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