Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:23 am Post subject: Batterson Park Pond 04/20
I met up with asianfisher (aka Billy) and TurtleKiss (aka Kira) and for a late lunch at Pho Boston in West Hartford, after which we went fishing at Batterson Park Pond. We probably got on the water around 3:00 pm. It was cool, humid and overcast, but got warmer, drier and sunnier as the afternoon wore on. It ended up being an absolutely gorgeous day. Billy paddled El Habañero, Kira trolled around in Dinghbat and I pedaled my new Hobie Mirage i9s:
I later found out that I can comfortably stand up and fish from her, on calm water at least. Whoo hoo! When we launched, a jon boat with a couple of guys on it was coming off the water. They said that they had gotten some largemouth bass, but only one pounders. I have a feeling that they had worked the shallows on the west shore. The Avon High School crew team was also on the water. They had four shells and two motorboats out there. We had to do a little bit of traffic control to stay out of each others' way, but they left the water after an hour or so. We headed to the buoy-marked submerged island in the middle of the pond. I trolled a walleye worm rig baited with a 10 inch plastic swirlytail worm. Billy had a couple of stickbaits tied on, and set up an empty water bottle jug with a nightcrawler for him and a couple of big bobbers with a mostly dead shiner that I had found for me. Yes, we stayed nearby, so they were "personally attended". Just after 4:00 pm, after Kira had wandered away toward the beach on the north end of the west shore, Billy hooked up with and landed a nice two pound, 14 ounce largemouth bass:
He got it on a stickbait with an erratic retrieve over the submerged weeds covering the shallows near the buoy. While Billy was pulling up the bass, I noticed that his water bottle had started moving around. He handed the bass to me for the weigh in, paddled over to the jug and landed a little eight to nine inch white perch. I gave up on the trolled worm and tied on a little 2-3/4 inch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap in Silver Shad. Billy and I continued to work the submerged weeds in the shallows by the buoy and at 4:30 pm, he landed another nice bass:
The second was shorter than the first, but was a real fatty. The first must have been a male and the second a female. It weighed three pounds, four ounces. At 4:50 pm, my phone rang and I got a call from Fishface (aka Tim). He lives near Batterson and had seen my car in the lot on his way home from work. He said that he'd grab his yak from home and join us on the water. Tim must be my good luck charm, because at 5:15 pm, I finally landed a little yellow perch:
It took a while, but I got the skunk off of my new boat. Whoo hoo! I got another, larger yellow perch on the very next cast. Although it was nice to land a couple of smaller fish, I wanted a big bass like one of Billy's, so I tied on a 3-1/2 Rapala Countdown in Silver that was more like the stickbaits Billy had been throwing. And at 5:30 pm, on my very first cast with the new lure, I landed a two pound, nine ounce largemouth bass:
We worked the submerged island for a while, but I got only another yellow perch. Tim headed for the west shore and Billy followed Kira over to the east shore. When I joined Tim on the west shore a little while later, I landed another yellow perch. Tim had to take off before dark, but Kira doesn't like to leave a pond without catching anything, so Billy and I hung around the middle of the pond and with nightcrawlers on worms under bobbers. Billy also replaced the shiner on my two-bobber jug with a nightcrawler. I got another yellow perch, but it got too dark to even see the bobbers, so I called Kira and told her that it would soon be time to go. As we headed back to the boat launch ramp, Billy retrieved his water bottle. But when he pulled up my bobbers, the line started moving and he pulled up an eel. I had never seen one before. In the light of Billy's headlamp, I could see that it was yellow and brown, and over a foot long. It had hooked itself pretty firmly and when Billy tried to get the hook out, it wrapped itself tightly around the line and Billy's hand. Those things are tough, strong and slimy. Pretty gross, actually. I had some pliers and we ended up breaking the hook off in its mouth. After that, we double-timed it back to the ramp. Paddling El Habañero, Billy was faster than I on my Hobie Mirage i9s with the standard drive flippers, but I'll install the Turbo XT fins, so I should be able to go a lot faster. The extended pedal back to the ramp revealed that I need to get back into pedaling shape. I never stopped pedaling but, yeah, I was pushing myself pretty hard for a while. We got off the water after 9:00 pm. I won't be able to fish this weekend and I'm already dying to get back out on the water. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:41 am; edited 1 time in total
Congrats. Nice post and vids. Nice bass also. _________________ I Love My Fishing And NASCAR. But When There Is ICE On The Pond Bet Your Britches I Will Be There.
Bassin In The Summer Perchin In The Winter Mr. Green
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 8:37 am Post subject:
Hey, Ian, I'm ready to hump a boat to Breakneck, now!
BTW, jugging is silly, childlike fun. You're allowed to have two lines in the water while angling, so if you're in a boat and hanging around in one spot, you can actively fish with a rod and reel while a jug floats nearby. You just have to make sure that you "personally attend" your jug:
What day PECo? Sundays always work for me.. _________________ I Love My Fishing And NASCAR. But When There Is ICE On The Pond Bet Your Britches I Will Be There.
Bassin In The Summer Perchin In The Winter Mr. Green
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:02 pm Post subject:
Ian
Unfortunately, I won't be free either tomorrow or next Sunday. I hope that you get out tomorrow. The forecast for the weather in the morning looks terrific.
Phil _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
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When we launched, a jon boat with a couple of guys on it was coming off the water. They said that they had gotten some largemouth bass, but only one pounders. I have a feeling that they had worked the shallows on the west shore. The Avon High School crew team was also on the water. They had four shells and two motorboats out there. We had to do a little bit of traffic control to stay out of each others' way, but they left the water after an hour or so. We headed to the buoy-marked submerged island in the middle of the pond. I trolled a walleye worm rig baited with a 10 inch plastic swirlytail worm. Billy had a couple of stickbaits tied on, and set up an empty water bottle jug with a nightcrawler for him and a couple of big bobbers with a mostly dead shiner that I had found for me. Yes, we stayed nearby, so they were "personally attended". 
Just after 4:00 pm, after Kira had wandered away toward the beach on the north end of the west shore, Billy hooked up with and landed a nice two pound, 14 ounce largemouth bass:
Those things are tough, strong and slimy. 
Pretty gross, actually. I had some pliers and we ended up breaking the hook off in its mouth. After that, we double-timed it back to the ramp. Paddling El Habañero, Billy was faster than I on my Hobie Mirage i9s with the standard drive flippers, but I'll install the Turbo XT fins, so I should be able to go a lot faster. The extended pedal back to the ramp revealed that I need to get back into pedaling shape. I never stopped pedaling but, yeah, I was pushing myself pretty hard for a while. We got off the water after 9:00 pm. I won't be able to fish this weekend and I'm already dying to get back out on the water.
I hope that you get out tomorrow. The forecast for the weather in the morning looks terrific.
