JG233

@DogBone_384 Man, I feel like a dumb dumb--I'm at my family's house in CT and I would've fished Candlewood with you (if you had a open seat). I should've reached out. In general, I feel like you're being too hard on yourself. Fishing twelve months a year doesn't really set you up for success. I've always thought of the New England fishing as May - Oct. It's just so unproductive otherwise. Just my two cents. Hang in there man.

haha - yeah maybe bigger?! but I don't fish with a scale these days I moved abroad a few years back, which means I only get to fish when I'm back visiting -- that also means my gear is super limited and I'm trying not to invest in too much new stuff

I fished a 60 acre pond in the kayak yesterday from 2:00 - 6:00. I have no clue about the water temp since my fish finder is apparently dead. I've fished this place once before and only caught a couple. Not sure I'll go back again. It seems like there's one spot near the outlet that produces. I caught basically nothing until getting to that spot. But once there I landed 2 LMB of 3+ lbs. They looked very similar, with big bellies, as you can see below. I got both on a wacky rig up close to some reeds. I'd call it a good day!

Can't wait to be back in New England and fishing for the next two weeks!

I'd love to hook into a 5 lb SMB. Biggest I ever got into was a little over 4 on the Quabbin.

Thanks for the photos @Pumpkin Lizard. I want to check out Lake Waramaug next time. It's a bit bigger there, any general area for me to target there? Feel free to PM me. Cheers!

The 2 bigger LMB I caught looked just like the one in your photo. And I had the same idea about fishing a bladed jig, but didn't move anything with it. All my fish came relatively shallow.

@Pumpkin Lizard I fished Mt. Tom Pond today from sunrise to about noon. I did ok: caught about 7 total, a bunch of small pickerel, but also landed 2 nice LMB that were 2-3 lbs. I targeted all the weed lines, which were mostly dead, but fishing this pond in the spring is probably great because there are a lot of weeds up shallow. It seemed like a very healthy pond. Next time I'll try one of the others recommended in this thread - thanks to all for the recs!

Thanks for the tips. I'll try them on my next trip.

One more try: any opinions?

@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!