CTFishTalk.com: Spring Pond 04/27 - Connecticut Lake Reports ( CT Lake Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

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

Saturday evening, JJay (aka Jason) and I were talking about black crappie fishing, so I suggested that we stop talking about it, grab our kayaks and check out Spring Pond. Jason met me there with his Future Beach Trophy 126 DLX, while I brought my Hobie Pro Angler, The Other Woman. We fished for only a couple of hours, from about 5:30 pm to about 7:30 pm. When we launched by the culvert on the west shore, the sun was glaring. There was a light breeze blowing from the south, but it gradually rose as the sun dropped to the horizon and dark clouds drifted in. The water temperature started at 67 degrees, but quickly dropped to 64 degrees. Jason tied on two small crappie tubes at 12 inches and 36 inches below a bobber, while I tied on one small white/chartreuse crappie tube at 10 inches below a bobber:

We circled the south island looking for crappies. I worked the areas tight to laydowns and tight to the shore, while Jason stayed a little further from the laydowns and shore in slightly deeper water. We started in the shade on the south and west sides of the island, but after a short time without any action, Jason headed clockwise around the island, whicle I headed counterclockwise. We met up on the sunny side of the island without either of us getting even a nibble. I suggested that we head for the northwest corner, where the creek runs into the pond. When we got there, the water wasn't flowing at all. It was murky, but clear enough to see the bottom in the shallows of the northwest corner. I stood up on The Other Woman, but didn't spot any panfish at all.

Since the whole northwest corner is less than 2-1/2 feet deep, it was too shallow for Jason's crappie rig, so I suggested that we both tie on topwater frogs and see whether the largemouth bass had moved into the shallow weeds. I had only an old Green Scum Frog BIGFOOT with me, but Jason had a bag of my favorite topwater frog, the Bullfrog Zoom Horny Toad. After only a few casts, Jason got a hit, paused while he reeled in his slack line and tried to set the hook. I said "tried", because he did a sideways hookset and whiffed. Confused

I told him to use a vertical hookset, instead. I got the next hit, but whiffed, too Embarassed

, although I think the little bass that hit my Scum Frog probably just grabbed one of its big paddle feet. On Jason's next hit, he set the hook just fine:

Whoo Hoo!

The first topwater largemouth bass of the year! And only a few casts later, he got the second:

Unlike the first one, this one was a solid 15 inch keeper. He got another short before I finally set the hook on my first:

I'm embarrassed to say that I missed more hooksets than I got. Embarassed

I was a little too excited and had a persistent case of premature hookset. Confused

Jason, however, got on a school of small fish and didn't miss many after his first. And he saved the best for last. As the clouds rolled in, the wind rose out of the south and the sun began to dip pretty low on the horizon, I was about ready to call it a day when he got a final hit from what he thought was a bigger fish. He was right:

The lunker was 18 inches long and weighed 3-1/4 pounds. Whoo Hoo! Very Happy

All told, I ended up boating four shorts, while Jason boated eight, including several keepers. He finally ended his streak of not catching any largemouth bass this year and did it in a big way. I'd bet he's really, really happy that the crappie weren't biting! Laughing

Break out your frogs! Break out your frogs! The topwater bite is here! Very Happy

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

Great topwater action!

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

Nice! Top Water. My confidence technique. I only had an hour to fish on Candy today and tried top water but no hits. Hopefully it picks up soon.

As always. Nice report Peco.
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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.

JJay · Joined: 23 Sep 2011 Posts: 113 Location: Farmington, CT

A very productive 2 hours - A wise person said, " it's too early for top water frog.....until it's not" Very Happy

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

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