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.