CTFishTalk.com: Farmington River - Tunxis Mead 07/30 - 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) and I decided to fish the Tunxis Mead section of the Farmington River in Farmington this morning. We met up at the canoe launch ramp in the park on Wannowmassa Lane at 5:30 am, and launched into the pool that's upriver from the ramp and the pedestrian bridge that crosses the river. The air was cool and there was very little wind. I was glad to see that trout were rising everywhere, because I had sent a couple of fishermen who were in search of some trout there a couple of days ago. Neither Derek nor I had any trout gear with us, so seeing the trout rising was very frustrating. I started throwing a big Mepps Number 5 bucktail inline spinner and a weighted Texas rigged soft plastic crawfish. I had one little trout follow the inline spinner back to my kayak, but that was it. It wasn't long before I cut it off and tied on a wacky rigged five inch green pumpkin/red flake Senko. Neither Derek nor I got any hits after paddling upriver to where the rapids began and back to the ramp. However, the scenery was very nice:

At 6:45 am, we decided to shoot the rapids underneath the pedestrian bridge and headed downriver. I paddled straight for the shadows on the east bank because that's where I'd be if I were a largemouth bass. It wasn't long before bass began to pick up the wacky Senko, and I boated a 14 incher, a 12 incher and another 14 incher:

Then I got a yellow perch:

It took a while, but Derek finally got the skunk off with a bluegill:

Shortly after, Derek also boated a yellow perch. While he continued down the east bank, I headed across the river to the sunny west bank. I landed a 13 inch largemouth bass, a rock bass, a 14 inch largemouth bass and then another rock bass:

We entered a cove off of the east bank, where I boated a short largemouth bass:

As we worked our way around the cove, Derek boated a nice 12 inch black crappie:

He decided to put it on a stringer, which changed our normal "catch and release" routine into a "catch dinner" routine. As the wind began to rise out of the west, I boated another small largemouth bass with the wacky Senko:

By this time, Derek was tired of catching everything but a largemouth bass and tied on a wacky Senko of his own. And it wasn't long before it paid off:

The largemouth bass had swallowed the hook, so Derek released it immediately after finally getting the hook out of its gut. It was about 17 inches long and 2-1/2 pounds, and ended up being the lunker for the day. After, that, Derek landed the last largemouth bass that we got with a trolled white crankbait. But the most fun we had all day was when Derek discovered there were tons of white perch in the cove that liked to hit the trolled white crankbait. He caught five before we decided to start keeping them. I tried trolling a small perch patterned Rapala Original Floater, but didn't get any hits on it, so I tied on a Strike King KVD crankbait. Luckily, the white perch didn't care whether the crankbait was white or yellow:

We ended up boating at least a couple of dozen white perch and kept 12 of them. On our way out of the cove, Derek boated another 12 inch crappie and we kept that, too. On our way back to the ramp, we paddled against a stiff headwind. The trolled crankbaits got us a few more yellow perch along the way. I think that we each boated a total of four on the day. Here's a photo of Derek with our stringer of fish:

We had a blast exploring a new section of the Farmington (new to us, at least). Derek ended up boating six different species of fish and I got four. And guess what each of us is having for dinner. Very Happy

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metalfish · Joined: 10 Nov 2008 Posts: 330

Congrats. Looks Like a slam jamin day on the water!!
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slim2043 · Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 446 Location: Plainville CT

Nice job out there! My grandfather helped clear the land for Meade. My mom told me about this just the other day. Enjoy dinner!!! Very Happy

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

It was a great day out there. I would have loved to catch a few more largies but I was too stubborn and wasn't throwing what was working (the senko...again!). None the less the perch made up for it. I ended up with 23 fish on the day. A dozen white perch, 4 yellow perch, 2 largemouth, 2 crappie, 2 bluegill and 1 rock bass. It was a beautiful place to paddle as well. Here's what's for dinner... Very Happy

...that crappie was just over 12" to give you an idea of the size of the perch...I'm guessing they averaged about 10" to 11" and were strong fighters.

slim2043 · Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 446 Location: Plainville CT

Awesome! White Perch are real fun to catch! They hit so frigging aggressively and then dart left right left right!!!! I like catching them on light tackle. Crappies too. Might come home w a few Pachaug crappies tomorrow if I'm lucky.

How far did you guys venture? Did you have to deal w any tubers? I haven't fished the flats since I was a kid and keep meaning too in the yak...
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

We went down to where the river narrows, becomes shallower and speeds up. We didn't want this to become a one way trip. Wink

My dinner was delicious, too:

I re-confirmed that I prefer white perch to black crappie. Crappie meat is a little bit mushy. It's delicious, but the firmer texture of perch is much better.

I'd like to re-iterate to any trout guys on here that the pool that's upriver from the canoe launch ramp and the pedestrian bridge is full of trout. I'm tempted to head back and catch some. They mocked us the whole day with all of their feeding and splashing on the surface. Mad

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

Good luck! We need to get out and fish together one of these days.

We didn't see any tubers out there but we did see a few stranded tubes that had turned into fish habitats...lol. I caught my first two fish off a tube laydown.

I agree with you Phil the perch was much better.

slim2043 · Joined: 11 Apr 2011 Posts: 446 Location: Plainville CT

@ PECo - you know trout do that even when they are targeted!!! Especially this time of year.

@ DD - nice job working the trash @ Farmington. Tube laydown just sounds bizarre but to a fish, cover is cover.

That is the part of the river where the cold water and warm water fish share the same space. Just think, DD caught 6 diff species but you could land 8-10 diff species there!!! The Farmington is quite a unique fishery and one of my favorites. You guys showed why today!!!!
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asianfisher · Joined: 12 Jan 2009 Posts: 920

Good catch ya'll!!!!!!!!!!! we should all get together and do some saltwater fishing.... Salmon season is coming!!!! cant wait till its half way over so i can get into the steelies and browns....

Phish · Joined: 22 Aug 2008 Posts: 454 Location: West Hartford

Sounds like a great day. I lived right over there when I first moved to CT in 2002. I love that little stretch. Used to play with my lab upriver and skip rocks and fish down by the pedestrian crossing. I caught my first smallie ever fly fishing right there. Not much for size, but a great memory. Can't believe that was almost 10 years ago.

MarkO · Joined: 12 Nov 2007 Posts: 330

Great work guys and a heck of a fish fry there.

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

Nice job guys.

Tim