Jared McCartney On Top At First Avid Contest of 2022

The weather sucked and so did the fishing, but everyone stuck it out. And on the bright side, no one came in empty-handed. So there was at least some amount of satisfaction for those who traveled to Ashumet for this dismal inaugural 2022 event.

What was anticipated as being a springtime early spawn fest ended up feeling more like a late March Easter Bunny Open. Winds were forecast to be gusting between 30-40 mph. In reality they did not reach that speed til after noon so that aspect of the day was manageable early on. While it did sprinkle and mist for a short time after launch, the day remained dry once it stopped, but a heavy overcast persisted. The temperature did not exceed 50 degrees. Water temps throughout the lake were 56-57 degrees.

While there were many beds present, precious few were occupied. Only 2 fish were reported as having come off beds, one a largemouth, the other the only smallie that was weighed. The persistent cold overcast weather of the preceding week or two surely put the brakes on the spawn. The lack of available bed fishing meant anglers had to turn to regular pre-spawn finesse tactics in terrible conditions in which to execute them.

The six contestants combined to bring a total of just 9 fish to the scales. So no one was able to locate the big females or identify staging areas. One third of those fish belonged to the day’s winner, Jared, who brought up 3 fish for a total weight of 4.64 lbs. Because of the low number of entrants the event paid out only two places. Following Jared, in second place, was Ed Doyle who weighed a single beautiful largemouth of 3.79 lbs. that also garnered the day’s lunker award.

Next up, we visit John’s Pond in early June.