Selective Harvest

Basically, there are three schools of thought.  Strictly catch and release, catch and keep, and somewhere in the middle of those, you have selective harvest.

Now, before I start, I am aware that some fish for sport, and some fish to put food on the table.  Both are fine with me, as long as they are done responsibly and within the confines of the law.

Over Harvesting:  I feel, that this is the most detrimental to our precious fisheries.  We have all witnessed it; the family that shows up to your fishing hole with buckets in hand, and live bait, and proceeds to keep everything they catch, whether it be a 12" 1lb bass, or a 21" 5lb bass.   May I remind you, in CT the daily creel limit for largemouth and smallmouth bass, is 6 fish.  Say there is 4 adults fishing, and they all limit out, that's 24 fish not going back in the water.  Now, just for arguments sake, they do this 5 days a week.  Now that 24 fish, just turned into 120 in just 5 days.  This could be catastrophic to any pond, lake, or river, and it is just downright selfish and irresponsible in my opinion.

Catch and Release: I know what you're thinking, "How could catch and release possibly be harmful to the quality of fishing?" By releasing EVERYTHING you catch, you create an overabundance of predatory fish.  This sounds pretty good right?  A seemingly unlimited source of bass!  But, more realistically, you will end up with a large quantity of stunted fish.  You know the ones,  a bass that measures 20", but it still only weighs 1.5lbs. I'm not saying catch and release is a bad thing, don't get me wrong. I would much rather see everyone release all their fish, rather than keep them.  But if everybody practiced catch and release, we would have some seriously skinny bass on our hands.

Selective Harvest:  In a nutshell, you take a small quantity of smaller fish (of legal size), and release the big fish for someone else to catch.  By doing this, you will lower the amount of less desirable fish, and leave the bigger fish for someone else to catch someday.  It's really that simple.  What you just did, was put food on your table, while at the same time, helped improve a fishery, and possibly one day down the road, allowed a record bass to be caught by someone else.


 What it boils down to, is that we need balance, just like anything else in this world.  Now one could argue that we have balance, with the hardcore catch and release guys, and the people that keep everything, and you may be right.  But it could be better, with selective harvesting, the quality of fishing could skyrocket, and everybody benefits. 


And on a side note, this doesn't just apply to bass either, it could be an effective means for growing other populations of fish as well.  Taking some smaller crappie or perch could also have a positive outcome on a bass population, as you are removing some competition.

Quick Trip 5/29/14

I had about an hour this morning to go throw a few casts, so I just went to a local pond and small river to fish from shore.

At the pond, I started out with a Zoom super fluke in the white ice color, and promptly landed a small largemouth.  After surveying the edges, I noticed that there were A LOT of bluegill up shallow as they prepare to spawn, and occasionally a bass would come ripping through the herd.  I switched up to a bluegill flash Keitech swing impact.  I immediately started getting hit, and landed a few more fish, but nothing big.  I also caught 2 more bass on the drop shot.

But the most interesting thing that happened today was this.  I cast out the swim bait, and notice a loop in the reel.  As I'm stripping the line, I notice my line starting to swim away.  As quick as I can, I reel up all the slack and set the hook.  I dragged the small crappie across the top of the water and when I picked up the fish, I noticed that I never even hooked him!  That's a first, and probably a last for me.

I wound up with 7 bass and 2 crappie here in about a half hour.  Nothing big.

I guess he really wanted the Keitech!

I had a few more minutes so I stopped at another old spot and caught one dink largemouth and one okay fish on a jig.

My Love/Hate Relationship With Kayak Fishing

I have resorted to kayak fishing, as one step up from shore fishing.  It has it's advantages and disadvantages, just as anything else.  First, I will start off with the "Hates".

Wimpy Hook sets:  I hate this more than anything when fishing in the kayak.  Sure, there are times when you get a really good hook set, but everything has to be just right.  The angle of your rod, position of your hands, or just simply being caught off guard all attribute to poor hook sets no matter what you're fishing from.  But when you are in a kayak, it can be that much more critical.  You don't have the leverage you normally would when standing up, so you really don't have much margin for error.  If the butt of your rod is too long, you will bump it on the edge of the kayak, or your life jacket, or whatever else manages to get in your way in the limited amount of space that you have.  I'd say 90% of the fun of fishing slow lures like a jig or Texas rigged worm, is that vicious hook set, and feeling the fish tug back on the other end of the line.  It's really an indescribable feeling, and I yearn for it, but the kayak just doesn't satisfy this need as much as I would like.

Covering Water: This one is pretty self explanatory.  I just can't cover the amount of water that I would like to.  It takes too long to get to spots, and when you get there, you spend more time positioning and re-positioning than you do actually fishing.  So if I'm fishing a larger body of water, I tend to stay closer to the launch area, especially if it's really windy.  It isn't worth the frustration.

Fishing Sitting Down:  I have never been a fan of fishing sitting down.  It messes with my concentration, I zone out and don't even realize it's happening.  I miss bites this way, and when I do, most of the time I don't remember what I was doing in the first place that triggered that bite.   Fishing heavy tackle is also very cumbersome and tiring as you are just using your arms.  Fishing jigs and jerkbaits, or anything that needs to be hopped or twitched can be a mighty task.  I can't tell you how many times I have bumped my PFD with the butt of my rod, while fishing a jig, and thought it was a fish inhaling my jig, so I set the hook only to realize that it wasn't a fish.

Wind:  If you think wind is bothersome in a boat, I urge you to try fishing out of a kayak on a windy day.  It can ruin your day faster than getting broken off by a 5lber.  Sometimes you can use it to your advantage, but at some point throughout the day, you have to paddle against it, and depending how far you're going, that can really take it out of you.  Try fishing a jig or drop shot in 20 Mph winds.  Yeah, you might do it from your boat with your trolling motor keeping you stationary in the wind and current.  But even when anchored in a kayak, you still get pushed around quite a bit.  It's bad enough when the wind puts a bow in your line, so you lose contact with the bait, but when you are moving as well, it's twice as bad.  Trying to position yourself in the wind can be a tall order.  You get to where you want, drop the anchor, only to realize that in the process, that big gust just drifted you 40 ft away from where you needed to be.

Accessibility:  This one has two sides.  In a kayak, you don't stand a chance in a big lake with a lot of pleasure boaters.  That's why I stick to a lot of small lakes and ponds, with car top launches.  I would love to take the kayak to Candlewood, but I just don't know the lake, and exploring a new area is time consuming.  Especially when you are dodging boats, it just seems like too frustrating of an experience for me to make an hour and a half drive.  So you are very limited to where you can go, if you want to make the best of your experience.

Now for the "Loves"

Accessibility:  In a kayak, you can get to all the places that the big bass boats can't. You know that small lake down the street that looks amazing? The one with no possible way to back a boat trailer into it?  Well yeah, I can get my kayak in there and take full advantage of all that it has to offer. Rocks aren't an issue either, as they are in boats, if I hit one, then it's a little bump and nothing more, not a cracked hull or a damaged prop.

Affordable:  Between my kayak, and my depth finder, I'm about $550 deep.  Not $55,000 like some of these brand new bass boats are going for.  I don't need to put fuel into it and there is no maintenance.  This allows me to spend my extra cash on tackle and equipment.

It's FUN!:   There is nothing better than hooking a big fish in the kayak.  You get towed around, and for a minute, it's almost a fair fight.  It adds a little unneeded challenge, but it makes it that much more rewarding when you have a successful trip out.

It Beats Fishing from Shore: Well most of the time anyways.  There were always those spots that I would see  that I just HAD to get to, but I didn't have a boat.  Now with the kayak, I am free to explore some of these spots that you just can't get to from shore.

Stealth Mode:   It's very easy to sneak up on fish in a kayak.  If you're careful you can move silently through the water without spooking fish.

All in all, kayak fishing is pretty much what you would expect it to be.  Somewhere between shore fishing and fishing from a boat.  It isn't ideal by any means, but it will get me by for now.  If you are still stuck on shore, I strongly suggest investing a few hundred dollars in a kayak.  It takes some getting used to, but it's well worth it in the end.

River "X" and Pond "X" plus a surprise bonus species! 5/25/14

On the Water: 6:15am - 12:30pm
Air Temperature: 56-72
Water Temperature: 59-70
Water Clarity: Muddy/ 2-4ft
Skies: Mix of Sun and Clouds
Wind: 0-5mph

When I got my kayak on the water this morning, the first thing that stood out to me, was how cold and muddy the water was.  This was NOT what I had anticipated for today.  I fished all over, dodging a few groups of pleasure kayakers, a couple of aluminum boats, a barking dog, and a swan or two.  I was throwing jigs, spinner baits, crank baits, swim baits, frogs, but no results.  Not even a sniff.  After being seemingly followed by one of the aforementioned aluminum boats, I was finally able to get away from him and moved back behind an island where there was some nice trees that looked like they should hold fish.  After pitching a jig into a few trees, I FINALLY hooked up with a fish. Not a big fish, but after almost three hours with out so much as a follow, I will take what I can get.

I moved further back behind the island where it opens up to a large flat, with some overhanging trees along the shoreline.  Once I got to this area, I noticed that the water temperature had spiked up to 68.  I started concentrating on shade lines with the Z-man Finesse Wormz on a drop shot, and lay downs in the shade with a jig.  This scored me 3 more fish, and lost two jumpers.  One of which was close to 3 pounds.

Found a coy, he had a buddy with him, but I spooked him trying to get this picture.

 

I moved back around the other side of the island to Josh's Tree, which he guarantees is always good for a bass.  I took a few casts, and as I was reeling in my jig, it gets crushed by a small largemouth.  I tried swimming a jig for a little bit, hoping a pattern would start to develop, but it appears this was just an isolated incident.

Overzealous bass from Josh's Tree

I was never really able to develop a pattern today.  I though I was onto something with the shade lines, but when the sun went behind the clouds, that bite died.  5 bass and 1 bluegill total for the day here.

Pond X

On the Water: 5:30pm - 9pm

Air Temperature: 74-67

Water Temperature: 67-71

Water Clarity: Clear/6ft

Skies: Clear

Josh and I decided to head out for a nightcap, so we went to the pond where I lost 2 5lb + fish last Sunday, and caught my personal best LMB, back in April.  Although this pond holds some biggun's, it does not hold numbers of bass.  Neither one of us has caught more than 2 bass in a single day there. But it does however hold a serious amount of crappie, and that's what Josh was after.  I wanted to find my 2 hogs that I missed out on last week, but didn't have any luck.

I did manage a bass on a Strike King KVD square bill crankbait.

By the time I caught this fish, Josh had already lost count of the crappie he caught.  Here is the most notable fish of the day for him, estimated at 1.5 lbs on a Z-Man 1/2oz Chatterbait!

(Photo by Josh Rayner)

He also caught crappie on a Zoom Super Fluke!

We caught a number of pickerel as well, on various baits.  Once it started to get dark, we both tied on frogs.  While Josh was tying his on, he said,  "I'm going to get broken off by a pickerel."  Sure enough, his first cast, a pickerel explodes on his frog, and before he could even set the hook, the frog was gone.  We fished the frog around the heavy lily pads for a while, and only managed one blow up, but didn't land any fish.

Josh totaled too many crappie to count, several pickerel, and 1 perch.

I ended up with 1 bass, 5 pickerel and 2 crappie.

Drop Shot First Impressions - 5/23/14

When I got home from work last night, I had a package from Cabelas waiting for me.  It was the Shimano Sellus drop shot rod that I had ordered.  I have tried using the drop shot technique a few times out in the kayak, but never for more than a couple minutes due to strong winds.  It's not easy to learn finesse fishing when you don't have contact with your bait, or the wind is just pushing you around.  But, I figured I would buy a set up, and dedicate it to drop shot, to force myself into finesse fishing.

I didn't have time to get out in the kayak today, so I took my new set up to an old spot and took a few casts from shore.  I was throwing a Z-man 4" pumpkin colored finesse worm.  On the very first cast, after about 10 seconds, I get a nibble, and promptly land a 9" largemouth.  I cast into the same spot, and pull out 2 more, one being even a bit smaller.  Hey, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.  A few more casts, yield nothing, so I walked over to another spot, and caught 2 more fish, the bigger one being about a pound.  I wanted to see if there was anything a little bigger here, what better to catch them with than a jig?  First cast with the jig, I get a bite, and upon the hook set, my leader breaks.  Boy this sounds all too familiar.  Again, a few seconds after breaking my line, I saw the fish jump lazily out of the water trying to rid it's mouth of my jig.  It wasn't that big, maybe 2lbs at the most, but all these jigs I'm losing on break offs are starting to get expensive!

I packed up my things, and looked at my watch, still about 25 minutes before I need to get to work.  I had time to stop at one more spot along the way.

I pull up, and take out a few rods, I throw a few casts with a spinner bait and a frog and had no action.  I guess I'll give the drop shot a try seeing it's the only thing that has landed me a fish all day.  I have fished this spot my entire life, but always from shore, so I'm not really sure what kind of structure or cover is out in the middle, but fish always seem to hold about 10-15 ft off the shoreline.  So I launch the dropshot out, and almost as soon as the weight hits the bottom, I feel a tic on the line, and land my first fish.  Once I release the 2+ pound fish, I cast out again, just a little to the left, same thing, this time the fish was a little over 3.  Now we're moving in the right direction!  I cast out a few more times, and then noticed a disturbance in the corner, so I tossed over towards it, and I could see a wake  come out of the shallows and make a beeline towards my line.  No sooner do I feel the tiniest peck on my line, and I'm hooked up again.  This time I knew I had a good fish, it made several good runs, peeling drag. I haven't fought a largemouth that put up a fight like this in a long time. This one just tipped 4lbs on the scale.  When I let him go, I had just enough time for one more cast, so I pitched right back in the same spot, and pulled out a fish weighing about a pound.

2lber

Another shot of the 2lber

3lber

4lber

This is what I was using on the drop shot.

The setup that I was using today, was a 6'8" Shimano Sellus Drop Shot rod, with a Shimano Sienna 1000FD with 10lb Power Pro, and an 8 ft fluorocarbon leader.  For the rig itself, I used a Gamakatsu drop shot hook, a Lunker City 1/4oz drop shot weight, and a Z-man 4" finesse worm.  I couldn't be happier with this set up.  Between the rod and the braid, I can feel every bite with ease, and it also helps when figuring out bottom composition.  Let me say, about these Z-man finesse wormz, for $3.99 for a 10 pack, I certainly got my moneys worth already.  I caught 9 fish on ONE worm.  A durable soft plastic, that catches fish?  I'm sold!

Before today, I have always viewed the drop shot as a deep, clear water technique.  Well, the water I fished today, was clear and fairly shallow in one spot, and shallow and muddy in the second spot.  If you look at the drop shot, the way I always have, I urge you to try it out in a different environment, and I think you will be happy with the results.

River "X" Redemption 5/19/14

On the Water: 1:15pm - 5:15pm
Air Temperature: 65-71
Water Temperature: 65-70
Water Clarity: Clear/ 8ft
Skies: Mix of sun and clouds, with a quick rain shower
Wind: 10-15mph

My brother Josh, had taken the day off from work, so we made a plan to get out in the kayaks.  We wanted to go somewhere familiar that we knew would produce some decent fish.  We went to a pond, that is part of a mid sized river system.  Josh is a little more accustomed to this particular spot.  It never had much appeal to me.  The whole pond is about 6 ft deep, with occasional small 8 ft holes,  and gradually works up to 4 and then 2 feet of water on the edges, with a flat in the middle.  It's a hard spot to fish sometimes, because the fish could literally be anywhere, it's tough to narrow it down, like you can with more diverse lakes and ponds.

But we headed out, Josh was fishing some laydowns along one edge with a jig.  I made my way into the first nook that I could find that was out of the wind.  You could see the line between the stagnant water and the moving water.  I moved a little closer, and cast a 1/2 oz White Booyah spinner bait into the motionless water.  On the third cast, as soon as it hit the water, I had a fish on.  It ended up being about a pound.  A little further down, there were some lily pads that were starting to thicken up, and some timbers sticking out of the water.  I paddled in noiselessly and dropped my anchor.  The first thing I noticed was the water temperature, it had spiked from 66 to 70.  There just had to be fish here.  I chucked my spinner bait deep into the lily pads, and was fishing it just below the surface, ripping through the thick cover, and it got crushed.  This fish was about 2.5-3lbs.  A few more casts with the spinner bait yielded no more action.  I pulled out a Booyah Pad Crasher, and on the first cast, I see it get smoked.  I lost the fish about half way in.  I cast to the same spot, and I see a swirl ahead of my frog, and it takes it.  I got this one in, and it was right around 2lbs.

I had no more action here, and I realized I lost sight of Josh, so I went to find him.  He had caught a crappie on a spinner bait, and was back to throwing a jig at all the downed trees that line the banks.  He sets the hook on a good fish, but it spit the hook on him, just as it got to the surface.  A little while later he pulled out a 1 pounder on the jig.  We moved along this shoreline, with a couple of bumps on jigs, but no more fish to show for it.  Next up was a flat, with some timbers and lily pads behind it.  I threw my frog right in the middle of the timbers, and it got blown up, but never was able to get the fish.  We moved further back on the flat, and I noticed a disturbance in the water, under an overhanging bush.  I tossed my spinner bait almost on top of the ripples, and pulled out a 1lb largemouth.  A little further in, Josh mentioned that every time he comes to this spot, there is a submerged tree that's always good for a bass.  Once he finds it, he sets up shop, and after a few lobs of his jig, he hooks up with a nice fish, about 2lbs.

We started to head back towards the launch and pitched jigs along the way, but no action.  The sun had gone behind the clouds, and the water started to cool off a little bit.  We went back to the first spot, where I caught the three bass, but the once 70 degree water, had quickly dropped to 65, and there was no more activity.  Overall, we didn't get a lot of numbers, or big fish, but it certainly beats the last two days.

Back to Back Frustrating Days 5/17,18

On the Water: 6:10 - 11:30
Air Temperature: 59
Water Temperature: 64-67
Water Clarity: Clear/ 10+ft
Skies: Mix of sun and clouds early, then bluebird skies in the late morning
Wind: 10mph, gusts to 15mph from the NW

On Saturday morning, I wasn't sure where I wanted to go, but I settled on Pattaconk Lake.  Got there about 6, and on the second cast, I caught a small largemouth on a crankbait.  Not a bad start.  But that was about the peak of the day as I spent 5 more hours on the lake, and was only able to manage a bluegill on a drop shot.  Oh well, some days go like that. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

5/18

On the water: 8:15-10:30

Air Temperature: 51

Water Temperature: 65-67

Water Clarity: Stained/6ft

Skies: Sunny

Wind: 7-10mph/ gusts to 15mph from NW

On Sunday, I set my alarm for 4:00 trying to get an early start.  Well, by the time I got up, it was 7:30. Better late than never I guess. I was in the mood to catch a big fish, and I didn't care about numbers.  I went back to the pond that I caught my personal best out of, back in April.  I got there a little after 8, and worked the east shoreline with a black and blue Booyah 1/2oz boo jig, with a watermelon red flake Yum crawbug trailer. Because of the cold front the night before, and the bluebird skies, I figured fish would be holding tight to cover. So I pitched the jig next to a laydown, and I felt that classic *thump thump* on the fall.  I set the hook and nothing.  Literally nothing.  The 17 lb fluorocarbon leader snapped on the hookset.  Two seconds later I see a swirl in the water, and then a fishes head come out and shakes.  There's my jig, right in her upper lip. This fish was between 4 and 5lbs, but I shook it off and kept fishing.  Moving further down the shoreline, I get to another good looking tree.  Again, I pitch my jig in there, I get another hit, I set the hook and fish on.  I get the fish right to the side of the boat, then she turned and ran on me a bit, suddenly a big gust of wind started pushing me towards the shoreline.  I held the rod in my left hand, and paddled backwards with my right, trying to avoid getting my rods caught in the trees.  Just as I get the fish to the side of the boat, she head shakes, and my jig comes flying out of her mouth.  This fish was easily 5, possibly 6.  Talk about frustrating.  After a few more minutes, I had to leave.

I headed over to an old spot, where my father had taught my brother and I to fish.  Now fishing from shore, I pitched my jig out, and got a hit, but missed the hook set.  I cast out again, get another hit, set the hook... my fluorocarbon leader snapped again.  Boy this just isn't my day.  So I grabbed my lighter spinning setup with a weightless 4" Keitech Swing Impact rigged up and quickly caught two dinks.  After a few more minutes, I decided to head to another old spot, that I grew up fishing, hoping to find some bass on beds.  As soon as I got there, that's just what I found.  I cast my Keitech just past a bed with a decent fish on it.  Once I got to the bed, I let it fall, and the fish just inhaled it.  I set the hook, and yet again, my line snapped.  This time 8lb fluorocarbon.  At this point, I had it, and just went home.  Sunday night, my brother Josh and I went to a few shore spots on the CT river trying to get some striper action.  We saw some baitfish and some decent swirls and bigger fish breaking the surface, but neither of us had any action.  Tomorrow is another day.

Bashan 5/16/2014 Holy Wind!

On the water: 5:45am - 11:30pm
Air Temperature: 59
Water Temperature: 61-63
Water Clarity/Visibility: Clear/10+Ft
Skies: Overcast/ Light rain at times
Wind: 10-15Mph breeze, gusts to 21Mph

I started the same as last trip, pitching a jig at the docks right at the launch.  As I was reeling in to make another cast, my jig got lit up by a tiny largemouth.  Hey, it's a start, right?  I made my way towards a rocky area, and began throwing a Rapala DT-6 Silver Crankbait.  I ended up getting two small largemouth here, the biggest being a little bigger than a pound.  The wind was really starting to pick up, so I headed into one of the coves to get out of it.  I was working the docks on my way in, and caught one more small largemouth, this time on a 4" Keitech Swing Impact on a 1/8oz VMC jighead.  I moved a little deeper into the cove and caught one more largemouth and a smallmouth.

I moved further back into the cove, and found a tree in the water, and started flipping a Booyah! 1/2 oz jig to it.  My jig got whacked, and I set the hook.  The fish immediately jumped up to the surface, and spit the hook.  This was an omen of things to come, as the day was all downhill from here.  It looked like the wind had subsided out on the main lake, as the once whitecaps, were now just small swells.  I paddled to another cove and just as I was getting there, the wind picked up.  I was able to fish this area a little bit, but the wind made it very difficult.  I figured I would move to the north end of the lake, with the wind at my back, it would be an easy paddle there.  I made it all the way down to the north end, and as soon as I got there, I heard a rumble of thunder.  Being as far away as I was, I wanted to head back immediately.  Of course the wind was raging, and the small swells, were now back to whitecaps.  Paddling as hard as I could against 15Mph winds, with occasional gusts to 20, white caps crashing over the front of my kayak,  I was promptly drenched from head to toe.  But I made it back in once piece and got a good workout on top of it.  All in all, I ended up with 6 bass, and a sickly looking bluegill.  Not a bad day, but not great either

CT River - 5/14/2014

On the Water: 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Air Temperature: 58
Water Temperature: 62-64
Water Clarity: Clear
Skies: Overcast
Wind: Little to none

Josh and I decided to go out to the CT River and try for some striper action.  The conditions seemed perfect with the full moon.  While Josh was bringing his gear down to the launch, I took a few casts from shore.  I was retrieving my Bomber walk the dog lure, and I saw a wake stalking right behind it.  I braced myself, and BOOM!  When I got the fish to shore, I was a little surprised when it turned out to be a pickerel.

Once we launched, we paddled about 30 feet before we noticed a school of herring jumping out of the water.  We started casting at the school, and I was promptly followed up.  After casting in the same spot, it didn't take long for the fish to hit again.  Another pickerel, this one was about the same size as the first one.  We paddled a little further out to a dead tree in the water.  I cast right at it, and got two blow ups within a matter of seconds.  I made one more cast and two more blowups, and just as I was about to pull the lure out of the water, the fish explodes on my lure.  I only had 3 feet of line out, so the fish couldn't go anywhere, it sat there slapping it's tail at the side of my kayak, drenching my entire left side, before it finally wore itself out.

I grabbed the lure and began to pull the fish out of the water, when it shook and unhooked itself.  Unfortunately, no picture of the fish, it was just shy of keeper size.  Josh then hooked up with two small schoolies, and I caught one more before we decided to call it a night.  We were hoping for a little bit better action, but at least we got something.  The topwater bite pretty much died as soon as the sun went down.

1

Bashan 5/13/2014

On the water: 6:15
Air Temperature: 54
Water Temperature: 61-63
Water Clarity/Visiblity: Clear/ 10ft
Skies: Mixed Clouds and Sun
Wind: Steady breeze with strong gusts

I've fished Bashan one other time a few years ago, and didn't have much luck.  But there has always been something aesthetically pleasing about it.  As soon as I launched, I started pitching a Booyah! 1/2oz black and blue jig with a black and blue Yum crawfish trailer right at the docks on either side.  Then I picked up the jerkbait rod, and after a couple twitches, I let it sit, and it got hammered by a small bass.  I was using a Yellow Perch colored Rapala Husky Jerk.

Once I got onto the main lake, the wind really picked up, so I had to find somewhere to get out of it.  I found a nice point where I wasn't getting pushed around too much, so I started throwing a bluegill colored Rapala DT-6 crankbait at it. It didn't take long before I was hooked up.  I ended up catching most of my fish off this point.  Including this perch.

After a while, I stopped getting hit, so I moved deeper into the cove and caught another small bass and another, much smaller perch.

I moved back out to the point that had been so productive and took a few more casts.  As soon as I started to retrieve my crankbait, it got crushed.  The fish just started digging, once I turned it around it immediately came up to the surface and jumped three times before I came up empty.  Never got a good look at it, but I would bet money that it was a smallie.  This happened one other time on a different point.  On my way back towards the launch I marked a nice rock pile with my graph, so I figured I'd throw a few casts at it.  I came up with a nice crappie and a largemouth that I tongue hooked.  We've got a bleeder!

I hit one more spot on the way back, and caught another small bass.  Every bass was about the same size here, nothing great but fish is better than no fish.  I can't complain though, as I totaled 7 Largemouth, 3 Perch, and 1 Crappie.  Bashan, I will be seeing you again.

 Does anyone know what kind of eggs these are on the grass?  Every time I would come up with grass I would find them.

Pattaconk Lake 5/12/2014

On the water: 6:15
Air Temperature: 48
Water Temperature: 61-64
Water Clarity/ Visiblity: Clear/ 6ft
Skies: Sunny with few clouds
Wind: Little to none

As soon as I got in the water, the first thing I noticed was the water temp.  Being so close to the full moon, I figured there had to be fish on beds somewhere.  I moved right up to a large flat with a defined weed line, and threw a pearl white Zoom Swimmin' Super Fluke right into the shallowest water I could find.  After two or three casts, I had a hit, I set the hook, but the fish charged me and I couldn't catch up, and I lost it.  Made another cast to the same spot, and had another hit.  It did the same thing as the last one, it charged at me, but this time I was able to catch up.  Not being confident in my initial hook set, I set it again just to be safe.  Wait... WHAT?!  Snapped me off on the SECOND hook set, real "SAFE".  I could just see the glow of the pearl white fluke swimming back and forth in the shallows.  I just had to find out what it was, if it were a pickerel I wouldn't have really cared, and would have made some sense as to why it broke me off.  Nope, it was a bass.  Not a big bass, but a bass.

I moved further up to find some warmer water, and I found it. 64 degrees!  I threw the fluke into the shallows and sure enough, I was able to hook up with a few fish.  I ended up catching 5 in total,  the biggest being just under 3lbs.  Although I did miss about 20 fish, at least I had some numbers to show today.

Messerschmidt's 5/7 & 5/10

5/7/2014- On the water at 9:15.
Air Temperature: 56
Water Temperature: 56-58
Water Clarity/Visiblity- Clear/7ft
Skies: Sunny, little to no clouds
Wind: Light breeze with occasional gusts

Once I launched, I immediately began throwing a crankbait, it just seemed like that kind of day.  I worked my way up the western shore, and nothing.  Not even a bite.  I moved into a cove where there is a nice mixture of deep and shallow water, as well as some stumps, humps, points, and a few laydowns.  It looked good, so I anchored, and threw a crankbait for a while.  Then a spinnerbait, and got one bump, but nothing ever came of that.  Then I decided to slow it down a bit, and throw a jig.  Still nothing.  After spending way more time than I should have in this one spot, I finally decided to move.  The next spot I went to was much of the same, including the result.  I then moved to a point on the main lake, with some lily pads on it.  I only had about 15 minutes left to fish, so I figured I'd throw a crankbait and just cover as much water as possible. After getting hung up a few times in the lily pads, I got a hit.  So I was intentionally getting hung up, then ripping it free, and it finally paid off.  Good timing too.

  Sorry about the awful glare.  This one weighed just under 2lbs.

5/10/14- On the water at 6:10
Air Temperature: 62
Water Temperature: 58-60
Water Clarity/Visiblity: Clear/6ft
Skies: Overcast/ light rain
Wind: None

As soon as I got on the water, it started raining, figures I left my rain gear in the car.  Oh well, just a little water.  So I headed right for the weed flat on the point where I caught the last fish here, and wouldn't you know it, I got another one. Much of the same though, as this fish wasn't very large either.

 

I paddled around for a while trying to find my next target.  I found an area that has a point on one side, a weed flat on the other, and deep water in between. Something had to be holding there.  I decided to throw a small Rapala Husky Jerk in the Glass Minnow color.  This quickly produced a small perch and a crappie.  Not exactly what I was looking for, but hey, fish are fish on a tough day, right?  There was a nice laydown on the other side of the point, and I was able to pull another small bass out of that.  Again, I marked a lot of bigger fish outside of spawning bays, most of them were suspended right below the surface over deeper water, and didn't seem to be interested in what I was throwing.  Pre spawn bass will do this primarily to seek warmer water , and are notoriously finicky when in this state.  

Pattaconk Lake 5/3 & 5/4/2014 Anchors Away!

5/3/14- Got on the water a little bit after 8:00.  The air was in the low 50's, water temp ranged from 55-61 throughout the day, with about 7-8 ft of visiblity, the sun was bright and not a cloud to be found to begin the day.  I have only fished Pattaconk one other time and didn't have any luck.  Of course that was from shore, so I didn't know what to expect in the kayak.  I began working the edges of a large flat with a crankbait, but to no avail.  I moved in a little closer to the bank and began pitching a jig at some fallen trees.  Still nothing.

I then moved to the sunny side of the lake, hoping that the water would be a little warmer. I tried working a drop shot on the outside weed line, but the wind kept pushing me away from my target.  Not having an anchor makes dropshotting an extremely difficult task when it's windy.  I quickly gave up on that and moved further up hoping to find some bass shallow.  With the wind blowing steady, I figured I could throw a spinnerbait.  So I tied on a 9/16 oz Booyah! bluegill colored spinnerbait with tandem willow blades.  I chucked it into a small alcove, and as soon as it hit the water, a fish nailed it.  It wasn't big, but it was a fish.  I continued working the same edge,  and landed a pickerel a little ways down. I paddled back up to where I caught the bass, and casted in the same general area, and same thing.  As soon as it hit the water, fish on.  This was the last of the action for the day.

These were the two fish.  Both males moving up shallow to stage beds.  I was marking some larger fish on the weed lines outside of these shallow areas,  I'm guessing those were the females waiting for the males to get everything ready for them so they could... well... ya know.

5/4/14- I decided to hit Pattaconk again, this time taking my brother Josh with me.  The air was 53, water again, was ranging between 55-61, and it was windy.  VERY windy.  Good thing we both had acquired anchors.  On the water about 6:15, we started out in the exact same manner as the day before.  Eventually moving back to the extreme shallow areas, I threw the same spinnerbait, and again as soon as it hit the water, fish on.  Again it was a dinky bass.  I did this one more time, and caught another.  Josh was on the other side of the lake, and from what I could tell, did not look very pleased.  Once we rendezvoused, out of the wind, I found out why.  The anchor that he had just purchased a few days prior, had been swallowed up by the depths of Pattaconk Lake.  At this point we decided to call it quits, the wind was just getting to be too much.

Southern Middlesex County Pond & Messerschmidts 4/13/14

Our intention for the day was to head out on the CT River, and fish for some Northern Pike, that we were hoping would be in a pre spawn pattern, and be very aggressive.  Unfortunately, the water was already in flood stage and rising, and there were reports of large debris coming down river.  Due to these circumstances, we decided to head back to the same place we fished last weekend.  Josh had been fishing the pond all week, hooking up with many pickerel, crappie and two back to back 5 + lb Largemouth, both on a spinnerbait.

We got on the water about 8:30, it was overcast, slight breeze, ambient temperature about 52, water temp was around 58.  We launched the kayaks, and tried to see what we could get for a Crappie bite.  We were throwing smelt colored Berkley PowerBait ripple shads, on black jig heads.  We were just bouncing them about half way to the bottom.  The school was suspending, and wasn’t all that active. We did catch a couple, and missed quite a few.  I decided to go try for bass, while Josh stayed back with the crappie.  I threw a cast right on the south side of a lay down, and as soon as it hit the water, the fish crushed it.  It was a nice 2.5-3Lb largemouth.  Unfortunately, at this point, the wind had taken me far away from Josh while I struggled to retrieve my 5/16oz Booyah bluegill colored spinnerbait from the fishes throat.  I didn’t think it was worth risking the fishes life paddling all the way back just for a picture, so you’re going to have to trust me on this one.

After this, we didn’t have much action, so we decided to move up to where the pickerel were very aggressive in the days prior.  This spot did not disappoint, in about 3 casts I hooked up with a decent pickerel.  We drifted with the wind up the eastern shore hammering pickerel the whole way down on spinnerbaits.

Eventually, we both got bored with the pickerel, so we decided to head back to the crappie spot, where we ended up catching quite a few more.  Josh continued to fish the ripple shad, this time in Pearl White.  I switched to a fire tiger colored rooster tail.  Josh ended up catching a few more than I did here, but in the end both lures seemed to perform quite well.

The bass in this particular pond are quite hard to pattern, but the ones that we do catch, are all quality fish.  Coming up on the spawn in a few days will be interesting here, because there doesn’t appear to be a good area for the bass to spawn.  Most of the pond is very weedy, especially in the shallower areas, so that may be the reason for the lack of quantity.  Or it’s possible that with the abundance of pickerel here, the smaller bass don’t survive all that long.

The wind really started to pick up about 1:30 and it was extremely difficult to stay in one place, or get a cast to it’s intended destination so we decided to head elsewhere.

After a quick bite to eat, we arrived at Messerschmidt’s Pond in Deep River/ Westbrook.  This is another fishery that neither of us had put any time into, so we weren’t expecting a whole lot of production.  It was pretty windy here too so we just had to use it to our advantage.  We moved back into one of the coves where the wind was less prominent.  We fished the edges for a while, then Josh noticed that he was marking some large fish on his chart, all suspended in 8 feet of water, just outside of some spawning bays.  We threw everything we could think of, to try to trigger some bites, crank baits, spinner baits, chatter baits, jigs, and jerkbaits, but the fish were not active.  Finally Josh threw a spinner bait right over two submerged stumps and he hooks up with a nice fish.

We didn’t have anything else after this, but we did get an idea of what is going on in there.  It’s definitely a spot that we intend to put more time into.  Overall not a bad day for either of us

Southern Middlesex County Pond 4/6/14

My brother Josh and I decided to check out a local pond in the kayaks.  Seeing as how most waters are closed until opening day, our options were very limited.  Neither of us had put much, or any time into this particular pond, but we figured we would give it a shot.  We got on the water about 8:30, the air temperature was a frigid 35 degrees, while the water temp was a touch warmer, ranging between 46-49.  We paddled around for a while trying to figure out where to start, surveying depth, structure and cover.  With the whole pond staying pretty steady at 8ft, we decided to work the shorelines.  There were a lot of lay downs on the eastern bank, and the wind was allowing us to drift south so we could get our casts in without much of an issue.

We started out throwing chatterbaits and crankbaits to cover some water.  After a little while with no action, I decided to tie on a Booyah 3/8 oz black and blue jig with a Yum watermelon flake crawfish trailer.  A short while later, I cast right into a lay down and pull out a dink largemouth.  It wasn’t much, but it gave us a clue as to what the fish were doing.  Josh also began throwing a jig, and maybe 5 casts later pulls out a nice 4.5lb largie.

A little while later, he hooks up again, a smaller but respectable 1.5lb largemouth.  This jig pattern seemed to be working, so we stuck with it.  We keep fishing with a few missed strikes, and not a whole lot going on.  I drift down to a nice lay down with a brush pile to the right, and toss my jig in there, I pick up on the jig and I feel a tug, I set the hook, not expecting so much weight, I nearly drop my rod.  I pull back on the rod again, and fish on.  After a couple short runs, and turning my kayak almost 180 degrees, I grab the fish out of the water.  This fish went 6.35 on the scale, my new personal best largemouth!

Overall, we were surprised at the quality of fish in this pond.  We were expecting a lot of smaller fish.  Instead it was the exact opposite.  We’ll take it!