JG233

@DogBone_384 I'll be around in early to mid May (but without gear) if you feel like giving me a backseat in your boat. Lunch or dinner is on me!

For a kayak: Highland or Squantz? What say you CT folks? I only get a day or two of fishing in while I visit from overseas. I'm looking at a map of Highland; it looks real interesting.

Hey man, I'm in Zurich now. I still dip into the forums now and then. I'll reach out when I'm in the US next Spring (probably May). Last time I came I went on an all out bass fishing binge for 48 hours. I'm hoping to do this same next year. I have a one year old son now, so this year has been all about him. Hope all is well!

Thanks for all the info!

@NorcalBassin - which sites do you like these days? Thanks!

That's a beast! Nice one!

Good days on the water. It was a fishing extravaganza: 2 days, 16 hours of fishing and paddling, 40 odd fish, and a very sore back and shoulders. Water temps were around 68 the entire time. Most fish were caught on a paddle tail, ned rig, or grub. I kept it simple and simple worked fine. Most bass were right around 2 lbs, give or take. I might have lost a bigger one who got acrobatic right after I set the hook, but the bass you didn't really see, and lost, is always the biggest one. I also caught the occasional perch and pickerel to keep things interesting. This is the average bass I was catching:

I'll be in the area and fishing soon!

There are 200 pages of info here and lots of water is named. When I first joined years ago I read through this entire thread. Welcome to the forums, have fun!

Edit: Whoops! I meant to respond to the new Candlewood post. Didn't mean to drag this one back up. Quick Candlewood question - is it possible to kayak fish one or two of the bays early or late in the season before or after all the pleasure boats are around? Just wondering where to try and fish, and what ramp to use. Thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

3 words: fish the Q ?

I'll be around soon for a couple weeks. Hope to connect!

I think the warm weather late next week is going to turn things on. Unfortunately by then I'll be on a plane heading back overseas. Hopefully I catch a strong summer bite when I'm back. Until then, good luck all!

No joy @DogBone_384. I spent the day getting kicked all over the Q. I had one SMB on early, but it came unbuttoned at the boat. Otherwise I took the skunk. My fishing partner came up with nada as well, not even a hit. I think I'm taking this week off, maybe the wind will finally calm down.

I fished Bantam Lake in CT yesterday. I launched around 1:00 and wrapped up around 6:00. The water temp peaked at 58 degrees. It was a tough day fighting the wind. I caught a few perch and a 3 lb Pickerel. I still haven't a caught a bass this year! Tomorrow I'm fishing The Q. Hopefully tomorrow is the day.

Yeah, Webster was tough yesterday. I caught 2 in a full day of fishing: a good sized and aggressive Tiger Trout early and then a huge Pickerel that probably went about 4 lbs. I made the standard move of thinking I had a big SMB bass on until I got the Pickerel close to the boat. Oh Pickerel, what a trickster you are. I'm hoping to get out again sometime this week.

Tom turns 80! I'll be around for about a month beginning in mid April. Hope to see some folks.

I'll take the kayak salute. I learned my lesson this year too and finally got a few leashes for my gear. The tipping point was losing a brand new pair of stainless steel pliers to the drink after owning them for less than twenty-four hours. It was completely demoralizing.

Indeed, and post pics of the new PB's if you've got them!

I'd love to try one of the Kistler's. I'm down to 3 essential setups now, but I caught most of my fish by going finesse during all my recent trips. I'm not sure what else I might want to pick up since my opportunities to fish are limited for the next few years. I'm mainly picking up kayak gear and tackle.

No worries, next summer! I got out a bunch though and had a great time fishing. I even started making out a gear list of baits and stuff I need for next year. HA!

I'm on a plane back overseas in a few days, but I got one more fishing trip in this week. I ended up having a huge numbers day. I caught about a dozen pickerel in the first two hours, then nothing for two hours, and finally finished up the last couple hours of the day catching about a dozen bass. Fun day, but nothing of any real size. The biggest bass went probably 3 lbs or so. After, I packed up all my gear for storage with family and got my kayak put away...unit next year!

Grats on the new truck! I've been back and bass fishing for the last few weeks and every time out has been pretty good. I'm looking forward to getting out this week too.

Got out for a few hours today on Bantam Lake in CT. I've never visited it before, but it has a good rep for Pike, SMB, and LMB. I landed a 3lb SMB within the first hour near a weedy point. Then I spent the next few hours paddling around, getting nothing. A pike or pickerel bit me off, but other than that--nothing. I found lots of green weed beds. Water temp peaked at 68. It was a good day. Worth it for the one SMB.

I fished a shallow pond from 7:30 to 3:30 yesterday. The water temp peaked at around 66. I caught around a dozen fish in total, mostly LMB with some small pickerel mixed in. Most of the bass were 2-3 lbs, and healthy with lots of fight in them. I did catch one outstanding fish while working a particularly productive stretch of water that's rocky and weedy. I tossed out a natural colored wacky worm and repositioned the kayak a bit. So the worm had time to soak. When I picked the rod back up and gave it a probing lift, there was some weight there. I reeled down and set the hook and the weight didn't move much; it took a moment before I realized there was a fish on. The bass refused to surface and I worried about getting stuck in the weeds. When it did come up I had to knock down one jump right near the kayak. The photo (like solo ones often are) doesn't really show the size, which was 4+ lbs. Great day fishing, although it was windier than expected.