CTFishTalk.com: Batterson Park Pond 04/21 - Connecticut Lake Reports ( CT Lake Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

I didn't write a report about it, but the last time I went fishing was on 04/08 with NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) in the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant Canal. We caught some fish, but the day was notable for the ones we hooked and lost, and never saw. We each hooked and lost several, including a couple of BIG ones, but lost them before we could pull them up and out of the murk. I'm pretty sure my best fish was a bowfin that spit the hook after it swam underneath the boat. Mad

Anyway, since then I've been in Manhattan and Florida, and hadn't wet a line. But when I got home last night, TurtleKiss (aka Kira) talked me into meeting her at Batterson Park Pond for what she called, "Sunday Night Walleye Madness!" I no longer have the right size hitch to tow the utility trailer for my Hobie Pro Angler, The Other Woman, so I installed the roof rack onto my Jeep and pulled my Hurricane Santee Sport 116 sit inside kayak, El Habañero, down from the ceiling of my garage. I think that she missed me. Laughing

I had forgotten what a pain in the butt it can be to get all of your gear together for a nighttime kayak fishing trip; PFD, flashlight, headlamp, paddle, kayak console, tackle, tools, net, grippers, Hawg Trough, scale. I've gotten used to having the always-ready-to-go floating tackle box that's my G3 Eagle 165, The Other Woman, Too. Very Happy

When I finally got everything together, I drove down to Batterson.

I got on the water around 9:30 pm and Kira met me at the ramp in Dinghbat. She just finished overhauling Dinghbat's hull and keel, which is now painted dark blue with multicolored glitter. I could see a rainbow of colors on the side of the hull in the light of my Jeep's distant headlights. I think that Kira should put Ranger Boat stickers on the hull to complete the new look. Laughing

There was a four to seven mile per hour wind blowing gently from the east, but as the air temperature fell from the upper 40s to the lower 40s, it began to feel pretty cold out there. I had forgotten how little room you have for gear in a sit inside kayak and El Habañero rolled more than I remembered. But it took only a few strokes of the paddle for everything to become all good again. Cool

I decided to troll a Perch Rapala Jointed Shad Rap JSR07 up the northwest shore toward the beach. I followed the edge of the Summertime weedline, but kept fouling up on rocks and weeds. The JSR07 trolls at 10 to 11 feet and the depth was only seven to eight feet, so that wasn't totally unexpected. I swapped out the JSR07 for a Perch JSR05, which trolls at nine to 10 feet, but still couldn't maintain a speed low enough to keep it out of the weeds. When I got to the northwest end of the pond by the beach, I decided to give up on fishing close to the bottom and swapped out the JSR05 for a Perch Rapala Shallow Shad Rap SSR07. I tossed it out and began paddling out of the corner when I got a hit from a weed that finally fought back. I yelled to Kira that I thought I had a fish on and she told me she could see that I really did. At 10:26 pm, I boated my first largemouth bass in almost two weeks:

Whoo Hoo!

Kira and I both wanted to check out the riprap dam and spillway on the northeast end of the pond, so we headed across the north shore. Neither of us got anything along the way. I decided to troll the SSR07 across the face of the riprap wall toward the spillway. Nada. After I turned the corner and began heading back down the southeast shore, I decided to turn around and give the riprap wall another try. I'm glad I did, because at 11:15 pm, I got a hit from what I immediately knew was a walleye:

Whoo Hoo!

My first walleye of the year! Of course, though, it was only 16 inches long, two inches shy of being an 18 inch long keeper. Confused

That's the story of my walleye fishing life, I guess. Rolling Eyes

We headed back to the ramp the way we came, across the north shore to the beach and down the northwest shore. We got off of the water at 12:30 am and, once again, I was reminded of how spoiled I've become with The Other Woman, Too. Strapping a bass boat down to a trailer is a lot easier than strapping a kayak to the roof of a tall SUV like my Jeep. Heck, Kira had Dinghbat in the bed of her pickup truck before I had even finished transferring all of my gear from El Habañero to the Jeep. Shocked

As much as I enjoyed Manhattan and Florida, it sure felt good to be back on the water in Connecticut. Very Happy

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Mase2020 · Joined: 15 Jun 2012 Posts: 228

Hey Phil that's great that you got out, sounds like you pretty soon all your yaks are going to miss you, the way you keep carrying on about the G3 Eagle 165 Razz

Hey anytime you go out on Batterson Park just shoot me a text and if I'm working and have time I would be more than happy to go up and make sure you and your vehicles are okay.

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

bowhunter095 · Joined: 20 Jan 2011 Posts: 392 Location: Berlin, CT

I'm thinking next weekend will be a Batterson trip for me!

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

I don't have much to add; I only threw 2 baits - a black spinnerbait and a vintage topwater prop bait. No interest whatsoever. It was a beautiful, chilly night to be on the water...I saw a big, brilliant green meteor streak across the sky while Phil was launching his yak. It was just awesome to be back in my (sparkly) little boat, at night, after a long separation. I think I ventured into pleasure boater territory for the first time last night. It won't happen again.
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Kira

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

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

Congrats on the walleye Phil!

DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

You know spring has officially arrived when Phil is pulling walleyes from Batterson Wink

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

I wanna se the new Ding Bat!!!!
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Fishin'Fireman · Joined: 15 May 2012 Posts: 122 Location: Simsbury

Welcome back Phil, nice Walleye! Thats one for my bucketlist this year, a walleye
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT