CTFishTalk.com: Rogers Lake 09/24 - Connecticut Lake Reports ( CT Lake Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

We had the second day of DirtyDawg10's (aka Derek's) Birthday Weekend Fishing Bash on Monday, when Derek took the day off from work and we fished Rogers Lake. We met up in the parking lot at Cabela's, so that we could take only one car down to Old Lyme. While Derek loaded his gear and El Fuego onto my Jeep, I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise:

We got on the water at 7:40 am. I pedaled The Other Woman, while Derek paddled El Fuego:

The air temperature was a chilly 48 degrees, although it rose to a balmy 65 degrees in the afternoon. The water was clear and cold; it went from 62 degrees in the morning to 69 degrees in the afternoon. The weather forecast was for winds well under 10 miles per hour and little to no chance of rain. Of course, it started to rain and a 10+ mile per hour west wind began to blow only 45 minutes after we launched. Rolling Eyes

We headed across the lake from the ramp on the east shore to the west shore, in order to shelter from the wind. However, we couldn't escape the rain:

We started banging the shore with crankbaits and wacky Senkos, but didn't get much action. I decided that trolling would be a lot easier than casting in the cold, wet conditions, so I began trolling a Yellow Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR05 and a Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR07 off of the shore in about eight feet of water. About 1-1/4 hours after we launched, the Yellow Perch JSR05 got me the first fish:

The 17 inch chain pickerel looked a little bit pale to me, but it was nice to finally get a bite. By 9:00 am, the weather improved, although the sky to the north still threatened more rain:

We decided to head up along the shore to the northwest cove. We both trolled lures as we went and Derek's crankbait got him a yellow perch. I stopped at a point to throw a wacky rigged green pumpkin/red flake five inch Senko at a laydown on the shallow shore and it got picked up a short largemouth bass:

While I reset my lures for trolling, Derek got a short largemouth bass out of the same laydown with a wacky Senko of his own. 15 minutes later, my trolled Perch JSR07 got me a more vibrantly colored 18 inch chain pickerel:

As we approached a particularly shallow cove on our way to the northwest cove, I saw a fish splash next to a laydown in the super shallow water on the shore, which was on the other side of a big bed of shallow lily pads. I told Derek that I needed a frog to get to the fish and clipped a Natural Red Spro Bronzeye Jr. hollow bodied frog onto one of my setups that still had a steel leader tied on it. I prefer soft plastic frogs to hollow bodied frogs, but when I reached into my tackle bag, I saw the hollow bodied frog first. In fact, I had caught only one fish with a hollow bodied frog. But it took only one cast for me to get my second:

Whoo hoo!

The 16 inch largemouth bass weighed two pounds, three ounces. I love it when I catch a specific fish that I've targeted with a specific lure. It makes me feel like I might know what I'm doing. Wink

After we reached the big bed of lily pads on the end of the northwest cove, I saw some activity in the water toward the center of the cove. I threw my wacky Senko toward it and found out that it was a short largemouth bass:

As we headed out of the northwest cove along the north shore, Derek boated a few more small largemouth bass. I saw another fish splash next to another laydown in the super shallow water on the shore on the other side of another big bed of lily pads, so I pulled out the Spro frog, again. It took several casts, but a 22 inch chain pickerel exploded out of the pads and crushed the frog:

45 minutes later, my trolled Yellow Perch JSR05 got me another 17 inch chain pickerel:

When we got to the next to last cove on the north shore before the east shore, I told Derek that I had caught a couple of black crappie during my last trip there, so I began calling it Crappie Cove. We both threw wacky Senkos at a swim platform in the cove and both got only panfish nibbles. After a while, I decided that enough was enough and tied on a 1/16 ounce round jighead with a White Pearl 2-1/2 inch Gulp! Minnow. Although it didn't get me any black crappie, it got me a 14 inch chain pickerel, two bluegills and a yellow perch:

We made the turn in the northeast corner of the lake and began heading down the east shore at 1:45 pm:

We decided to get off of the water to take a break and find something to eat, because neither of us had eaten breakfast and we were famished. As we made our way back to the ramp, I trolled a Perch Rapala Shallow Shad Rap SSR07 in the shallow water. As I came over the shallows and into suddenly deeper water, a 16 inch chain pickerel hit the Perch SSR07:

By the time that we got off of the water at 2:15 pm, it had turned into a beautifully sunny day:

I checked Yelp* for a nearby restaurant and we decided to head to the Rustic Café, which is in on Route 1 in East Lyme, just over the border from Old Lyme:

Neither of us had ever been there before. It's a roadside/biker/neighborhood bar that happens to serve terrific food. The bartender, Sarah, took good care of us as we sat at the bar:

After we each had a Pickle Back (go there to find out what it is and definitely try one! Razz

), sweet steamers and juicy prime rib, we discovered that we were trapped in the bar by a road crew that was paving the road in front of the parking lot:

Trapped in a bar that serves terrific food! Shocked

Of all the luck! Laughing

While we waited to be released from the bar by the construction crew, we decided that rather than head back to Rogers Lake to fish the south end of the lake, we'd head over to Uncas Pond to check it out. After all, there were a few hours of sunlight left in the day. Cool

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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

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

another AWESOME report....great PICS...great job PHIL....
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Success Favors the Brave..........

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

It was another great time fishing! I started off the day throwing my new lure that Phil got me for my B-Day. It turns out they named it after me...

Well at least the sexy part anyway Laughing

I wasn't getting any action with the topwater though. So I switched it up and started throwing a crankbait. I got a nice yellow perch

I ended up catching five LMB in all. Caught one on a crankbait and the rest were on a 5" wacky senko. The largest were only an 11.5" and a 12".

The last fish I caught was this 15" pickerel that I got trolling a deeper diving bomber crank that ran around 6 to 7ft

Getting trapped in the bar with great food, drinks and company was just what I needed to recover from a long day of slow fishing. It also gave me the second wind I needed for the doubleheader fishing we did.

Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

Awesome job guys!

Any weight to that 22" pickerel Phil?

That place is my type of fishing, cause I love that aggression of chain pickerel!

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

Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

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

Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

That first pic of Derek def shows where the bass and pickerel are hanging out!

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

Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

sbehuniak09 · Joined: 10 Jul 2012 Posts: 229 Location: Seymour, CT

Everything looks like a great day guys!
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The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad. ~A.K. Best