CTFishTalk.com: Mattabassett 9/23/12 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

Paulgottafish · Joined: 20 Aug 2011 Posts: 10

Up at 5:30 today, and I knew it would be blowin hard following the cold front last night, so I opted for the relative shelter of the Mattabassett. I launched behind the DD in Cromwell, (watch out for the poison ivy on both sides of the trail to the boat launch/rock pile). Had 3 setups, with wire leaders, a big black spinnerbait, large Storm minnow, Ribbets topwater frog with a double hook. The wind was at my back, and there was no tidal flow noticed, so paddling was easy. (hell to pay coming back though) After 10 minutes I started tossing to likely spots, downed trees, (tons of them) little coves, weedy spots, but no action. Another 15 minutes, and I thought I was wasting my time, but finally got a small 15'' Pike on the spinnerbait from underneath a large fallen tree. OK, slugged some more coffee, and kept going. Another twenty minutes of nothing, and I thought about turning back, when I threw the frog onto some pads in a cove on my left, when a decent Pike smashed it and was lost at the boat. OK, game on. I paddled down to where the river flows from the woodland into the marsh and was greeted by a pair of Bald Eagles, flying low over the water. Sheesh they're big! Nothing on the minnow or spinner, so I switched back to the frog, and on the first cast, got another Pike, 16'' on top of the weeds on my left. (tide was coming up) Kept up with the frog and missed a couple more small Pike, and where the Cognachaug merges in, I picked up a 13'' lmb. in tight up against the reeds. The next five casts I had five hits, boated one small pike and one small bass. High tide definately brought the fish into the weed beds, and they loved chasing the frog. I switched back to the spinnerbait and minnow and tried the channel, but not a hit in 15 minutes, so back to the frog. Picked up 2 more 13" lmb & one small pike in the weeds/reeds, and headed home, back into what must have been a gale force wind. Ugh... Must have taken me 45 minutes to get back in, but I got my cardio workout for the day! Bonus were the eagles, and the fish, although shy, were active enough for me. Next post I'll put up pictures.

Megaman · Joined: 08 Nov 2010 Posts: 85 Location: Central CT

Wow..great report...been there once with the Mighty Phil aka PECO...i got the skunk...phil got a 3lb smally...id love to hit that spot one more time...
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NWDarkcloud · Joined: 23 Apr 2012 Posts: 474

Nice!!!
the spot to launch behind the DD is a carry in only isnt it?
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Nice job, Paul. I love getting northern pike with topwater lures. I got a 22 inch chain pickerel out of some shallow pads with a hollow bodied Spro frog, yesterday, but would love to get an even bigger northern pike.

NWDarkcloud · Joined: 23 Apr 2012 Posts: 474

POOP.....

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I Love to fish......Not a big fan of sitting in the boat alone ....the Conversation and the company make it perfect

angry john · Joined: 30 Jun 2012 Posts: 119

i was hoping to go there as well. i have a yak but was hoping bob could launch there. I been trying to sell the location to him for months!!!!!

pikePERSUADER1 · Joined: 07 Dec 2010 Posts: 521

you can access it from the ct river, but how far you can go really depends on how much water your boat drafts and the current water levels, when the water is high in the spring I can make it a good distance up the river Wink

Paulgottafish · Joined: 20 Aug 2011 Posts: 10

yeah, when I was leaving, a guy was charging up the river in a aluminum hull bass boat, looked like he had about a 90hp outboard. Stopped just short of me, good thing too, he might have swamped my little green pelican...