Salmon Cove

Josh and I made it an early day meeting at 3:30am and heading down to the Boat launch at Haddam Meadows. Figured we'd keep the option to fish the island slightly north in the river, if we had the time. We knew it was going to rain today and wanted to get as much dry fishing in as we could. We were on the water by 4:45am, and buzzed over to Salmon Cove, fishing the East bank of the river on the way. Water was calm and temperature was very comfortable. I alternated a 6" white swimbait and a light colored spinner bait. We spotted several fish on the equipment, but no hits.

It was getting light and we noticed a couple boats head on into the cove so we decided to skip the mouth of the cove and hit it on the way out later. Heading strait to the back of the cove we worked the northeast side from more than half way back, towards the back of the cove.


Although we mark several fish here and there, nothing was jumping out at us so we worked some nice lay downs and structure off the bank. We both we throwing primarily spinner baits but mixed in a couple other baits such as a top water popper and a shallow diving crank bait. Josh pulled in a LMB and a Perch, both on spinner baits being reeled in slow and steady. Both caught about 8:00am. I had a few taps here and there but nothing in the boat.
Here is a picture of what I brought in today. Hey at least the rain held off. Always stay positive.

So it was about 9:30 am and we figured we'd check out the mouth of the Cove to see if there may be any striper lurking in the deeper water. Here is the part of the day the tought us a valuable lesson. No matter how well you know your equipment and how confident you are in everything that you have put it through, things happen. So in the 14' boat we've taken out constantly and which Josh has fished out of for 20+ years, we were cruising up the cove when we noticed the boat was riding a bit low. Well suffice to say images of the Titanic crossed my mind. Well luckily we were in relatively shallow water and were able to drag the boat to shore. We bailed out as much as we could and with no motor and using long poles, we methodically moved along the shore to the boat launch (not the one we parked at), oh and it rained, it actually poured. A quick 4 hours later we were safe and sound. Special Thanks to Josh's wife Sarah for the save, again.

So again we spotted fish and they weren't biting easily. With other recent trips it seemed that we got bites in short bursts, or a small time span. Anyways, we learned some lessons, caught some fish and it didn't rain, at least while we fished. Good day, always stay positive.

Salmon River Cove - 4/30/2011

Launched from Haddam Meadows at 4:30. River was high, cloudy & moving quick. Water temp was 48.  The air was 50 degrees & calm. Drifted through the flats in 8-10' of water for 30 minutes while casting a purple & block 7" bomber and dragging a sandworm aling the bottom. I was looking for stripers, but saw no signs of life.

Headed down to the Salmon River Cove & continued upstream until I ran out of navigable waters.Water was 60 degrees & crystal clear inside the cove.

 I was hoping to find alewife & the stripers that eat them, but saw no signs of either of them. Drifted downstream for about 2 hours watching catfish hit the top of the water then dive down & stir up the bottom. Several smaller bass were hitting the top of the water too. First fish caught was a LMB that hit a 5" segmented swimmer in a silver/white shad color. He was suspended in 10' of water at a rock outcropping along the bank. He threw the hook at the boat, but looked to be about 2lbs.

Found a 20' deep channel at a tight bottleneck in the river. Marked several big fish on the bottom, most likely cats. I didnt have any catfish bait, so I drifted a couple sandworms through them and got no reaction. Found a nice shallow grassy ledge adjacent to the channel and stirred up 2 nice sized bass. They both missed the spinnerbait I was throwing in the vegetation, but they made a lot of noise and it was nice to see that. I'll come back to this spot for sure. The potential for big fish was certainly there. About 8:00 am the 2nd LMB of the day hit my spinner bait in a narrow channel of a small tributary that dumps into the main cove. He was in wooded cover along the bank in about 5' of water. Similiar in size to the one that jumped off earlier.

I anchored up and fished this spot for another hour, because it looked so good. I was slow rolling my spinnerbait up the middle of the channel when I felt a tap, then another, then another. Looking down, I could just make out the nose of a nice sized pike following the bait and nipping at it. I paused just beneath the boat and he hit it hard. I tried to give him line to tire himself out with, but because he was at the boat and there was only 6' of line between us, he made 1 turn up at the top of the water , then headed straight under the boat where he threw the hook. It was a nice fish, no less than 28" and he would have made my day. Oh well. I fished this channel for another 30 minutes hoping he'd would come back for more, but no such luck. This marked the end of the day for me, but it was well worth it. Salmon Cove is definitely a solid spot. I'll be back soon...

Opening Day - Miller Pond, 4/16/2011

38 degrees and overcast with rain on the way. Not an ideal opening day of the season, but having fished all winter for bass, Pike & Stripers, I was used to it. Headed down to Miller Pond in Durham with the kayak around 5:30. Counted 27 vehicles in the before the sun was up. Apparently the weather hadn't deterred the opening day masses. I made the 80 yard hike down to the water with the yak, 3 poles and tackle bag. Before I even got in the water I could see the wake of trout roaming the surface and here guys hollering around teh lake as they were reeling in fish. Not a bad sign for such a crappy day.


 Having never been to Miller Pond before I wasn't sure what to expect. The water was crystal clear, fed by 3 mountain springs and isolated from the road & suburbia. With plenty of rock ledges, boulders, timber & brush along the shore, it was an ideal habitat. I could clearly see the bottom in 10' of water, which was a nice change of pace from the muddy waters of the river that I'd been fishing lately.

After throwing my smallest spinner bait, a few different rubber worms & small a crank bait for awhile, I settled on using my ultralight pole with 12lb mono & a small jig head tipped with a 3" rubber minnow. This seemed to be the bait of choice today.

The first large mouth of the season came at 7:15. Caught him near a rock ledge outcropping that dropped off quickly into 10' of water. He picked it up on the retrive as I was bouncing it slowly along the bottom.

I missed a bite 5 minutes after the first bass, then large mouth #2 came 15 minutes later, in the same spot, using the same retrieve. It was nice to find a pattern. Unfortunately this guy tore up the only 3" minnow I had in the boat, so I had no choice but to change baits

I had another similiar sized minnow in the boat with a ribbon tail and a bit more color. I fished this on a jig head around a wind swept corner for about 20 minutes, when it was inhaled by this guy, the first calico bass of the season. He was fat for a calico and I'd heard they were good eating, so he went on the stringer for lunch later.

Bill & Pete showed up around 8:30 in their kayaks. Bill caught a 9" brown trout within 15 minutes of being in the water. I'd severly understimated the cold on this day and by 10:30 my hands were frozen solid and the wind was picking up, so I wished them luck and called it a day. Despite the weather, this was a solid opening day trip and I had found that Miller Pond was well worth the 25 minute ride. I'll definitely be back on a warmer day.

Wethersfield Cove 3/19/11

So I hit the Cove in the kayak today, mostly due to cabin fever. Water was still very high & the wind was blowing hard. Parking lot was completely under water and had to launch from the DOT parking lot. I did'nt get a single bite in 3 hours, but the birds were working the water hard & doing well too.

Look closely and you'll see an Osprey at the top of the tree, a Bald Eagle down below, a Crow 4' to the right of him and a seagull in the background. All of them were having better luck than me. Gotta love it.

CT River 4/3/11



Fished the main stem of the river today with hopes of finding some schoolie stripers. Launched from Wethersfield Cove & headed North around 6am. Recent reports said they've been huddled up in the warm water discharge from the power plants, so thats where I was headed. Air temps were around 40 degrees & the water was about the same. 

Zero wind before sun up made for a smooth ride.

As I pulled up to the energy plant the water temps rose to around 53 degrees. This was a good sign. Marked fish along the edge of the shore & around the dock pilings in about 20' of water. The fish were suspended in schools 10' off the bottom. Fished these areas slowly with a 4" chartruese paddletail swim bait, a chrome lipless crank bait, a pearl colored deep diver, then a 5" white slugo - Nothing. 



As I drifted along the dock closer to the discharge of the plant, the water temps rose up to 60 degrees, which was amazing considering 50yds away the water was 42. Around 8am fish started hitting the top of the water inside the fenced off area of the discharge. Looked like bass in the 12-18" range. I moved in for a closer look. The fish were shallow, in 3-6' of water, so I started throwing a 4" storm kicking stick in a shad pattern - Nothing. Slow rolled a smaller natural colored spinnerbait - Nothing. Walked the dog with a 4" top water directly where the fish we're hitting the surface - again Nothing.  Frustration was setting in so I decided to drift down river back towards the cove.

Finally found this smallie hiding in a cluster of pilings along the sunny side of the river. Not a monster, but it sure was nice to have something other than weeds pulling back on the other end of the line. I fished these pilings for another 30 minutes without a bite, so I decided to head into the Cove.

Wind was picking up a bit and the birds weren't working the middle of the cove at all, so I stuck to the NW shoreline & hit the usual spots hoping for some Pike action. Threw spinnerbaits, crank baits, kicking sticks, a jig & pig, paddle tail swim bait, and the kitchen sink - Nothing. Fished the shallow flats in the back of the cove hoping for some prespawn action - Nothing. Finally I had enough and packed it in at 11.

We'll try again next week.

Salmon River Cove

Late November, 2010 - Caught 1 small Pike on this cold rainy morning at the Salmon River Cover after getting skunked for 3 hours at the mouth of the CT River. Oh well, a fish is a fish.

Wethersfield Cove 10/27/2010

Wethersfield Cove on Oct. 27 2010. Cold, rain, pike. We fished the Cove with nothing biting. It was cold, it rained...then Josh was slammed by this Pike. Only fish caught but was worth it.