ewhit73

Hit up my local again for about the third time this year and finally got on the board with a dink Largemouth and Smallmouth, the last one I've included a picture of. Water Chestnuts are beginning to come in and there are some decent-sized LM cruising the shallows in the River but not hitting anything. Tons and tons of Alewife though and they're by far the biggest I've seen in years. Things should pick up in the next month when the weather and water temps warm up.

Wow, where to begin: Try seven keeper bass over two days in both the Lake and the River. Saturday was warm, a bit more humid with the bass close to the lily pads and beds. Nothing happening in the Lake but had some good hits in the River in the lily pads. Caught one that I was pitching to and finally got it on the fourth try after he kept nailing it, had another break off (time to switch to the Spiderwire) that was of similar size. Sunday however started off with a bang, catching two nice Largemouth in Lower Mystic Lake from a spot I haven't had success from by thought held fish. Coolest thing was when I hooked the fish I could see additional Largemouth swimming with it after hooking them of about the same size; the water was very clear. Ended up catching two more in the River a bit later, both on Finesse worms, and ended up the day at the same spot in Lower Mystic Lake where I finished the day with one Largemouth and one Smallmouth that put up a helluva fight. Unfortunately the Sally got into the rocks and cut itself up a good bit, but what a nice way to end the day. Suffice it to say I think I have a pattern figured out for now. I did catch a dink largemouth as well on the day but didn't photograph it.

First report of the year for me, mainly since there hasn't been much to report from my 'local' as yet. Quite simply, this past weekend was far-and-away my best ever on Lower Mystic Lake and the head of the Mystic River. Weather was rainy and cool but the action was hot, coming up one short of a limit on Saturday and getting my limit on Sunday for a total of four Smallmouth and five Largemouth. I had a total of three manage to get off: One Largemouth threw the hook, one Smallmouth did the same but not after a nice tail dance on the water, and one nice Largemouth (prob. about 3 pounds) that broke my line (prob. frayed from earlier fish) and now has a red 3.0 Gamasatku worm hook as a souvenir.

Fished each day from approx. 12:30PM - 3:30PM, the best action coming in the River with a good current moving downstream. Largemouth were shallow inside the lilypads, the Smallmouth in amongst the rocks out in the middle of the river and Lake.

Caught 6 of the fish on my baitcaster fishing finesse worms unweighted on a Texas rig, while I had some real fun catching three of the Smallmouth on an ultralight outfit fishing a curly tail Zoom worm with 1/32 oz weight rigged Texas along the bottom.

Hit up the Mystic River near Lower Mystic Lake again, and while there's still no sign of Largemouth, the Smallmouth action continues to be good. In the span of an hour I managed to land three small ones, the biggest ones topping out around a pound. One of the coolest parts of the trip was that I saw part of the Alewife migration, and tried to capture of some of that in the 4th photo I shot. There had to be over 1,000 of them moving toward the lake in a giant "bait ball" rotating counter-clockwise, the avg. size looking to be about 6-inches.

Didn't plan on going out on Sunday afternoon with very strong winds and a temp. around 50, but I was given the opportunity to get my line wet and was pleasantly surprised by the results. Most of Lower Mystic Lake was a no-go due to the wind coming down the Lake, but I did get some casts down by where Mill Brook empties into it. Nothing there but the lily pads are coming in. I did much better once I moved over to the River and got out of the wind though. The water was a bit murkier (which I like) with just a bit of current, and in a span of about 45 minutes I caught and released two nice Smallmouth. Like the Lake, I can see some lilypads and hydrilla starting to emerge, but I didn't see any bass or small bait fish shallow, and my guess is that they'll start to show up once we get a string of warmer weather.

Believe it or not this was my first ever trip to Horn Pond, so I didn't quite know what to expect. That being said, I had a great time checking things out on a beautiful day. Wind was pretty calm for most of the day and the water was pretty clear. Didn't see much in the way of beds or structure close in, but did see a few small bass in the shallows. I really like how close some of the drop-offs are in close to shore... In any event, no bass on the day, but I did manage another first: caught the first pickerel of my life, two of them in fact. Both were caught shallow in what looked like some dead weeds/grass from last season, the first on a 4" Senko, the second on a Zoom fluke in Baby Bass color. All-in-all not a bad day out.

Decided to make the most of the nice weather this past Saturday and made a quick trip out to Lower Mystic Lake and the Upper Mystic River, more to check things out after the winter.

Couple of observations to pass along:

* The recent heavy rain contributed to a pretty significant rise in the water level in the lake and in the River, probably as much as 4 feet or more in some places. Water continues to pour into the Lake from Mill Brook and Upper Mystic via the dam.

* Looks like there should be some decent new shoreline structure as a result of the rain and wind as well, with a number of trees having fallen into the water.

* Water temperature didn't seem too bad, but no evidence of any fish in the shallows, at least not yet. I did however see a ton of baby crayfish though, probably not much bigger than my thumbnail.

* Water clarity is pretty poor from the recent rains, and the current taking water downstream from the Lake to the River is still quite strong.

* Random observation, but there was a noticeable salt/saline smell in and around the River. I'm not sure if there's a saltwater wedge that pushes up the Mystic River, but it was the first time I've noticed it.

* Fished for about 3 hours, manly bumping worms slowly along the bottom, but only got one legitimate strike on the day.

* No sign of stripers yet.

Gonna try to head out again in a few more weeks once the weather warms up and stabilizes a bit, especially some time after any recent rain, this to allow water flow to ease up in the River a good bit.

It’s been a while since I posted any trip reports, and the funny thing is I’ve been doing more fishing over the past week than I have all summer. Thing is, while the cooler weather and abundant sunshine has made these trips a pleasure, the fishing has really… REALLY slowed down, at least in my neck of the woods.

Here are a couple of observations from the last two weeks with respect to Lower Mystic Lake and the Upper Mystic River:

• Overall, water levels are down in both the Lake and River, especially so in the case of the later. In fact, when combined with the overall clarity of the water, at certain points of the river one can see the bottom from shore to shore. Good aspect of this is getting a good sense of the bottom cover; bad news is that the fish aren’t hitting there.

• Water temperature in the Lake is down considerably, with the warmest spots coming on flats, and at that, only later in the day. Action in these spots, which was pretty good a few weeks ago, has died to nothing.

• While there are still a good number of weed beds in the River, they don’t appear to be holding many fish, even on the backside with a good current or in the holes.

• I’ve seen evidence in two cases of stripers currently being in the Lake and/or River. Last weekend I saw one tearing up the surface feeding on some type of shad (or equivalent), getting it to chase my super fluke but missing it. In addition, I came across a dead one washed up on the bank near the High St. Bridge, the size about 15 – 20 lbs., which is probably not far off what I saw feeding in the Lake.

• Strikes have been few and hard to come by, with the action just starting to pick up around 6:00PM.

That being said, I have been fortunate enough to catch four fish, three of them on the very last cast of the day if you can believe it. Two were dinks, one a hair over a pound, while landing a nice 2lb-plus this afternoon. Three of the fish we caught tossing 5” Senkos along the edges of lily pads in either Pumpkin or Black, while one was caught on a 4” Senko in Watermelon w/Red Flake on a weighted Texas rig working it fast through a weed bed.

It’s tough-going, I’m working for every fish, and hopefully something of a true pattern will emerge in coming weeks.

Went out for just a few hours on Wednesday evening, and did pretty well for the short period of time.

It was deja vu all over again on fish #1, catching a nice Largemouth just off a flat in a deeper hole with a bit of submerged grass. I was tossing a 5-inch Senko in black with red flake rigged Texas & weightless, and after missing him on the first try, he came back after the Senko on the 2nd attempt. Didn't feel that big to start, but his size was almost the same as the one I caught from almost the same spot a few days earlier, although they did not appear to be the same fish.

Caught the 2nd one a ways down river between some lily pads and the shore, a little dink on a Zoom Trick Worm in Watermelon & Red Flake rigged Texas/weightless.

Went out again yesterday, 9/4, but could barely manage a strike. While the water level is up a bit in the river and the current beginning to move again, there was an oily film in the Southwest corner of the lake where I like to fish some lily pads, so I didn't even venture into the water. Hopefully this will clear up in the next week.

Hit Lower Mystic again today from around 11:30PM - 3:00PM, and had much better luck than Friday afternoon, landing three keepers, and all on the same lure: a 4-inch Senko in Watermelon/Red Flake fished Texas-style, but with a small bullet weight.

First two fish came within a few casts of each other in the lily pads at the northwest corner of the Lake. Fish #1 came the same way as one a few days ago, casting beyond the pads into deeper water and letting the Senko drift back towards them. After twitching it along the edge a bit I felt some very slight tension on the line, and set the hook. It dove for the pads, and once or twice I thought it had gotten off, but after a minute I was able to land it, hooked clean in the upper lip. Fish #2 was also caught in the pads, this one hitting it once or twice before I set the hook. Pretty much hauled this one straight in to avoid the pads, but turns out I had it very nicely hooked (see photo) and wasn't going anywhere.

The third fish came in a spot where I hadn't had much luck before but thought it held some promise, a shoreline spot a few steps from Mystic Valley Parkway. There's a shallow, rocky flat that drops off on one side where there's some nice grass beds that run from the surface on down. Rather than tossing the Senko out into the grass this time I cast perpendicular to it along the edge of the flat. I'd no sooner set it the reel gear and taken up the slack when it got creamed. Best fish of the day, coming in somewhere over 3 lbs by my estimate.

No luck in the River again though, didn't even manage a strike when flipping the pads. Not as much current as the other day, but the water is still quite low and clear enough to see the bottom in some places; nice to know the location of some good structure though when the water rises.