Vis braid.


Northern.

Cover/Depth: Grass beds in 4 - 6 feet.
             
Lure: X Zone Lures 4" Pro Swammer Pearl Silver Flake rigged on a Lead Free Bass Jigs weighted swimbait
         hook

Presentation: Long casts over the grass bed and brought back with a steady retrieve at a moderate
                    speed.

Equipment: Abu Veritas rod 7' MH/F Daiwa Fuego CT reel  17 lb. Trilene XT line.



Largemouth.

Cover/Depth: The deeper edge (about 6 feet) of isolated pad clumps.
             
Lures: X Zone Lures 3.25" Rebel Chunk white with tips of claws dyed chartreuse, 4" Berkley Max Scent
          Flatworm Green Pumpkin with tail dyed chartreuse.

Presentation: Pitching a drop shot to the deeper edge of the pad clumps and very gently shaking the bait.

Equipment: Berkley Lightning Rod Shock rod 7' M Pflueger President spinning reel 10 pound Berkley
                  Fireline. Size 1 Mustad Wide Gap Dropshot hook.


Summary of the Day


The Northern at approximately 2 feet long was the biggest fish of the day and it obviously put up the best fight. It also tore up the X Zone Pro Swammer pretty bad. These baits are fairly soft to give them a very natural action in the water but when it comes to this type of fish it looks to be a one bait per fish deal. I believe they would hold up much better when catching bass. The bite here was very aggressive and the fish ran straight at me but the high speed Daiwa reel (8.1:1) made it easy to keep up with.

The pickerel weren't much of a challenge at all. The X Zone Rebel Chunk trailer on the bladed jig held up well considering how supple it is and the teeth on the pickerel. The first one lasted 3 fish before I had to change it. They really wanted this bladed jig and they all had it completely in their mouths. The fact that they weren't attacking the trailer probably accounted for why it held up so well to these toothy critters and it let me know that I most likely had the right color and speed combination.

The bass on the other hand were a different story. For small fish they were fairly aggressive and fought harder than the pickerel even though the pickerel were bigger. The first 3 were caught using the X Zone Rebel Chunk on the dropshot hook. It's not your typical dropshot bait I know but the claws float on this bait and that made me want to give it a try. The plastic is very supple and those floating claws have a nice action with the slightest movement of the rod tip. I would pitch it out to the deep edge of the pad clumps and once the weight hit bottom I would just let it sit for a few seconds and let those claws float up. Then I would gently shake the rod tip. The hits came almost immediately after shaking the bait.

After these first 3 bass the  bite stopped so I moved down the bank a little further to the next clump of pads. Here the turtles started nipping the ends of the claws off the bait. I managed a few bass in-between having to keep changing the chunk out and finally I ran out of the chunks.

I switched positions on the bank one more time along with having to switch over to the Berkley Flatworm. The edge was a bit deeper here but the presentation was the same. I didn't have to adjust hook placement as all the bite around the pads were coming from fish holding very close to the bottom. I nose hooked this bait which didn't have anywhere near the action as the X Zone Rebel Chunk. It took me more shakes of the rod tip to get the fish to bite on this bait but this bait also produced the biggest bass of the outing - a whopping 11 and 7/8 inches. 

Unfortunately at that point my lower back, knee and foot had had enough and I  had to pack it in. It wasn't quite the day I had hoped for but all-in-all it was a day of fishing and I had some fun between the bouts of pain.

Reviews of the 2 X Zone baits mentioned can be found:

---> Here for the Pro Swammer

And

---> Here for the Rebel Chunk


I think ( I know, dangerous right?) that it might be another couple of weeks before the water cools enough for the bass to go into full fall feeding mode. I'm hoping to get back out there then and have some better picture worthy catches to report.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Good report Smallie, appreciate you taking the time to share it with us. 

[Bud Kennedy]

Smallie, I am just happy you are at least trying to get out and do some fishing.  Sure is a lot better than sitting on your butt at home.  I know it is a challenge and kudos to you for giving it all you got. 

[Smallie_Stalker]

Links to lure reviews added to the fishing report.

[zippyduck]

Nobody is happier than me to hear you caught fish. Congrats my friend.

[Smallie_Stalker]

Nobody is happier than me to hear you caught fish. Congrats my friend.

I almost had one big enough for iBass. The month ain't over yet though.


Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Lipripper]

I almost had one big enough for iBass. The month ain't over yet though.


Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Thanks for the report Smallie and glad you got out and caught some fish.  What do you mean not big enough for IBASS  Heck if I could catch one I would measure and enter it no matter what size it was.

[Mike Cork]

What a great in depth report Thank You for sharing.