Pictured Above: Water bodies are beginning to “turnover” bringing bigger trout in close such as this one caught by Tracey Cuzzuppe!
Not many will be giving thanks on Turkey Day for colder temperatures, but some cases freshwater may actually improve. Larger water bodies all across the state are in the process of “turning over.” That mixing of water temperatures is often just the thing to bring smallmouth bass a little closer to shore as well as bigger trout.
The chill of last week caused water temperatures to drop as if they fell off a cliff! Large, relatively clear, ponds and lakes throughout the state which often hold trout and smallies – turned over and in some cases feature improved fishing. One that I know of intimately improved as if a switch was flipped! Actually, it did: surface temperatures dropped to that pivotal 39.2 degrees, became denser than the water below, sank and pushed in bait as well as smallies and trout from their deep-water haunts and in some cases are all within casting distance of the shore.
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There is usually a big difference in what anglers reach for when targeting trout as opposed to smallmouth bass but that does not have to be the case now. Much of this has to do with the smallies shift in forage this time of the year as crayfish become harder to find and the prey preference becomes weighted more towards fish. Those same perch fry, shiners, killifish and other baitfish also attract the larger brown trout and rainbows.
Spoons and slim-profiled swimming minnow lures will catch a variety of species now. Some of the standouts in my backpack now are Gold Thomas Bouyants, metallic perch and red/gold Little Cleos and Kastmasters, gold/black Yo-Zuri Pins Minnows and a Tennessee shad Rapala Husky Jerk. For most of these baits I’ll be working it on a steady crank with periodic twitches, a technique I learned from my friend Captain Carl Vinning whose deft twitching touch tempts everything from crappie to cows. That “twitch” is simply a subtle snap of the rod followed by a brief pause, usually the fish strike on the pause!
Try a few casts among sun-drenched and wind-swept shorelines. Those subtle upticks in water temperature will hold forage and the wind will often shove it all up against the shore. Above all, keep on the lookout for shoals of baitfish; a plethora of predators is likely to be prowling nearby.
On the South Shore consider Halfway Pond in Plymouth for smallmouth bass, while Long and Little get the nod for trout. Closer to Boston, Walden Pond sticks out for smallies and trout with nearby White Pond holding some nice trout and largemouth bass. Of course, Wachusettt is a winner for smallmouth bass, along with a multitude of salmonoids but it also has some impressive largemouth bass among the relatively weedy sections of the causeway, Gate 8 and Gate 35. Two other central Mass prospects where you are just as likely to catch a bass as a trout are Webster Lake and Lake Singletary. In the Connecticut Valley Region, Lake Mattawa has smallmouth bass and is stocked frequently with several species of trout. If you prefer your smallies and trout with running water than check out the Miller River! For a short at an interesting combo near the Berkshires, consider a favorite of Patrick Barone of Charter The Berkshires – Stockbridge Bowl – which is stocked with trout and contains pickerel big enough to eat a stockie! Patrick swears he has been mocked by the state record, slowly following his lure there in the past! Lake Buel has bass, the gamut of trout and the monster of freshwater in these parts – pike.
If one of the things you’re most thankful for this time of the year is prospects of a full ice fishing season, you may be able to capitalize on pike which are behaving as first ice is imminent. The shallow, pike-laden Cheshire Reservoir already has conditions similar to what’s typical of a water body which has “caught”. “Dieback” weedbads are aggregating forage fish and pike are right with them. And this place has given up 20 pounders!
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Fishing Forecast
If you’re looking for relief from too much turkey and the other fixings than shake off that tryptophan with a “turnover” which has nothing to do with more pastry. Pack light take along a few minnow imitators and focus on spots where bass and trout may not be mutually exclusive! And most of all have the happiest of Thanksgivings!