CTFishTalk.com: No Name Ponds 05/24 - Connecticut Lake Reports ( CT Lake Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

After discovering that Bishops Pond is already so overgrown with weeds that it's unfishable, asianfisher (aka Billy) and I headed over to a couple of nearby ponds. If I knew the names of the ponds, I'd say what they are, but I really don't know them. They're to the south and east of Bishops Pond, right next to a YMCA Outdoor Center. They're probably private, but they're not posted and nobody approached us while we were there. The north pond is small and Billy said that it used to be stocked with trout. When I walked down to the north shore of the pond, I was startled by a sudden huge splash. I had spooked a school of two foot long carp. On my first cast from the shore with my crappie rig, I landed a small sunny. Billy walked halfway around the pond, soaking his shoes with dew from the tall grass and crunching over dead snails. We putzed around for a while before deciding to unload our kayaks from the car and put into the much larger south pond. The north end of the south pond is a super shallow area of flooded dead timber. We got onto the water just after 11:00 am. I wasn't able to mount the drive fins on my Hobie until after I paddled out of the shallows and dense sunken timber. However, Billy immediately began getting hits on a spinnerbait. By the time that I got into the clear and began fishing, he had landed four small largemouth bass:

They were all small, but very aggressive and feisty. They fought like they thought that they were smallmouth bass. I threw a wacky rigged five inch Gander Mountain brand soft stickbait at the edge of a bunch of lily pads and got a bite as soon as it hit the bottom:

And a couple of casts later, I landed another:

Meanwhile, Billy kept getting hits on his spinnerbait and landing fish. The action was so fast and furious that I stopped taking photos of my fish. Billy began experimenting with different lures to see whether they didn't like something. They liked everything. The bite didn't slow until the sun peeked out from behind the clouds and lit up the water. When it slowed, we explored around the pond. The deepest water that I saw couldn't have been more than four feet deep. I'd bet that the pond will be overgrown with weeds and unfishable like Bishops Pond by midsummer. Tight to shore in the middle of the east shore of the pond, I got the strongest hit that I felt all day. I couldn't get the fish to the surface; it pulled my wacky bait down to the bottom and 15 feet to my left. Just when I was getting really excited about it, the fish broke me off. I had my hook tied onto some 10 pound test Seaguar leader and the fish broke me off. Sonofab*!@# Mad

By the time that we got off the water at 2:30 pm, Billy had landed around 30 bass and I got 15 or more. The biggest was probably only a pound and a half, but we had a blast catching them.
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DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

Nice job guys!

atkins · Joined: 13 Apr 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Manchester

Pretty spot, love the bluffs in the background
Good to know that not all ponds were killed by the ice.

SeaDog1 · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 2629

Hi!

Great job guys ! You had fun !

But Phil? That shirt ! (OMG ! My eyes - My eyes !) Laughing

What's happened to your signature orange shirt ?

Best regards,
SeaDog1

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

I'm starting to put on the pounds in my old age and think that I'm starting to look more Polynesian every day, so I figure that I'll dress the part. Hang loose, bro!
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Fishface · Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 308 Location: New Britain

Nice job Phil and Billy. Phil you are funny.

Tim

SeaDog1 · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 2629

TurtleKiss · Joined: 09 Mar 2010 Posts: 1200 Location: central CT

How do you feel about leaders now Phil?
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Kira

*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~*

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

Change them often.
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TurtleKiss · Joined: 09 Mar 2010 Posts: 1200 Location: central CT

atkins · Joined: 13 Apr 2010 Posts: 220 Location: Manchester

Use a uni-uni knot when tying leader, I rarely have problems with breaking leaders.
http://www.fish4fun.com/Joining2Lines.htm
The link says for using lines of different diameter, not true, perfect for different size lines

Save your main line, esp if your using braid stuff is too expensive.

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

My leader broke just above the hook, not at my knot. I use a J-knot for attaching braid to flouro. It's very reliable. My problem is that fluoro (and mono, too) just aren't as durable as braid. I must have gotten a nick in the leader.
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Flipper · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 347 Location: Enfield

Use the same pound test rating in a flouro leader as you are using for your braid and it should hold. Flouro is extremely abrasion resistant. My guess is you are going with a lighter leader, therefore it breaks first.
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Unfortunately, I have to blame my lazy self for losing the big one, Damian. I should have tied on a new leader earlier. I had used the one that broke for way too long. And my braid is 50 pound test, which is probably the same diameter as the 10 pound fluoro leader.
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Flipper · Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 347 Location: Enfield

An old leader will break, that's true - but if you are using 50lb braid, you should use at least 30lb flouro, otherwise you are basicly only using 10lb test. That 10lb test leader is going to break all the time, and the 50lb braid will never break with that set up.
I actually go the other way with leaders. For the toothy critters I catch, I mostly use 17lb test mono, then go stronger to 30lb test braid (about 2'), then go even stronger to a 30lb test steel leader (6"-8").
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