Tag: Neponset Reservoir

Dinkathon 2019

We had a great turnout for the first MAKB event of the year (aka Dinkathon 2019). I was afraid the weather forecast would have scared a lot of anglers away, but 37—18 on Lake Rico, 19 on Neponset Res—showed up to battle the wind and the rain.

And despite the forecast, it wasn’t bad. The wind was awful—that was accurate—but it didn’t rain nearly as much as I expected.

The fishing forecast, however, was dead on. Dinks, dinks, and more dinks. Only three big fish were caught and, unfortunately, one was disqualified (more on that in another post).

We paid out five spots, lunker, and pickerel lunker (one pool for each pond).

Not a whole lot to write about when everyone is catching dinks, but five of those put Lee Kennon into the winner’s circle with 62 inches even (more on Lee’s day in another post as well).

One inch ahead of Lee, Joshua Jackson took fourth place. I think this is his first time placing in the money with us. Congrats, man!

A last-minute, 3.25-inch upgrade bumped Nick Booth up into third place with 64.75.

A big fish, even a 15-incher, would have made a big difference for a lot anglers today. That’s how tight things were.

Many thought Neponset Reservoir would put out bigger limits, but of the top ten, only one angler—Kevin Amaral Jr.—fished Neponset. Kevin put up a respectable (for these ponds) 65 inches for second place.

I lucked out today. My first two fish went 10.25 and 9.50, while my third went 12.50. Shortly after catching the latter, I just happened to find an area and a bait that both bass and pickerel were keying on: chatterbait slow rolled through partially dead, holdover lily pads. I first caught a pickerel, then another, and then one more, one of which was 18 inches—and I was pumped because I figured out a damn pickerel pattern and decided I’d shoot for winning the pickerel lunker pool.

In my excitement to catch pickerel, I laid into an absolute cow. When it rolled on me and I saw its belly, I thought it was a 10-pounder. Sadly, it was too short to be a 10, but it was fat. She went 20 inches and weighed 6.54 pounds. Full of eggs and food, ready to burst. That fish and a handful of others I caught later were enough to take lunker and first place. Though it is a bittersweet victory, which I’ll discuss later.

Because we had over 30 anglers, Nick, Josh, Kevin, and I also qualified for the 2020 KBF National Championship on Guntersville Lake in Alabama!

As mentioned, we held two separate pickerel lunker pools. I wasn’t sure how each lake compared when it came to pickerel, so I thought it was best to separate them. That said, Valber Santos took home the Neponset pool with a 23-something, and Gabe Portes nabbed the Rico pool with a giant over 25 inches!

Anyway, congrats to everyone who placed. And thank you to all who showed up under what promised to be an awful day. We appreciate you!

Check out the full results here.

Our next event is two weeks from now: Johns Pond in Mashpee on May 4. We’re looking to make this another split-location event to accommodate the demand, but we’re still trying to figure out if Ashumet is comparable to Johns.

The event pages will go up soon.

Thanks for all the help today Donald and Troy! And Sarah!


Back on Top!

Our twelfth tournament of the season was held this past Saturday at Neponset Reservoir. Twenty-two anglers showed up and we submitted 80 fish on the day.

The weather started off cool and cloudy with a slight breeze that constantly changed directions. The sun came out for a couple hours, then the clouds came back. I don’t think anyone had a great day, myself included. The bite was just plain tough.

Bob Pierce caught a nice one early—20.50 inches—and took home lunker, while Troy Brown caught a five-fish limit of 62.75 inches for fifth place.

Chris Diranian had a five-fish limit of 64.75 inches for fourth place. Gerard Elias also had 64.75 inches, but his next biggest was a 19.75, bumping him to third place.

Gabe Portes hauled in 65.75 inches for second place, and my five fish went 68.50, good enough for 1st place—my first MAKB victory since 2016!

Full standings can be found here.

Thanks for coming out!

—Don Davis


Back to Back, Baby!

We fished Neponset Reservoir today for the seventh stop on this year’s trail. We had 12 anglers show up, which was great considering the forecast.

Luckily there were no thunderstorms, though rain probably would have been nice. It was pretty hot out there. Definitely not as hot as expected, though, thanks to a strong breeze.

Plenty of fish were caught today, but it was a dinkfest in general, which is somewhat typical of Neponset. In between all those dinks, however, some guys found the bigger fish.

Chris Diranian found five good ones for a total of 71.5 inches, which put him in the winner’s circle at third place.

Edward Neely reeled in 77 inches of bass, anchored by a 19.5-inch slob. Both good enough for second place and lunker.

Late in the day, Evan McCarthy tied on a Whopper Plopper and launched a Hail Mary cast, hooked up, and then tossed it some more. It paid off. All that whopping and plopping was like a dinner bell to some of the bigger fish buried down in the weeds. He took first place—and back-to-back victories—with 77.5 inches.

Good work, fellas! Congrats!

As always, thanks for coming out, everyone. Good to see some new faces out there as well.

The next tournament is on August 27 at Dudley Pond.