CTFishTalk.com: Connecticut River - Haddam Meadows 11/26 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

The weather forecast was for a cold and blustery day, but I hadn't been able to fish at all during the long Thanksgiving weekend, so I decided to give it a shot. I knew that only a hardcore fisherman would be willing to freeze along with me, so I gave TurtleKiss (aka Kira) a call. We decided to fish the Connecticut River from Haddam Meadows. I picked up Kira and her sparkly tackle, and we headed down to Haddam. We ended up being on the water from 11:30 am to 5:00 pm. We launched The Other Woman, Too onto the wind whipped water at the ramp:

When we launched, the air temperature was in the 40s, the sun was shining and the west wind was blowing from 10 to 15 miles per hour. High tide had been at 10:17 am and low tide would be at 5:10 pm, so we fished the outgoing tide all day. The water temperature was 38 degrees. We headed downriver directly to the shelter of the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant Canal. When we arrived, we saw another boat with three guys in it, in front of the big laydowns just inside the mouth of the canal. They were throwing pike shiners under bobbers. Only one of the guys appeared to be a fisherman. The other two seemed to be buddies who were just tagging along. They weren't having much luck. Apparently, one of the buddies didn't get the memo and brought a banana along for a snack. Rolling Eyes

As we passed between them and the laydowns, we got tangled up in one of their lines. While the fisherman had reeled in a couple of their bobbers when he saw us approaching, his buddies just stood there and left another one out. My frozen eyeballs still weren't focusing very well and I didn't see it. Oops! Embarassed

Sorry, guys. After we untangled ourselves, Kira and I headed up to the cove at the end of the canal. Our plan was to eventually drift back down the canal with the tide. While Kira threw a quickly changing array of lures, I alternated between just a Stock Trout 5/8 ounce River2Sea Bottom Walker Shad and a Pearl Silver 2-1/2 inch Gulp! Minnow on a 1/16 ounce round jighead. I think it really irritated her that I boated the first fish of the day with the minnow jig. And it also made her jealous, because the fish was a largemouth bass:

It was just an 11 inch short, but Whoo Hoo! Very Happy

I switched over to the Bottom Walker Shad in an attempt to get a northern pike or bowfin, but soon lost the tail of the lure to something I never saw:

After that, I pretty much stuck with the minnow jig for the rest of the day. I had a really, really crappie day Laughing

:

Although Kira wasn't impressed with my second black crappie, she thought it was pretty enough to take an artsy photo of it:

I caught another decent crappie:

And then Kira matched my 11 inch largemouth bass with one of her own:

As we continued down the canal, my crappie parade continued:

But I also got a yellow perch:

And then I caught more crappie:

And another dinky yellow perch:

I had a bit of excitement after I began throwing a Blue Gill Lucky Craft LVR D-10 lipless crankbait near the mouth of the canal. I told Kira I had a theory that northern pike would be hanging out near the mouth of the canal during the outgoing tide. She was skeptical, but I got a hit on a long cast as I reeled in my lipless crankbait. After I hooked it, the fish took off and swam past the boat, just like a northern pike making a big run would do. The problem was that my rod never loaded up with the weight of a pike. When I got the fish to the surface, I saw it was just a big crappie that I had snag hooked in the membrane between the first and second spines of its dorsal fin:

I boated the crappie after the sun had fallen below the treeline to the west. You can see the glow of the setting sun behind me in the photo that Kira took. After several more casts, I told her that it was time for the last cast. After I retrieved my lipless crankbait, I started to hook it onto my rod's hook keeper as Kira whined, "Oh, come on, you need to make one more last cast. . . Oh! I got a hit!" Of course, on the last cast with a white spinnerbait, she hooked into a decent northern pike! Rolling Eyes

I asked her whether she wanted to fight it for a while, but she yelled, "Get it in the net!" It was 29 inches long and weighed five pounds:

Although Kira got only two fish into the boat all day, I have to say that the back of my boat seems to work just fine. In fact, I just might test that out myself, someday. . . . Wink

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

Nice pike Kira! Good job on the calicoes Phil!

rmflint · Joined: 16 Mar 2012 Posts: 360 Location: Wallingford

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

BigEd · Joined: 22 Feb 2012 Posts: 103 Location: Monroe

Looks like some nice size crappie there! How deep were they hitting at? Finishing up the day with a pike isn't so bad either.
I gotta say, I'm kinda jealous of you guys who are fishing the CTR. Looks like a lot of good fishing was done there this season.

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

Wanna Fish · Joined: 30 Jan 2012 Posts: 662 Location: Earth I Think

The Housy gets fished quite often. Just the majority of members here are from up your way. Those fishing the Housy are members of CT Fisherman. For me the Housy is a 20 minute walk.
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Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

I occasionally get out onto the Housy at certain spots from the Monroe side of Stevenson down to the Audubon. Most places are a hit or miss compared to some of the more productive coves on the CTR.

TurtleKiss · Joined: 09 Mar 2010 Posts: 1200 Location: central CT

Caught my pike on a white Midnight Special (I like the rattle) with a gold blade. I just can't tie on crappie gear when I know there's bigger fish in there. Watching Phil catch them is probably more satisfying anyway. In case you were wondering what "sparkly tackle" means:

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Kira

*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~*

Redneckangler · Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT

icefishingnewbie · Joined: 18 Dec 2011 Posts: 275 Location: Haddam, CT

Peco i live ten minutes away from haddam meadows i live in haddam actually/

BigEd · Joined: 22 Feb 2012 Posts: 103 Location: Monroe

Phil if I fish the Housy its usually for salt water species near Stratford, though I'd like to learn the area near Derby a little better. I don't think the action is nearly as hot compared to the CTR.

Kira, cool "Gypsy-Stik"

Wanna Fish · Joined: 30 Jan 2012 Posts: 662 Location: Earth I Think

The Housy Tidal Water Derby to Stratford

The Derby area has and still does produce quite an array of fish, I've see Stripers, Sea Run Browns, Salmon, Large/Small Mouth Bass, Trout, Mud Puppies, Perch, Cat Fish and Carp puled from the Strattford/Derby area. Last year a 35LB+ Striper was taken in Derby/Shelton. I've heard of a few blue fish runs chasing bunker although I've never seen it myself.

I believe a few Walleye have been taken but I believe that was when DEEP was attempting to stock the Housy above the dam. I've never seen a Pike taken there but that's not to say one hasn't.

I've fished both the CT and Housy equal number of times. Both are completely different styles of fishing yet both are equally challenging to navigate if your new or unfamiliar with the rivers. The paths taken at high tide may not be the same at low.

The CT by far out distances the Housy. The upper Housy doesn't have No Wake Zones in such close proximity as the CT. Traffic on the Housy is a heck of a lot less than the Ct. Most likely due to very few launch sites and parking at the few it does have.
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Crest Daddy · Joined: 20 Jan 2011 Posts: 994

I've seen pics of pike from in there and heard stories of sturgeons too...
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Wanna Fish · Joined: 30 Jan 2012 Posts: 662 Location: Earth I Think

Housatonic River 2011 Spring Melt Derby Dam

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Don't hold your farts in! They travel up your spine to your brain and thats where shitty ideas come from.