CTFishTalk.com: Gardner Lake 6/22/14 - Connecticut Bass Fishing Reports ( CT Bass Fishing Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

imsafanct · Joined: 05 Aug 2013 Posts: 118

After our last adventure at King's Island two Sundays ago, Bill and I were looking for a little less drama for this week's outing, after a weekend off in between.

Bill's new prop. came Wednesday and he promptly got it fitted to our still un-named boat. We really need to work on that. Every REAL angler's boat as a name, right?

Anyhow, since our early success at King's, we've been bitten by the smallmouth bug and we spent this past week throwing lake ideas back and forth until late this past week he suggested Gardner Lake in Salem/Bozrah/Montville. Now I had only been to Gardner once before, probably 15-20 years ago with my Dad. All I remember about that day was that it was freezing and not catching anything. But I figured, eh, what the hell...lets give it a shot.

So like any good 21st century angler, I started searching online for the skinny on Gardner. Good thing I didn't put too much stock into what I read online about Gardner; past posts on this forum included, because the reviews are not rave. So I went into today with the attitude that it could possibly be a tough fish, based on what I read. But also with a bit of confidence that armed with my growing knowledge, experience, drive and rapidly growing tackle bag, that even if was tough, I'd probably get a few fish.

We were on the water somewhere around 6:30AM along with maybe a half a dozen other bass boats. We started by working around Minnie Island and I was pleasantly surprised to get hooked up very quickly with a maybe/maybe not keeper-sized largemouth on my bait of the year, the green pumpkin Strike King Coffee Tube. He spit it after a quick fight but it felt good to be on fish and get hit right away. We made our way clockwise around the Island and when we got to the South side I threw the tube as close to shore as possible, up under the trees and got hit again. I got this little largemouth all the way in ad I was on the board. Whew!

After working the Island and the rocky Southeastern shore (which I love!) things went quiet so we headed for the Southwestern shore. There was a nice flat that we worked in that area. I switched to my other 2014 go to, my Yozuri 3DB jerkbait and had another small largemouth hammer it as soon as it hit the water. So now I had two fish in the boat. The bite was a bit tough but I was working through the best I knew how and I was good with that.

What happened next, however, was a bit tougher to swallow. While working the Southwest shore, Bill had an errant cast get caught up on a dock. I had just finished tying on one of the craziest looking lures I've ever seen, a black and blue Yamamoto Kreature, with a VERY chartreuse skirt. I threw it at the end of the dock as we were moving in to retrieve his lure. Sure enough, as I'm simply taking in the action of my new lure, a 5+ lb. largemouth slowly makes his way out from under the dock and inhales the Kreature! No big hit, just a grab and go and I'm watching the whole thing in the clear water. He's on!

I battled him for a bit, but after the second jump out of the water, he spit it. Why? Because I didn't set the hook! What an idiot! It was disappointing, but encouraging at the same time. It really would have been nice to have grabbed my second 5+ lber of the year, but I knew at that point, that Gardner had real fish there and they could be caught.

Now I know I'm gonna lose some of you at this point as you ask yourselves "how do you know it was 5+ pounds; fish always look bigger in the water and you didn't get to weigh him." Guess what? You're right! I may not be right, but I'm not exaggerating. His last jump was right at the boat. He was very large, and I'll leave it at that.

We eventually worked our way back to the Eastern shore and worked North. Bill had some follows and I had a pickerel follow and boated one more largemouth of keeperish size. We made it to the North "bay" of the lake which was weedy with nice, thin, patchy lily pad growth. I switched to another of my new favorite lures, a Lucky Craft Sammy 100.

I'm getting used to the walk-the-dog technique and feel I'm pretty good at it. I stopped one of my retrieves close enough to the boat that when the ripples cleared on the pause, a good sized pickerel was looming right behind ole Sammy. One twitch was all it took to spook Mr. Teeth; he quickly darted away and then doubled back and hammered it all in what seemed like less than a second. How I didn't hook him with two sharp trebles, I don't know, but he was gone as fast as he appeared. I may have tried to set the hook too soon, trying to make up for my lost lunker earlier. Oh well.

We finished up our day working the tall weed/cat-tail stuff along the North shore. The larger pumpkinseed/sunfish used Sammy as a punching bag, sometimes as soon as the lure hit the water, but I only hooked one.

So my official tally for the day: 3 small largemouths and one very pretty sunfish. Definitely not a good representation of our day, but certainly enough to make me want to head back to Gardner someday soon.

Miscellaneous notes: The place REALLY gets going with jet-skiers, pontoon-boaters, water-skiers and other boats out cruising around aimlessly once late morning hits. The wakes were a bit much, but hey, it's Summer now and we all have to share the lake. It comes with the territory.

There is a nice combination of shallow and deep water, both sandy and rocky bottom which is both barren in some spots and weedy in others. I like the water/terrain options this lake provides.

Not a smallmouth one Sad

No walleye either, but who really cares?

And I've never seen so many freshly-abandoned spawning beds in my life. They are all over the place!

All in all a very fun, beautiful day in another new spot that I can't wait to get back to.

-Eric

Dozer02 · Joined: 29 May 2013 Posts: 37

Sounds like a decent day on Gardner. I can't honestly say that I've been there before, I don't think I have actually. I do remember a friend mentioning the summer hustle of watercraft and skiers being a bit much there, but no mention of major catches that I can recall. I am curious though, when you referred to the freshly abandoned beds, are you sure they were abandoned? You also mentioned the water clarity, is the entire lake clear? Clear water often requires a uniquely different approach for almost any gamefish, especially LMB & SMB. Stealth is critical! Is it possible that those beds were bluegill beds/clusters? Bass beds generally will be spaced far apart from one another, whereas Bluegill beds will be closer in proximity, in some cases even in a massive cluster that can be over 20' long, a "colony" if you will. These colonies can provide us with some of our largest bass of the year, if fished properly. In clear water, an approaching boat can easily spook the fish off their beds, they'll usually disappear by heading for deeper water or nearby cover and wait until the large threat (the boat in this case) is gone before re-appearing. This isn't the case with stained water fish as the lack of "total visibility" is gone and that provides them with a false sense of security so they tend to be less likely to spook. In the event that you return to Gardner, I would suggest using fluorocarbon line (at least a fluoro leader) if you didn't already, and choose natural representations of the forage you saw in the lake, like Bluegill imitations or naturally colored realistic crawfish baits. That Sammy you mentioned has put several good bass in my boat this year, mainly during the magical low light hours, but they'll still produce long after the sun comes up. Clear water bass will often come up from 30' or more to blast a topwater bait, this is one of the advantages of fishing a clear lake or pond. If you can find Bluegill colonies there (or anywhere else) try positioning your boat about 25 yards away and making far casts, fish parallel to the beds, about 10 or 15' out away from the them will be the major strike zone, the area where the largest of bass will lie in wait to swarm through these colonies for an easy Bluegill feast. If you fish a bluegill patterned crankbait or swimbait in their ambush zone, you'll likely trigger a violent reaction strike from some of the largest bass the lake has to offer. The Bluegill will be spawning for a couple more weeks but this opportunity won't last much beyond that. I am a bit curious about the average depth of the lake in open water, and if there was good substantial bottom structure noted on your electronics? Also how was the condition of the boat launch and parking area there?

imsafanct · Joined: 05 Aug 2013 Posts: 118

Dozer,

I read your reply about Black Pond in the "rate these lakes" thread and found it very interesting. Thanks for both replies.

I was wrong about the beds. Thinking back, yes, they were grouped closely together, sometimes as many as 6-8 small, sandy circles all almost touching each other. And I do remember seeing sunfish/bluegill/pumpkinseed moving in and out of them and hovering within them. I'm going to purchase a Giron as you suggested and see if I can make the off-bed presentation work for me.

The water was clear; not necessarily gin clear, but visibility was pretty good. As far as average depth is concerned, I don't really know. The bathymetry maps seem accurate. Bill sits in the back of the boat with the fishfinder, which I cannot see, so I really don't see depth changes, structure or fish on electronics. I use the force like Luke Skywalker.

With regards to line, I'm not setup for clear water. We had so much success on the CT River last year, that when I strung all my lines this Spring, I went with braid on everything. At places like Bashan, King's Island and Gardner, the green braid is obnoxiously visible.

As for the boat launch, its one of the best I've been too. Two launch lanes, docks, appropriate angle into the water and loads of parking.

Thanks for your input Dozer.

-Eric

Dozer02 · Joined: 29 May 2013 Posts: 37

Sounds pretty good to me, there's nothing like a nice launch and secure parking! The Giron is a definitely a big bass bait, also quite pricey. I use #15 fluoro or #20 PowerPro with it depending on clarity. I'm sure you're aware that there are other less costly Bluegill imitations out there as well, but I really like the Giron for targeting the larger bass during the Bluegill spawn. I also utilize a topwater or "wake bait" on these same bass during times of lower light. Those same big "Bluegill raiders" often fall victim to a wake bait reeled slowly under the surface. The Sammy you mentioned is another high percentage offering, that particular bait will consistently bring some of the biggest bass & other predatory fish up for a closer look, they'll most likely explode on it when you stop it in their strike zone. Another clear/lightly stained water phenomenon is the Manns Jelly Worm. I've been using them to catch numerous 5lb+ bass every year for 30+ years now. There are obviously much fancier ribbon tail worms and hand poured custom selections, but I've found none to match the ability of the original Jelly worm to trigger such violent attacks from the largest of our quarry. We all know the techniques and equipment are nearly endless, we could spend a ton of money trying everything available in the world of bass fishing, there is no one technique or lure that will work all the time in every situation so the ability to adapt defines us as bassmasters. I've also found over many years of fishing both competitively & recreationally that keeping "secrets" to ourselves is self defeating. I laugh when a seasoned tournament professional angler refuses to give up their "secret" baits or strategies, oftentimes their secret bait or technique is something that we all do recreationally anyway. From the few posts on here, you can probably see that I'm a big bass hunter, it's true, I'd much rather catch a single 4lb bass, then 5 average or "cookiecutter" bass. I still do enjoy catching bass of all sizes and I will often refer to my light tackle when times are tough, we can't always catch the big ones! I have been asked by tournament anglers why I share techniques, both online and in person and the answer is simple. If I can advise someone on a particular technique and they put that advise to work and catch fish that they might not have otherwise caught before, then, in a sense, I got to live vicariously through that angler, the same goes for my taking advise from anglers more experienced than myself, I was given advise from them, so why shouldn't I pass it on to others that share the same passion for bass as I do? I find it's an awesome feeling when someone say's they caught a trophy or improved their overall numbers based on advise that I provided. When it comes to angling, the only people that I choose not to educate would be poachers or people that freshwater bass fish for food. I believe that the ocean better suits that purpose than any fresh water impoundment. Okay, rant over....for now! I think I'll go do some fishing. Be safe, get out there and enjoy the water, winter's coming!