Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 9:34 pm Post subject: Connecticut River - Salmon River 03/09
When mep21 (aka Mark) said that he wanted to check out the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant Canal in the afternoon on Saturday in his kayak, DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek) and I decided to tag along in The Other Woman, Too. The forecast was for air temperatures in the upper 40s and sunny skies, but also a brisk 12 mile per hour north wind. High tide was at 9:54 am and low tide at 4:47 pm. I didn't want to trailer my boat on sloppy roads, but they dried out pretty quickly from the snow and rain that we had on Friday. While Mark planned to launch from the Salmon River Boat Launch, Derek and I planned to launch from the Haddam Meadows Boat Launch. We figured that we could take a quick look at the canal before cruising down to meet Mark and possibly save him the 3/4 mile paddle if it were still frozen. On our way to Haddam Meadows, Mark called to tell us that the parking lot at the Salmon River was still unplowed, although a plow truck had just arrived and started plowing it. He told us that he'd drive up to meet us at Haddam Meadows and just beat us there. However, not only was Haddam Meadows unplowed, but the road to the boat launch was blocked by a locked gate. So we headed back to the Salmon River Boat Launch. It turned out that the guy driving the plow truck was a local boater/fisherman who's a regular at Salmon River and whom I know as the Ranger TR177 Guy. He had plowed a lane down to the ramp and a couple of parking spaces for trailers. Thanks Ranger TR177 Guy! Derek and I launched in The Other Woman, Too at 12:20 pm, and Mark followed about 10 minutes later. When Derek and I arrived at the canal, we found that it was mostly open:
We started fishing at the mouth of the canal and worked our way into it. We didn't mark any fish with the finder and didn't see any, despite four feet of visibility in the water. When we got past the big laydowns, I began to wonder where Mark was, so we headed back toward the mouth of the canal to look for him. 30 minutes after we got to the canal, just as I began to worry a little bit, Mark finally paddled up. I guess that the first paddle of the year against the current and the wind was a little bit tough on him :
After Mark arrived Derek and I decided to see how far up the canal we could go. Just after the big laydowns, we ran into a thin layer of slush on the water, which soon thickened into a white carpet:
The slush was like what's left in the cup after you suck all of the liquid out of a Slurpee with a straw:
About halfway up the canal, the slush got so thick that we had to turn around:
We headed back to fish the open water by the big laydowns and the mouth of the canal. I threw my striper jig, a minnow jig and a marabou jig, and Derek threw a crankbait and a wacky rigged five inch Senko. Although we enjoyed calm air, full sun and air temperatures in the low 50s, we never got any action and never marked any fish with the finder. Mark thought that he saw some fish on his finder in four to five feet of water, but he never got any action, either. At the mouth of the canal, we played some catch with a football that Mark retrieved from the water:
At about 2:40 pm, we decided to head back downriver and check out Salmon River Cove. We worked our way slowly to the cove, but Derek and I soon left Mark behind us. Derek had never been in the Salmon River, before, so we headed there, despite the super shallow water at the north end of the cove, over by Machimoodus State Park. When we got to the mouth of the river, we found small floes of ice, slush and debris floating out of it:
We went about 1/4 mile up the river, throwing big swimbaits along the way, but never got any action. At about 4:15 pm, Mark called to tell us that he was heading off of the water, so we headed back to the ramp. As we left the river and entered the shallow water in the cove, we hit a rock with the motor, but didn't really think anything of it. In fact, we sped up after we exited the serpentine channel in the cove and chased a bunch of swans off of the water. However, after we got The Other Woman, Too out of the water and onto the trailer, this is what we found:
Ouch! I guess that now I get to learn how to change a propeller. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
I to also enjoy your photo journals. They make the story so much more enjoyable. Sorry to hear about the prop, me and Bob did a job on his boat, and motor, on a trip there. That cove can be very unfriendly, and if i had a boat i would use the trawling motor to cross it, even if it took a lot longer. The river on the other side is so nice, which draws me over there.
Ouch, Phil!! Well that's the trials and tribulations of boat ownership I guess. The first tourny we did with our bass boat was in NH at a place called Lake Waukeewan. Beautiful place, but loaed with huge rocks etc. Most of which were not marked properly, amazingly, bieng boat newbies, we didn't hit a damn thing, but 2 other guys from our club did Good luck bro' be seeing you soon on the water.
Joined: 01 Mar 2011 Posts: 65 Location: West Hartford, CT
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:18 pm Post subject:
What a great weekend to be out on the water! I didn't have high expectations for the day and was just happy to be out paddling for the first time in months. Even ended up with some sunburn.
I did mark a few fish on my way back from the canal to the launch as I was moving through the main channel of the CT. Hopefully this is just the start of more nice weather to follow and the river will start producing more. For now, I'll take what I can get, even if its one nice leather football and zero fish
Joined: 04 Feb 2012 Posts: 295 Location: Berlin/Kensington
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:03 pm Post subject:
Thanks a bunch for this report. I have been itching to get out there. I will give it a bit more time i guess. _________________ i'm a castaway with no fishing pole, and the fishing hole is just a cast away
Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:24 pm Post subject:
It was a beautiful day do be out there but it probably needs another week or so at least. I was joking around with Phil when we were leaving his house that we should bring my ice auger. As it turned out we probably could have used it in a few spots. Here's one of Phil fishing the slush. The line did cut through the thin slush.
The thicker stuff was more like this...lol...
As Phil said, we didn't catch anything and only marked a couple of random fish but it was beautiful...
the quality of the photo's are tops. I guess I should leap out of the stone age and get a decent phone. Most likely not I will get a camera. The new waterproof camera's look like they should be good for fishing... That worm on the ice it good times.
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:22 pm Post subject:
angry john wrote:
the quality of the photo's are tops. I guess I should leap out of the stone age and get a decent phone. Most likely not I will get a camera. The new waterproof camera's look like they should be good for fishing... That worm on the ice it good times.
Just get a cell phone with a good camera. It's one less thing to carry. You wouldn't need a video camera, either:
Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT
Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:37 pm Post subject:
Andrew at the FF3 reports the pike bite is on! _________________ RNA - It's in my blood.
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:21 pm Post subject: River
Nice report Phil, good to see fish but I hate to see all the ice and slush. Tough break about your prop, must have been a pretty hard hit.
Sh!t happens...but you know what boat stands for right?
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Derek and I launched in The Other Woman, Too at 12:20 pm, and Mark followed about 10 minutes later. When Derek and I arrived at the canal, we found that it was mostly open:
:
However, after we got The Other Woman, Too out of the water and onto the trailer, this is what we found:
I guess that now I get to learn how to change a propeller. 
Good luck bro' be seeing you soon on the water.
