CTFishTalk.com: Connecticut River - Keeney Cove 10/26 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

Daryl wanted to have at least a chance of catching a northern pike today, so we fished Keeney Cove. He had never been there before, anyway. We got on the water around 8:30 am and stayed out until about 3:30 pm. It was about as perfect as a day could be for fishing from a kayak until about 2:00 pm, when the wind began to rise from the south and some clouds rolled in. It was cool, clear, sunny and calm for most of the day. I had forgotten to charge the battery for my Hobie's fish finder last night, so I don't know what the water temperature was. The water was clear down to about four feet in most places. We launched from the ramp on Point Road into the middle cove. The water level was as high as I've ever seen it. It was within a foot of the top of the culvert underneath Point Road:

When we arrived, the water was flowing out of the cove. We fished the really deep area around the south end of the middle cove for a while, but soon headed for the culverts underneath Route 3 that lead to the upper cove, because I wanted to check out the upper cove before the water level dropped:

As we approached the culverts, Daryl pitched a wacky-rigged four inch blue pearl/black hologram Yamasenko along the west side of the channel, and I pitched a crankbait and my favorite wacky-rigged five inch green pumpkin/red flake Senko along the east side. It wasn't until I pitched my Senko at the center divider between the two culverts that I got a hit and landed a 17 inch, two pound, 14 ounce largemouth bass:

Like most of the largemouth bites that I've gotten lately, it picked up the Senko off of the bottom. We headed through the culverts to the upper cove:

Shortly after we got into the upper cove, Daryl got a hit on his Yamasenko and landed a 15 inch, one pound, 10 ounce largemouth bass:

As we worked further into the upper cove, we drifted north with a push from a slight south breeze. The water level averaged around two and a half feet. Close to the shore and in spots it was one foot deep, and in a few other spots it was four feet deep. But everywhere we went, we drifted over submerged weeds. We didn't see much action on the way to the north end of the cove. We spotted a couple of large fish that looked like carp and spooked a lot of little fish. At one point, I got a bite on my Senko from what I'm pretty sure was a foot long northern pike that let go of it about three feet from the boat. It wasn't until we got to the tall grasses on the north end that I got a hit on a black one quarter ounce spinnerbait with a colorado blade. It was a 15 inch, one pound, three ounce largemouth bass. We were tired of working over the shallow submerged weeds in the upper cove and decided to head back to the middle cove. While heading back through the culvert, I landed a 16 inch, one pound, 13 ounce largemouth bass. When we got to the middle cove, we did some cove maintenance. Daryl had been collecting discarded fishing line all day, and got a nice jig 'n pig for his effort. But just inside the middle cove, he spotted a discarded car battery. He climbed the rocks on the shore and we horsed it onto the back of my Hobie. Take that, Al Gore! As we worked around the middle cove, the wind began to rise and we noticed that the water was flowing into the cove through the culvert under Point Road. We must have been in the upper cove during the low tide, but the water level never dropped very far, probably a foot at the most. We didn't get any action in the middle cove, so we decided to check out the lower cove and schlepped our boats over Point Road. It was getting late, so we worked pretty quickly down the lower cove toward the Connecticut River. When we reached the last bend before the river, I lost my wacky rig hook to a snag, so I pitched a Rage Tail Space Monkey (i.e., a soft plastic crawfish-type creature bait) toward the outside of the bend where I knew that fish would hold during low tide. I got a bite, remembered to set the hook and landed a 14 inch largemouth bass. It was the last fish that we caught on this absolutely gorgeous day for fishing. And from two skunk-free boats this time!
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Phish · Joined: 22 Aug 2008 Posts: 454 Location: West Hartford

Nice report as always, Phil!

dave_376 · Joined: 25 May 2007 Posts: 171

How do you pitch from a kayak? I have hard time pitching if I'm sitting;I almost have to be standing, I can do it sitting but I can't see how it is even possible to "pitch" from from a kayak.

Are you casting or pitching?????

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

Sorry, dave_376, I guess that I'm oblivious to the distinction between the terms "casting" and "pitching". I was using them interchangeably. I usually use the term "throwing", too. However, I am aware that "flipping" is a different technique.

Feel free to take me out on your boat and teach me the difference! Very Happy

I'm always eager to learn something new that might improve my fishing! Oh, and unless I have to maneuver my Hobie against the wind or current, I usually fish standing up.
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gecabert · Joined: 14 Jun 2010 Posts: 55

I'm definitely going to have to consider getting a kayak for next year. I fish most weekends on a buddies boat, but I'd love to fish for a few hours during the week after work.

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

gecabert

You should see all of the guys in Keeney Cove sitting in their cars and trucks on Point Road, and staring longingly at the boats on the water. I say, "Get a boat already!" Check out this gorgeous kayak:

It's a Hurricane Santee 116 Sport in Mango, which is an iridescent orange. It weighs only 35 pounds, has a sealed bulkhead in the bow and the stern, and has the most comfortable looking seat that I've ever seen in a kayak. It has two cupholders, too, I kid you not. I've also read that you can stand up in it. The EMS store in Avon has one on display and it retails for $899.00. If it goes on sale during the winter, it'll be, "Merry Christmas to me!"

Phil
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gecabert · Joined: 14 Jun 2010 Posts: 55

Hmmm kinda digging the Wilderness Systems Tarpon model.

http://www.wildernesssystems.com/product_subcategory/index/products/angler/angler_tarpon/

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

I like a sink (i.e., sit inside kayak) for smaller water. If you're a sot (i.e., sit on top) guy, you should check out the Hobie Pro Angler. The cons to the Hobie are price (i.e., $2,300 unrigged) and size (i.e., 135 pounds unloaded). But it's an incredibly stable platform for fishing. I really love what TurtleKiss (aka Kira) refers to as "the awesomeness of standing up".
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dave_376 · Joined: 25 May 2007 Posts: 171

pitching, casting, and flipping are three different ways of getting your lure in the water.

DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

Nice report Phil...glad to see you guys were catching fish.

Fishface · Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 308 Location: New Britain

Nice job guys Wish I was there.

Tim

Daryl · Joined: 24 Sep 2010 Posts: 70 Location: Simsbury, CT

What a busy week at work! I'm just now finding time to put up my supplement ot Phil's report.

As Phil said Tuesday was a beautiful day, I was very glad to have it off and be free to fish. As we arrived at Keeney Cove I was definitely taken back by the diversity of fish-holding areas that I saw. There is man-made structure like culverts, tons of cove like areas and also submerged vegatation and fallen trees. Rough in appearance as it may be, Keeney Cove in my opinon must hold LOADS of fish!

As we departed the launch into the middle pond, there was a light wind behind our backs and we drifted to the aqueduct that leads to the north pond. Fishing the coves of the middle pond proved unproductive as well as the mouth of the aqueduct. As Phil was heading into the aqueduct he commented on how his fishfinder marked fish inside and around the aqueduct on his last visit to Keeney. Just after that Phil hookd up with a nice bass nearing the 3lbs range. Here's a picture I snapped:

We fished through the aqueduct and had no strikes and moved into the north pond. After getting straight out about 30 yards from the aqueduct I got a strike and caught a nice LMB that put up a nice fight. Phil snapped a few more pics on my phone for me:

We fished the north cove by moving up the center about a 1/3 of the way and then following the left shore up and around the pond's perimeter in a clockwise fashion. It was very shallow for much of the cove with an average depth of about 2.5 to 3 feet. Phil almost got a small pike and then landed a fat lil' LMB on the very northern edge of the cove. We then fished the rest of the way around the pond's perimeter and headed back to the aqueduct.

Then on the way back through the aqueduct Phil pulled out another LMB from the right side tunnel of the aqueduct if you are approaching from the north pond. As I was fishing the left tunnel I heard some commotion and whoopin' from the other side where Phil was. In the spirit of being a good fishing partner I paddled down to the other side of the aqueduct to make sure everything was alright with Phil. You never know what could have swam in from the river that might be looking for lunch right?

Much to my relief, it was just Phil hooked into a fish Laughing

Just like Babe Ruth he pointed into the outfield and called out his next hit. Haha

On the way out of the aqueduct back into the middle pond, Phil and I teamed up to remove an old car battery from the shore line. I then saw something spinning around up in a tree. I was spinning very fast in the wind and didn't seem natural like a leaf. I paddled closer to get a look and saw that it was a dried out, rotten perch. It was hooked on a fishing line that someone snagged. They pitched over the branch, hooked a fish, pulled the snag and then broke the line. I cut off as much as I could of the line. I though it was too amusing not to take a picture of the perch (poor little guy!) I wonder if they were trying to film AIR PIKE ---- Kind of like Air Jaws on shark week!

Fishing on the way back to the launch was unproductive. We went to the south pond that heads to the river. Phil got a fish way down at the bend in the river in the fast moving water. He was using a nice crawdad bait that was very appropriate for the tide coming in! I snapped this pic with my phone:

What a great Indian Summer week this has been! I'm always glad to have a great day fishing. I'm hoping to get out this Sunday while the weather is still warm!
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Daryl

"Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers." - Herbert Hoover

Fishface · Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 308 Location: New Britain

Nice photos Daryl.

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

Awesome report! Great job guys.

Jim
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Flipper · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 347 Location: Enfield

Peco - you gotta try Chapman Pond or at least Salmon Cove if you want a shot at some pike. I know they are catching them in that part of the river right now. I can't get my boat into Chapman but it's perfect for a kayak! I am interested to hear how that place is. You gotta stop throwing that little senko, too. You might as well be fishing w/ meal worms if you want a pike. Wink

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