Bass Fishing in Eastern Connecticut

The anglers that pursue bass fishing in Connecticut are just as passionate about their hobby as those located in parts of the country that you normally associate with bass fishing, namely the southern states. But even up here in Connecticut, bass fishing is a year-round obsession with many fishermen, me included. I have recently had the time to do a lot of bass fishing, and the results have been mixed. However, I did manage to catch my personal best largemouth while bass fishing with my brother Peter.

Peter and I have been bass fishing in earnest for the last couple of years now. Mostly, we were doing our bass fishing through the ice, but this spring and summer I have been able to persuade Peter to join me on less solid water. We have an inflatable Sea Eagle dinghy that we can take anywhere; it can be blown up with a foot pump in less than ten minutes and fits in the trunk of my car. With our Sea Eagle, our bass fishing has expanded to include local lakes and ponds that we could only have fished from the shore in days past.

Connecticut’s record largemouth bass was caught in 1961 at Mashapaug Lake in Union. The monster weighed twelve pounds and fourteen ounces, and is the third oldest record in the books in the state. While bass fishing at Shenipsit Lake in Tolland in 1980, an angler caught what is still the Connecticut record smallmouth; it tipped the scale at seven pounds and twelve ounces. Peter and I have no such illusions while bass fishing, but we cannot deny how exciting it is to hook a lunker. Peter is just happy if he can get a look at the fish, while I am happy once it is in the boat. And we could not be any different in our bass fishing techniques.

Peter’s approach to bass fishing from the boat on lakes and ponds is one of patience, as he slowly retrieves his Mann’s Jelly Worm, bouncing it off the bottom. When he feels a bite, he waits and waits and then sets the hook and he and the fish are off to the races. I, on the other hand, have been bass fishing with Culprit artificial worms, which are smaller than Peter’s Jelly Worms. I have done well with a black and white Culprit worm lately; I fish them much faster than Peter. I cast out and do a medium to fast retrieve, and when the fish hits I try to set the hook. Mann’s Jelly Worms and Culprit worms can be found in most stores’ fishing aisles; if you can’t find them, then simply go to any bass fishing or bait site online.

Since I live close by to Moosup Pond in Plainfield, Connecticut we have been on it bass fishing many times this year. Moosup Pond is a 96 acre lake that is not very deep, perhaps twelve to fourteen feet at the deepest point. The north end is very shallow and full of lily pads, just what you look for while bass fishing. Peter and I had great success in the late spring catching numerous largemouths using our methods. Peter will stay with his slow retrieve worm no matter what while I am more impatient and have a tendency to throw everything in my tackle box at the fish in an attempt to see what they are hitting. The bass fishing in Moosup Pond is good, but we have yet to land the big one. Peter has had a couple of really nice fish on, but is still losing sleep over not getting them even to the surface for a look. He still has nightmares about the one that got away two winters ago at Moosup, a huge largemouth he had halfway out of the water before it turned the bass fishing tables and dropped back down the hole.

Glasgo Pond in Griswold is another lake that we tried bass fishing, but despite perfectly calm conditions we managed to catch only a couple worth mentioning. Pachaug Pond, the largest lake in our part of eastern Connecticut, offers excellent bass fishing, but we have yet to make an excursion there. While bass fishing on the ice over the past two winters, we have done well at such places as Bishop’s Swamp in Andover, West Thompson Lake in Thompson and Quaddick Reservoir in Thompson, but we caught nothing to rival the fish I recently landed while fishing at a nameless private lake this July.

Using my Culprit worm and fast retrieve method, I had been having good luck, catching quite a few one bass in the two pound range. But ironically, I made a cast near a dock and then stopped to adjust my seat in the boat. When I did, the line started to go, and when I grabbed the pole and set the hook, I could see that I had on a good sized fish. Finally I got it to the boat and Peter netted it; it was my best bass fishing result ever, a fish that weighted in at just under five pounds. When we go bass fishing, we always practice catch and release, so this fellow was unhooked and sent on his way after a pair of photo ops. Peter caught several bass as well, but did not match mine, although many of his were in the three pound range. He is thinking about branching out into the use of other lures such as a Moss-Mouse and fake frogs, as we both now suffer from bass fishing fever.

For smallmouth action, I have been bass fishing in the Quinebaug River for years, using bait such as live night crawlers and plastic jigs. The Quinebaug is normally quite low in the summer, and I am able to put on a pair of old sneakers and walk right in, bass fishing up and down about a one mile stretch of the river. Nothing beats the fight a good-sized smallie can give, and even though I haven’t indoctrinated Peter to this type of bass fishing yet, it’s only a matter of time before I do. With the triple option of bass fishing on the ice in winter, the lakes and ponds in spring, summer, and fall, or wading down the river, Peter and I may just eclipse that Connecticut state record after all.