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Author:
PECo
Date:
Oct 13, 2010
Subject:
Black Pond 10/13
Message:
I decided to fish Black Pond with TurtleKiss (aka Kira) based on her recommendation of it as a pond with a deep dropoff from the shore. Just so you know, she wasn't kidding about that! :D I got on the water in my Hobie at 9:15 am, after talking with a couple of pretty cool shore fishermen. They gave me the lowdown on the locations of the old bait shop and the steepest dropoff. I pedaled around for just a bit before Kira showed up around 9:30 am. It was cold in the shade, probably around 50 degrees, but the sun was already hitting the water on the western shore. it soon warmed up to 60 degrees. The water was clear down to four feet and the water temperature hung around 60 degrees. There was a steady northwest wind that was probably around 10 miles per hour. Here's a map of the pond: [img:bb85ba37a8]http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2483/mapbv.jpg[/img:bb85ba37a8] After Kira launched, she headed straight for the shallows and the pads in the northwest corner. I was skeptical that largemouth bass would hold in such shallow water at these temperatures, so I headed down the western shore. I tried to troll a large black spinnerbait with double willow blades in about 10 feet of water, but had trouble staying on that depth. It seemed like I was always either in four feet or 16 feet of water. There were still enough submerged weeds that trolling in less than eight feet of water was tough. When I got to the south end of the pond (small green circle on map), I saw that trout were rising all over the place. And by rising, I mean actively feeding on the surface and sometimes leaping completely out of the water. :o I saw many that were at least 18 inches long. I switched to a little white crankbait and got a good hit from a trout on my second cast, but it spit the hook after only a couple of cranks of my reel. After that, I got nothing. At this point, I was determined to land one, so I tied on and tried a smaller silver crankbait and a small chartreuse spinnerbait, but the trout weren't interested. In the meantime, Kira had given up on the shallows and allowed the wind to blow Dinghbat down to where I was. While I was futilely trying to land a trout, I saw a green jonboat with a small motor head from the launch and into the cove in the southwest corner of the pond. When the boat came back out, I noticed that it was heading straight to me. It was only then that I realized it was a DEP guy. Yes, I answered my second survey of the year and provided my Conservation Identification Number for the second time. When I was done with the survey, I told the DEP guy that Kira wouldn't be too thrilled to have her Conservation Identification Number checked, [i:bb85ba37a8][b:bb85ba37a8]again[/b:bb85ba37a8][/i:bb85ba37a8]. However, when he turned and saw her, he yelled, "Koopa!", and I knew that they knew each other. It turns out that he's a friend of Kira's. but that didn't stop him from getting her Conservation Identification Number. . . for the 10th time! :evil: Of course, she has it memorized. While Kira was taking the survey and catching up with the DEP guy, I decided to head into the cove in the southwest corner of the pond. There's a canal of sorts through heavy pads and weeds that goes through a chokepoint, underneath some high tension power lines, and into a clear cove next to Thorpe Avenue and Birdsey Avenue (large green circle on map). Is it just me or does anyone else get the creeps when pedaling/paddling underneath high tension power lines? :shock: The buzzing noise kills me. When I got to the cove, I pulled out the wacky five inch pumpkin/red flake Senko and finally landed a fish. It was a 15 inch, one pound, nine ounce largemouth bass: [img:bb85ba37a8]http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/5374/2010101315inch1pound9ou.jpg[/img:bb85ba37a8] As I worked my way around the cove, I landed another largemouth bass, only a 12 incher, also on the wacky Senko. Kira finally made it back to the cove and started working her way around it, so I decided to throw the black spinnerbait in eight to 12 feet of water. I cranked it slowly so that it would run deep. While Kira was being asked by a guy on the shore to join the Meriden PBA, which is a club that's located right on the cove, I landed an 18 inch chain pickerel: [img:bb85ba37a8]http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/5100/2010101318inchchainpick.jpg[/img:bb85ba37a8] Yes, I finally got a decent pickerel. However, after landing so many large northern pike in Lake Champlain, my opinion of what size of pickerel is decent has changed. I used to think that 18 inches was decent, but am now thinking that 24 inches fits the bill. However, it was still fun when the pickerel hit the spinnerbait. I had to get off the water by 3:00 pm and wanted to fish the big part of the pond before I left, but Kira couldn't leave the cove because she still had the skunk on her boat. So I left her there, and headed through the channel and back to the south end of the pond. The trout were still rising, but they didn't want my little white crankbait. I spoke with a couple of guys who were in a jonboat with a dog. They said that they were fishing for trout, but hadn't landed any. I think that a fly fisherman would have kicked butt out there today. I worked my way along the eastern shore and back to the launch, pitching my wacky Senko toward the shore, but I didn't get any hits. The eastern shore drops off [b:bb85ba37a8]very[/b:bb85ba37a8] steeply. 15 feet off of the shore, the depth is already 20 feet. Unfortunately, my finder didn't mark [b:bb85ba37a8][i:bb85ba37a8]any[/i:bb85ba37a8][/b:bb85ba37a8] fish on my way back in. Where the heck did they go? Anyway, Black Pond is a beautiful pedal/paddle, but the fishing was very challenging, to say the least. Hopefully, Kira landed at least one after I left. I think she yelled that she was getting some hits on a jig when I saw her last. She'll have to fill in those blanks.
Author:
weekend angler
Date:
Oct 13, 2010
Message:
Whats a Conservation Identification Number for? I'm just curious, in case I need one. Nice fish Peco
Author:
PECo
Date:
Oct 13, 2010
Message:
The Conservation Identification Number is the number on your fishing license. I hope that you have one. . . . :shock: You definitely need one.
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