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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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 Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:53 pm Post subject: Connecticut River - Charter Oak Landing 02/22 |
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Unfortunately, this is more a report about sightseeing on the Connecticut River than fishing. As I reported in another thread, after picking up a new battery at Cabela's for my trolling motor on Friday, TurtleKiss (aka Kira) and I checked out the Charter Oak Landing boat launch:
We also checked out the stretch of the Connecticut River from the Riverside Park boat launch to the Northeast Utilities power plant. Here are the web pages for Charter Oak Landing and Riverside Park:
http://www.riverfront.org/parks/charter/
http://www.riverfront.org/parks/riverside/
Interestingly (well, to me, at least), since these boat launches (they're not parks to me, just boat launches) are owned and operated by the City of Hartford, these web pages have links to the City of Hartford Code of Ordinances regarding Rules and Regulations in Parks and Recreation Facilities. In particular, I love the first one:
| Quote: | | It shall be unlawful for any person to annoy other persons or to disturb the animals, birds or fish, or commit any act of nuisance in any park, except that fishing is permitted at Batterson Lake. |
Nothing makes me happier than annoying other persons, disturbing the animals, birds and fish, and committing acts of nuisance by fishing at Batterson Lake (aka Batterson Park Pond).  Anyway, back to the sightseeing report. It was the first time either of us had ever been on that stretch of the river. The only other boats we saw while we were out there from 12:30 pm to 4:30 pm were three eight man sculls and a chase boat that came up from downriver. Unfortunately, the fishing was a complete and total bust for us. We marked very few scattered fish with the finder all afternoon, probably fewer than a dozen, and didn't get even a nibble.  Yes, the water was warmer near the power plant. A LOT warmer. The temperature ranged from 34 degrees at the ramp to 47 degrees at the plant. But, no, there weren't any fish holding in the warmer water. And, yes, that surprised us, too.  Despite the poor fishing, it was a beautiful afternoon to be outside, with a bit of sunshine, air temperatures up to 40 degrees and winds out of the north up to only five miles per hour. Kira and I each took a bunch of photos of the area around the power plant. Here are some of mine:
We also motored upriver past the super shallow, tree blocked mouth of the Hockanum River, which is directly across the river from the Charter Oak Boat Launch. We went all the way upriver to the ramp at Riverside Park, before heading back across the river to check out the tunnel that leads underneath Route 91 and into WIlly Wonka's Chocolate Factory:
Does anyone know what the tunnel is called and where it really goes? We went in about 1/8 mile, to where the tunnel makes the slight bend to the right and disappears into darkness. We could hear splashing and running water further into the tunnel. And zombies!  Well, not really, but it was creepy. I was willing to go as far as we did only because the tunnel was wide enough for me to turn my little boat around in it. I'll be back to actually catch some fish in that stretch of the river later in the year, definitely before Memorial Day, when the park rangers will start checking for boat launch passes. Depending on how the fishing goes, I might actually spring for a seasonal boat launch pass this year. If you might be interested in that, too, here's a link to the Riverfront Recapture Recreational Boating web page:
http://www.riverfront.org/recreational/boating/
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Crest Daddy
Joined: 20 Jan 2011
Posts: 994
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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The tunnel of LOVE !!!
What did you 2 do in there???!!!
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SeaDog1
Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 2629
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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Hi,
Nah ! ..... Looks more like the "River Styx" !
SeaDog1  |
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NWDarkcloud
Joined: 23 Apr 2012
Posts: 474
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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thats a river that travels under hardford starts new park ave in west hartford there use to be canoe tours down there a few years back, miles of tunnels down there to travel . Yesterday when you mentioned the tunnels it didnt click till I saw the pic of what it was.
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I Love to fish......Not a big fan of sitting in the boat alone ....the Conversation and the company make it perfect |
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 5203
Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Crest Daddy wrote: | The tunnel of LOVE !!!
What did you 2 do in there???!!! |
I turned around to take a photo of Kira when we were heading deep into the tunnel and it began to get really dark :
I spun the boat around and got the hell out of there as fast as I could!
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NWDarkcloud
Joined: 23 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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trout brook is the name of the river off trout brook drive
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SeaDog1
Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 2629
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| PECo wrote: | | Crest Daddy wrote: | The tunnel of LOVE !!!
What did you 2 do in there???!!! |
I turned around to take a photo of Kira when we were heading deep into the tunnel and it began to get really dark :
I spun the boat around and got the hell out of there as fast as I could! |
Hi Phil,
Don't know how you did that -> but you made Kira look like the "Boatman" !
Scary yet Pretty cool ! 
SeaDog1 |
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jimbojonez
Joined: 04 Feb 2012
Posts: 295
Location: Berlin/Kensington
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| its called the Hog River canal. you can see the thinner open end of it on rt 84 where the graffiti is in front of Pope Park. near exits 42 43 flatbush |
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NWDarkcloud
Joined: 23 Apr 2012
Posts: 474
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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http://www.damnedct.com/park-hog-river-hartford/ looks like there a couple names you can call it heres a history link I found. I thought the troutbrook connected to the park river under ground just past where the park enters near flatbush and got renamed at that point exiting into the Ct river as park river never heard of Hog river name till now thanks for the added info
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pikePERSUADER1
Joined: 07 Dec 2010
Posts: 521
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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| NWDarkcloud wrote: | | thats a river that travels under hardford starts new park ave in west hartford there use to be canoe tours down there a few years back, miles of tunnels down there to travel . Yesterday when you mentioned the tunnels it didnt click till I saw the pic of what it was. |
Yup, i believe it leads out elsewhere on the river, but you should err on the side of caution with stuff like that  |
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TurtleKiss
Joined: 09 Mar 2010
Posts: 1200
Location: central CT
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:44 am Post subject: Re: Connecticut River - Charter Oak Landing 02/22 |
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| PECo wrote: |
Nothing makes me happier than annoying other persons, disturbing the animals, birds and fish, and committing acts of nuisance by fishing at Batterson Lake (aka Batterson Park Pond). |
Stop plagiarizing my diary, Phil! 
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Kira
*~ "Not everything about fishing is noble, reasonable and sane..." -Henry Middleton ~* |
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DirtyDawg10
Joined: 27 May 2009
Posts: 2238
Location: Granby, CT
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:35 am Post subject: |
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Rivernut
Joined: 22 May 2010
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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That's the Park River. They built over it because it was so polluted. It comes out in Bushnell Park. I've caught fish way back beyond where you went. The right side has a hot water discharge and is dangerous because the discharge fires across and will swamp your boat. The left is safe to go farther back using a large spotlight. Poisonous fumes might be released at anytime down one of the connecting sewers! We scared the crap out of some shore fishermen there once after being up it for an hour - We came out full throttle from way back in it!
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PECo
Joined: 06 Oct 2009
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Location: Avon, CT
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Rivernut wrote: | | The right side has a hot water discharge and is dangerous because the discharge fires across and will swamp your boat. |
Me: It's too dark. I can't see anything. I'm going to turn around.
Kira: No, let's keep going! We can use our cellphones to light the way! And my Master, Be'elzebub, wants to bleach your bones in boiling water!
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Redneckangler
Joined: 05 May 2012
Posts: 851
Location: Meriden, CT
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Rivernut wrote: | | That's the Park River. They built over it because it was so polluted. It comes out in Bushnell Park. I've caught fish way back beyond where you went. The right side has a hot water discharge and is dangerous because the discharge fires across and will swamp your boat. The left is safe to go farther back using a large spotlight. Poisonous fumes might be released at anytime down one of the connecting sewers! We scared the crap out of some shore fishermen there once after being up it for an hour - We came out full throttle from way back in it! |
So aside from being boiled alive in sewage or poisoned it's perfectly safe! You may emerge as some sort of mutant sewer creature.
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