Too Dark for Pics
Candelwood Lake Night
August 12, 2017
by Gary Menchen
The original forecast was for a chance of thunder & showers but the night owls of Watershed got lucky this time around and the evening turned out to be a warm and pleasant with plenty of moonlight. Most anglers spoke of a tough bite but the Candlewood Lake locals showed the rest of the club a thing or two about how to catch 'em after dark. This was the 9th of 12 points tournaments in the 2017 race to the AOY title.
Timmy “The Hammer” Thompson's 5 fish limit weighed in at 15.70lbs which not only was the winning bag but also extended his overall lead to almost 10lbs over Andy Krayewsky in the race for AOY with 3 tournaments to go. As most of the fisherman did, Timmy threw top-water (Jitterbugs) all night.
Second place went to Jordon Doucette with 15.06 lbs. After going to his “Lucky Dock” as always for his first fish, Doucette got off the bank and fished deep crank baits in 15-20 feet of water the rest of the night. This tactic was contrary to the rest of the field which threw topwater but turned out to be quite successful for Jordon. Proving his youthful endurance, Jordon had worked Saturday, fished the tournament all night and then headed back to work on Sunday.
Rounding out the top three was still another Connecticut stick Johnny Ogolik with 13.97lbs and his limit of smallies were also duped by top water baits. His 4.41lb smallmouth was edged out for lunker by Bruce Nethercott's 4.52 fish. Bruce utilized a spinner bait for his catch.
Baits of choice tonight were the usual suspects. Top waters (jitterbugs & ploppers) and sub-surface (spinner baits & chatter baits). All but 1 fish was released alive as our members continue to do an excellent job with fish care this season.
Our next club tournament is scheduled for Sunday Sept 24 on beautiful Lake Oscawana in Putnam County, NY. This weedy and rocky lake boasts good population of largemouth bass (as well as nuisance pickerel) bass and should produce some quality fish as always.