CAGI Connecticut, Scouting and General Info Options

[Jerome]

After spending Saturday at Kissena, it seemed logical to pay a visit today to the tentative venue for the CAGI New England 2005, West Thompson lake (CT), which is an artificial lake created by a dam on Quinnepaug river.

The location is great, very close to MA and RI, while still in CT. Very easy to find via route 395. A bit more than an hour of driving from the Boston area. No problem for fishing licenses, there is a Walmart nearby, and yes, they know how to sell licenses to non-residents (ahem, not like TX!)...

Here is an overview of the lake, pic taken from the dam. The overall size of the lake is comparable to Quannapowitt (but the access and scenery are not!).

Somewhere on the right side, there is the boat launch (not easy to see on this pic), and a nice campground for those of you who like to do camping. Also there are proper amenities for a barbecue, so I know what we'll do after fishing if somebody is kind enough to volunteer organizing this part of this event.

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[Jerome]

Left part of the lake. If you look closely enough, you'll see a bass boat, there were a few on the lake today.

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[Jerome]

What about the access? Well, although I spent several hours scouting the venue walking around it (most of the time in the woods), I... don't know!

Fact is the lake banks are designed to be flooded when need be. And it actually was higher by 2 feet than usual (according to the locals) and the shore was very different from what I supposed it usually is.

Look at this map on the left side, the dark blue is the normal lake, the light blue is the zone of flooding! Impressive!

Still, overall, there are very few public access roads, and most of the shore requires quite some walking to get to, and not necessarily an easy trek. So better not bring 50 pounds of gear... And bring boots because the shore is very wet in some spots.

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[Jerome]

I did see a few carp jumping, and locals confirmed their existence even if nobody seems to fish for them (good!). Plus anyway, we know for a fact the venue can be very productive. I couldn't speak with the locak park managers (office wasn't open), but I doubt there will be any conflicting event.

We planned to scout again with Mike Dragone next week-end, and we'll give it a try (no, I didn't try to fish this time, it took quite some time to walk around the lake!). So stay tuned...

I am not sure we'll be able to accomodate many people in this location, but we also have the NY event (Onandaga) in the region, so we'll work something out.

[Jerome]

One last pic which cracked me up. No, the dog wasn't the owner/driver of this bike although it really looked like it!

The "dog with a look" patiently stayed there while the owner was having a quick lunch at a local restaurant (where I too enjoyed good food and pleasant service).

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[Big Carphuna]

Can it be done?
Good pics...sleeping beauty!

[SteveW33]

i've never fished that water, but have spent a ton of time on the Shetucket and Quinnebog. both have oodles and oodles of carp between 10 and 18 pounds. when might this event happen?

[Jerome]

i've never fished that water, but have spent a ton of time on the Shetucket and Quinnebog. both have oodles and oodles of carp between 10 and 18 pounds. when might this event happen?

June 25th. See more details on this Web page.

Actually, I was going to PM you, Steve. You live quite close from this location, I believe. Maybe could you help in some way? Trying to locate good spots in advance, maybe pre-bait the week before with some maize?

[Big Carphuna]

Being in Arlington, Jerome, you arent much further than he is. He lives in Fitchburg... MA, that is...

[SteveW33]

hi jerome
i did move to Leominster, MA late last summer. We still may be able to work something out though .let met know

[Jerome]

Scouting Part 2. With active support from Mike Dragone!

Well, not much to add. The water was down by a feet or two, and it's quite clear that there are much more openings than visible the first time I went. Surely, we can accomodate 20 anglers. But beware, quite some walk/hike to reach the swims...

Carp were jumping quite often in the morning up to noon, but didn't bite that much. We got a handful of small ones at the end of the day, good fighters. Sounds that we need a good pre-baiting campaign to make sure they'll come to accessible spots.

This is really a nice venue, very scenic, lots of things to try (take advantage of the CAGI rule allowing you to move after 10AM will likely be important). A few annoying bass boats, but this stays reasonable. I was pleasantly surprised to not find an army of Sunday shore anglers. Actually, none at all! Excellent...

So I need pre-baiting helpers, and a barbecue specialist! Speak up, guys...

[Big Carphuna]

How big (fish) and how many showed up?

[MarkTheShark]

I will be doing the barbecue and I think NJ Rob will be teaming with me to bring you guys some tasty barbecued delights
I don't know how you guys feel about this, but maybe a few could make up something special for the barbeque. Possibly a special family homemade chili recipe? Maybe an italian pasta dish? Your call, all we are looking for is something a little bit different to add to the typical barbequed foods. Obviously, we don't own a kitchen, so if you bring something that needs to be heated up, it needs to be in a pot.

I'm just throwing a few ideas out,

Anyone...

[Jerome]

A few more info on the CAGI CT. Mike D. and myself thought that some river fishing would be great as a post-CAGI event on Sunday (June 26th).

So Mike will bring those of us interested in such experience to a great location on the Connecticut river.

Please click here for a map of East Haddam, CT by MapQuest.

Click here for some directions from West Thompson (where we'll fish on Saturday) to East Haddam. This is ~75 miles. This goes through highway #95 where you'll easily find motels if you want to sleep in this area on Saturday night.

The location isn't terribly big, can maybe hold a half dozen guys. There is another spot a couple miles north of the route 82 bridge (off of 149). It is a state boat launch, there is room on the far left side of the parking lot where 2 or 3 guys can fish.

This will be river fishing at it's best, 3 oz leads minimum! Strong tides!