This talk of Rogers and giant bass reminds me of something. Many, many years ago, (in the early 70s) I was writing an article on big bass waters. A friend of mine who is not a fisherman stopped by and saw the mountain of lake studies, catch records, maps, etc. I was using for data accumulation in those old, pre-PC days, and found it interesting. He asked me to describe the perfect lake to produce the next CT Record. I decribed the size, depths, structural configuration, water quality, fertility, vegetation profile and forage base I considered ideal. He asked where the lake closest to that combination was, and I opened the old "blue book" to Rogers Lake. I had never been there, but fell in love with it "in theory".

The next morning, I was at Rogers. And wouldn't you know it, that very first day there, I caught a 7-4! Caught it 'bulging' and old, yellow and white, scorpion spinerbait on the insdie weed edge. I fished Rogers a lot over the next several years, and never got another 7. Lots of "heavy sixes" but nary another verified 7. Caught the LONGEST bass I'd ever caught there a few years later (just under 26 inches) -- but it was all head and length and only weighed 5-1/2 pounds.

In retrospect, I've caught more 7 pounders out of Lillinonah than Rogers, and I would never expect a 10 from there. In the old days, I would have said Mudge was the best bet, but not any more it's still a great lake, but it doesn't turn out the size like it used to. I caught one a bit under 8 there this year, and it was the largest I'd caught there in 12 years.

My largest CT bass came from Winchester. But that lake has changed so much that I'd be shocked to ever see that size fish there again. In the 70s and 80s, you might only get bit 4 or 5 times a day there, but at least one of the fish was likely to be over 6. Now you it's more common to catch a snotload of little fish there than one or two big ones.

My picks for the best shot at a double digit fish -- E. Twin (the first generation or two of LM reaching 12 inches or so after the introduction of alewives in any lake show tremendous growth rates, that first generation in Twin should be 10 to 12 years old now. That's about the minimum age you could expect a 9 pound plus fish to be in our latitude, so it could happen there in the next couple years); Taunton or Quassapaug (both have lots of trout stocked to feed big bass that get ignored by the bulk of the anglers that have access to the lakes), and Wononscopomuc (the boat regulations and late start time keep the serious bass pressure to a minimum).