Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 6:01 pm Post subject: Connecticut River - Haddam Meadows 11/27
The weather forecast was for a cold and snowy, but calm day, so TurtleKiss (aka Kira) and I decided to try and catch some Abominable Snow Fish. We fished the Connecticut River from Haddam Meadows for a second day in a row. When we arrived at Haddam Meadows, we wondered what had happened to our delightfully snowy day. What we found, instead, was a miserably soggy day, filled with rain and sleet. However, we decided to tough it out and fish, anyway. We were on the water from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. We launched The Other Woman, Too onto the calm water at the ramp:
When we launched, the air temperature was in the 30s, the sky was completely overcast and there was very little wind. High tide was approaching at 10:53 am and low tide would be at 5:42 pm, so we mostly fished the outgoing tide. The water temperature was 37 degrees. Yeap, you ice fishing weirdos, only five more degrees to go! We headed downriver directly to the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant Canal. I gotta say, sleet hurts when it hits you in the face at 34 miles per hour! It was a relief when we were finally safely in the canal:
Our plan was the same as the day before; we'd fish from the cove at the end of the canal and work back down the canal as the water fell with the tide. When we got to the cove, the sleet turned into snow, at least for a little while :
While Kira, once again, experimented with a quickly changing array of lures (I think that she's run out of ADD meds ), I threw only a Blue Gill Lucky Craft LVR D-10 lipless crankbait, a Silver Pearl 2-1/2 inch Gulp! Minnow on a 1/16 ounce jighead and a white 5 inch slow sinking Sebile Magic Swimmer. "Someday" had arrived, so I let Kira take the front deck and pilot the boat with the trolling motor while I tried out the back deck. The bite was much, much slower than it had been the day before. We didn't get anything at all during the morning. I finally boated the first fish at 12:15 pm:
I gotta say that nothing warms up a miserably cold, soggy day like catching a fish. Whoo hoo! I caught two more black crappie within the next 30 minutes:
And, for variety, I mixed in a dinky yellow perch:
When we reached the mouth of the canal, I began throwing the Sebile Magic Swimmer over the shallows next to the narrow channel. The lure swims like a wounded fish near the surface and you can see it from a distance because it's white. I saw the open mouth of a fish rise up out of the water behind it and whiff. When I yelled to Kira, "Did you see that?!?!", I slowed my retrieve and the fish caught up to it. Whoo hoo! I assumed that it was a northern pike but, for the second day in a row, I was disappointed to find that it wasn't a pike but, this time, a chain pickerel:
Kira was even less impressed than I. While I estimated it to be 20 inches long, she said, "That thing? 18 inches, tops." So, I threw it on the Hawg Trough. It was just over 19 inches long. And, no, Kira, we weren't on The Price Is Right, so I was closer. After we drifted into the main channel of the Connecticut River, we headed halfway back up the canal to try again. I knew that there was noooo way I was going to get my soggy, frozen butt off of the river until Kira caught a fish. Thankfully, she found one with a white spinnerbait:
It was just a 12 inch keeper largemouth bass, but, yeap, I have to admit that it was her target species. We drifted back down to the mouth of the canal and headed off of the water in the still falling sleet. If you don't know what miserable, wet and cold looks like, here it is:
I'm not sure when I'll get out on the water, again, but it'll probably be on a dry, calm day. Cold I can handle. Cold and wet, cold and blustery, or cold, wet and blustery, I can't. Sorry, ice fishing weirdos, but I'm rooting against you. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:05 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 7:25 pm Post subject:
My fishing is pretty much limited to the weekends now, but PM me if you're headed back out that way again. Last year I fished it right up through New Years before the ice pushed me off for a while. I don't care 'bout no stinkin' cold! If there's no ice, I'll fish. _________________ RNA - It's in my blood.
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Weekly reports from around CT, the LIS and beyond.
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 8:17 pm Post subject:
Redneckangler wrote:
My fishing is pretty much limited to the weekends now, but PM me if you're headed back out that way again. Last year I fished it right up through New Years before the ice pushed me off for a while. I don't care 'bout no stinkin' cold! If there's no ice, I'll fish.
Will do, Brian. While I can handle just the cold, I can't handle it with the wind and the wet. I'll be checking out better foul weather gear, for sure. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:45 pm Post subject:
PECo wrote:
Redneckangler wrote:
My fishing is pretty much limited to the weekends now, but PM me if you're headed back out that way again. Last year I fished it right up through New Years before the ice pushed me off for a while. I don't care 'bout no stinkin' cold! If there's no ice, I'll fish.
Will do, Brian. While I can handle just the cold, I can't handle it with the wind and the wet. I'll be checking out better foul weather gear, for sure.
I'm with you on the chill part of it Phil.
I venture out on my bike in the cold and fish while the water is still open, but don't bother when the wind makes it colder and when there's a cold rain or wet snow.
I'd recommend looking into a nice LL Bean jacket. I have an older one that I wear which keeps me nice and warm. Sometimes warm enough to have to take it off.
Joined: 29 Mar 2011 Posts: 413 Location: Manchester
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:27 pm Post subject:
wow, that is definitely some passionate fishing on a snowy rainy day!! What I want to know is are there any large perch in Ct? Do perch grow to be somewhat "large?" Even perch I catch are only6,7,8 inches long... you'd think in the river there'd be some bigger perch. Nice day, even in such a crappy day you made it out and caught fish.
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 11:07 pm Post subject:
chud059 wrote:
wow, that is definitely some passionate fishing on a snowy rainy day!! What I want to know is are there any large perch in Ct? Do perch grow to be somewhat "large?" Even perch I catch are only6,7,8 inches long... you'd think in the river there'd be some bigger perch. Nice day, even in such a crappy day you made it out and caught fish.
The most consistently big yellow perch that I've seen were in Hamburg Cove. I've had days with a dozen or more up to 14 inches long. Most were really fat, too. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:21 am Post subject:
NorthEastFisherman wrote:
You should name your hobie The Older Woman.
It's funny you thought that, in a coincidental way. NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) suggested that I name my G3 "The Older Woman", because my Hobie is a 2010 (you shouldn't rename boats, by the way ) and my G3 is a 2006. I wavered between "Another Woman" and "The Other Woman, Too", before choosing "The Other Woman, Too". _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 7:04 pm Post subject: CT River
Hey Phil, nice report. You are really getting good mileage on your new boat this fall. Way too nasty weather to fish in for me, but this Sunday it's supposed to hit near 50...so maybe one more trip out this year. Give me a shout if you need a partner.
Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 10:17 pm Post subject:
chud059 wrote:
wow, that is definitely some passionate fishing on a snowy rainy day!! What I want to know is are there any large perch in Ct? Do perch grow to be somewhat "large?" Even perch I catch are only6,7,8 inches long... you'd think in the river there'd be some bigger perch. Nice day, even in such a crappy day you made it out and caught fish.
Candlewood, Squantz, and Saugy Res are 3 places I know of that produce the "humpbacks" up to 14".
Joined: 09 Mar 2010 Posts: 1200 Location: central CT
Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:21 pm Post subject:
We would have been OK if our "waterproof" gear didn't fail miserably. Phil just needs to invest in some stylish rock bass-patterned motorcycle helmets for those painful runs up and down the river. I'm glad my ice fishing pants decided to stop being effective while I was on a boat instead of on the ice...and I'm also glad I was wearing 2 additional pairs of pants. It really was a beautiful day though...nothing compares to Phil's enthusiasm when he catches, well...anything.
I attempted a one-handed cast and ended up launching one of my sparkly rhinestone-encrusted rods in the water. Got it back though.
Would fish in these conditions again without hesitation. I'm also rooting against you ice fishing weirdos. Thanks again Phil!
_________________ Kira
*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~*
Joined: 30 Jan 2012 Posts: 662 Location: Earth I Think
Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 1:53 pm Post subject:
Paintball goggles also work wonders. Better than helmets. Protects yur face from the wind and super light.
Love that video Kira. I want a hat like yours! LOL _________________ Don't hold your farts in! They travel up your spine to your brain and thats where shitty ideas come from.
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However, we decided to tough it out and fish, anyway. We were on the water from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. We launched The Other Woman, Too onto the calm water at the ramp:
We headed downriver directly to the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant Canal. I gotta say, sleet 
It was a relief when we were finally safely in the canal:
:
After we drifted into the main channel of the Connecticut River, we headed halfway back up the canal to try again. I knew that there was 
Thankfully, she found one with a white spinnerbait:
) and my G3 is a 2006. I wavered between "Another Woman" and "The Other Woman, Too", before choosing "The Other Woman, Too".
