ASHUMET POND

 

Pete and I talk about how to catch small mouth in Ashumet Pond in this segment. Pete is a well known angler in the TBF also in B.A.S.S. Nation. He has fished all over New England and shares some of his techniques in catching small mouth bass.  He enjoys fishing Ashumet Pond and uses it to hone his fishing skills for the small mouth.  I hope some of the information helps you improve your fishing.

 

PETE DE MOYA'S TECHNIQUES

Text Box: Ashumet is a small Cape Pond that can be fished entirely in a day. If you aren't getting bit in one spot, then try a different area. This pond is dominated by smallmouth bass. Tactics and presentation should match accordingly. Downsize your baits and key on the smallmouth's aggressive behavior. Ashumet is basically a series of large flats with good deep water access. Smallmouth dominate the flats without much competition from largemouth bass. Due to this fact, I never fish deeper than twenty feet, which is the deep breakline on the steep shoreline. My results bear this out, there are plenty of nice smallies to be caught shallow.

Text Box:     Since the pond is mostly flats, the fish could be anywhere on them. I like to look for a structure break such as a point or ridge that the fish can relate to. Ashumet has several points and an island with an underwater ridge running out from it. Shoreline curves and sharper breaking drops make up the remainder of structure breaks; just enough to hold fish. Pick one and then use your electronics to look for sparse weed clumps or baitfish. If you find them the smallmouth will be close by.

Text Box:     In spring, I prefer to throw a jerkbait. Long pauses between swipes of the rod, will often produce fish. Usually after a pause, I will go to swipe the rod only to find resistance at the other end. Some of the biggest smallies of the year are caught this way. It is a proven technique for big fish. Try bright colors on sunny days, like gold or silver. Smallies are attacted to the flash.

Text Box:     After the jerkbait bite dies off in late spring I like to throw tube baits, like Gitzits. These baits will continue to produce for the entire year. Ashumet's bottom content is mostly gravel. This is great habitat for crayfish to live in and we all know bass love crawdads. The tube will imitate a craw if allowed to work properly. When you can't catch them on the initial drop, try varying you weight. This may provoke a strike. Ttry a long cast and let the tube drop to the bottom. Point your rod tip down at the water and drag the bait back to the boat slowly. They key  is to drag the tube horizontally on a tight line. You will feel every pebble on the bottom with this technique. The smallies really pop it. Feels just like a rubber worm bite.

Text Box:     These are my best techniques for Ashumet. Hey, everything works at certain times. Use what you feel confident in! This pond has quality fish and can be a lot of fun. The picture is from the BASS EASTERN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP which I was able to participate in. those two 3lb smallies put me over the top. Have fun at Ashumet!  Pete de Moya

My Techniques

Ashumet Pond has been really tough fishing over the past 3-4 years.  There is no grass, or very little in the pond, however it still offers good small mouth and largemouth fishing.  Let's start at the spawn- I go around the pond in about 5-8 ft of water and look for the beds.  Mostly on the SW side of the pond.  Some years the pond is really clear and the fish will spawn in 10 ft of water, takes a bright sun and a good eye to see the beds.  The small mouth were bedding all the way into late June this year(2009).  I used to use a jig head with a grub or worm  on it, but now I've found that I can get that bait in the "sweet part" of the bed easier and keep it there with a drop shot rig.  A grub, worm, whatever usually works for bait, just as long as it "fits" on the hook size you are using. The largemouth are bedding right up to July .  The past 2 years, 2008-2009, the water was high and after the long drought, the bank has grown these extensive little bushes and small trees. The largemouth have been in them and you can practice your flipping and pitching techniques. Mainly pitching because the water is very clear and you can't get that close to them without spooking them. In some of the shallow bank areas, senko's were easier to use and resulted in some nice fish. The Rod Jockeys held their tournament in August 09, and Ted Barnicle won  it right at the ramp.  He saw small mouth cruising around when he put in his boat.  The fish were holding on the bed areas.  Whether they were bedding or not, is any one's guess, but they were there and they bit!!!!!!!!  Cloudy days during the summer is good for catching them with a spook, or other top water bait.  I have had some success with the tube dragging it in 10-20 ft of water.

Here's another good technique offered by Jack Ennis from the Rod Jockey's:  George, most of the brown areas on the map are excellent at night. I use a
1/2 oz Terminator night spinner bait with the gold Colorado blade and a big
Zoom chunk in either black or blue. Others will probably work well too if
they can be retrieved very slow and still run only about i foot deep. Throw
right up tight to shore. I had 13lbs. of smallies as a guest in a night T in
June.

 

June 2010: Summer time patterns have started to take hold. The bass are moving shallow-  the water is very high and the fish are so far back in the trees, you can't reach them.  If you get a senko under the trees and near the shoreline, like Vern can, you get the fish.  The problem is getting them back out.  The small mouth was a gift-  he was hanging in some brush in 3 ft of water, otherwise, I haven't been able to find them!!!

August 2010:  I have been fishing mostly at night-  6:00-  11:00 pm.  The small mouth were shallow in some areas on top water-  jitterbug,  and around 10-11 feet near the edges of the flats with a black spinnerbait.  However, in the 3 weeks that I fished, we progressed from a full moon to a new moon.   The bite got progressively worse each week.  The RJ's had a tournament Aug 15.  I was able to land 1 largemouth.  I missed a small mouth and a largemouth, but the bite was almost non-existent.  The small mouth was in some flooded trees, I hooked it on a senko, but it jumped and spit the hook.  I was in the grass and using a jig, when finally I got a bite and caught a small fish.  I tried a tree branch that was sitting in about 4 feet of water- it was very dark and I couldn't tell exactly where it was.  I got lazy and I threw a little jig with light line to it, instead of getting my heavy lined jig.  I threw it right in the middle of the tree branch.  The rod bent over and I set the hook too hard and the line broke.  Then a nice largemouth came to surface and threw the jig.  Not too bright-  lesson learned is not to get lazy!!!!!!!!!  I didn't fish Ashumet after this tournament.

 2014-  The Rod Jockeys had 2 tournament2 during the day  the past year in April and July . The April tournament was cold and rainy, hardly a spring tournament.  The water is low and it will get lower during the summer.  The island  area has only a little water around it.  We were hoping the spawn was about to take place, but it sure wasn’t.  The water was very dark and stained, couldn’t see the bottom in 5 ft of water.  There were 7 fish caught– mainly around the  bank on the east side which drops very quickly into the deep.  Both the largemouth and small mouth caught seemed to be coming up into the 12-15 foot range.    In July, the water was lower, as I said, but the grass, what there is, was growing in about 12-15 ft.   Wasn’t much of a grass, but not quite a moss either.  Jigs and tubes dragged along the bottom  seemed to do best.  A slow rolling spinnerbait was the trick in my non boaters arsenal.  He caught 2 largemouth and a small mouth in the same area in about 1/2 hour during the tournament.  I was fortunate to win, I fished a jig in a couple of trees around the island area and managed 2 fish over 4 lbs. 

 

 

ASHUMET POND HOT SPOTS

I have picked some areas on the map of  Ashumet Pond to talk about. Pan the mouse around the lake and when it changes to a hand; click on the area and I will tell you some of the bottom structure and features in the area. The brown shaded areas are relatively shallow; from 1 to 5 feet. The blue shaded area into the white area in the middle of the map are the deeper portions of the Lake.

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