2 1/2 Hours On Upper Mystic
This lake is pretty close to my house but until this year I haven't spent much time there. It's always hit or miss with more misses (or so it seems) until I set myself up with a Skeet Reese flipping stick. Now I can fish those pads with confidence. I started off by taking a left off the ramp and going past the boat club. I started throwing a jig around the docks and bagged a 3 lb Larry on my 3rd or 4th cast (WHITE LIGHTNING). I worked my way down hitting all of the floating docks and boat buoy's with the jig or a crankbait with no luck. I got to the first pod of pads and worked the edges with the jig and the crank. Still no takers so I pull out the 8' black and yellow flippin stick. I have a 1 1/2 ounce tungsten flippin weight with a red 4/0 gamakatsu hook and a red and black Havock wide load for a bait. I'm liking these Havock plastics. They're cheap and they catch fish. I've been getting better and better with my presentation. At first, when I was pitching this setup it was like a bomb was hitting as it entered the water. I've got it going in a lot more smoothly now. (That's what she said) I make a cast, it hits the water with a light splash and shoots to the bottom like only a 1 1/2 ounce weight can. Right away I feel the tic tic tic and set the hook. I have the rod tip way up high and am reeling in as fast as I can. The fish comes right up to the top and I pull him through the pads without incident. Here's the funny part. I netted the 3 pounder but swung aboard the 4 pounder. After I did it I was like WTF? I hardly ever swing fish in especially if they're big. I think it may have been something about the power of the rod or something. I weighed him to make sure my 4 pound guess was right. 4.3 was the official Shawn White weight. I didn't catch anything after this and left about an hour later. I was wicked tired
White Lightning has been a work horse. I was using a St Croix mojo jig rod ($100 rod) and White lightning blows it away
Did you use...... White Lightning?? Nice job. Keep fishing there, you'll get some big ole mules in no time!!
good to hear shawn.
here's my pitch setup
-heavy braid
-6th Sense Peg X Stoppers
-3/8 to 1 1/2 oz. bullet or flipping weight
-Strike King Hack Attack Heavy Cover Flipping Hooks
-plastic of your choice
-tie a modified snell knot. this part is very important!
iwo1124: you should post that as a trip! we've all lost heartbreakers. i was fishing with a MAFF member once at a particularly difficult lake (Spy Pond) and he hooked into an enormous fish, maybe 6+. He got it right to shore, literally lying on the side on the rocks. then it spazzed out and spit the hook. my buddy jumped in after it, cell phone and all. but alas, the fish was gone...
Thanks snowman. Buff this season for me was dedicated to learn how to fish a couple of new techniques and the pitching was at the top. It's paid off.
The tooth pick will work but a punch stop is way better. 6th Sense Peg X Stoppers . $1.79 at tackle warehouse
Went to Upper Mystic this past Tuesday and fished from about 8-2. It started raining pretty heavily around 10. Fished all around the pond hitting patches of pads around the shore. I was nervous fishing here, b/c if you look on the map from masswildlife.gov you'll see that its basically a big bowl with steep shorelines into very deep water.
I got 3 hits all day. One on a swimming senko, must have been a small fish b/c after I set the hook, I fought him for a couple seconds, then nothing. When I reeled my lure in the tail was bit off. Same deal flipping T-Rigged Havoc plastic. Bass took it, pulled a little, but never got the hook in. Third fish I hooked into right by the southern ramp, hit my spinnerbait of the third cast, set the hook, and no later the biggest LM Bass I've ever seen came jumping out of the water and shook the hook. Broke my heart. Spent 30 minutes trying to get it to bite again. No luck.
After fishing here for the first time, it seems that flipping the pads is probably the best pattern.
I guess they make a peg. I didn't see any at Dick's so I went old school and pegged it with a toothpick. Also I was looking for a 1 ounce weight and they had either 3/4 or 1 1/2 so I went bigger. This is the weight. If I didn't just get a $40 tip at work I probably wouldn't have bought it. I was using steel weights and not catching anything. I'm not sure if it's the color or smell or something but the steel sucked. I have the black one. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Eco_Pro_Tungsten_Flipping_Weights/descpage-EPTFW.html
Can you explain your setup for the pitch? I understand the 4/0 and the wide load, but what kind of weight was it? Bullet? Was it pegged?
Same side of the lake Sam but not as far down