I had an hour and 15 minutes to kill while my son was at his kempo karate class, so I headed over to Nod Brook WMA. I hoped that the rain would stop and, if so, planned to just fish from the shore, even though I had my Trophy 126 kayak on the roof of my car. Immediately after I arrived at the area between the two ponds at 6:00 pm, the rain stopped. Hallelujah! The sky remained overcast with clouds and the air was cool. Surprisingly, I had no problems with any mosquitos. I decided to try the upper (i.e., south) pond first. The water level in the pond is really low:
Areas that were under a foot of water a couple of weeks ago are now high, dry and covered with terrestrial vegetation. I threw an unweighted bullfrog colored Zoom Horny Toad frog over the weeds to the right of the culvert. On my second cast, I got a hit, set the hook and landed a small largemouth bass:
I walked over to the sandy beach where the culvert empties into the lower (i.e., north) pond and threw the frog parallel to the south shore. I got two hits on one cast, but missed the hookset both times. By this time, I was getting excited because there was a lot of activity around me: largemouth bass were hitting the frog, sunnies were schooling, turtles were splashing, bugs were jumping on the water everywhere and fish were rising. So I decided to get my kayak off of the roof of my car and paddle around the lower pond. Now, a couple of weeks ago I couldn't buy a strike on a frog. I figured that today would be different, but didn't get another hit on my frog for an hour while I paddled all over the pond. As 7:00 pm neared, right when I thought that I would have to leave to pick up my son, he called to tell me that he had a ride home. Hallelujah, again! When I got to the north end of the pond at 7:15 pm, the action finally picked up. I boated largemouth bass that were 15, 17, 12, 12 and 14 inches long. The 17 incher was a chunk! Once again, I didn't have my digital scale with me, but I'm pretty sure that it weighed at least three pounds:
[Oops! I forgot to take photos of the second 12 incher and the 14 incher!]
Here are a couple of videos that I shot with my iPhone:
Here's a photo of the 19 incher and one of the last 12 incher that I caught at 8:05 pm:
I was surprised at how aggressively the bass hit the frog today. I've never had such a good strike to hookset ratio. I probably missed only a couple of hooksets from the kayak. Once they hit it, they didn't want to let it go. I think that I'll head back to Nod Brook again on a sunny day to see whether I can pull any fish off of the bottom through the weeds. The really big largemouth bass and the chain pickerel have to be hiding in there somewhere! _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:43 am Post subject: Re: Nod Brook WMA 07/25
PECo wrote:
I was surprised at how aggressively the bass hit the frog today. I've never had such a good strike to hookset ratio.
Dare I guess that you've started throwing the frog since all of this heat and sun have been around? A little overcast weather and a sprinkle of fresh rain to help oxygenate the water will do wonders to turn on the bite.
I had mentioned in one of your earlier posts about hitting up Batterson when this weather finally arrived...if this pattern hold for another day Phil, nows the time.
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 6:35 am Post subject:
Lately, unfortunately, I've had to work my fishing in around my kids', my nephews' and my wife's schedules. I'll probably head to Batterson around noon today, while my kids and nephews are at Lake Compounce. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Good stuff as always Phil. What if a whopper nailed your frog with your phone in your mouth! Do you think you would've kerplunked it!?1?! _________________ Never give up!
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The sky remained overcast with clouds and the air was cool. Surprisingly, I had no problems with any mosquitos. I decided to try the upper (i.e., south) pond first. The water level in the pond is really low:
I figured that today would be different, but didn't get another hit on my frog for an hour while I paddled all over the pond. 
As 7:00 pm neared, right when I thought that I would have to leave to pick up my son, he called to tell me that he had a ride home. Hallelujah, again! 
When I got to the north end of the pond at 7:15 pm, the action finally picked up. I boated largemouth bass that were 15, 17, 12, 12 and 14 inches long. The 17 incher was a chunk! Once again, I didn't have my digital scale with me, but I'm pretty sure that it weighed at least three pounds:
