CTFishTalk.com: Hamburg Cove 4/7 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

BassRican · Joined: 21 Mar 2011 Posts: 116 Location: Meriden

Well spring is finally here, well not today. My dad and I finally got a chance to get onto the Cove and the weather was not cooperating. We put the S.S. BassRican onto the water at 9:30 am at dead high tide. Nice calm water, but bitter cold wind. Another boat was launching just before us and said that he was into white perch last weekend, so all of a sudden my hope got higher.

We trolled on over toward the yacht club with no success. I was tossing a chartreuse 2 inch curly tail grub, then switched to a 2.5 in Gulp minnow. My dad was using trout worms under a float. We trolled around fighting the wind and finally caught a few fish around the enterance to the channel to the outer cove. All the kayakers surrounded us like flies on **it! The strange thing about the bite was that they were spaced apart. Usually when white perch bite, there are more where that came from. Not today. Funny thing was that we were the only ones catching fish (not many).

We then decided to fight the elements and venture on through the channel and into the outer cove. I was trolling the minnow bait as we slowly freezed our asses off. No bites in the channel, but then I got a BIG hit when we reached the open water. While fighting the fish, fighting the wind, and trying to fix my drag, I lost the fish right next to the boat. From the fight and the glimps I got, I was pretty sure it was a schoolie. I cast right back out and quickly retrieved the bait and BAM!! Caught my first Hamburg Cove schoolie.

I quickly measured it at 18 inches. Nice fight on light tackle and lots of current. I continued to troll the Gulp and ended up catching 3 more schoolies.

No more yellow or white perch bites anywhere! We decided to head back in: no more bites, bitter cold, and almost dead battery. Fish total was 1 white and 1 yellow perch for my dad. I got 1 white perch, 3 yellow perch, 4 schoolies. The perch were pretty chunky, but they were not around today.

I spoke to the guys that launched the same time we did, they didn't do as well as we did. They were surprised by our perch catches. Another kayaker said that he was catching them at the Cove in December! The white perch were in earlier this year.

I probably won't get out again for the white perch at the Cove, but I can't wait to try the stripers again!!
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When in doubt, rip their lips out!

iversonbaby · Joined: 22 May 2012 Posts: 100

nice stripes! that wind was brutal today no doubt

JesseC · Joined: 26 Jan 2013 Posts: 128 Location: Cromwell

nice fish! i was out there a couple weeks ago but didnt have too much luck, i'll have to hit it again soon for sure.

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

Finally! A Hamburg Cove report! Thanks, Carlos,

Did your dad try dropping any of his worms to the bottom? White perch are like schoolie striped bass; they tend to feed off of the bottom.
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BassRican · Joined: 21 Mar 2011 Posts: 116 Location: Meriden

Hey Phil, my dad had one rod with a float and another on the bottom. All his bites were on the float. I don't think I was on the bottom too much. It was so windy that it was hard to tell. I think there is not much time left for the white perch. The schoolies were alot of fun though!
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When in doubt, rip their lips out!

snap fisher777 · Joined: 18 Sep 2011 Posts: 238

Are there any spots that you can catch those stripers on the shore. What Kind of bait and hook size did you use?

BassRican · Joined: 21 Mar 2011 Posts: 116 Location: Meriden

Snap fisher - Hamburg Cove has VERY little shore access. It is surrounded by private property and the only place to launch a car top boat or kayak is right next to the Hamburn Cove Yacht Club. There is a small bridge next to it that I imagine you can fish from. It is tidal waters, so during low tide the water there is skinny. I was using 2.5 inch Gulp minnows on a 1/8 oz jig head. I was surprised the schoolies did not bend the hook on the jig. The were panfish jig heads.
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When in doubt, rip their lips out!