CTFishTalk.com: Mattabesset River 04/04 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

I had planned to fish the lower Housy for schoolie striped bass with TurtleKiss (aka Kira), but decided to stay closer to home and check out the Mattabesset River, instead. We launched from the Yankee Boat Yard & Marina on the east bank of the Connecticut River in Portland at 7:45 am:

Yankee charges $15 to launch a boat at its ramp. It's pricey, but convenient when you want to hit the Mattabesset. High tide was at 8:49 am and low tide was at 4:12 pm. There was a fairly brisk west wind blowing for most of the day, but it was sunny and warm. I think the air temperature got into the low 50s. After we launched, we headed directly up the Connecticut:

When we got to the mouth of the Mattabesset at 8:00 am, we dropped anchor and fished the bridge piers:

The water was murky, with only 1-1/2 feet of visibility. We threw football jigs, shakeyheads, spinnerbaits, striper jigs and minnow jigs, but didn't get a nibble. After 45 minutes, we decided to head up the river. The water temperature was 43 degrees in the morning and peaked at 45 degrees in the afternoon. We worked our way up the channel until we got to the flats. When we lost the protection of the trees from the wind, we motored past the flats and about 1/4 mile up the river, before starting to drift back downriver:

At 11:00 am, after Kira caught a deep snag and was messing with her tackle, I threw a 2-1/2 inch minnow jig next to a laydown on the west bank that had collected some drifting sticks and garbage, and formed a small floating mat. The jig was gently picked up by a fish on the fall. I could tell that it was a decent fish and yelled for Kira to grab the net. When I pulled the fish out from underneath the mat, we saw that it was a two pound smallie that had a little bit of black blotch (i.e., melanosis) on its side. It had been holding shallow, just underneath the mat. Before I could get it next to the boat, it pulled down toward the center of the channel and spit the fine wire hook of the jig. Sonofab*!@# Mad

Oh, well, at least we finally got a bite. Confused

We continued downriver and stayed on the west bank. As we reentered the flats, I got another bassy hit on the minnow jig, but lost it before I was able to see it through the murky water. After the water got too shallow for us to stay close to the west bank in the flats, we headed down to the Coginchaug River. As we neared the mouth of the river, we spotted DCAJ (aka Dave) heading into the flats. He had also launched from Yankee and had gone into the crystal clear waters of the Coginchaug, but hadn't caught anything at that point. Kira and I headed up the Coginchaug, where we spooked a fish in the shallows that left a large cloud of silt as it swam away from us and into deeper water. As we continued up the river, it soon began to smell like Christmas. Shocked

Middletown's Christmas tree dump must be up the hill, because the smell of cut pine trees became very strong. Kira spotted a small 18 inch long northern pike in the clear water along the north bank of the river, but it swam away when I tossed my minnow jig at it. We didn't see any other fish in the clear water, so we decided to head back down to the Mattabesset and drift back down to the Connecticut with the outgoing tide. We saw that Dave had started back before us. When we got to the part of the channel that's a 1/4 mile long straight running directly north and south, I got a hit from another bass. This time, though, it was a three plus pound largemouth bass that hit a two inch chartreuse curlytail grub jig tight to the west bank. After I pulled it away from the bank, it quickly swam down to the deep water in the center of the channel and spit the jig. Sonofab*!@# Evil or Very Mad

Losing that one hurt more than losing the smallie. Confused

We continued down the channel toward the mouth of the river:

We anchored up next to the bridge piers on the south side. Once again, we threw football jigs, shakeyheads, spinnerbaits, striper jigs and minnow jigs. We got nothing. While we were there, Dave drifted past us on the north side of the bridge piers. He told us that he had gotten a small largemouth bass with a curlytail grub jig. As he drifted past the bridge piers, we heard him get a hit from a decent fish. We couldn't see him boat it on the other side of the piers, but he told us it was a 28 inch northern pike that hit a lipless crankbait. Dave soon headed down the Connecticut, but Kira and I decided to motor back up the Mattabesset to the flats and drift back down the channel, again. We had launched at Yankee before anyone was there to collect the $15 fee, so I wanted to head back there before 5:00 pm, so I could pay at the office before it closed. As we drifted down the channel, I threw a big Lucky Craft lipless crankbait at the shore. When I thought that I should start stowing my gear for the run back to the ramp, I burned the crankbait back to the boat. As I lifted it from the water, I spotted a small 18 inch northern pike that had followed the crankbait all the way to the boat. And I had yanked the crankbait out of the water like I was playing "Keep Away" with it. Sonofab*!# Twisted Evil

We ran back down to the ramp and were off of the water just after 5:00 pm. Although launching at Yankee was convenient, I think I'd just launch at Haddam Meadows and make the long run up the Connecticut the next time I want to fish the Mattabesset. Or, better yet, I'd just launch in a kayak from the Dunkin' Donuts on Shunpike Road and paddle down. Cool

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anointed130 · Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:27 am Post subject:

More success next time Phil, stinks to have been so close to netting and ending up with the skunk. Still not sure which one is worse, losing the fish or never having the fish.
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DCAJ · Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 76 Location: Berlin, CT

Hey Phil,
Good to see you and Kira out there.

Yes, it was a very slow day. I was able to get a small bass and this 28 inch pike right at the mouth of the Mattabassett just before I left.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Sweet fish, Dave! It's nice to finally get to see it.
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DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

Tough day!

Erikmon · Joined: 15 Mar 2013 Posts: 28

Every pike and big smallie i got was on a orange yum dinger orange jerkbait. Then again this is past the river cog, not near the mouth and main river. weird unnatural color but idk it works lol. I like the matty cuz of its beauty, mutispecies, and bald eagles. Not to catch alot of fis

Didnt the just build a new boat lunch i read it in a article, its about to be done forget where tho, maybe between river coginchog and mouth?