CTFishTalk.com: Squantz Pond 06/16 - Connecticut Lake Reports ( CT Lake Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek) and I decided to kick of Father's Day by leaving our kids at home and fishing Squantz Pond on Saturday night. We were on the water from about 9:00 pm to 2:30 am. The air temperature was in the low 60s to upper 50s, and there was a south wind that blew at a steady five miles per hour. The water temperature ranged between 71 degrees in the south end to 73 degrees in the shallower north end. Derek trolled a Perch Rapala Shad Rap SR-07, and I trolled a Yellow Perch Rapala Crankin' Rap CRR-05 and a Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR-07. We trolled halfway up the west shore before crossing the pond to the east shore and trolling all the way up to the "No Wake" sign. We crossed the pond because we were as tight to the west shore as we could get (I even ran my port rod into an overhanging tree once) and the depth was still 12 to 25 feet. It's an underwater cliff on that shore. Although I marked several fish at nine to 20 feet, we were trolling so shallow that we had no shot at them. When we crossed the pond, the bottom was at about 36 feet and my fish finder showed a big band of baitfish between 10 and 20 feet. I marked a couple of huge fish that I think were walleye at 15 and 20 feet. The next time I head back there, I'd try to troll at 15 feet. As we went up the east shore, I got a small rock bass with the Crankin' Rap and a 12 inch smallmouth bass with the Jointed Shad Rap. We threw lures around the north end of the pond for a while (e.g., spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and crankbaits), but didn't get a single bite. On the north end, there were heavy, stringy, "dreadlock" weeds everywhere the depth was less than 11 feet. I lost the Crankin' Rap when the line snagged on my rod and it snapped off of the 15 pound P-Line Fluoroclear when I tried to cast it. I tied on a Perch Rapala Shallow Shad Rap SSR-07 before we headed back down the east shore. I tried to stay clear of the weeds in 11-1/2 feet of water. I got an alewife with the Shallow Shad Rap that was only slightly longer than the lure. A while later, I got two alewife (alewives?) with the Shallow Shad Rap, again, one of which was shorter than the lure. The last fish was another small rock bass with the Jointed Shad Rap. Derek got skunked, but it's next to impossible to effectively troll an unfamiliar body of water without a fish finder. He paddled mostly starboard and astern of me, in order to stay clear of the worst of the weeds, which got sparser and shallower as we went south. Here are some bad photos:

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NorthEastFisherman · Joined: 27 May 2012 Posts: 582

You mustve went right through a school of them. Theyre everywhere in there it seems. Too bad you didnt get a walleye Sad

, I would go back but i havent heard of anyone getting a keeper walleye besides rvolkers. Seems like the place is shutting down.
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NorthEastFisherman · Joined: 27 May 2012 Posts: 582

Im thinking of drop shotting minnows but im gonna need a depth finder. What type of fish finder do you use?
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rvolkers · Joined: 23 Oct 2011 Posts: 359

you must have been putting in right when we were coming off! (LOL) we got there at around 4 and fished for bass (OR ANYTHING) till 8! I posted that since april i had thought sqpnd was the best place in ct -- AFTER SAT not so sure! my friend got 2 bass i had a couple of hits and that was it for the late afternoon early evening fishing! I WAS VERY SURPRISED!!!!!! to say the least!! we started to head in and saw a lot of boats coming on so we decided to troll our way back to the ramp! WE MARKED fish all at 14 to 20 feet and MAN THERE WERE LOT'S - i threw on a husky jerk (silver and chart) on one side and a croc on the other we made 2 passes and i did manage to get a walleye! (my first ever so that was a good thing)!

But i just could not pull-off a day lie we have been having all season till saturday! - very strange NOTHING BITE US! - it was the worst! (LOL) but hey it was a nice day to be out and view the the sites and smells of the west side!

now i have the night trolling fever - need to find the book Precision Trolling 8th Edition - to get some more in-sight!

rvolkers · Joined: 23 Oct 2011 Posts: 359

i have been using a (PiranhaMAX 160 Portable) and a hummibird gps combo fro a few years now ! THE portable unit is a very good one (MY OPINION) and not to much ching!

PiranhaMAX 160 Portable
http://store.humminbird.com/category/307378/PiranhaMAX_Series

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

I have a Humminbird 385ci Combo that used to be sold bundled with Humminbird's kayak installation kit. The transducer is mounted inside the hull and has a temperature probe. The head unit has integrated GPS. It's great, because I get the water temperature and my speed. I don't use the GPS' mapping and tracking functions, because I haven't upgraded the maps and the included maps are so low resolution that they're useless to me.

I saw the same band of baitfish between 10 and 20 feet. I might pick up a Rapala Dives To crankbait for my next trip out there.
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DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

It was a tough night of fishing but at least I was able to get out in the yak again. I did learn a very important lesson. Don't night fish a new lake...it's tough enough when you can see what you're doing.

hila2006 · Joined: 22 Jul 2011 Posts: 582 Location: Ellington

It's actually tough to night fish a lake you do know!! Everything seems really different at night. We've got 6 days off coming in July, gonna spend a couple nights on Beseck. We can hear lots of action going on when we're sitting on our sun porch at night.

SeaDog1 · Joined: 21 Dec 2009 Posts: 2629

rvolkers · Joined: 23 Oct 2011 Posts: 359

night fishing a sqpnd can be hairy - there seem to be more folks out this summer WITH NO LIGHTS! (not even cap lights) - i FEAR someone will GET HURT!

rvolkers · Joined: 23 Oct 2011 Posts: 359

HEY GUYS - Cabellas has a BIG SALE GOING on! - the rapala trolls-to series ARE ON SALE!!! - $6.99!!!!!!!!! (6/21 to 7/4)

they work good! BUT must be used with 10lb mono and you have to fish them with 100 ft of line out! - i tried them when we were in maine - I got a rapala line counter that attached to ANY bait casting rig - i was concerned about JUST HOW accurate they would be BUT we caught some fish SOOOO it must work?

NorthEastFisherman · Joined: 27 May 2012 Posts: 582

Dicks sporting goods isnt on sale and they have majority of their rapalas for 6$
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DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

rvolkers · Joined: 23 Oct 2011 Posts: 359

was at dicks on MONDAY did not see the trolling models???

NorthEastFisherman · Joined: 27 May 2012 Posts: 582

The ones i saw at that price were regular SSR's and SR's. Storm (i think thats the brand) has a BEAUTIFUL looking lure at dicks. It has amazing detail and has something to do with UV (i dont know what it is.. maybe you see the color better when its deeper?). I picked up two of them (Perch and fire tiger) for four dollars each. I also grabbed two husky jerks (Bright orange and white) for i think 10$ each at a local tackle shop. I can't wait to hit squantz now!! And im looking into the Lowrance X-4 Fish Finder. Anyone got any experience with it? I guess PM me so we dont clog up this report with a different topic!
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