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Author:
PECo
Date:
Dec 14, 2012
Subject:
Connecticut River - Haddam Meadows 12/12
Message:
I saw that we were finally going to get a break in the weather, so NWDarkcloud (aka Bob) and I decided to fish the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant Canal from Haddam Meadows. We knew that it would be cold, with the high temperature forecast to be only 40 degrees, but the wind was also forecast to blow at up to only six miles per hour. When I left my house to pick up Bob, I realized that I had forgotten to bring along my new Mr. Heater Portable Buddy propane heater. :x After I picked him up, he kept pointing out all of the ice that he saw on our way down to Haddam Meadows. :roll: Yeap, it was cold! When we arrived at the ramp, the sun was shining and there was just a little bit of chop on the water. I checked the weather forecast one last time and found that it had changed. The high temperature was now forecast to be 41 degrees, but the wind was also now forecast to blow at up to eight miles per hour. :x Don't you love meteorologists? :twisted: Normally, I attach a rope onto The Other Woman, Too, launch her into the river and pull her back to the ramp with the rope before we board her and take off. This time, however, I told Bob that he should get aboard, I would launch him into the river and then he could come back to the ramp to pick me up. After I launched him into the river and parked the Jeep, I saw him doing donuts in the river about 75 yards off of the ramp and noticed that the stern of the boat was sitting low in the water. [i:bfcf24b0ac]Waaay[/i:bfcf24b0ac] too low! :shock: It was only then that I realized I had forgotten to put the plug in the bung hole. :oops: I began running toward the ramp, waving my arms and yelling, "Come back to the ramp! Come back to the ramp!" Bob did a couple of more donuts before he finally heard me yell, "You're sinking!" He immediately hit the switch to turn on the bilge pump and gunned the motor back to the ramp. By the time the bow hit the ramp, water had started to bubble up through the drain in the floor. We ended up putting the boat back onto the trailer to drain her out. As a result, we didn't actually leave the ramp until about 9:30 am. High tide in East Haddam was at 10:27 am, so we fished both sides of the slack high tide. When we got into the mouth of the canal, we were alee of the wind. The water temperature was 38 degrees and the water was murky from the incoming tide. I began throwing a Pearl Silver 2-1/2 inch Gulp! Minnow on a 1/16 ounce fishhead jighead with my ultralight setup, while Bob rigged his setup. I saw a big swirl in the channel as a big fish rose up in the water behind Bob, so I threw the minnow jig at it. After I let the minnow jig fall almost to the bottom of the channel, I gave it a twitch and felt the rod load up as I pulled the slack out of the eight pound test line. I loosened my drag, but quickly worked the fish to the surface and Bob got it into the net: [img:bfcf24b0ac]http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9373/img4281cropped.jpg[/img:bfcf24b0ac] [img:bfcf24b0ac]http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/2379/img4280cropped.jpg[/img:bfcf24b0ac] It was a solid 22 inch, two pound, 11 ounce chain pickerel. It's strange; earlier this year, I caught northern pike, but not chain pickerel in the canal. Lately, though, I've been catching pickerel, but not pike. :? Anyway, only eight minutes later, the minnow jig also got me a yellow perch: [img:bfcf24b0ac]http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/1985/img4284cropped.jpg[/img:bfcf24b0ac] Yeap, I had two fish in the boat before Bob had even finished rigging his setup. 8) We fished the laydowns near the mouth of the canal, but didn't get anything off of them. When we passed them, the wind rose a bit. It appeared to be blowing straight down the canal from the north-northwest, so we decided to head directly to the cove at the end of the canal. Unfortunately, there was very little relief from the wind in the cove. :? Neither of us got a bite until almost two hours later, when Bob finally got a hit on a silver and black Rat-L-Trap, and boated a 21 inch chain pickerel: [img:bfcf24b0ac]http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/1452/img4287cropped.jpg[/img:bfcf24b0ac] We decided to work our way back down the canal with the outgoing tide. I alternated throwing the minnow jig, and a blue and white Strike King Redeye Shad, but mostly stuck with the minnow jig, because I wanted to catch a black crappie. I had to be home just after 3:00 pm, which meant that we had to get out of the canal around 2:00 pm, so I fished with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, neither Bob nor I got as much as a nibble for the next 2-1/2 hours. Finally, at 2:15 pm, I got a hit on the minnow jig: [img:bfcf24b0ac]http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/1359/img4288cropped.jpg[/img:bfcf24b0ac] Crappie! :D We left immediately after I boated the crappie and were off of the water by 2:45 pm. I'm glad we were able to end the day with a fish, especially after the way it started! :lol:
Author:
JimiChanga
Date:
Dec 14, 2012
Message:
Nice to hear no major boating issues! Specially at this time of year. You didn't get skunked so that's always a good thing. That pickerel issue is interesting tho, I never caught, or even saw one caught there or in the CT river until just a couple of years ago. Strange... John.
Author:
Michael
Date:
Dec 14, 2012
Message:
Nice pickerel and perch Phil! A 2 pound 11 ounce chain pickerel on that setup must have been lots of fun!
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