I had a few hours to do some research last afternoon on the Connecticut River. I went fishing in a few spots that I’ve had under my belt and found some new ones. I thought I would take the chance to get a few photos and show everyone what we’re looking for. The first spot I fished was a setback of the main river. This spot you would think would be perfect for spawning panfish, 500 yards off the river, somewhat shallow water and good edge structure such as cat tails to help warm the water up.
As I was fishing from shore I was unable to use my electronics to check the depth and was limited with my movements with casting. I use a bobber to check the depths to see if this has what I’m looking for. Set your bobber with about a 5 foot tag and cast, if your bobber comes upright you know that you have at least 5 feet of water. You can also see in this picture that this setback has weeds. The weeds actually looked pretty good. They were still upright and not too slimy. The setback should hold fish soon when the water starts to warm up.
The next spot I tried was a spot that I had fish once before from a little boat and was able to boat some nice bluegill. This is a cut along side a road. A small river meets up with the big river hear causing this back water. The dams seemed to be closed yesterday and this little cut seemed to have at least 6 feet of water and was holding fish, well I broke off on a nice sized Northern. This tells me that the water might still be a little cold since the Northern’s spawn earlier than the panfish, however, that Northern is in there for a reason, there is food, and I want to catch his food. Once again, the further away from the main body of water you got the water got warmer, but also shallower. The trick is, finding that fringe of nice quality water and temperature.
This last spot I found I didn’t have time to fish and it was killing me. There were fish popping the surface when I got out of my truck. This was a new spot, I had driven by it hundreds of times but never took the time to look. The deal with this one was a landlocked setback, that was connected to the river by a small 3 foot culvert. The water was flowing out of the setback, warmer water keep in mind. It cam through the pipe and pushed up against a bank of cat tails. This is where the fish were rising. The water then went around a bend and out into the main river. It’s all about timing. This spot will be hot in a week or two when the water really warms and that warm water is flowing out of the setback into the main river.
I’m standing on the pipe.
Hopefully this information is useful to you. I had a good time in search of some new potential hot spots!
D & B Ice Adventures 
what part of the river did you start from?
I fish from Hinsdale and up. Some of the more productive spots that we hit in the winter are very sporadic during the summer months so we usually don’t fish them.
Love thsoe backwater areas. I have a spot close to me that I can catch some nice Crappie when the water is clear. Good Luck this season.
Mark
Thanks you too! Check back soon as we are going to try to get another trip (but successful this time) to backwaters this weekend.
Thanks for the descriptions , know a bit more about what to look for now. In fact, you got me thinking about a small lake I drove by last winter.
Used to fish a Setback when I was a kid, never knew that’s what you call them. I’ll start scouting my maps for possibilities , and see if I can find a way into the setback I fished many years ago.
gofish
Not all setbacks are created equal, it takes many years of searching to stumble upon one that has what you’re looking for.
Thats a nice hole at the last spot isnt it.
Have you fished that one Andy? Didn’t have time, thinking about it tonight though.
We fished it last fall with no takers, but I would think if the fish are in at the spot down the river then they should be there. Might try it this week and see what happens.
What day are you thinking about going?