[PECo]

TurtleKiss (aka Kira) suggested that we fish Batterson Park Pond in the evening and catch New Britain's Fourth of July fireworks show, so I headed over there with The Other Woman. When I arrived, I was surprised by how few cars were in the lot. When I got on the water at 6:00 pm, the air was warm, there were scattered clouds in the sky and there was a slight north breeze. The water temperature was about 85 degrees and I could see down only a foot into the murk. I decided to fish for largemouth bass and began throwing a Bullfrog patterned Zoom Horny Toad over the weeds by the ramp, before heading up the west shore. When I got to the first cove, I saw Kira arrive at the ramp with Dinghbat. She got on the water just after 6:30 pm and caught up with me at Nude Dude's Sunnin' Spot, halfway up the west shore. She told me that our buddy Long was also on the water. Just a little while later, Long paddled up in his Future Beach Angler 144. I told Kira and Long I had a feeling that I wouldn't catch a fish until 7:30 pm. As I worked my way up the west shore toward the beach, I threw the Horny Toad and a Baby Bass patterned Strike King KVD Caffeine Shad at the shore and over weedbeds. Just after 7:30 pm, I got a hit on the Caffeine Shad between the shore and the weeds, and set the hook on the first fish:



The largemouth bass was only 15 inches long and weighed only one pound, 10 ounces, but Whoo hoo! Less than 15 minutes later, a Ghost Shad patterned Caffeine Shad got me a 12 incher:



After I worked past the beach and the dam, darkness began to fall, so I switched gears and began trolling. I tied on a Perch Rapala JSR-7 and a Perch Rapala Shallow Shad Rap SSR-5, and headed for the riprap wall on the north end of the pond. Along the way, the Shallow Shad Rap got me a white perch:



Long paddled over to let me know that he and Kira were going to have a pizza delivered to the ramp. I decided to paddle along the riprap wall, past the spillway and back to the ramp down the east shore. Next to the riprap wall, I snag hooked a little rock bass in an eye with the Shallow Shad Rap:



As I pedaled past the spillway, I caught a walleye with the Jointed Shad Rap:



Of course, it was just a 16 inch short, but Whoo hoo! As I headed down the east shore, the Jointed Shad Rap got me another white perch. The fireworks began as I approached the ramp. The show was down the hill at AW Stanley Park, so the fireworks were low in the sky. When the trees were cleared from around Batterson Park, they left just enough of them to screen most of the fireworks from the ramp. Although we had an obstructed view, the fireworks boomed and echoed across the pond like thunder:




After we had some pizza and the fireworks ended, I resumed trolling clockwise around the pond. After the Shallow Shad Rap got another white perch, it got a sunny, too:



And a couple of minutes later, it got another white perch. By this time, the wind had died completely and the water temperature had dropped down to 80 degrees. For a while, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and we enjoyed a bright, moonlit night:



The bite slowed quite a bit. Long took off when I was on the north end of the pond. I think that he might have gotten skunked. One hour and 45 minutes passed before the Jointed Shad Rap got another white perch. And then 45 more minutes passed before it got another rock bass. 25 minutes later, when I was more than halfway down the east shore, it got me another walleye:



17-1/2 inches!?!? You gotta be kidding me! After I trolled around the submerged island, I caught up with Kira in the southeast corner of the pond. She was throwing a Strike King Midnight Special spinnerbait at the riprap wall next to the ramp. She got a big hit on it, but missed the hookset. I said, "Are you sure it wasn't a walleye?", but Kira said it felt "bassy". I tied on a green Pumpkin/Pearl Belly Strike King Rage Tail Toad to throw over the weedbeds and headed to the southwest corner. RIght after I got there, Kira yelled that she had finally caught a fish. A BIG fish. A WALLEYE. As I pedaled over to her in the darkness, I felt myself turning green with envy:



It was 24 inches long and weighed four pounds, one ounce (or four pounds, four ounces on Kira's digital gripper scale ). She's caught three walleye this year and two of them have been keepers. I've caught almost 30 and have gotten only one keeper. WTF! Since Kira's walleye had hit a slow rolled spinnerbait tight to the shore, I swapped out my frog for a Ghost Shad Caffeine Shad and headed back to the southwest corner to throw it over the submerged wall. Sure enough, it got me another short walleye:



And just a short while later, it got me yet another rock bass. Kira and I finally ran out of steam and got off of the water at 3:30 am. She doesn't eat fish, so I get to have walleye for dinner, tonight. Thanks, Kira!
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

[bowhunter095]

I was waiting for another Batterson report from you guys! I didn't know how the fishing has been so I haven't gone in a while. From the looks of it i'm taking the fishing has been good! Nice walleye! I'll have to take a trip out there tonight

[Fishin'Fireman]

As always great report phil, and nice Walleye turtle!
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A bad day of fishing is better then a good day at work

[DirtyDawg10]

Nice fish, Kira!!

Oh and, Phil...I thought his name was Nude Dude?

[SAP284]

Awesome Walleye! That thing looks huge!
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Steve

[PECo]

[Michael]

Great report as always Phil!

Those JSR are KILLERS!

[jjbassfishn]

Nice report! Fishin and Fireworks had to be a blast. What a walley to round it all out!
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PB LMB 9.3LBS Winchester Lake
PB SMB 5.8LBS Colebrook Res.
PB Pike 3.85LBS Winchester Lake

Can't catch em sittin on the sofa!

[hoppy]

very nice walleye! great report as usual phil!

[JimiChanga]

Nice walleye for sure guys.
Keep up the good work.

JC

[BassRican]

Awesome fish Kira! Phil, your adventures never cease to entertain us! I need to pick up a perch SSR and hit Batterson.
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When in doubt, rip their lips out!

[rxpxtx]

Wow Phil, thats a big hunk of fish to have for lunch. What'd ya do...drop it in a 2 foot hoagie roll? Nice fishin' guys!!
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Dave..... I can be a pain in the bass.