CTFishTalk.com: Housatonic River - Derby/Shelton 01/08 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

I had a very edjamacashunal day, today, that started last weekend. Wink

While driving home to Avon from Manhattan on Sunday, I drove up Route 8 through Shelton and Derby. When I passed over the Housatonic River on the Commodore Isaac Hull Bridge, I saw beautifully ice free, open water in the river. Very Happy

After thoroughly enjoying an hour of ice fishing on Monday Rolling Eyes

, I decided to do some open water fishing on the Housy from Derby on Tuesday. I hitched The Other Woman, Too to my Jeep and picked up NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) at his house in Farmington.

Lesson 1
When I entered the address for O'Sullivan's Island Recreation Park and the Derby Greenway into the Jeep's navigation system (aka Nav B*!@#), it directed us to head south on Route 9, southeast on Route 15 (aka the Wilbur Cross Parkway) and then east on Route 34. While we were heading down Route 15, we were in the right lane when I spotted a state trooper in the left lane waaaay behind us in my rear view mirror. As cars flew past us in the left lane, I saw the trooper's lights come on and thought, "I wonder which one of those speeders he's going to pull over." When he reached us, however, he suddenly slowed and swerved behind us in the right lane. Shocked

I pulled over onto the shoulder and the trooper stopped behind us. As I pulled my paperwork out of my glove compartment and wondered why he had pulled us over, he knocked on the passenger side window. After Bob managed to open the window, the trooper leaned over and said, "Trailers aren't allowed on the parkway. Get off at the next exit and make your way over to Route 91." Shocked

It never occurred to me that non-commercial boat trailers aren't allowed to be towed on Route 15. Embarassed

Damn you, Nav B*!@# Evil or Very Mad

It took us more than twice as long to make our way to Derby on the local roads as it would have on the remaining 11 miles we had to go on Route 15, but we made it to the ramp:

There was only one other boat trailer in the parking lot. I joked with Bob that we should find the boat and anchor right next to it, without even looking at the other boaters. Laughing

It was a beautifully sunny, 40 degree day:

We launched into the river at 9:30 am. High tide in Shelton (across the river) was at 9:02 am, but the ramp was still very shallow. Since Bob had never been on the lower Housy, we motored up to O'Sullivan's Island and the dam, so that he could see them:

On the way up to the dam, although we marked several isolated fish on the bottom with the fish finder, we didn't mark any schools. We decided to rig up in a calm eddy before motoring back down the river to look for schoolie stripers. While Bob rigged a couple of setups, I threw a Silver Shad Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR07 toward the banks. I got nothing, but saw that we had five to six feet of visibility down into the water. After Bob was finally rigged up, we fired up the big motor. We marked very few fish as we headed past the ramp and down the river. I told Bob I saw a cove on the downriver side of Two Mile Island on Google Maps that might hold fish. As we slowly passed the island, we suddenly marked a huge school of fish on the bottom in 25 feet of water, so we stopped and dropped the trolling motor. By this time, a steady 10 mile per hour wind had risen out of the south-southwest. Although the wind gave the cold some teeth, it helped to hold our position in the river against the current of the outgoing tide. I tried throwing a Silver Pearl three inch Berkley Gulp! Minnow on a 1/16 ounce jighead, but wasn't able to get it down to the bottom against the current, even after I upsized the jighead to 1/8 ounce, which was the biggest I had with me. I also tried dragging a big silver one ounce hair jig along the bottom, but got no hits. I had some White Pearl seven inch Zoom Mag Super flukes, but my 1/8 ounce jighead was way too small for it. Rolling Eyes

Yeap, I tried throwing it a couple of times, but it didn't work at all. Of course, even though I have some Lunker City Sluggos, I had left them somewhere in my garage. Embarassed

While we were attempting to get lures down to the schools we saw on the fish finder, another boat with a couple of fishermen in it motored upriver past us. They must have seen the same schools on their fish finder, because they cut their motor right after they passed us. They were throwing white, four to five inch jigs and one of the fishermen pulled up a couple of schoolies. Soon after the first other boat showed up, we were joined by several others:

Although we saw fishermen in other boats occasionally pull up a schoolie, Bob and I were having absolutely no luck getting them to bite. I finally told Bob that I wanted to head into the cove on the downriver side of the island to get out of the current, so that I might be able to get my little minnow jig to the bottom. When we rounded the island and entered the cove, we found several more boats in it. There was ice on the north end of the cove and fishermen on two boats that were anchored next to it were pulling up schoolies from just off the edge of the ice. There was even a shore fisherman on the west bank of the cove. We anchored on the west side of the cove, a little bit alee of the wind. We saw fishermen on a few boats pulling up schoolies with white four to five inch flukes on, apparently, heavier jig heads than I had with me. Confused

Although we saw an occasional school on the fish finder, we still couldn't get the fish to bite anything we had with us.

Lesson 2
In the calmer water of the cove, I finally tried dropping my little minnow jig vertically when we saw a school of fish on the fish finder, so that I could be sure I had it on the bottom. As I jigged it off of the bottom, I got a light hit, but pulled it out of the fish's mouth. Rolling Eyes

However, I soon got another hit and, this time, set the hook:

Whoo hoo!

It was 1:15 pm, and I finally got the skunk off of the boat. I began fishing my minnow jig the same way I do for schooling anadromous white perch in the Spring. I'd let it fall to the bottom and use a steady, twitching retrieve. However, although I fish for white perch in Hamburg Cove in three to 12 feet of water, we were fishing for schoolie stripers in 25 to 35 feet of water. Confused

Yeap, it was tough fishing with such a light lure so deep, but it worked:

After I boated the third schoolie, Bob finally decided to ask for help from two fishermen on a nearby boat who were pulling up schoolie after schoolie after schoolie:

Hey, Mike and Wayne! Very Happy

They told us that we should drag five inch white flukes on 3/8 ounce jigheads along the bottom with a stready, twitching retrieve. They also recommended using a 10 pound test fluoro leader on 20 pound braided line. Bob rigged up the biggest round jighead he had, a 1/4 ouncer, I think, with one of my White Pearl three inch Berkley Gulp! Minnows. It wasn't long before he finally beat his skunk into submission:

After Bob got his first schoolie, the bite was on:

Although we didn't get literally hundreds of schoolies like Mike and Wayne Shocked

, we got enough to keep us happy. We even had a double:

We ended up boating a total of 16 during the 2-1/2 hours when we finally started catching them:

We each also got a "just one more", after I called it just after 3:00 pm:

Lesson 3
We headed back up the river as the sun got lower over the trees to the west and the river fell into shadows. When we got close to the ramp, I couldn't even see where it was. While the ramp had been shallow when we launched at 9:30 am, it had turned into a rocky, dry Martian landscape when we tried to put out at 4:00 pm. Low tide was at 4:43 pm, and the water had fallen six feet from when we had launched. Shocked

I didn't get any photos, because as we approached the ramp, I dinged my motor's skeg and prop on some rocks, even though I had it trimmed up as far as I could. I quickly decided that there was no way to put out at the ramp, so I drifted the boat around and put up on the silty bank just downriver from the ramp. Luckily, Bob had asked Mike and Wayne where they had launched downriver from Two Mile Island, and they had told us about the Sunnyside Boat Launch Facility in Shelton:

I jumped out to drive the Jeep and trailer down to the ramp at Sunnyside, while Bob piloted The Other Woman, Too back down the river. We ended up putting out of the river at 4:15 pm. Both of us are already looking forward to getting back out there to fish for more schoolies, although with the proper lures, next time. Cool

Lesson 4
After I dropped Bob off at his house and drove home, I unhitched the trailer and pushed it into my garage. The Other Woman, Too is a G3 Boat and G3 uses Bear trailers with removable tongues that attach with a locking pin. When I went to remove the tongue, I found the lock that holds the pin was gone. Shocked

Apparently, it had fallen off somewhere, so the pin was held in place by just friction. I was extremely lucky that it hadn't shaken out and the trailer hadn't detached from the tongue while I was on the road. Rolling Eyes

Now, does anyone know where I can get a new lock for the pin? I need to get back out onto the open water! Wink

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

Good story. The Merrit Parkway is a bitch with GPS and trailers. I have to take the long way around any time we fish your way. That river dropping 6' is unusual but understandable. Most of the locals know when to launch and leave. You can't use normal tide charts unless you know the area.

The DEEP will slap the daylights outa ya If they see ya boating that close to the dam.

The Sunnyside launch is good but the town will slap the daylights outa ya if you don't have a parking permit.

Nice pictures. Glad ya caught some fish. A 45lb'er was taken there from shore last year just before Mothers day.

I'll be picking up a boat shortly. Hopefully our paths will cross. Always looking forward to meeting new fisherman.
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Elixir · Joined: 30 May 2011 Posts: 288 Location: Danbury, CT

Great report as always PECo.
Glad you and NWD finally got into some schoolies.
I hope you get "The Other Women" back out soon!
I enjoy reading your reports Very Happy

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"Au... Ger...! You know me. Chillin on the ice with my jigga's!"

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

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

My work schedule has been crazy lately. A friend was at the no boat sign and caught a $270 ticket last year!

As soon as I get another boat we can hook up. I'm looking at a couple used boats at the moment but will finance new if need be before spring. Set to retire soon and trying to get my hobbies in order. You won't have to worry about the Merrit Pkwy. Funny thing is, living in the area I see way to many Tractor Trailers follow their GPS onto the Pkwy and hit the tunnel!

That river can be really tricky if you don't know it. Way to many times I see boats stuck at the mouth of the Naugy. Usually striper fisherman that are unfamiliar with the area but hear the stories of the whoppers that get pulled from there every year.
_________________
Don't hold your farts in! They travel up your spine to your brain and thats where shitty ideas come from.

hila2006 · Joined: 22 Jul 2011 Posts: 582 Location: Ellington

Excellent job out there guys, I gotta get me some schoolies to. It looks a little cold, but a hell of a lot of fun.

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

Great report Phil.

Your best bet on how to get to the ramp is 84 to Route 8. Anything large, wide, or heavy, except for construction and emergency, isn't allowed on the Merritt and Wilbur Cross. A small canoe or kayak on the roof is OK but larger boat and trailer isn't.

Crest Daddy · Joined: 20 Jan 2011 Posts: 994

this is why i told somebody else on this forum that the DERBY RAMP SUCKS. Go to sunnyside.
Believe it now?
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

bass tracker · Joined: 17 May 2012 Posts: 84

Nice report Phil, too bad about all the "lessons" though. Did you get tagged with a ticket on the parkway? Hope not. Your trailer has a removable tongue and not a foldaway? I did not know they made them that way.
Well at least you are still catching fish, I'm on my third issue of BASS magazine wishing I still was. Way too cold for me out there, April can't come soon enough!

BT

NWDarkcloud · Joined: 23 Apr 2012 Posts: 474

Hike up your skirts ladys its cold but not so bad that you cant enjoy a couple hours anyway ...the statey that stopped us was real cool about it just directed us to get off next exit and sent us on our way without any extra B.S to deal with
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Redneckangler · Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT

Great report PECo. Haven't fished since before Christmas. Getting twitchy! Don't know what the fisherman's equivilant to methadone is??????
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Crest Daddy · Joined: 20 Jan 2011 Posts: 994