Fishing Gardner Lake June 9 2010

For a while Wednesday morning I was really doing well. I put the kayak in by the dam and paddled to the deep water with only a couple casts on the way. On one of those casts I caught a 6" bass. When I reached the place I wanted I started off with Yamamoto Senkos. Within 40 minutes I caught 5 (13-15") bass and a 18" pickerel and was really feeling good. Then everything stopped and I didn't catch another fish for 2 hours. The next fish was caught in the shallows in the midst of the lily pads. I fished the weeds for another hour without landing another fish. Oh well, that's fishing!

Kayak Lessons In Colchester Ct

This is such a great hobby I can’t understand why everyone does not own a kayak. I really enjoy my kayaks. Yes, I have more than one, but not as many as some. I know someone that has somewhere between 14-17 kayaks. I have only 3, but my wife just doesn’t understand my need.

Right now, I have a great fishing kayak (Wilderness Pongo), a good river kayak (Clearwater Designs Nunu) and a general recreation kayak (Perception Spirit). Each of these boats is good for some things and not so good for others.

What kind of boat is perfect for you, it depends. It depends on your size, where you’re going to kayak, how much stuff you want to take with you, etc. The Pongo was my third attempt at finding the perfect fishing kayak. River kayaking is a world apart from lake kayaking; they use different kayaks and paddles.

If your want kayak lessons, want to talk about equipment or where to go (in the Colchester area), write me at stevehoward@prudentialct.com. The season is almost over, but it is a great time to buy a new or used boat!

Kayaking the Farmington River August 25th

Alex and I took his friend Zak to the Farmington River for a kayak trip. We had a great time creek bashing, chasing ducks/geese and the boys tried out the rope swing. It was Zaks first time white water kayaking and he made it without tipping over.

My Colchester area Lake Evaluations

Babcock Pond, Colchester (119 acres) is a very shallow, weedy, lake. The last time I fished it in 2008 the weeds were within 2” of the surface. I have not been back since.

Bashan Lake, East Haddam (273 acres) is a large clean lake. The boat launch is hard to get to and tucked away in a far corner. The lake is very deep and has a clean bottom. I have not caught many fish there, but I have caught some big bass and pickerel.

Gardner Lake, Salem (529 acres) is a very big lake, too big for me and my kayak. If there is any wind at all, this lake gets too rough for me to fish effectively. I have only fished about 1/16th of the lake, without much success. I mostly ended up with a bunch of tail-less worms. The deep lakes confound me, so I don’t fish them any more.

Lake Haywood, East Haddam (174) is a very nice lake. The boat launch is pretty far from where I like to fish. This is one of the electric motor only lakes, so it is a good place to go on a weekend because you don’t have to worry about jet skis or water skiers. This is a very clean lake with a variable bottom. It ranges anywhere from 2 feet deep to more than 30 feet deep. I find it can be a very difficult place to catch fish, on an average day, I catch 4 – 7 fish, and my high for this lake is 14 fish.

Holbrook Pond, Hebron (83 acres) I only fished once. It was very weedy and shallow and I didn’t catch anything.

Mansfield Hallow Reservoir, Mansfield (460) is a beautiful body of water with some great looking coves and bays. I watched a deer swim across a bay one morning. I have fished it when the reservoir was low and when it was high, but only caught a few fish. Everyone that I have talked to has the same story, big fish if you can find them, but few are caught.

Moodus Reservoir. East Haddam (486) is big, but not very deep. I have not had much success there, but others have. This is another lake that gets very choppy if there is any wind blowing. I don’t fish it very often.

Norwich Pond, Lyme (30acres) I fished for the first time this spring. I caught 3 – 4 fish, but the pond looked like I should have done better. Maybe because the water was still 55 – 60 degrees the fish weren’t active. I will try it out later this summer.

Pickerel Lake, Colchester (82) used to be very weedy. While viewing a property there I noticed that the lake wasn’t weed choked any more. I have fished a few times this year with pretty good success. There are a LOT of pickerel there, quit a few bass and even one big (5lb) bullhead that I caught. There are still a lot of weeds there, but the lake can be fished.

Red Cedar Lake, Lebanon (127) is one of my favorite lakes. It is not very deep, but it has a lot of stump cover. I don’t catch many fish there, but I do get some big ones there. You need to fish weedless or be prepared to loose a lot of tackle. The parking lot is very small. During the summer you’ll need to get there early or there will be no place to park. Weekends can be real busy with jet skies and water skiers.

Savin Lake, Lebanon (49) is small with a varying depth. I used to catch lots of bass there. The last 2 years I have only caught 1 – 2 fish per trip. I have not tried it this year and no one else seems to be fishing it either. I drive by there on my way to Red Cedar and have not seen anyone parked there.

Uncas Lake, Lyme (69acres) is very nice deep lake. It is electric only with a nice shoreline to fish. It is another deep lake that has confounded me. I did have a good day fishing the shoreline with flukes, but only caught a couple the next time I went there.

Lake Williams, Lebanon (272) is my other favorite lake. I go there often and it is almost
always good to me. It is big and mostly shallow. It can be very busy on weekend with jet skies, etc, but there are usually no problems on week days. The car top boat launch is at the dam; naturally the best fishing is at the other end of the lake

On the 13th of July we went to Red Cedar Lake in Lebanon, CT. On this trip my son (Alex)brought one of his friends fishing. Alex caught the first fish of the day and the biggest (17"), so that gives him bragging rights for a while. I did come away with the most fish caught for the day, with 14. Most of the bass I caught were 12-13" range. I also caught a couple perch and a 20" pickerel. I was mainly using a jigged grub retrieved just above the weeds. I have included some photos of me in my kayak.

Kayaking 4th of July on the Farmington River

(Alex and his kayak)

One of the things my son and I like to do is to go white water kayaking. We just came back from a trip to the Farmington River. We went to Main Stream Canoes and Kayak in New Hartford, CT. From Colchester it takes about one hour to get there. They offer a livery service from their location to Riverton, CT for $20/boat. Depending of how fast the river is running it takes 3 -4 hours to kayak back down the river to the parking area. It is mostly Class I water with an occasional Class II (see my April blog for definitions) rapid thrown in. This section is not for novice kayak/canoe users. Main Stream does suggest the downstream section for novices or people trying out new boats.

My son has one of the new “spud” boat type; I have an old school, “Eskimo” type kayak. His boat can do all kinds of tricks and can do Eskimo rolls. The downside of his boat is that the boat is less stable than mine. It will tip over easier. Mine is hard to tip over, but once it does, it won’t Eskimo roll, so I’ll have to “bail out” and swim.

The river was a little higher than usual which made some parts of the river harder and some easier. We had a great time. We got very wet from wave splashes, but neither of us got flipped over. I think white water kayaking is better than going to Six Flags Amusement Park.

Pickeral Lake May 19th

(Shaky Worm)

I went back to Pickerel Lake yesterday. At home there was no wind, but at the lake it was pretty constant 5-10 knots. I fished a combination of shaky worms and sinking minnows to catch 13 bass and 3 pickerel. It was hard fishing, casting into the shoreline, fallen trees and overhanging brush. Especially while trying to hold my kayak in place against the wind. Most of the bass were in the 12-13” range but one 18-19” towed my boat for 50 yards down the shoreline before I finally got him in the kayak.

(Sinking Minnow)

Kayaks for beginners.

When I was growing up all I would see on the local rivers were canoes. On the lakes canoes were seen along with the power and sailboats. I still see canoes on the water but there are 3 times as many kayaks.

They have several advantages over canoes:
Most are less expensive than canoes.
They are smaller and lighter.
Easier to load/unload and transport on your vehicle.
Most kayaks are very stable and comfortable.

The hardest thing to do is select the type of kayak to purchase. The kayak you pick depends on what kind of water your going to be paddling on.

Class 1 water would be a lake or a slow moving flat river, like the Connecticut River in Hartford.

Class 2 is faster moving with rapids but the river is easy to negotiate, like the Farmington River in the Collinsville area.

Class 3 has fast moving water with very difficult rapids that require experienced boaters and/or pre-planned routes through the rapids. Some of the narrow parts of Salmon River during high water periods are considered Class 3 water.

Class 4 is raging rivers, think of the Colorado River.

Class 5 is narrow chasms, waterfalls and other extreme water.

To paddle around a lake or big flat river you will need a kayak with a keel, (a ridge or groves along the bottom), so that the boat tracks well in the water. This makes it a little harder to turn the boat, but without it the boat is at the mercy of the wind. I have been pushed sidewise/backwards on a lake in a kayak without a keel.
Most rivers have sections that will have Class 1, 2 or 3 depending on surrounding terrain. A section of river that might be a Class 2 in July, might be a Class 4 in April after a heavy rain. Most kayaks will be alright in Class 1 and 2 water, but I would strongly recommend lessons before attempting Class 2 or higher rivers. The Appalachian Mountain Club (www.ct-amc.org/ct/index.shtm) has several classes and Collinsville Canoe and Kayak (http://www.cckstore.com/) is a good place to get purchasing advice and kayaking lessons.

There are several highly specialized kayaks available for Class 3 and above. These boats are very small and are deliberately made to tip over easily. Their size makes them very maneuverable and quickly right-able when they get flipped over. This flipping back upright is called an Eskimo Roll and takes quit a bit of time to perfect.

Kayaks have many vacation uses. In addition to sight seeing, they can be used for camping, diving, fishing, exercising and reaching otherwise remote locations. I spend my kayak time fishing for largemouth bass at the local lakes or paddling the whitewater of the Farmington River.

If you have any questions or want to talk kayaking send me a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Best Fishing In Colchester, CT Area

Largemouth Bass fishing from a kayak is the best fishing in the Colchester, CT area. There are at least 10 lakes and ponds within 15 miles of Colchester. Many of these do not have boat launches or allow gas engines. I catch the most bass from May through August. Most of the time I use plastic worms in various hook patterns including “Wacky” and “Texas” style. I have a Wilderness 13’ Pongo kayak that I love. It has good leg room, an adjustable seat, good storage and I have added an anchor and rod holders. Several times over the last couple of years I have caught and released 20 fish in a day.