1 hour ago, thediscochef said:

I am so sick of this wind I could scream.

Amen, and just as it'll be letting up, we'll go back into the freezer next week. Teens at night.

 

@thediscochef, just keep fishing man. I had no business fishing Sunday but it ended up in a 24 lb striped bass 

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

Amen, and just as it'll be letting up, we'll go back into the freezer next week. Teens at night.

 

I've got a low of 9 in my forecast Monday lmao I'll be working anyway tho

The water is still soft in Connecticut…

1 hour ago, Jamesg0418 said:

The water is still soft in Connecticut…

Big fat bass! Share what you are catching them on if you would. Looks like some bridge pilings were in the story somewhere.

2 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Big fat bass! Share what you are catching them on if you would. Looks like some bridge pilings were in the story somewhere.

Yeah it’s a place called Wethersfield cove, awesome place for numbers but not normally size.  From the cove you can take folly brook out to the CT river.  The mouth of the cove/brook is killer during the tide change, and generally that’s when the bigger fish come out.  These were caught on 7” Ramsey Core shot Curl tail worms.  These photos are not from recently, but you can see the bridge and the brook from the previous photos in the background.  Pretty sure Wethersfield cove used to be a pirate hangout at some point in history.

You folks in the New England area that catch green fish amaze me!

 

It's cultural down here, but up there you really have to march to your own beat to target them.  

5 hours ago, Jamesg0418 said:

The water is still soft in Connecticut…

My buddy was just up at Candlewood.

7 hours ago, thediscochef said:

I've got a low of 9 in my forecast Monday lmao I'll be working anyway tho

The high here on Monday is 2 below. That’s the HIGH. Lol

 

And yet some lakes are still open water here as of today. They will be frozen solid in a week. The fake winter was fun while it lasted.

5 hours ago, gimruis said:

The fake winter was fun while it lasted.

Amen to that brother. First time I've ever been able to fish clear into January. 

 We got a bunch of warm rain two days ago, but the extended forecast is looking like typical January. If it holds the lakes will have a lid on them by late next week.

5 hours ago, T-Billy said:

First time I've ever been able to fish clear into January. 

 

I don't know how long you've lived there but have you ever seen it like this right into the middle of January?  I sure haven't.  And I'm quite a ways north of you.

11 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Gosh, that's a looooooooooong bass, @PhishLI. And his arms aren't extended, so I can see how loooooooooong it is. Wow. Did he get a length?

Long as a rake handle. Looks like . 

31 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

I don't know how long you've lived there but have you ever seen it like this right into the middle of January?  I sure haven't.  And I'm quite a ways north of you.

All my life. This is the mildest start to winter that I can recall. We've had some others that weren't much colder though. It's been this way all year. With last year's spring being long, and unseasonably cold, everything's been about three weeks late this year. The spawn, weed growth, the fall cool down... That carried right over into winter. 

Ol Man Winter is on the way though. Snow all weekend, then temps falling into single digit lows, with highs in the teens and twenty's next week. Looking like an "interesting" work week for us truck drivers.

56 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

  11 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Gosh, that's a looooooooooong bass, @PhishLI. And his arms aren't extended, so I can see how loooooooooong it is. Wow. Did he get a length?

He didn't mention length. He didn't weigh it either after a long fight in deep water. But yes, that sucka is long.

It's the longest smallmouth I've seen posted at BR. 

 

Stay safe, Tim. 

19 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You folks in the New England area that catch green fish amaze me!

 

It's cultural down here, but up there you really have to march to your own beat to target them.  

We only have green ones and brown ones lol.  This one came out of lillinona a few weeks ago.

 

19 hours ago, PhishLI said:

My buddy was just up at Candlewood.

does your buddy have a black kind?  He looks familiar, we are in candlewood a lot.

 

I think for New England winter has shifted a month late.  Last year was warm also, and looking back at snow records it’s mostly late January and February now.  April has been pretty darn cold the last few years also.

 

we ride the Pittsburg ridge runners trails up in New Hampshire, they have been opening later and later every year.  

 

5 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

It's the longest smallmouth I've seen posted at BR. 

 

Stay safe, Tim. 

Candlewood is a small mouth factory now that the grass is gone.  And theirs some big ones in there.  I got a 5.1 earlier this year in about 50’ of water.

 

 

We are taking the boat down to Florida for the next couple of weeks to fish the kissimee chain and headwaters,  hopefully we can find some monsters.  I’ve never fished outside of CT before so we are amped.

@Jamesg0418, that's another long smallmouth. I'd like to take a Candlewood bass (long) and breed it with a Menderchuck bass (fat). Presto, in ten years or so, a new world record!

3 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@Jamesg0418, that's another long smallmouth. I'd like to take a Candlewood bass (long) and breed it with a Menderchuck bass (fat). Presto, in ten years or so, a new world record!

Sounds good to me…. It’s unfortunate, the state added a ton of grass carp to candlewood which has impacted fishing severely.  There’s almost no grass in the place now.  I heard someone pulled a 9 lb LM out of it this year, which is a monster for CT.

Weather was pretty pleasant this afternoon with sun and temp in the low 40's. Managed nine, none real big but satisfying considering the forecast. This will doubtless be my last outing for a good while with the promised return of the polar vortex. Single digit temps and wind are going to be a shock after such an easy start to winter. Years ago it seemed we were always iced over until March. Hope that doesn't happen now. Gotta keep the 12 months of bass going.

3 hours ago, Jamesg0418 said:

does your buddy have a black kind?  He looks familiar, we are in candlewood a lot.

He has a black Tracker Targa with a bunch of graphs on it, but that day he was being guided by Paul Mueller on his boat.

Blue skies, SW wind 6-10 mph, and a high of 59 degrees made for nice conditions out on the water today. With the local lake trashed and likely unfishable for the next couple weeks, I decided to head to what I thought should be the clearest lake. Wasn’t totally shocked to see stained water when I pulled up, but upon closer examination, it was not the fresh red clay colored stuff, just a good stain with 12”-15” of visibility (normally 4 ft. or better). Water temps were 45 degrees.

 

Headed out and started shallow on some riprap without any luck, then a steep bank with some laydowns - still no good. Moved uplake to the last area I found them grouped up on, and finally got a bite - from a 4-11 bass. That one bite made my afternoon, but slowed down and worked through the larger area and came up with 3 more keepers. Down to the last 20-25 minutes, so I returned to the area where I got that first big bite, and sure enough, about 50 yds down the breakline I stuck and landed a 5-4 to complete my limit. 
 

More rain in the forecast, possibly 1-2 inches, followed by a good shot of cold air. No idea when that next trip will be, but I know where I’ll be going.

 

 

 

33 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

He has a black Tracker Targa with a bunch of graphs on it, but that day he was being guided by Paul Mueller on his boat.

Does he fish the Nebassin tournament division?

2 minutes ago, Jamesg0418 said:

Does he fish the Nebassin tournament division?

No. Just gets up there occasionally.

Killin it @Team9nine 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🎣🎣🎣

Nice fatty @Team9nine !