Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:54 pm Post subject: Connecticut River - Haddam Meadows 09/09
After getting rained off of Burr Pond on Saturday, mep21 (aka Mark) and I decided to fish the Connecticut River on Sunday. We both prepped for northern pike with braided line, wire leaders and BIG lures. We launched from the State Boat Launch Ramp at Haddam Meadows State Park at 7:20 am. I pedaled The Other Woman, while Mark paddled his Old Town Vapor 12XT Angler kayak:
The air was cool, the sky was totally overcast and there was a slight north wind. We caught the dead high tide, which hit Haddam around 8:00 am. I warned Mark that the bite would be slow due to the relatively still water and might not pick up until it started flowing out again after 9:00 am. We headed down the west bank of the river. Although we both threw a variety of lures, Mark mostly worked the shallow bank with a frog and the deeper water with a big soft plastic paddletail swimbait, while I worked the deeper outside weedline with a big 5-1/2 inch slow sink LIVETARGET Blueback Herring swimbait. We covered about 3/4 of a mile without so much as a nibble. At that point, I switched to a wacky rigged green pumpkin/red flake five inch Senko and a small white Strike King Redeye Special spinnerbait, while Mark tried various crankbaits. After another 3/4 of a mile, I had gotten only a couple of panfish nibbles on the Senko and skirt tugs on the spinnerbait. Just before 9:00 am, Mark got a hit and boated the first fish with one of his crankbaits, which was a short smallmouth bass. At that point, I tied on a Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR07. Almost immediately, I hooked into a short largemouth bass but lost it at the boat. We decided to cross the river and enter the old Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant canal. We both trolled crankbaits across the river without a hit and entered the canal, which was nicely sheltered from the increasingly blustery north-northwest wind. Some boats that were fishing a bass tourney had already been in the canal, but only a few remained. That, coupled with the high tide, tempered my expectations for the bite. We slowly worked our way up the canal. At 9:30 am, Mark got a hit on a $2 lipless rattling crankbait that he had picked up at Dick's Sporting Goods:
It was a small northern pike. After he got it next to his boat and prepared to take the hook out of it, I told him to pose for a picture before removing the hook. As he tried to figure out how to hold it, it gave a final thrash, and broke free of both Mark and the crankbait, almost hooking Mark in the process. He ended up with some small puncture wounds and bloody scratches from both the hook and the fish, and I missed the photo. Sorry, Mark, that was my bad. I began trolling the Perch JSR07 up the deepest part of the channel, which was eight feet deep, when Mark boated another small northern pike, again, with the lipless crankbait. This time, he went with the net when he boated it :
Now, when I say "small", I mean around 20 inches long. 10 minutes, later, I boated a "decent" 29 incher when I decided to stop trolling the Perch JSR07 down the center of the canal and threw it at the bank, instead:
15 minutes later, Mark boated his third northern pike, which was what we later decided was the canal's "standard size" of 26 inches long, with a big Number 5 Mepps Aglia inline spinnerbait:
Mark had finished retrieving the spinnerbait and left it dangling in the water as he went to paddle his kayak when the fish hit it. At 10:30 am, we met DCAJ (aka Dave), who only recently made his first post on CTFishTalk:
Hey, Dave! You might know Dave as the northern pike and bowfin guy:
When we left him, he hadn't yet gotten his regular catch. As Mark and I continued up the canal, the channel began to get a little bit shallower, so I swapped out my perch JSR07 for a smaller Perch JSR05. We soon arrived at what we like to call our secret spot :
It didn't take long for Mark to get another standard size northern pike with the lipless crankbait. After he released it and was futzing with his tackle, a fish rose up and splashed behind him. Now, although I rarely get hits when casting at splashes, I threw my Perch JSR05 at it and got a standard size northern pike of my own on the second cast:
We began boating and losing decent northern pike at the secret spot. Mark stuck mostly with the lipless crankbait and I with the Perch JSR05. A decent 30+ incher spit the hook as I tried to get the jaws of my Lipper Fish Gripper into its mouth. Mark lost what we both know was a "massive" 40+ incher when it spit the hook on an incredible leap high into the air. I didn't get a photo, but this is what I saw:
Shortly after, I boated a "big" 38 inch, 10-3/4 pounder that turned out to be the lunker northern pike:
While boating it, I got soaked by a big splash from its thrashing tail. It threw up so much water that it dripped from the brim of my cap. At 11:40 am, NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) and JJay (aka Jason) motored up to the secret spot in Bob's boat, the Way More Better. They had been fishing over the shallow flats in Salmon Cove, but hadn't gotten as much action as Mark and I. After they arrived, the bite died for a short while. But it soon picked up again:
Yeap, I wasn't the only one who got Shamued! Mark and I both got a look at the fish, and it could have been the twin sister of the lunker 38 incher that had Shamued me earlier. After we each had caught a bunch of northern pike, we decided to work on our very minimal goal of boating a keeper bass. Almost immediately after we talked about it, Mark accomplished it with a 14 incher that turned out to be the lunker largemouth bass. Shorty after, I got mine with a 13 incher:
And almost immediately after that, Mark matched the lunker with another 14 incher:
I got a 12 inch and a 13 inch largemouth bass before Mark and I had to head back to the ramp:
We left Bob and Jason at 12:45 pm. Hopefully, the secret spot kept producing for them after we left. After Mark and I began heading down the canal, I boated another decent 29 inch northern pike and a surprise black crappie:
Since the crappie was the third species of fish that I had caught and Mark had caught three different species, too, we decided to make catching a fourth species the new goal for each of us. And, of course, Mark immediately accomplished it:
Now I know two fishermen who have boated a bullhead with a crankbait, right Dawg? The last fish either of us boated before leaving the canal was a decent 31 inch northern pike:
As Mark and I left the canal, the north wind, outgoing tide and lower water level made getting back across to the west bank of the river tough. We both trolled crankbaits in the deeper, clear water outside the shallows and weeds along the bank. Although I pedaled and Mark paddled at a four mile per hour pace, we moved upriver at only two to 2-1/2 miles per hour. It appeared that we were in a band of clear sky between clouds to the north and clouds to the south:
Neither of us got any action on our trolled crankbaits. When we arrived back at the ramp, Mark paddled past it to try and catch a "just one more" fish, while I headed straight to the ramp, because I had to go get my Jeep from the parking lot. Before I even set foot on the ramp, Mark caught a "just one more" 14 inch largemouth bass. We were both off of the water at 2:50 pm. If I hadn't had to get home early, we would have stayed out on the water until dusk. Those atomic pike were a blast! _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:44 pm; edited 7 times in total
Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 76 Location: Berlin, CT
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:14 pm Post subject:
Phil,
It was great meeting you guys.
I couldn't stay too long and had to leave right after meeting you and Mark.
Contracts on the great outing.
My fishing mojo wasn't working for me yesterday.
I managed to get one bass on a frog and lost what I think might have been a bowfin the way it looked when it jumped out of the water for the frog.
Wow PECo!!! You have been tearing it up lately!!! Not just one or two good fish but like a dozen good fish each on your last couple trips!!! Great fishing!!!
Joined: 01 Mar 2011 Posts: 65 Location: West Hartford, CT
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:08 pm Post subject:
Good to be back in CT when the fishing is like it was this weekend! What a blast it was catching those pike. I think you nailed it on the illustration there Phil I'll be having nightmares about that miss. Nice meeting you, Bob Jason, and Dave!
Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:05 pm Post subject:
Great job keeping the secret! I fished that area every week from October through March last winter with the exception of 1-2 weeks when it was skimmed over. I'm hoping for another mild winter. Never got skunked and had pike almost every trip, some days double digit numbers. I usually concentrate on the old outflow, to Salmon Cove and down to Chapman's Pond. Some monsters in there as well. _________________ RNA - It's in my blood.
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Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:32 pm Post subject:
Redneckangler wrote:
I usually concentrate on the old outflow, to Salmon Cove and down to Chapman's Pond.
I originally planned to hit Chapman Pond, but I had to get home early, so we didn't have enough time. I haven't been there in a while, but I'm sure that I'll check it out, again, soon. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:48 pm Post subject:
Michael wrote:
BTW- Lunker of the day on the JSR Phil?
If so, there goes to show how a Rapala can either get you quantity or quality with a better chance of the lunker.
BTW, Michael, as I told Mark after I caught my first northern pike, I began casting the JSR instead of just trolling it because of your reports. I actually said, "Well, Michael always casts them!" Thanks! _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
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We decided to cross the river and enter the old Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant canal. We both trolled crankbaits across the river without a hit and entered the canal, which was nicely sheltered from the increasingly blustery north-northwest wind. Some boats that were fishing a bass tourney had already been in the canal, but only a few remained. That, coupled with the high tide, tempered my expectations for the bite. We slowly worked our way up the canal. At 9:30 am, Mark got a hit on a $2 lipless rattling crankbait that he had picked up at Dick's Sporting Goods:
I began trolling the Perch JSR07 up the deepest part of the channel, which was eight feet deep, when Mark boated another small northern pike, again, with the lipless crankbait. This time, he went with the net when he boated it 
:
You might know Dave as the northern pike and bowfin guy:
As Mark and I continued up the canal, the channel began to get a little bit shallower, so I swapped out my perch JSR07 for a smaller Perch JSR05. We soon arrived at what we like to call our secret spot 
It appeared that we were in a band of clear sky between clouds to the north and clouds to the south:
