[Mase2020]

So I decided to head to Crystal Lake, even though it is one my leas favorite places to fish. I went there because I was short on time, it was close and rain was in the forecast.

Crystal Lake is a 183 Acre lake in Ellington CT. It a round deep cold water lake about 45 feet. It is stocked with Salmon and Trout and is a Trout management lake. It is also known for Bass fishing. It has a paved large boat launch with separate parking are about two hundred feet from the launch with enough room for 7 cars. There are houses around most of the lake and a town beach on it. The weekend that lake is filled with water skiers and the launch is a zoo. The launch is in a residential area with a bunch of cottages right next to it.

The lake is deep in the middle and very shallow on the edges. Not much for vegetation except a few shallow coves that have some pads and are marked for evasive species. The bottom seems void of any structure or at least that I can find and most of the bottom seems to be mud.

The day was overcast and rain was in the forecast. Air temp was about 65 degrees and water temp was 62 degree at launch time at 9:30 AM. Headed to a cove in the northwest corner and began throwing a wacky rigged Senko and nothing. I floated around and saw a Sunfish that had half its side removed and one Perch. I fished the cove some more and saw a bunch of Trout, so I began throwing a F-7 gold Rapala and caught a 13 inch rainbow. Fished the banks clockwise with the Senko and had one small bite that I did not land. Got to a cove with pad on the north east side of the lake and tied on a Stanley Ribbits frog. This was the first time I tried these and on the very first cast as soon as it hit the water I caught a LMB. Fished the cove a little more and caught another LMB. Continued to fish my way around and did not catch anything else and got off the water at about 12:30 PM just as the sun came out.

Did not mark many fish until I was headed back to the launch, when I marked a ton of fish 31 feet down in about 40 feet of water just northwest of the town beach.

When I got back to the launch I spoke to two guys in boat who launched the same time I did to see how they did and they showed me. They did not have a scale or a tape measure so I checked the measurements for them they had a 5 pound LMB that was only 19.5 inches long and two trout 2.5 pound and 3.9 pounds and some large sun fish. They said they were fishing deep for trout and caught the bass on a sinking rainbow colored Rapala.

If I got back I will fish deep I guess. Oh yeah water was clear with visibility to about 8 to 9 feet maybe deeper if the bottom wasn't mud.

[MANIMAL]

my club has a clubhouse on that lake, never been out there - maybe i should make it a point to check it out