Twenty-five of us hit New Bedford Reservoir today for the second MAKB event of the season! Based on pre-fishing reports, I thought today was going to be a lights-out barnburner, and…well, I guess it was, in a sense.
Lots of changes in the standings throughout the day, but the majority of the fish caught were small. I expected bigger fish.
But big fish or small fish, someone’s gotta win, right?
My day did not go as planned. I have fished the two northern ponds before, the big side twice, the little pond once. I contemplated hitting the small pond first, assuming I could put up a quick limit, but ultimately my love of fishing new bodies of water won out and I dropped into the southern pond.
Literally. It goes from inches of water to the abyss in one step. A few of use learned that firsthand. Haha.
I caught a lot of fish, but just couldn’t get on a big bite, nothing but dinks for me. So sometime after noon I decided to shoot for pickerel lunker and I hopped over to the small pond.
Not before accidentally falling into the watery abyss again, of course. Shut up, Bruce!
In the small pond, I quickly nailed a 22.75-inch pickerel. Hell yeah. And I got two bass upgrades.
Two other anglers were there—Jim Silva and newcomer Joe Fournier, who was in the lead for a good portion of the day. I should have started there.
Anyway, it was great to have us all relatively in the same location, but obviously social-distancing and such meant that I didn’t see or talk to everyone before or after the event, so once again this was more of a personal write-up.
But who won? I know. I’ll shut up and do that now…
Bass Lunker: Gerard Elias (21.75)
Pickerel Lunker: Ryan Pierce (23.00)
5th Place – Joseph Daddeo (75.00)
4th Place – Kevin Amaral Jr. (75.00)
3rd Place – Ari Stonehill (76.25)
2nd Place – Joe Fournier (81.25)
1st Place – Domenic Eno (81.50)
Good stuff right there. Dom and Joe were trading punches for a good part of the day. So close! Kevin’s big fish was bigger than D’Addeo’s, so he wins the tie-breaker, and Ari shoots up into third place with a late upgrade! Kick ass, boys!
Sadly, this was Gerard’s event to win. Not only did he catch a 21.75, but he lost a 21-incher off the board earlier in the morning. He also had a fish denied because the photo was too blurry. By my estimation, he should have walked away with the “W” with 82.50 inches.
Not posting that to make fun, make you feel bad, or take anything away from the other guys. We all know that these things happen, but great job either way, bud.
Thanks for coming out, fellas! Thanks for judging, Donald!
Find the full results here.
Our next event is on the Taunton River, July 11! Registration will go up soon. No cap on this one. It will be a roadrunner event, like the Charles River tournament. The downriver boundary will be the Aquaria Desalination Plant (just south of where the Three Mile River dumps in), and the upriver boundary will be the Plymouth Street bridge in Bridgewater (right where the Town River becomes the Taunton River).
Anglers may fish all ponds and tributaries to the first impassable barrier within those boundaries. As with the Charles, this means that, from the area you fish for the event, you must be able to navigate to and from the Taunton River. The tides do not affect this rule.
But yeah, the river is tidal, so do your research, folks!
