CTFishTalk.com: Farmington River 07/10 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek), mep21 (aka Mark) and I decided to fish the Farmington River from Curtiss Park in Simsbury in the morning. We were on the water from about 5:45 am to 11:45 pm. It was sunny and cool, with very light winds. Although it might not have been ideal fishing weather, it was beautiful kayaking weather for sure. The water level is only slightly higher than normal and the water is very stained. We decided to paddle/pedal upriver to just past the Route 315 bridge and drift back down to the dead end branch of the river that runs back toward Curtiss Park. I decided to troll a yellow perch patterned Rapala SSR-5 and almost immediately landed a little cannibalistic yellow perch. The little sucker got two hooks in the top of its mouth and one on the bottom. I HATE treble hooks! Mad

We fished above and below the bridge for a while, but I landed the only fish with my five inch wacky rigged Senko, which was a short smallie:

We fished both banks and most of the laydowns as we drifted down to the dead end branch, but didn't get any hits. Mark and Derek were definitely getting pretty discouraged. After we entered the dead end branch, I landed a couple of short largemouth bass with the wacky Senko:

A little while later, Mark landed a couple of largemouth bass with a Baby Brush Hog. And then, finally, Derek landed a six inch monster of a largemouth with a wacky Senko. Rolling Eyes

When we reached the end of the dead end branch, I landed a chunky keeper largemouth, again with the wacky Senko:

It weighed a surprising one and a quarter pounds. Derek couldn't take much more frustration, so we double timed it off of the water and headed into Simsbury for lunch and some icy cold drinks. Although Derek had to head home, Mark and I weren't ready for our weekend fishing extravaganza to end, so we headed off to Lake Basile for more.
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dcfryxell · Joined: 09 Jul 2011 Posts: 10 Location: UConn, Storrs

basile on east granby/simsbury/granby line? i grew up in simsbury. once caught a 5+ lb lmb there... it was my first big fw fish. always used topwater weedless frogs on top of the green stuff. fun times

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

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

Man it was rough on the Farmington today. Here's a pic of my monster and one of Phil's cannibal catch. Some pics of the skies first thing this morning too...

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

I almost forgot to mention something. In the shallows near the mouth of the dead end branch, I spotted what I thought were two carp in the murky water. I had a leaping keeper largemouth bass on the line at the time, so I didn't pay too much attention to them. After I lost the bass Crying or Very sad

, I got a better look at one of the carp and saw that it had narrow, closely spaced, dark vertical stripes along it's side. Now I'm not sure what the heck it was. Any ideas?
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dcfryxell · Joined: 09 Jul 2011 Posts: 10 Location: UConn, Storrs

how big was it? what color was it? i know people who spear carp over there on the reg. vertical stripes? definitely not a carp then. i assume you got a good view of its body shape, and i assume it was big if you thought it was a carp... big fish in the farmington... could be an enormous trout. ive heard of almost 10 lbers being pulled down in the lower sections simsbury-windsor. redfin pickerels have vertical stripes though they dont get very big and theyre more fusiform than common carp

therieldeal · Joined: 20 Oct 2010 Posts: 245 Location: Thompson, CT

Try doing a google image search for “mirror carp”. They are a variation of the common carp that we see all the time… same species, different scale pattern. From what I understand they are unusually common in Rhode Island for some reason, but pretty rare elsewhere. Anyway I’ve never caught one but I’ve seen plenty of pictures, and their patterns can vary greatly. Maybe thats what you saw?
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PB's:
LMB - 4 pounds - Stump Pond, Thompson
Carp - 11 pounds - W. Thompson Lake, Thompson

Still searching for some toothy critters big enough to be worth weighing...

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

"Fusiform", dcfryxell? Are you a trout guy? Laughing

If I had to choose between redfin pickerel and mirror carp, I'd go with redfin pickerel. It was about two feet long and not as corpulent as a carp. I'm almost afraid to write this, but the word "muskellunge" popped into my head when I saw it. Shocked

But, yeah, it looked a lot like the photos of redfin pickerel that Google pulls up, although it would have been a trophy sized one.
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dcfryxell · Joined: 09 Jul 2011 Posts: 10 Location: UConn, Storrs

nope not a trout guy. just trying to use the vocab i learn in school haha

Passinthru Outdoors · Joined: 22 Feb 2011 Posts: 142

Great report and pics especially those sunset pics.

Thanks for sharing.
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DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

Thanks! Those are sunrise pics actually...I don't try to take too many of those Very Happy

only if I'm fishing.

Passinthru Outdoors · Joined: 22 Feb 2011 Posts: 142

as you can probably tell DD...I take lots of sunset pictures myself. Wink

Thanks for the correction.
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