Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:01 pm Post subject: Connecticut River - Salmon River 09/12
I planned to fish the Connecticut River with NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) on his boat, the Way More Better, but ended up fishing with Bob, TurtleKiss (aka Kira) and JJay (aka Jason). When we arrived at the Salmon River Boat Launch, there was only one car and trailer parked in the lot. It was a beautifully cool day. We got on the water at 8:45 am. Kira rode with Bob in the Way More Better, Jason paddled his Future Beach Trophy 126 DLX and I pedaled The Other Woman. Right after we launched, I discovered a problem with my rudder control, so they headed upriver to the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant Canal before I. Is it weird that I enjoy typing the words "Atomic Power Plant"? It makes me feel like a journalist in a Godzilla movie. Anyway, it took a lot of time and a couple of attempts for me to repair the rudder control, so I didn't get to the mouth of the canal until 9:40 am:
As you can see, there weren't any clouds in the sky and there was very little wind. That, coupled with the impending high tide at 10:00 am, resulted in very calm 72 degree water. The river was also fairly clear. I could see the bottom six feet down, although visibility was only a couple of feet in the murky canal. I casted and trolled a Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR05 as I headed up the canal. I didn't see any fish in the murky water and didn't see any activity on the surface. As I approached the big laydowns near the mouth of the canal, I tied on a wacky rigged green pumpkin/red flake Senko and began casting into the shadows next to the laydowns. It wasn't until I got further up the canal that the wacky Senko was picked up off of the bottom under the shade of a shoreline tree by a solid 15 inch, one pound, 15 ounce largemouth bass:
The two pound mark has been like the impenetrable sound barrier for me, lately. As I approached the Secret Spot, I saw DCAJ (aka Dave) in his Polar Kraft Dakota, fishing in the same area as Bob and Kira, and Jason. Like Jason, he had taken time off from work to fish on a beautiful day. In fact, the one car and trailer parked in the lot when we arrived was his. Although everyone was throwing everything in their tackle boxes, I didn't see any fish catching action going on. For me, the only lure that worked was the wacky Senko, fished very slowly on the bottom, where it would occasionally get picked up by a fish, like this 13 inch largemouth bass:
My wacky Senko even got picked up off of the bottom by what I'm sure was a northern pike. Although I never saw the fish, it pulled down and away from me, and then pulled really hard when it felt pressure on the line, before it bit through the eight pound test P-Line Fluoroclear that I used for my wacky rig setup. After that, I fished my wacky rig on one of my setups with 50 pound test PowerPro braid and a six inch long 30 pound test Berkley Steelon steel leader. It still worked, well, at least on this 14 inch largemouth bass:
Jason had a similar experience with a Texas rigged Cabela's soft creature bait, which got him a short largemouth bass:
Dave had motored down the canal and back up, but was having a slow day, too:
At almost 2:00 pm, the water temperature had risen to over 75 degrees and the wind had risen out of the south. After Jason and I worked our way back down to the mouth of the canal, I talked Jason and Dave into heading 3-1/4 miles downriver to check out Chapman Pond. I let Kira and Bob know our plan by text message, and they replied that they'd catch up with us. By that time, the tide was starting to head out and a brisk five to 10 mile per hour wind was blowing upriver from the south. As Dave motored off with his powerful six horsepower Johnson, Jason and I followed at about 3-1/2 miles per hour along the west bank. After we passed the Salmon River Boat Launch and undeneath the high tension power lines that cross the river, we saw Bob and Kira motor past us in the Way More Better along the east bank, and stop to fish the piling of the swing bridge near the Goodspeed Opera House. When we finally caught up with them, Jason paddled over to talk with them while I continued down the east bank toward the pond. I soon received a text message that Bob was worried he didn't have enough fuel to make it to Chapman Pond and back to the ramp, so they were going to head back and fish in the area near the ramp. There was no way that I was going to waste the effort it took to pedal downriver, so I continued on to catch up with Dave. I got to the mouth of Chapman Pond at 2:50 pm and headed in:
Low tide was approaching when I entered the pond. I saw that Dave was drifting north with the south wind along the weedline on the west shore:
I decided to troll clockwise around the pond, so I tied on Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Raps, a JSR05 and a JSR07. As I passed Dave, he told me he had boated a white perch and a yellow perch that was so big he initially thought it was a small bass. The deepest water I saw was only 13 feet, although I was trying to stay in eight feet of water as I trolled. I didn't get any hits on the Perch Rapalas, so I tied a wacky Senko back onto my setup with the eight pound test Fluoroclear and began casting it along the weedline near the entrance to the pond, where the water was flowing. When I let the wacky Senko fall to the bottom, it was picked up first by a 13 inch largemouth bass and then a short:
I saw some fish splashing in the south end of the pond, so I headed down there. The water along the weedline was a shallow two to four feet deep. I saw schools of fish fry hiding among the weeds. In the southwest corner of the weedline, the wacky Senko was picked up off of the bottom a short smallmouth bass:
I saw a big carp among the weeds. I thought about trying to snag it with a lure, but it spooked before I could even try. Dave came over and we both tried throwing frogs over the weedbeds, but other than a few hits from what appeared to be small fish, we didn't get anything. I headed back to the weedlines by the entrance to the pond and pulled up a few more largemouth bass that were 13, 14 and 13 inches long with the wacky Senko:
Dave asked what I was throwing and when he tied on a wacky worm, he boated a couple small largemouth bass, too. He got called home by his son, so we left the pond at 5:00 pm. From the flow of the water through the channel, it must have been close to slack low tide. As I pedaled up the west bank over the shallows, I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the brisk south wind that had been in my face all the way downriver. Of course, when I could have used it on my way back upriver, it was gone. Dave passed me as I approached the Goodspeed Opera House, and headed for the ramp at the Salmon River Boat Launch and off of the water. After I passed underneath the swing bridge, my fish finder marked some fish 15 to 20 feet down in 20+ feet of water, so I tied on a Rapala Dives To DT16 that I picked up on clearance at Dick's Sporting Goods. As you might have guessed, a crankbait that dives 16 feet deep creates a lot of drag. Trolling it up the west bank against the current wasn't a lot of fun. After 1/4 mile with no hits, I gave up on it and began to reel it up. Of course, as I did so, a short smallmouth bass hit it:
I pedaled past the ramp and back to the canal, since Bob, Kira and Jason were still there. I got back to the mouth of the canal just after 6:30 pm. It's hard to see in this photo, but someone was spraying a firehose into the river on the west shore up in Haddam:
Not long after I entered the canal, I heard a boat motoring toward me. It was Bob and Kira, who were headed back to the ramp. I continued up the canal to find Jason. Along the way, I trolled the Perch JSR05 and casted toward the shore, but didn't get any hits. I ran into Jason well before I got to the Secret Spot. Discretion got the better of me and I decided to head back to the ramp with him in the quickly fading light. It seemed like a long pedal/paddle back to the ramp. We got off of the water at 7:30 pm, as the sun set and darkness fell. Neither Jason nor I had caught much; my five fish bag would have weighed only 5-1/2 pounds. The Way More Better was definitely the boat on which to be, but I'll let Bob and Kira fill you in on that. As DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek) has said more than once, mi culo duele!
Oh, and Bear Down, Chicago Bears! _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:25 am; edited 2 times in total
Joined: 07 Jun 2011 Posts: 655 Location: Central, CT
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:32 pm Post subject:
Nice job Phil. Chapman can be super shallow at low tide. I was able to barely squeeze in there a couple weeks back at high tide. The channel can be fun though because you have to navigate in loops of the channel in lol. _________________ Steve
Ya im a bit overly careful when it comes to river current and fuel definatly when it comes to a mile long trip upstream in fadeing light. Next time Ill bring the bigger tank . At the end of it all the trip back up to launch then to the canal left me with about a cup of gas in the tank at the end of it all . I allways feel better floating back down to the ramp than paddleing up to it .You did do well in the pond though. _________________ I Love to fish......Not a big fan of sitting in the boat alone ....the Conversation and the company make it perfect
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:41 am Post subject:
I just looked at a map. I probably traveled over 13 miles on Wednesday, which is the longest outing by distance that I've taken in The Other Woman. Since my average cruising speed is between only 3-1/2 and four miles per hour, I think I spent waaay too much time pedaling instead of fishing. I need to plan my outings better. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
we traveled almost the same distance so that would mean im getting about 6.5 mpg in the boat wow what a gas hog _________________ I Love to fish......Not a big fan of sitting in the boat alone ....the Conversation and the company make it perfect
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Anyway, it took a lot of time and a couple of attempts for me to repair the rudder control, so I didn't get to the mouth of the canal until 9:40 am:
After that, I fished my wacky rig on one of my setups with 50 pound test PowerPro braid and a six inch long 30 pound test Berkley Steelon steel leader. It still worked, well, at least on this 14 inch largemouth bass:
Dave came over and we both tried throwing frogs over the weedbeds, but other than a few hits from what appeared to be small fish, we didn't get anything. I headed back to the weedlines by the entrance to the pond and pulled up a few more largemouth bass that were 13, 14 and 13 inches long with the wacky Senko:
Since my average cruising speed is between only 3-1/2 and four miles per hour, I think I spent 
wow what a gas hog
