All quiet on the Mansfield front

[imsafanct]

I fished Mansfield the past two Sunday mornings. Other than a couple hits and misses last weekend and a small pike taking a whack on my spinnerbait right at the side of my yak yesterday, I haven't seen much action. Last weekend was very comfortable weatherwise, but a bit windy, making it hard for me to keep the yak on the weed edge I wanted to fish. Yesterday started off COLD, but warmed a bit, only for the wind to really start whipping mid-morning. As I was wrapping up around 11:30, it got really dark/cloudy. If I stayed on the lake another 2-3 hours, I probably would have been fishing in a snow squall.

Both days I threw 1-2 oz. spinnerbaits searching for active fish, while also throwing a Johnson Silver Minnow, a 6" Musky Mania Jake and I made a few casts with a Jr. Double Cowgirl as well. I was really hoping to be able to use one of the many 7" or 9" Suicks I have, but I need to stand in the yak to work them correctly. Unfortunately I become a 5'11" sail when standing in the yak on windy days, so I didn't get to throw the Suicks much.

I'm determined to work that place until I figure it out, but it's been tough so far. One pike and two bass in 12-15 trips this year is discouraging at times. I'm still banking on the pike moving shallower this Fall, and I hope to be there when they do. This weekend looks milder and I'll be back there again for sure.

Hope you all are doing better than I am!

-Eric 

[eiderz]

All you can do is keep at it. They have to bite eventually.     You've built up some frequent fisherman points for sure!

[lowaccord66]

You are like this guy I know, Vin. He soends countless hours year after year on that lake with little result (he knows what hes doing though).  Sure I've seen big pike pulled from there but at some point you have to realize there just are not that many available.  If you put the same effort into the CT river you would be most pleased with your results!

[imsafanct]

I don't think it's the fish; I think it's me. I wish I knew what I was doing wrong. Am I fishing too shallow? Wrong lures, speed, presentation? I believe there are plenty of pike there and big ones too; especially since nobody else seems to hammer them there. Or does that mean exactly the opposite? LOL! How is a place just that d**n hard to fish?
 
Maybe I do owe it to myself to take a trip down the river this weekend instead. I haven't ever fished the Middletown to Haddam stretch; just a few unsuccessful trips to Salmon River Cove. But I have a few places around Haddam Meadows I'd like to try, and I've got my Rocky Hill spot as well. We'll see.

-Eric

[lowaccord66]

Fish the area arounf the Salmon river launch both north into Salmon river cove and south towards Chapmans.  I'd spend some time in front of the old power plant channel in front of the barrier too.  Nice thing is all offerings are subject to be eaten by wayward stripers.

Mansfield is a big lake, If I were interested in pike fishing it I would use leadcore setups and planner boards and troll the crap out of it.  Chances are the big fish like to stay deep there outside of most anglers reach in casting for them. 

[imsafanct]

Can I get into Chapmans w/ a yak?

-Eric

[lowaccord66]

Can I get into Chapmans w/ a yak?

-Eric

Yes you can and you can easily spend the day there.  Tough nut to crack but there can be loads of them in there at times.  Keep in mind it's Tidal so that can make it challenging.  Also we tend to lean towards the use of large live baits this time of year.  

If I wasn't chasing albies and blackfish thats where I'd be this weekend.

Also very important before my advice gets you in trouble...not knowing your paddling experience....this is a sizeable row and despite lower water levels you can expect to find significant current druing outgoing tide specifically on the goodspeed side of the river.  Plan accordingly.

[imsafanct]

The whole current thing has kept me away from the river proper so far this year, as I don't have a real boat.

We had an unfortunate incident on our first trip out this year on the river, back in early April, in my buddy's jon boat. Long story short, he dropped me off on shore at the Rocky Hill launch. I went to get the truck to load the boat and he went back out to circle around to be ready once I had the trailer in the water. He stood up in the boat and tried moving about to grab the anchor rope I mistakenly knocked into the water. He lost his balance and fell into 45 degree water, in the middle of the river. He was able to cling to the boat but he wasn't able to get back in. All I could do was watch as he disappeared South. The current eventually sent him in close to shore where a police officer was able to get to him. He was in the water for roughly 20 minutes and somehow, thank god, he was perfectly fine, although extremely cold. It wasn't until the adrenaline wore off later that night that I realized how scary that situation was or could have been.

We fished the river a lot last year in his boat, mostly in the Glastonbury/Wethersfield/Rocky Hill area and caught a few nice pike this time last year. I enjoy fishing the river very much but I don't think I'd try it in the yak. Without power, if something goes wrong, I'm just along for the ride. I also don't like the idea of paddling an hour to get to a spot, only having to paddle another hour to get back later in the day. That's why I stick to lakes, ponds and coves.

-Eric   

 

[lowaccord66]

All good points Eric.  Food for thought though and I've been fishing that river for a long time....I would never launch any sort of boat on that river in April!  Glad your friend made it.  The rule is 50/50/50.  So you have a 50% chance of surviving 50 minutes in 50 degree water so 20 minutes in what he was in is pretty lucky!

Well in light of the recent comments I wish you the best of luck in your continued skunkings, I enjoy the same most of the time in chasing pike but remember the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeateadly while expecting different results!

[imsafanct]

The easiest thing for me to do would be to just hit Keeney or Wethersfield Cove as they are so close to home and certainly safe to yak. Not to mention I know Keeney like the back of my hand. I'm just skeptical about there being any larger (3'+) fish at either of those places. But hey, I dropped a fish that was 30ish inches at Keeney back in the heat of August in skinny water while fishing from shore, so maybe I need to try there again. Would larger fish come in off the river and setup shop for a bit in the Fall in shallow weedy coves like Keeney?

-Eric

[lowaccord66]

Oh of course.  My best and I will say I do not frequent the place (wethersfield) is over 35" and it was sitting in the flooded woods.  I think the chance exists but know if I took the advise I gave you about Salmon River cove and surrounding area (excluding chapmans) The chance of a 40" fish over a weekends time is pretty reasonable.  The gem spot is the one they closed off do to homeland security...there were BIG pike in there!

[imsafanct]

10-4 on that. That looks to be about a mile, door to door. If I stay close to shore, I may be able to give it a shot. Looks like there might be a nice grass flat about halfway to the fun zone on the Eastern shore? I'm all for paddling upstream TO my destination...then I can relax on the way back. Come on Sunday!

-Eric

[lowaccord66]

10-4 on that. That looks to be about a mile, door to door. If I stay close to shore, I may be able to give it a shot. Looks like there might be a nice grass flat about halfway to the fun zone on the Eastern shore? I'm all for paddling upstream TO my destination...then I can relax on the way back. Come on Sunday!

-Eric

Yes sir that area is good and I've caught keeper holdover stripers there as well.  The shore leading up from the launch is good.  I also recommend trying to fish he last 2 hours of incomming, the slack and then the first 2 hours of outgoing.  You don't want to fish the cove if the salmon river is running too hard (it isnt) and incomming and high water provides a TON of pike habitat.  Primary forage is perch and golden shiners.  

Good luck be safe, I am pike fishing vicariously through your efforts and enjoy it.  Here is some motivation, my buddy caugt this on my boat a couple months ago in Mass:

[imsafanct]

I remember you posting that pic a bit ago. That's a beautiful fish! Howling was it? How do you post pics in this forum? I'd like to share the pic of the 37" fish I got in Rocky Hill a year ago.

-Eric

[lowaccord66]

I wasnt sure if you had seen that or not.  We didn't measure because the water was so warm we needed to revive immediately. 

To post pics you need to upload to photobucket first then copy the img link and paste it in your post.