Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2011 5:43 pm Post subject: Lake Compounce 03/05
Flippy (aka Jim) invited me to fish Lake Compounce with him on Saturday. I had been planning to shop for fishing gear at Cabela's during its morning Doorbuster Sale, so I had a tough choice to make betweeen shopping or fishing with Jim on a private pond that only a very few people ever have permission to fish. Yeah, right. Seriously, I felt very lucky to have a chance to fish Compounce and even luckier to ice fish with Jim, who fell through and went under the ice when he was a kid. Thanks, again, Jim!
We drove passed through security at the amusement park and got on the ice before 8:30 am. The sky was overcast, but the air temperature went from about 40 to about 50 degrees throughout the day. Unfortunately, the slight breeze that we had in the morning also continued to build throughout the day. Compounce isn't a very big lake and Jim knows it really well because he fishes it during the Summer. We drilled the first few holes on the western shore, where the bank drops steeply to 14 feet, which is the maximum depth in the pond. I jigged a micro jig baited with a waxie in about 10 feet of water. Jim threw a drop shot rigged with six pound test fluorocarbon line and the hook set about 10 inches off the bottom. He baited his hook with a stinky Gulp minnow. Oh, yeah, and while I used my 26 inch UglyStik ice fishing rod, Jim used a seven foot drop shot rod:
We didn't get any hits at all at the drop off. After I set a couple of tip-ups baited with large shiners, we headed across the lake to another summertime weedline on the eastern shore. And guess what:
It was a 15 inch, one pound, 11 ounce largemouth bass:
I gotta say, it was really, really nice to jig up a keeper bass through the ice. After setting another couple of tip-ups, we headed north along the east shore to the vicinity of a couple of laydowns. It didn't take long for Jim to get his first bass:
One of Jim's coworkers was also on the lake with a buddy. They had set a bunch of tip-ups baited with shiners in the middle of the lake toward the north end of the lake. While the bite was slow near the shoreline and any structure, they were getting a lot of flags, so we began drilling holes more toward the middle of the pond. After I got another bass, Jim got one, too. And then Jim started kicking my butt:
As the wind rose, Jim had tied on a heavier weight and moved his hook closer to the bottom. He also switched to a smaller Gulp bait. This seemed to make all the difference. I gotta admit, a drop shot with a big weight on it is a terrific way to fish through the ice, and especially so on a windy day:
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to mention my tip-ups. I had set them near structure on the east and west shores. They were barely within visual range from where we ended up fishing in the middle of the lake. I got six flags, but missed all six hooksets. It was a loooong run over to each of them and I was never able to set the hook. But, man, I got a great aerobic workout. Better than Zumba, Jim! As I was packing up to head off the ice, I went over to visit with Jim's coworker and his buddy, and give them my last six minnows. They had gotten so many flags that they ran out of bait. They got 21 bass in the 12 to 18 inch range and four humongous yellow perch cows. Anyway, here's the last video that I took before Jim and I got off the ice:
We got off the ice at 3:15 pm. I landed only two bass and lost my favorite micro jig, but had a blast. Yes, Jim kicked my butt with his drop shot and his seven foot rod. Guess who'll be drop shotting stinky Gulp bait during the next ice fishing season. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:45 am Post subject:
MarkO - Jim told me that although there are tons of bass in the lake, they don't seem to get much bigger than about four pounds. To me, the weird thing about the lake is that we didn't catch anything but bass. For most of the day, I jigged a micro jig baited with a waxie. That usually gets me sunnies and perch, not bass. Jim said that although you'll see huge schools of bluegills in there during the Summer, he has no idea to where they disappear during the Winter. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Peco, wait,, I will show you how to use a frog, over the ice and they come up and explode on it, as for personal best, I have caught a # of 5lbers,,,thats it,, I go out in the spring and look for mamas on beds, I dont see anything BIG, there are monster sunnys and perch,, I dont know where they go but in the spring there are millions of them,, I have set up lots of structure areas, and I hit it hard all year but the bass ive caught arent that big,, I have heard of 8lbers caught,,, I dont believe it!! It is amazing how the bait looks like a carpet,,, there is soooo much bait..
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:28 pm Post subject:
colburn - Yes, Lake Compounce is a private lake that you need permission to fish. Luckily, Flippy works at the amusement park and had permission. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
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Yeah, right. Seriously, I felt very lucky to have a chance to fish Compounce and even luckier to ice fish with Jim, who fell through and went under the ice when he was a kid. Thanks, again, Jim!
as for personal best, I have caught a # of 5lbers,,,thats it,, I go out in the spring and look for mamas on beds, I dont see anything BIG, there are monster sunnys and perch,, I dont know where they go but in the spring there are millions of them,, I have set up lots of structure areas, and I hit it hard all year but the bass ive caught arent that big,, I have heard of 8lbers caught,,, I dont believe it!! It is amazing how the bait looks like a carpet,,, there is soooo much bait..
