Back from Disney so been slow on the blog (great job keeping it updated Sean) but Team Jackal continues to come out swinging this season - setting the tone leading up to the Headhunt. This time it is 12 year tourney veteran, perennial all star, and winner of biggest mess at the after party 7 out of 12 years - Benny boy Allen. Remember last year Ben was the one who made national news spotting the Beluga whales in Fall River. This year he has been hitting the tog and stripers on his skiff, and squid with fellow Team Jackal member Tria. Awesome guest report from Benny boy - includes some canal action, togging, and keeper bass - everyone send in any reports you have - and be afraid of the Jackal this year. Very afraid.
Last week’s Fishing Report:
The fishing up my way was finally picked up in the past week or so which 2-3 weeks later than it normally does. The brutal second half of the winter had things all screwed up all over New England. Up here was no different although it looks like things are getting back to normal. The water temps have finally hit the mid 50’s and the pogies are up here in full force. Here’s a quick rundown of my time on the water over the last week or so:
Thursday 5/14: Tautog fishing the Sakonnet under the bridges in Tiverton for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Fishing was very slow. I only got two tog with one keeper. However, the one keeper weighed over 7 lbs. Not a bad way to start off this year’s bottom fishing. Also, I saw a buddy of mine out on the water who is a commercial diver. He was diving on mornings all morning and said he saw a number of schools of small keeper size fish which is encouraging.
Friday 5/15: Started out around 4 am fishing the canal with fellow Headhunt veterans Ethan, Greg and Cabin Boy. We were in the vicinity of the herring run and there were tons of herring and school sized bass around. The bass were pushing bait up and down the shoreline, but it was tough to get them to hit artificial plugs with all that live bait around. Ethan, Greg and I had nothing to show for our efforts until Cabin Boy showed up to save the day. Sean only fished with us for about 45 minutes, but he showed us up and managed 2 schoolies on white a Tsunami Swim Shad. After he left I got one small fish on the same bait. By the time we left, there were a fair number of people fishing the area and we did see a bunch of other fish taken, but nothing of size. After everyone else packed up and went to work, I shifted gears and took my skiff out tautog and striper fishing up the Taunton River in Somerset/Fall River mid morning until mid afternoon. The tog fishing was much better this time with 7 fish total and three small keepers to 19 inches. During the slack tide I headed up river and got a handful of schoolies on a Rebel Jummpin’ Minnow.
Saturday 5/16: Out with the kids for a few hours in the afternoon to go plugging for some schoolies in the afternoon. We got a couple small fish on light colored Smack-It Jrs. before my boy’s attention turned to the shoreline to explore the bank and throw rocks in the water.
Sunday 5/17: Out again on the skiff with the kids to catch the change of tide around 7:30 am. Conditions were absolutely beautiful – tide just beginning to ebb, clear blue sky and zero wind. Same results as the day before with a few small fish on top water before heading ashore to screw around. Next time out we plan of giving blue crabbing a shot as the water up the Assonet River is now in the 60’s depending on the tide and time of day. Later that night after we put the kids to bed I headed out with my buddy Chris to do some night time surf casting at our favorite spot down in Dartmouth. New moon with the ebb tide beginning just as darkness set in – perfect conditions that have been very successful for us at this spot in past years. We fished from 9 pm until about 1 am. The fish were there, but it was a slow pick. We each got 3-4 fish, but we worked for them. Most were around 25-26 inches, but Chris got his first keeper of the year at 31 inches. All the fish were on Sebile Magic Swimmers and Diawa SP Minnows. I think we are heading back down there tonight.
That’s all for now. Planning on hitting it hard again over the holiday weekend. The big bass should be here soon…….Get after it boys!
Benny
Last week’s Fishing Report:
The fishing up my way was finally picked up in the past week or so which 2-3 weeks later than it normally does. The brutal second half of the winter had things all screwed up all over New England. Up here was no different although it looks like things are getting back to normal. The water temps have finally hit the mid 50’s and the pogies are up here in full force. Here’s a quick rundown of my time on the water over the last week or so:
Thursday 5/14: Tautog fishing the Sakonnet under the bridges in Tiverton for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Fishing was very slow. I only got two tog with one keeper. However, the one keeper weighed over 7 lbs. Not a bad way to start off this year’s bottom fishing. Also, I saw a buddy of mine out on the water who is a commercial diver. He was diving on mornings all morning and said he saw a number of schools of small keeper size fish which is encouraging.
Friday 5/15: Started out around 4 am fishing the canal with fellow Headhunt veterans Ethan, Greg and Cabin Boy. We were in the vicinity of the herring run and there were tons of herring and school sized bass around. The bass were pushing bait up and down the shoreline, but it was tough to get them to hit artificial plugs with all that live bait around. Ethan, Greg and I had nothing to show for our efforts until Cabin Boy showed up to save the day. Sean only fished with us for about 45 minutes, but he showed us up and managed 2 schoolies on white a Tsunami Swim Shad. After he left I got one small fish on the same bait. By the time we left, there were a fair number of people fishing the area and we did see a bunch of other fish taken, but nothing of size. After everyone else packed up and went to work, I shifted gears and took my skiff out tautog and striper fishing up the Taunton River in Somerset/Fall River mid morning until mid afternoon. The tog fishing was much better this time with 7 fish total and three small keepers to 19 inches. During the slack tide I headed up river and got a handful of schoolies on a Rebel Jummpin’ Minnow.
Saturday 5/16: Out with the kids for a few hours in the afternoon to go plugging for some schoolies in the afternoon. We got a couple small fish on light colored Smack-It Jrs. before my boy’s attention turned to the shoreline to explore the bank and throw rocks in the water.
Sunday 5/17: Out again on the skiff with the kids to catch the change of tide around 7:30 am. Conditions were absolutely beautiful – tide just beginning to ebb, clear blue sky and zero wind. Same results as the day before with a few small fish on top water before heading ashore to screw around. Next time out we plan of giving blue crabbing a shot as the water up the Assonet River is now in the 60’s depending on the tide and time of day. Later that night after we put the kids to bed I headed out with my buddy Chris to do some night time surf casting at our favorite spot down in Dartmouth. New moon with the ebb tide beginning just as darkness set in – perfect conditions that have been very successful for us at this spot in past years. We fished from 9 pm until about 1 am. The fish were there, but it was a slow pick. We each got 3-4 fish, but we worked for them. Most were around 25-26 inches, but Chris got his first keeper of the year at 31 inches. All the fish were on Sebile Magic Swimmers and Diawa SP Minnows. I think we are heading back down there tonight.
That’s all for now. Planning on hitting it hard again over the holiday weekend. The big bass should be here soon…….Get after it boys!
Benny
