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What a fun day for some power-style fishing heavy cover at Lake Kenosia! I usually fish finesse-style presentations, but NOTHING is as fun as pulling hogs out of the sloppy weeds.

The problem for me is that I never really think to fish that way, so it's always a learning curve when I try to adjust my technique. I tried hitting Hatch Pond this weekend but was totally unequipped for how weedy and thick the vegetation was, so I re-calibrated my entire setup and went back out on Sunday at Lake Kenosia to try and get some practice in for fishing heavy cover and had an absolute blast.

I was using a few different setups, mainly a 6'6" MH casting rod with a 4" StrikeKing Space Monkey creature bait in black/blue with a 3/0 EWG heavy cover hook and 20lb fluro leader, and a 7'0" H casting rod with a 4" Zman black/blue craw with 1/4oz tungsten weight and 4/0 EWG heavy cover hook with straight 30lb braid, but honestly I probably should've upsized my weight to 1/2oz to punch through the cover better.

I also brought a separate, more "finesse" style setup with a weightless fluke in case there were any fish staged out deeper off the vegetation, but couldn't get anything to bite. This trip was all slop, all the time. If you are heading out to Lake Kenosia, I'd recommend heading down to the western side, but I think the main boat ramp area inside the park was closed so you may need to use the alternate launch area on the far eastern edge off Kenosia Avenue.

Bring plenty of creature baits and just sort of slow roll them over the mats or do a heavy punch setup to get down into the zone for the bigger fish.

Tight lines!

My first trip to Stillwater Pond near Torrington, CT today and had a bit of a scare. Accidentally hooked a snapping turtle on a wacky rig, but luckily he was only skin-hooked in the upper mouth and was able to free himself after a minute.

Other than a surprise catch (which I hope to never repeat), it was a really fun day on the water. Stillwater Pond is about a hundred acres and includes a nice variety of rock, logs, submerged vegetation, and clear water with today's catch including largemouth bass, crappie, yellow perch, and bluegill. It was a bit tricky trying to find the fish today since it's been so hot here in Connecticut the past few days, but I found a nice pattern in the north end of the pond with a #3 Mepps Comet combo spinner and 3" paddletail swimbait.

If you're planning to hit Stillwater Pond this summer, I'd recommend starting in the northern, weedy area and either picking it apart with a heavy creature bait or a spinnerbait type presentation you can burn in and around cover to get the fish to react. Tight lines and I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend! Gear used:

• Mepps #3 Comet combo

• 5" Gary Yamamoto Senko

• Mepps #3 Bronze Slammer

I traveled home to South Dakota earlier this month and spent a few days camping with family near Custer State Park in the Black Hills. While there, I decided to take the kayak out on the water at two really nice spots I've fished in the past: Stockade Lake and Bismark Lake.

Although I only had about five hours total to kayak fish during the camping trip, I was happy to bag a few nice largemouth bass and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Black Hills. Growing up near the Black Hills was so much fun, and I always love going home to see family and friends and catch a few fish.

I also did some shore fishing from a few other spots near/inside Custer State Park like Lakota Lake, Center Lake, Deerfield Lake, and Sheridan Lake while in the hills, but the best fishing was definitely from the kayak! Many of these lakes get constant fishing pressure, so unless you're fishing with live bait you may need to spend time figuring out the bite because it was TOUGH during my trip.

Most bites were on either a Keitech 3" crawfish imiation bait with an offset EWG style jig, or a 5" green pumpkin Senko rigged weightless on a 4/0 EWG hook.

I decided to hit the water close to home after work and head back up to Huntington Pond after a less than stellar outing back in April to try and find some quality bass now that the weather has slightly improved.

Huntington Pond is a beautiful location for a quick stop to fish, maybe 60-70 acres total. You paddle into the main area through a shallow canal and under several low bridges, with super clear water and a wide variety of fish like bass, trout, pickerel, sunfish, and more, it can get really busy but it's worth the visit if you're in the area.

I typically do really well here with a senko, but I've been trying to improve on some other baits and decided to practice using more crankbaits this trip. I picked up a few Strike King KVD crankbaits in the Sexy Shad color and was able to get a few fish to bite, but most of the better fish were all caught using a small Ned Rig along the eastern shore.

Tackle List: Strike King KVD Crankbait (Sexy Shad) Zman TRD The Deal plastic with small Ned Rig jig

I had a day off at the beginning of June so I decided to hit Candlewood Lake for a "fun" morning of bass fishing.

Instead, what unfolded was a series of unfortunate events that just kept compounding, to the point where I couldn't believe what was happening: losing a fishing pole, missing big fish, catching a catfish on a swimbait, and even catching a literal rock.

Even though it was "one of those days", I'm glad that I was able to have a few hours of practice on the water and learn a few new things.

Tackle List: Keitech 4" Swim Bait - Electric Shad

I don't fish Lake Zoar very often, but when I do I get absolutely hammered with wake after wake from bass boats and wake boats and jet skis and pontoon boats, and my honest advice to other kayak fishermen is to just go to Lake Lillinonah.

Lake Zoar's shoreline has way more homes, way more traffic, narrower river channels, and seems like it is just all around way too busy. I went out on a cold Sunday morning at the end of May but by noon, it felt like Grand Central Station with all the people and activity.

The fishing is actually pretty good if you find the right spots, but you need to keep your head on a swivel. If you decide to visit for yourself, my advice would be to go on a weekday and head upriver toward Glen Road Silver Bridge and work the eastern shoreline. But beware, you will be fighting your way through an infinite number of Rock Bass...

Tackle List:

Strike King KVD Crankbait - Sexy Shad

Zman Ned Rig - TRD The Deal

Keitech FAT Swing Impact 4" Swimbait - Electric Shad

Memorial Day weekend was nothing but cold temps and heavy rain here in Connecticut, but I decided to take a trip up to Winchester Lake and see if I could catch a few bass on the final day of the long holiday weekend.

After waiting out the torrential downpour for a few hours in the morning, I was finally able to get on the water around 8am and start working the western shoreline of Winchester Lake from south to north, targeting shallow coves with a variety of different presentations.

Unfortunately, the weather was working against me and the bigger bass were nowhere to be found. I was able to explore a lot of the lake and really love the layout: max depth of around 20 feet, mean depth around 9ft, plenty of coves and clear water with a ton of submerged structure to target.

Even though I didn't put any big ones in the kayak today, this lake has a TON of potential to produce. I'll rate it B+ for now, but this lake could easily hit A or A+ status if you fish it on the right day.

Tackle List:

Nikko 4" Hellgrammite

6th Sense Crush 50 crankbait

5" Gary Yamamoto Green Pumpkin Senko

Mepps Aglia Size 3 Fire Tiger inline spinner

I made my first visit to Lake Winnemaug near Watertown, CT over Memorial Day weekend and I absolutely love it. A+

After spending the day here, I can confidently say it is one of my favorite places to kayak fish in Connecticut. The size, features, depth, and quality of fish are all fantastic - at 113 acres and a max depth of 17-20 feet, with clear water and plenty of coves, islands, structure, and both largemouth and smallmouth bass, this place checks all the boxes.

Online reviews say Lake Winnemaug can get really choked up with weeds in the summer, but for my visit in late May, everything was perfect. For others planning a trip here and looking for recommendations on tackle, I'd say that my most productive lures were a standard crankbait for open water and a topwater bait near cover, structure, or shorelines. I didn't use many other baits, but I feel like a 5" Senko worm, weedless swim bait, or weedless jig presentation would also be fantastic options.

Tackle List:

Nikko 4" Hellgrammite

6th Sense Crush 50 crankbait

LIKBF Elite Series #2 at Swinging Bridge Reservoir was a beatdown, in all the ways. From the start of the day, nothing really went well and I couldn’t seem to put the pieces together throughout the day to catch a limit. Although I did find some success early with a 12.25” and a great 18.75” smallmouth, once the morning bite died and the weather heated up my fishing game cooled down big time. The fish likely left the shallows and were staging in deeper water where I couldn’t find them, so the majority of my day was spent covering water with plenty of crappie and tiny bass, but unfortunately nothing big enough to help me get a limit. 

I ended the day in 2nd place for Big Bass and in 17th place overall, which will definitely knock me out of Top 10 for Angler of the Year and make it that much harder in later tournaments to play catch-up. 

In all honesty, making it to the top of the leaderboard for Angler of the Year was never really my expectation for this season. So many of the guys in this league are way more skilled than I am. But I’m staying positive, learning new things and fishing new water, and hoping I can squeak into the Top 10 at the end of the season to fish the New York State Championship on October 3rd at Lake Champlain. To me, that would be the dream scenario for this year. 

Based on tournament rules, the Elite Series has 7 total events but only 5 events count toward qualifying, so I’m definitely still in the race but it won’t be easy.   

Gear List From Today’s Tournament:

Kayak: Sea Eagle 385 Fast Track Angler

Rods:

St. Croix Bass X Rod, 6’8” MXF

KastKing Assegai, 6’9” MLF Finesse Spin

Reels:

Shimano Miravel 2500 Spinning Reel

Shimano Nascii FC 2500 Spinning Reel

Tackle:

Storm 3” WildEye Swim Shad

Zman TRD Neg Rig style bait

Gary Yamamoto 5” Senko - Green Pumpkin with Black Flake (wacky)

Mepps Size 3 Aglia spinner

Today's video is all about the preparation and practice that I do before tournament fishing. The footage from this video was recorded during my first trip to Swinging Bridge Reservoir near Monticello, New York and my goal with the VO was to provide some additional context into how I prep and plan my pre-tournament fishing routine on a new body of water.

The tl;dr is essentially to research everything you can about a new location, from DEC or state websites to YouTube videos posted by other anglers, and really just consume as much content as possible about the water to help make an informed decision when you arrive that might work with your preferred style of fishing.

The caveat to the previously mentioned tl;dr is that, unfortunately, no amount of research will be the golden ticket or silver bullet to being successful. There are just too many variations and permutations when it comes to fishing, and trying to find perfection is somewhat of a fool's errand.

At least for me, I try and go into these situations with an open mind, iterate when things aren't working, fall back on using confidence baits when I struggle, and chalk everything up to a learning experience.

In today's video I walkthrough a looooong list of gear and equipment I use for kayak fishing, including my Sea Eagle 385 Fast Track Angler inflatable kayak, rods, reels, tackle, accessories, and everything I use on the water for both recreational fishing and adjustments specific to kayak fishing tournaments.

Below is a gear list of everything from today's video.

Gear List:

Kayak: Sea Eagle 385 Fast Track Angler Paddles come with kayak

Cart: Bonnlo Heavy Duty Universal Kayak Trolley

Transom/Motor Mount: Sea Eagle Motor Mount

Trolling Motor: Watersnake Tracer 44lb. Thrust Freshwater Motor

Battery: LiTime 100ah 12v Lithium Battery

Battery Box: MinnKota Trolling Motor Power Center

Seat: AquaGlide Aluminum Mesh Seat Remember to use pool noodles to wrap your seat legs

Crate: YakAttack Blackpak Pro Net: Frabill Teardrop Floating Trout Net

Anchor: Generic 5.5lb. Kayak Anchor

Flag: YakAttack VISIPole II with Flag and 360 LED Light

Ruler: Ketch 26” Karbonate Measuring Board Ketch ID for tournament fishing

PFD: NRS Chinook My version must be discontinued, but this is pretty similar

Rods: St. Croix Bass X Rod, 6’8” MXF KastKing Assegai, 6’9” MLF Finesse Spin Remaining rods are all discontinued KastKing models Resolute 6’6” MF Resolute 6’6” MHF

Reels: Shimano Miravel 2500 Spinning Reel Shimano Nascii FC 2500 Spinning Reel KastKing Spartacus II Baitcasting Reel

Gear: What I throw 85% of the time

Zman TRD Ticklerz - Optional Rattle-Snaker Rattle Tool Gary Yamamoto 5” Senko - Green Pumpkin with Black Flake Mepps Size 3 or 4 spinners (Aglia, Bronze Slammer, Comet Combo)

Tackle Bags: Ozark Trail Lunch Bag Cooler LIV Fishing EZ Tackle Bag Tackle Boxes: Plano Double-Sided StowAway 3400 Ozark Trail Tackle Boxes via Ozark Trail Tackle Bag Plano Waterproof StowAway 3400 Utility Box

A cold day ended up creating a cold bite, but I was able to hit a limit at the first kayak bass fishing tournament of the season on Candlewood Lake and crack the top 10 against a field of 30 other anglers.

Although my inflatable kayak took a beating in the wind and I couldn't control my drift or sit on a spot long enough to use a lot of my go-to finesse rigs, I did have a lot of luck early with a size 3 Mepps Bronze Slammer which kept me going.

Next stop on the tournament circuit: Swinging Bridge Reservoir near Monticello, NY. I've never fished Swinging Bridge Reservoir before, so if you have any tips for me I'd love to hear them!

Another cold and windy day in Connecticut, but I needed to get some practice in for an upcoming kayak fishing tournament, so I headed out on Candlewood Lake to see what I could scrounge up.

Luckily, I was able to get a few spots figured out and the smallies were biting where I thought they might be hiding, so I may have a chance to make an impact in tomorrow's big tournament.

Today's bait of choice for the smallmouth bass was a size 3 Mepps Bronze Slammer running at medium retrieve about two feet below the surface. Thanks for watching!

Spring weather means more wind and more struggles trying to dial in my gear before the first tournament of the season, but finally starting to push into more pockets of largemouth and smallmouth bass on Lake Lillinonah.

The bite here is usually hit or miss, but the bass are starting to show up more frequently and I'm excited for the chilly spring weather to finally start warming up!

If you are the type of fisherman who enjoys quantity over quality, Lake Mamanasco in Ridgefield, Connecticut is the perfect spot.

In this video, I spent about two hours after work fighting my way through 50+ of the tiniest largemouth bass who were fired up and biting anything and everything I could throw. For anyone interested in trying this spot yourself, the only thing you need to bring is a pack of 5" green pumpkin Gary Yamamoto Senko worms.

You won't catch any lunkers, but it's the perfect spot to fish if you've been on a cold streak and want to just catch a ton of bass and have fun! If anyone watching has fished Lake Mamanasco in the past, I'm very curious to hear what size your largest bass was because I just could not find anything bigger than maybe 12" on this trip.

Spring fishing for bass on Messerschmidt Pond in eastern Connecticut. An overcast windy day and lots of junk fishing, but also a lot of fun on a pond I'd only been to once before back in 2024. Ended with a couple decent bass and a broken heart after losing a bait I was just getting confident using :(

An unusually warm spring day led to some really fun fishing on Lake Kenosia in Danbury, Connecticut. With wind gusts up to 20mph it wasn't easy to keep the inflatable kayak stable, but I was able to catch a nice selection of largemouth bass and even a few decent crappie during this session.

The fun part was finding success with a Berkley bluegill swimbait I've had for almost three years and getting some confidence with lures I typically don't use when I'm fishing. Hoping it wasn't a fluke and I'll be able to keep using it during future sessions!

With wind gusts over 30mph and water temperatures below 40 degrees, it was a really difficult morning for kayak fishing. On this trip, I launched from the car top canoe/kayak launch at White Memorial Bridge and paddled down to where Bantam River empties into Bantam Lake in hopes of fishing my way back up to the launch.

Unfortunately, high winds and a slow bite created a lackluster time on the water, but I was able to catch a few different variety of trout, a perch, and a largemouth bass.

A cold water, cold weather day of multi-species fishing on Huntington Pond near Redding, Connecticut. This pond gets heavy fishing action and the bite can be really tough, but I was able to squeak out a few fish during this two-hour session.

Gear used during the trip:

• Kayak: SeaEagle 385 FTA inflatable kayak

• Rods: KastKing Speed Demon 6'10" ML/F Finesse Tube rod

• Reels: KastKing Zephyr 1000 ultralight reel

• Tackle: Zman 1/8oz. Ned Rig

• Line: 8lb. Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line