CTFishTalk.com: West Hill Pond 06/02 - Connecticut Lake Reports ( CT Lake Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

First of all, thanks to Phish for telling me about this pond. You rock, Jed!

The pond is 260 acres, but it doesn't feel overwhelmingly huge because it's not long and skinny. You can see almost all of the shoreline, most of which is residential, especially the eastern shore. The water is clean, clear and cold. And parts of the pond are really deep.

I fished from 8 AM to 3 PM. It was calm and sunny the whole time I was out there, although the wind came up and started gusting just as I left. I decided to work my way around the shore in a clockwise direction from the boat launch on the north end. I ended up making it only 60 percent of the way around the shore before I had to head in. My little kayak is S - L - O - W! However, I spent a lot of time poking around and talking with anyone within range (e.g., the three older guys anchored in the middle, one of whom looked like he was on a respirator; the guy in the canoe who was setting up his swimming platform; the guy in the kayak who was planning to dive the pond to see how much it's changed since the late 60s).

There were several boats out on the water, although most were trolling or anchored in the middle. They were fishing for trout, which the DEP stocks. I fished the shore for largemouth bass with, you guessed it, wacky-rigged five-inch watermelon/red flake Yum worms. I would have used Senkos to get a faster rate of sink, but I gave my last half bag away last week and forgot to pick up more.

I got nibbles and bites all day. I landed 13 largemouth bass, 20 or more small rock bass, three or four dirty little smallies and one sunny. The smallies were all under 12 inches and put up less fight than anything else in the pond. A couple of times, I didn't even know I had a fish on. And all of them tried to swallow the hook! It's a good thing I didn't forget my forceps. Is it just me or would a rock bass try to eat an engine block if you threw one in the pond? I landed one that I didn't even hook; it was choking on the worm and I had to rescue it. I lost several 12 to 14 inch largemouth bass and a couple of bigger ones. The biggest largemouth bass I landed were the first two: 17 inches, 2 lbs 1 oz and 18 inches, 2 lbs, 6 oz:

Even though I think the bass are still lazy, I plan to try drop shotting in deeper water when I'm done exploring the western shoreline. Today, they mostly took my worms off the bottom. I got most of them when casting over rocks at the edge of deeper water. But there's a lot of deeper water there!

My only problem with West Hill Pond is that now I want to own a waterfront home there. The guy who was setting up the swimming platform told me that he sold his vacation home there last week because the property taxes have gotten too high. He was setting up the platform for the new owner. He said his dad bought the house for $7,500 in 1947, when the property taxes were less than $50. He sold the house for $600K+ and the property taxes are now about $9,000.

Where the heck am I going to find $600K for a vacation home on that pond? Could anyone help me out?
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cthonkerheaven · Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Posts: 142

hmmm well if every member of the site came up with a few thousand each, we can each use the home for one day a year Smile

haha

Bluegill Terminator · Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 538 Location: Plainville

That could work but West Hill sucks there no big bass in it, I'd rather share a house on MOOOOODUS. Laughing

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

BT

I'm not convinced that there are no big bass in the pond, but you could catch fresh trout for lunch and dinner every day. There is remarkably little bass-type cover. At one point, I passed some underwater grasses and was so surprised that I went back to fish it. That's where I caught the 18-incher.

However, there is a lot of structure. I love fishing over boulders. I think bass hide in the shadows when the sun is high. One of the locals told me that the big bass are reputed to hang off of the submerged island. I didn't even notice the two marker buoys until he pointed them out to me. I'll check it out when I go back.

Phil
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SkeeterJim · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 2219 Location: Newington, CT

Nice job Phil, excellent report.
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Phish · Joined: 22 Aug 2008 Posts: 454 Location: West Hartford

Awesome, Phil. I'll go halvsies on the house. Maybe I could get a couple hundred grand for a kidney or something. Laughing

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

I thought you were going to trade a kidney for a knee!
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