Fishing Pickerel Lake May 2012

Yesterday afternoon I went to Pickerel Lake, it was very crowded. I fished until it was almost dark and there were 6 empty trailers still at the boat launch. I fished for an hour before catching the first fish, but it was worth the wait. The bass weighed 4lbs 12oz. Forty five minutes later I caught another 5lb 14oz fish. After that, they came quicker, but smaller. I ended up with 12 bass, all caught on senkos.

Cochester area fishing w/o August 1

This week I went to Amston Lake, WIlliams Lake, Powers Lake and Red Cedar Lake. At Amston Lake I caught a lot of fish, 24 to be exact, but all were small. Have you noticed that some days it seems like only the big or medium or small fish are biting? On this day t was all the 6 -10 inch fish and a lot of tails bit off the grubs.
The next day I went to Lake Williams and I had a great day with big fish. I caught (4) 2 pound bass and a 4 pound 12 oz largemouth as well. All the big fish were caught in the weeds with senkos and I got a bunch on the way back with spinner bait, all told I landed 21 fish.
Matt and I fished Powers Lake with some success. The lake seem to be the same depth as Williams, without the cover. They don't seem to be very interested in Senkos and we caught almost all the fish on lures and spinners. Matt worked on catching as many sunfish as he could and caught 13 sunfish and small bass. I used bigger bait stuff and caught 10 fish. All mine were small except for a monster bass that hit a crank bait and weighed out at 5 pounds 2 ounces.
On Saturday I had to be home by 10 so I went to Red Cedar Lake. It is small enough for me to fish it well in 3-4 hours. I caught 11 fish with two 2 pound fish. For some reason I am not doing as well this year at Red Cedar. I think it is getting fished pretty heavily this year. I have seen the same groups of fishermen there multiple times during my trips there. So I assume they are fishing there a lot.

Colchester Area Fishing W/O July 25th

Another week of vacation spent fishing almost every morning from 5:30 to 11am. I fished Red Cedar, Savin, Williams, Amston and Pickerel Lake.
Lake Williams was very good, I caught 31 fish including a 4lb 7oz bass. Most of the big fish were caught using a variety of senkos. On the way back to the dam I fished a spinnerbait along the East shore and caught 8-9 small to medium bass that way.

I wanted to try Savin Pond again on a day with good weather. The last time the weather and the fishing weren't very good. Well this time the weather was good, but the fishing wasn't. I only caught 4 fish and had very few bites.

Red Cedar lake gave up 14 fish, about average for the lake, the biggest weighed 4lb 4oz. Nothing was particularly effective and I tried senkos, jigs and spinnerbait.

Amston Lake has been different this year. I am not catching fish in the North cove this year, but having pretty good luck fishing the shallow area in the middle of the lake. I noticed that I was getting spinnerbait hits on the drop more than during the retrieval. So I switched to a heavy jig and bounced some super grubs on the bottom. This is how I caught most of the fish including a 4' 7oz bass and a 2 pounder.

On Sunday I went to Pickerel Lake and caught 13 fish. All the fish I caught (pickerel, perch and bass) were less than 10" inches long. There was one fisherman flipping worms under the docks that said he caught a 6 pounder that morning. Another boat that was coming out when I was leaving said the two of them caught a total of 13 small fish. They said that the lake is just too weedy this time of the year to catch anything good.

Colchester Area Fishing July 18th

This was a very hot week, with temperatures in the 90's every day. I fished Red Cedar Lake, Amston Lake, Powers Lake and Savin Pond. Fishing was less than average with no big fish caught.
Matt and I fished Red Cedar. We fished from 5:30 to about 10am. He caught 10 and I caught 13 fish. Almost all the fish I caught while using the Baby Bass Senko fished wacky style.
Amston Lake fishing was good. I caught 19 fish with a combination of senkos. By 9am they weren't hitting the senkos so I started fishing deep with jigs. I usually don't have much luck with deep water, but this day was different. I caught 8 more fish bouncing the jig on the bottom.
On Saturday I went to Powers Lake. I had 3 bites right in a row witht the baby bass and promptly lost it on the 3 bite due to a faulty knot. Tying a bad not was bad enough, but I was really upset with myself when I discoverd that was my last baby bass, I forgot to restock them. It gets worse, they would hit any other senko I had. They wouldn't hit the spinner bait either, so I went to the jigs and caught 9 with that. Most were 6-8 in bass. The biggest fish was a 16" pickerel.
Sunday I went to Savin Pond and did not do very well. I caught 5 small largemouth and a 15" pickerel. I sure hope this heat wave breaks soon.

Colchester Area Fishing July 11th Week

Good weather for fishing this week. On Monday Matt and I went to Lake Williams. It was the first fishing trip of the year for Matt and he made the most of it. He caught the first fish of the day and had a real hot streak going with a red senko. At one point he had 7 fish to my 3, but when they stopped hitting the red, he lost momentum. Matt ended up with 9 bass and I caught 16. I got the biggest fish, a 2lb 14oz bass.

On Wednesday I went to Red Cedar Lake and caught 16 bass, pickerel and perch. I have been trying out the crank bait lures and they accounted for the perch and pickerel. Most of the bass were caught on the smoke senko, but none of the bass were big.

Friday was the day I went to Amston Lake. Using a mix of senkos I caught 24 small to medium bass. They were not interested in the crank bait lures.

Sunday was spent on Powers Lake, it was very crowded. There were at least 6 fishing boats/kayaks there besides mine. The fishing wasn't very good, all I caught was 7 small fish using crank baits and senkos. After a week of use, I am going to put the crank baits away and try deep jigs and spinner baits next week. As the summer is really starting to heat up I need to go into deeper water.

Fishing the week of June 20th in the Colchester Area

A good and bad week for fishing. Work, family and home improvement ate up most of the week, but I did go out 2 days and caught good fish. On Thursday I went to Red Cedar and caught 19 fish. About half were small pickerel, bass and perch, the other half were 13 - 15" bass. Most of the lake I fished were dead, but there were 2 hot-spots on the north end that accounted for 90% of the fish. The north end of the island furthest from the shoreline and off the 2nd beach had fish that really liked the watermelon/lemon senko. The biggest bass I caught weighed 2lbs 7oz.

On Friday, I went to Lake Hayward. After paddling out of the shallow area by the boat launch, I caught a couple bass where the lake first opens up. Like a fool, I then hurried down the lake to where it fully opens up. That's where I caught most of the fish the last time I fished the lake. After 2 hours of fruitless fishing I belatedly went back to where I caught the fish early in the morning. Using the root beer senko that worked so well in the weed last week I caught a total of 10 fish there in an hour and a half. The biggest fish was 3lbs 3oz. The moral of the story is, "Catch the fish where they are, not where they were last week."

Fishing the week of June 13 2011

Pretty good week of fishing. I got out 4 times and caught big fish 3 times and got to use senkos. The first lake of the week was Williams. I caught 14 pickerel and bass, the biggest was a 3lb, 6oz bass. There was nothing in particular they liked, so I threw a lot of senkos and hula grubs at them.

The next time I went out I fished Pickerel Lake. I fished the wood side at first and caught a 3lb 9oz bass hiding in one of the downed tree-tops. The submerged tree-tops were good for a few more fish. As I moved into the lily pads I started catching them on a root beer senko. There were a bunch or reddish vegetation in the lake, so maybe thats why it worked. A few fish ambushed my green hula when I parked on one side of the lily pads and threw the bait on the opposite side and retrieved it. They must have been sitting on the edge because they would nail it just before it reached the pads. The wind pushed me all the way back on the camp side of the lake. I used a white hula and caught 4-5 more small fish. All told, I caught 14 fish that day.

On Saturday I went to Red Cedar Lake. I tried the usual stuff but the fish were not very interested. I only caught 10 fish that day, but at least I didn't loose any gear. I fished the senkos weedless and it probably cost me a few fish. The biggest fish was a 15" bass caught off the last house before getting back to the boat launch.

The fishing Sunday (Fathers Day) was much better. I caught a few fish early in the middle of the lake, but that tailed off as the sun got higher. I moved to the edge of the lake as the speed boats and water skiers came out. Remembering the fishing earlier in the week I started fishing the weeds with the rootbeer senko. The pickerel loved it. They would wait for it to settle and as soon as I picked it up they would nail it. In a 50 yard stretch of shoreline I caught 10 pickerel and a couple bass. I lost a couple big bass when they got tangled in the weeds and pulled the hook out, but I did catch a 15" and two 16" bass. On the way back I threw the root beer senko into the weeds next to the dam and got a big hit. It was one of those hits that immediately pull the kayak. The hit came on the edge of the weeds and I was able to keep the fish from the thick stuff. The bass weighed 3lb 3oz and was the last of the 25 fish for the day.

Lake WIlliams June 4 2011

I only got out fishing twice this week. even with the slow Real Estate market, there always seems to be something that needs doing. On Tuesday I went to Red Cedar Lake in Lebanon. There was a light breeze all day long, I tried the senkos a couple of times, but the wind was too much. The fish were hitting the hulas and jigs, but not as aggressively as they had in the past. The fishing was pretty good with 14 fish caught. The fish were mostly small, an equal number of pickerel and bass(and a perch), the biggest was a 13 inch bass. I lost 2 jigs in the stumps and had 8 grubs ruined by use, pickerel and having their tails clipped.

Saturday morning I was out on Lake Williams, Lebanon. The day started at about 45 degrees, with no wind. I caught nothing until I got past the campground using the grub/hulas. I switched to the senkos and started to catch fish. Using a variety of green and smoke senkos I caught 11 bass and 3 pickerel. Two of the bass were 15" long and everything else was between 8" and 13" long. When the wind came up (around 0930) I was limited to the north shore of the lake and the islands. I can't wait for summer days of calm breezes.

Fishing Lake WIlliams Sep 1 2010

My birthday present from me, to me, was to go fishing. I know, a real surprise. I went to Lake Williams and the weather was great. I had a big grub on one pole and a senko on the other. After the usual trial and error I settled on a chartreuse grub and green senko. I usually try to work the grub just above the weed line. This involves a bit of guess work, counting 3-5 seconds after the jig hits the water and then retrieving. But today I let the jig hit the bottom, let it set a couple of seconds and then retrieving. I was only getting weeds on the grub 1 out of 5 times and a lot of hits came as soon as I lifted the jig off the bottom. I caught most of the fish in the weeds at the north end of the lake using this technique. I ended up with 13 bass, 2 pickerel and a sunfish. Four of the bass weighed 2 pounds.

Fishing Red Cedar Lake Lebanon Ct Aug 27 2010

Finally, after a week of rain, work, wind and family I got to go fishing today. I didn't get out until 11:30 but the temperature was in the mid 70s. From the boat launch I went along the right shoreline with senkos and grubs. When I started the wind was low and the water was clean. I was catching fish with the smoke grub and smoke senko. When the wind picked up and the power boats started, the water got murky. They stopped hitting that combination, but I caught a few fish with the green/lemon senko. In three hours of fishing I caught 9 fish. Four of the fish were 2 lb bass, two 8" bass, two 18" pickerel and a 5" perch. Should be able to get a couple more weeks of fishing in before turkey season starts.

Fishing Red Cedar Lake Aug 7 2010

Matt and I went to Red Cedar Lake in Lebanon, CT today. It was dark when we got there and the lake was smooth as glass. The temperature was around 58 degrees, a welcome change from the 85 - 90 degrees we've been having lately. I caught my first bass in less than 5 minutes. As usual this time of year we were fishing senkos, throwing them out and letting them slowly sink. By 9am Matt had 3 more fish than I did and we were on our way back. Then I caught 4 big fish in a row including this nice 4lb 11oz monster. Thanks to Matt for taking the picture, I owe him one.

Fishing Lake WIlliams July 30 2010

We took a trip to Lake Williams this morning. It was a perfect morning, cool without a breeze. Fishing was slow, we would catch 4 fish on a green senko and 100 yards down the lake they would only hit a red one. They stopped biting around 9am and we quit fishing at 10:30. Matt caught 6 and I caught 13 including the 3 pounder shown above.

Fishing Lake Hayward July 28 2010

Matt and I went to Lake Hayward yesterday. It was Matts's first time there. It is a big beautiful lake , very clean and has electric motor only regulations. With all that going for it, I don't fish it often because I don't catch many fish there. Yesterday was no exception, I caught 6 and Matt caught 6. It is our first tie. Matt has learned well and someday the student shall surpass the teacher. All fish were caught on senkos although I tried all my jigs as well.

Fishing Red Cedar Lake July 22 2010

Matt and I went to Red Cedar Lake in Lebanon, CT yesterday. As you can see from my photo below, we got there early! Fishing was slow, but steady. We couldn't find any Senko they really liked until in desperation I put on my last choice, a pearl white one. I caught 3 bass on the next 5 casts. You never know what they are going to like. Most of the fish were caught in the middle of the lake. The north end that was so good last time did not bring in any fish and we both lost gear on stumps there. We fished the west bank on the way back to get out of the wind. I caught a couple nice ones under the docks and off the shoreline. Unfortunately I got a phone call half way back to open a house for an appraisal and had to quit for the day. Matt caught 7 bass and I caught 17. Five of the fish I caught were in the 15 - 17 inch range.

Fishing Lake Williams July 20 2010

Matt and I went fishing this morning. We got there early and had the lake to ourselves. It was a beautiful morning but the fishing was slow. We tried all our senkos and the few fish that were biting seemed to like the green w/red flakes. Later on they started hitting a tequila power worm. Matt caught 7 bass, I caught 14 bass, a pickerel and 2 perch.The bass we caught early wer all good size, between 13-15 inches long. By 8am it was starting to get warm and the fish mostly stopped biting. After 8 all I caught was a the perch and a small bass. By 10am we had enough and quit for the day.

Fishing Mitchell Pond July 15 2010

Matt and I went to Mitchell Pond yesterday morning. This pond in Salem, CT seems to be filled with 4-8" bass. I have been there twice and haven't caught anything bigger than 8 inches. It was breezy and difficult to fish unless you got out of the wind. We were able to fish one cove and a shoreline out of the wind and caught a lot of fish using senkos. On previous trips Matt had caught a maximum of 3 fish, today he caught 12 bass. He said it was almost too easy today. When they are in the mood and you have the right color senko on your line, it can be like magic. I caught 15 at Mitchell and caught 2 more at Pickerel Lake that night, one was 11 inches and the other was 18 inches long.

Fishing Lake Williams July 11 2010

I woke up at 3am this morning and could not get back to sleep. So I decided to go fishing, what a surprise. When I got to Lake Williams the parking lot was empty and I had the lake to myself. This was going to be a quick fishing trip because the sun was up and I forgot the suntan lotion. The area off the campground gave up 5 bass and a couple of kayakers went by me to the north end of the lake. The senkos were working well and another kayak went by me and started fishing ahead of me in the lily pads to the Northwest. I bypassed all of them them and went to the northeast side of the lake and caught 15 more fish before 9am. All of the fish were caught on senkos. Most of them were in the 11 - 13" range, a couple were bigger and a couple were smaller. Because of the O rings I didn't loose a single worm! What a great day and a great lake!

Fishing Pickerel Lake July 7 2010

Matt and I went fishing at Pickerel Lake on Wednesday morning. I only caught 6 fish and Matt caught 2. One of the bass was 22" long and another was 17". As usual I was dropping senkos as my primary bait, but later on I was having better luck with a hooked tail worm on a jig.

I have been using "O" rings on my senkos and they have saved me a lot of money on senkos. Last year I would sometimes loose a senko on the first fish I caught. Now I can catch 5-10 fish on each. I slide the ring around the worm every time I catch a fish or change it to spread out the wear on the worm. There have been a few occasions when a fish has managed to pull the worm through the ring without me hooking them. I like to think those were pretty good sized fish to be able to do that.

We had to quit early due to a dentist appointment. Too bad, I think we could have caught more fish that day.

Fishing Lake Hayward July 5th 2010

I went out to Lake Hayward on Monday. The Yamamoto Senkos were working pretty well and I caught 14 bass. I caught most of the fish early in the morning in the section just before the lake opens up. When it started to get warm the fish stopped biting. I moved to the deeper section of the lake and tried jigging, but didn't catch anything in the deep water.

Fishing Red Cedar Lake July 4 2010

I was able to get to the lake for a few hours today. The weather was good and there were a couple other boats on the lake when I got there. The fishing was slow and it seemed that the other boats were doing the same. From all the floating weeds and murky water there must have been a lot of watercraft on the lake yesterday. I only caught a couple fish in the middle of the lake and I let the wind push me to the far end. I didn't start catching fish until I was back past the islands. Maybe there is less boat traffic down there; the fish were more aggressive. Most of the fish were caught on a green senko and ranged from 8 to 15 inches long and the final tally was 8 bass and 1 pickerel. I had a nice conversation with the new owners of a house on the lake. It's a great lake and I envy them.