Saunder's Boat Livery

Skip at Saunders Boat Livery, Inc. in Southwick, continues to have a great year with bass. Last week, though, success was tempered by error. He should have won a tournament at Candlewood Lake with more than 15 pounds of bass including a 3-pound, 11-ounce smallmouth and 4.5-pound largemouth, but he lost track of time and came in 15 minutes late and was disqualified. Skip was quick to blame himself saying, “I should know better.” Bass fishing overall at the famous lake in southwest Connecticut was good for him and several others but difficult for many who just could not put together a decent total. Only one other contestant managed a five-fish limit. Most weighed-in 1, 2, or 3 bass. Skip feels that finesse-fishing windy spots made the difference. An expert light-line, small-bait finesse anger, he was culling two hours into the match. Water temperature registered 55 to 57 degrees Back at Congamond Lakes in Southwick, Massachusetts, bassin’ is about the same as at Candlewood, meaning some bassmen such as Skip have been doing well but not everyone else. Littleville (Reservoir) Lake was stocked May 5.

Skip from Saunders Boat Livery, Inc. in Southwick, had a very good week with bass tying for first in Thursday evening’s big-bass event at Congamond Lakes with a 3-pound, 10-ounce largemouth, and then catching the biggest smallmouth bass, a 4-pound, 11-ouncer, in another contest at Congamond. In between those events, he guided his young angler partner to a first-place finish in a youth tournament held at Webster Lake. Despite doing so well (he also weighed-in a five-fish total of 15 pounds, 9 ounces in the contest in which he boated the largest smallie) Skip described the fishing as tough. Weather has been erratic, and so have the bass. On nice days they move shallow; under chilly conditions they slip back to the first drop edge. The inconsistency makes for difficult fishing for all but the most versatile bass anglers. As weather warms in May, fishing will become consistently better.