I can’t believe another fishing season is
here already and that I’m on year 5 of running this little web journal of mine.
As per usual you can expect me and my crew of misfits (the good kind) to share
this 2012 seasons outdoor experiences. And with it come more pictures, video
and reports written on the fly with some poor grammar and a few misspellings.
Anything else would be to civilized for my taste.... LOL. And as per usual
along with my friends and I you the readers are always welcome to share your
successes and share some of your own photos and reports that I will gladly post
right here on this page. My apologies for not updating this site sooner but I
have a good excuse. I was fishing (when I wasn’t working) but now that I’m pretty
much caught up with the postings. I should be able to do a better job from here
on in of keeping this website updated and hopefully post new content on a
weekly basis, so come back and visit us again or better yet contribute and join
our crew of misfits. Tight lines to all this season. George D.
Send us your photos and reports of the new season and we'll post them right here!
Though not even fall yet,
this morning felt like it. I love when it starts to cool off a bit and those
hot and humid days disappear and are replaced with comfortable conditions. The
flip side of this of course is that those freezing cold temperatures are just
right around the corner. So I thought why not get out now while it’s still
pleasant enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt. But most of all before I begin to
temporarily loose most of my interest in my fishing rods due my annual fall bow
hunting pursuits. But before I even pick up the bow I need to catch a few more
fish. The plan today was to take my boat out and target some holdover trout and
to experiment fishing with some baits from a company called PK Lures, who were
kind enough to send me a gift package of baits to play with. I’ve only just
started using these baits but you can expect a full review in the future, when
I have had more time to test these lures out within our local waters. While
pulling out of the driveway at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to
sacrifice some morning fishing time by driving out a bit further than I
originally anticipated versus fishing a pond that was much closer to home. I
chose instead to head to South pond. By the time I got there, launched the boat
and located some fish on the fish finder, it was already mid morning. I took
one rod loaded with lead-core line and tied on a PK Flutter Fish spoon to my
fluorocarbon leader. After putting the line out and placing it in the rod
holder, 5 minutes later before I could even rig up another rod I got slammed. I
played the days first trout and slipped a rare tiger trout into the net. Since
the PK Company had found me and contacted me from a highly rated tiger trout
video I made and uploaded on YouTube sometime ago, I found the coincidence to
be fitting that my first fish on a PK was a tiger trout. The tiger was pale in
color, silvery with faint vermiculation markings. Being that I got into a trout
so quickly I assumed the bite would be good but as it turned out I had to work
for them a bit. I had continued to work the area where I had hooked up with the
tiger and after over an hour I hooked another trout. To my surprise it was
another pale looking tiger, a bit smaller than the previous. I started working
other areas over deep water focusing on depth range between 20-35 feet of
water. A couple of hours later all I had to show was one small rainbow trout, I
had also lost another rainbow near the boat when I tried lifting the fish out
of the water because I hadn't felt like reaching for the net. Which was fine
because it would have been released anyway but unfortunately still a lost fish.
It wasn’t fast and furious fishing for the trout but considering the other
boats were doing poorly I was just glad to land a few. I tried to get some good
camera shots of the tiger trout but fishing solo it was hard to do so while
operating the steering wheel of a boat. I decided I had had enough with the
trolling. I headed close into shore and played around with a fly rod. Casting
into the weedy shallows I pulled out bluegill after bluegill. I then switched
gears again and targeted largemouth bass around the shoreline structures, using
a black spinner bait and landed 2. I then changed baits to a pumpkin seed
colored rubber worm and landed 2 more bass. All the bass were small fish
averaging a little over a pound, no monster bass but still fun. The highlight
of the day for me was tangling with a couple of tigers. Having had enough fun I
headed back to the boat launch, packed up and headed home. It was a good day to
be outside. Tight Lines All! -George
A LITTLE TO CLOSE TO THE CAMERA LENS, NOT EASY TRYING TO GET A GOOD SHOT SOLO.
A PK FLUTTER FISH (RED DOT GLOW) SPOON, KIND OF LOOKES LIKE A PEANUT BUT HAS GOOD ACTION TO IT
A PALE TIGER TROUT
SEPTEMBER 01, 2012: KILLER PANFISH
BITE, CT
As far as fishing went
August had been a bad month. Between getting things done around the house and
starting to prep for the upcoming bow season not much time was spent fishing.
So I decided to take a Saturday and wet a line again. I hit some new water I
had never fished before, Mashapaug pond in CT. The hope was to hook into some
walleye. According to the CT fish & game website the pond had been stocked
annually and managed as a walleye fishery. However none of the fishermen I
talked with throughout the day were aware of any walleye being present except
one, who admitted to never catching one. It wasn’t looking good. The water was
still warm and it was probably the wrong time of the year to target walleye but
I wanted to at least try. I trolled some walleye spinner rigs tipped with night
crawlers. I also tried crank baits, jerk baits and some experimental stuff but
this walleye rookie had no luck. My new fish finder was picking up fish over
the deep holes but they were just not interested in feeding. I wanted to kick
myself for not being on the water before first light and before the sunrays
penetrated the water. I just hate fishing new water in the dark without
familiarizing myself first. After over a few hours of trolling and not one bite
I decided rather than feel discouraged to change things up. I checked out a
cove that looked interesting and found a massive school of yellow perch. I
found some jig heads in my bag and tipped the hook shank with a small piece of
night crawler and began jigging the bait. Bouncing it off the bottom and
sometimes just holding the bait just a half a foot off the bottom and
occasionally twitching it. Both techniques proved to be deadly on the perch. I
was pulling one out after another, I must of caught around 60 yellows. Most
were small to medium sized but I kept at it until I was able to haul up a few
jumbos. I tried this same technique at another spot that had a drop off
adjacent to shallow water and began pulling up some slab bluegills and
pumpkinseeds. Sunfish are not a favorite of mine because their just to easy to
catch this time of year but the size of these fish were enough to keep my
interest for a bit before moving on. I decided to work some shoreline, points
and structures for bass with some plastic baits. I caught a handful of average
sized largemouth and was pleasantly surprised when working another spot off an
island and hooking up with a few smallmouth. None of the bass were very big but
fun. However a few of the jumbo perch I had landed earlier were as big as some
of the bass I caught. I went back to trolling for walleye for about another
hour and debated if I should stay and fish into the dark when walleye are known
to bite but I didn’t want to cancel my evening plans, so I deiced to return
another time under better conditions. I didn’t get my walleye but caught plenty
of other fish. It was good to be out again. Tight lines all...George
A FEW OF THE JUMBO PERCH WERE AS BIG AS THE BASS
GOT INTO SOME SLAB SIZED BLUEGILLS WITH A TIPED JIG HEAD WORKING A 40 FOOT DROP OFF
THE LIVE WELL BEGAN FILLING UP FAST WHILE JIGING A SCHOOL OF YELLOW PERCH. ALL FISH RELEASED.
SEPTEMBER 01, 2012: 7 LB LANDLOCKED
SALMON OUT OF LAKE GEORGE, NY
I
have been following your reports and photo's for some time. I am also
an avid Landlocked Salmon fisherman. I catch Salmon and release many
each year in Lake george NY.
Here is one I caught the other day. I released one the day before
longer and heavier by a couple pounds. This one was 7 lbs. Rick
NEW VIDEO RELEASES BELOW
A
collage of highlights that include video and still shots from one day of fly fishing for Brook Trout in the white mountains
of New Hampshire, with my friend Mike and his sons on June 16, 2012.
JULY 28, 2012: SUMMER SHORE FISHING
FOR TROUT, MA
Been a while since I did any freshwater
fishing, I wanted to do so and take the boat out but the forecast called for
showers and possible T-storms. I also wasn’t feeling my best and had no desire
to fish in the rain or deal with potential lightening. I decided to spend part
of the morning while the rain was holding back, finishing up the installation
of a new fish finder on my boat. After finishing up I still had the afternoon
free, so I grabbed an ultra light rod and a tray of trout lures and headed out
to a little spring fed pond I know of, in search of trout from shore. If
conditions got bad I could just jump in the truck and go home. And not deal
with being caught out in a storm or deal with the boat. The afternoon turned
out to be nice, with just overcast conditions. I landed 6 rainbow trout and had
3 come unbuttoned and had 4 more miss the bait. I also had 2 trout rise to my
baits and turn their nose at the last second, both of which looked to be in the
2 lb class, don’t think they were rainbows. Most of the rainbows I landed were
small. I worked the baits right over and around a spring where the trout spend
most of the summer. I kept one that slid out of my hand while unhooking and hit it's head on a rock. Better on a plate than
wasted. The crazy part was in the 2 and half hours I fished I had
not seen another fisherman and had the pond all to myself. Most people give up
on it in the summer, without realizing the trout are still alive and well and
willing to bite. It wasn’t bad for a day I thought was going to be a wash out.
Tight Lines All! George
RAINBOW TROUT
FIRST & LARGEST TROUT OF THE DAY
WE BETTER BE GOOD OR WE'LL WIND UP LIKE HIM
COLD WATER EQUALS YEAR ROUND TROUT HABBITAT
JULY 20, 2012: TARGETING STRIPED
BASS & BLUEFISH, MA
Headed out of Hyannis on a charter, with a
group of friends. We fished Monomoy and smoked the striped bass and bluefish.
We drifted over pockets of fish. Then used diamond jigs cranked semi-fast off
the bottom (on high speed reels). Cranking 10 revolutions up and then dropping
back down and repeating was the day’s method of success. Overcast conditions
made it a little more comfortable to fish without feeling like you were baking
in the sun. The stripers were cooperating nicely and the bluefish were even
more accommodating. Everyone did well. I got about half dozen stripers or so
and lost count on the amount of bluefish I hauled up. Fun day out on the salt.
Tight Lines All! George
STRIPER & BLUEFISH
SOME OF THE FISH ABOUT TO BE CLEANED, WE LIMITED OUT ON BOTH BASS & BLUES
JULY 14, 2012: BACK FOR MORE
WITH A POOL WINING FISH, NH
Had so much fun on Wednesday that Mark and I
had to come back on Saturday. Bill wanted to come too but had plans already but
my buddy Lucas joined us instead. We got to the party boat very early to claim
some prime spots. On the ride out we saw a group of dolphins swimming, always a
neat site. When we finally got to the fishing grounds didn’t see the whales we
had seen in the area 3 days prior. The fishing started off slow and the few
fish we got into were mostly shorts that had to be thrown back. Things did
start to pick up a bit, especially after the tide changed and we were getting
into some decent spurts of action. I managed a couple of keeper cod and a few
decent haddock. I also got into three big pollock near the tail end of the
trip. Mark and Lucas also managed to land some keepers as well. On the ride out
I entered the pool for the largest fish of the day and was glad I did so when I
took honors for it at the end of the day, with my largest pollock. Winning some
cash and a free future trip. On the way back in we finally saw a whale. When we
got back to the dock me and the guys hit the outdoor bar and restaurant at the
marina for some seafood and drinks at the bar. Another good time with good
friends. Lucas had so much fun that the next day he bought a high end reel and
a nice rod for future ground fishing trips and wants to go back next week,
Sunday after I cooked up and enjoyed some fresh haddock fillets, so do I.
Ground fish may not be the prettiest but they certainly are the tastiest. Tight
Lines All! –George
I WON THE DAYS POOL WITH THIS POLLOCK
TWO OF THE THREE LARGE POLLOCK I LANDED
A PAIR OF HADDOCK I CAUGHT AND MY FAVORITE FISH TO EAT
DIDNT YOUR MAMMA EVER TELL YOU NOT TO PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD?
A COOLER LOADED WITH TASTY TREATS
JULY 11, 2012: DEEP SEA FISHING
FOR GROUND FISH, NH
My buddy
Bill called me up and was itching to do a trip for Cod and Haddock. I also
hadn't gone after any ground fish yet this season and had the itch as well. So
a couple of days later we got together along with our mutual friend Mark, took
the day off from work and headed out to Seabrook, NH, to jump on a party boat
for some ground fishing at Jeffrey’s Ledge. After the long ride out we noticed
whales everywhere. There was allot of baitfish in the area that drew the whales
right in. What a spectacle it is to see these beautiful creatures. I also
noticed a few tuna breaking the water. I had hoped the ground fish would also
be in a feeding mood. The fish did not seem to like the jigs today and seemed
to prefer gulping clam bait off the bottom. So I stuck with the clam bait most
of the day. Bill, Mark and I all caught fish but the bulk of the fish caught
were shorts that had to be thrown back. We kept at it though and picked at them
and near the days end the cooler was looking full. I managed to land some
keeper size cod, haddock, cusk and pollock. My biggest fish of the day were two
nice sized pollock I was happy to tangle into. When the fishing was over we
ended up back at the marina restaurant eating fresh seafood and enjoying a
couple of cold ones before ending the day. Beautiful weather and good times
with friends, it was a good day. Tight Lines All! -George
A SCREEN SHOT OFF A VIDEO I TOOK OF THESE TWO WHALES
SEAGULLS FOLLOWING THE BOAT IN HOPES OF A FREE MEAL
A COUPLE OF DECENT POLLOCK I CAUGHT
A PAIR OF THE TWO LARGEST HADDOCK I TOOK
I ALSO GOT A CUSK
NOTHING LIKE FRESH FOOD
JULY 08, 2012: A ROCKY EVENING,
MA
Decided
to take the boat out for 2-3 hors before dark with a couple of friends. Mostly
just to go for a boat ride and have a couple of cold drinks out on the water.
The fishing at this lake is very poor but we chose it anyway simply because
it’s real close to home. We gave it a shot anyway and just as I expected and
just as in the past the fishing was terrible. I caught a pickerel and a rare
rock bass and one of my two friends caught 2 small largemouth bass. Regardless
it was fun to get out. Tight Lines All! -George
A BEAUTIFUL BACK DROP TO A DAYS END
A ROCK BASS (KIND OF LOOKS LIKE A COMBINATION OF A SMALLMOUTH AND A BLUEGILL DOESNT IT?)
JULY 07, 2012: A MIXED BAG, MA
Friday
night I was trying to decide on which lake to take my new boat out on Saturday
morning. Its maiden voyage wasn’t much of a fishing trip last week and was more
of a test run. But this time I wanted to break the boat in with some fish. As
well as test out the live well, which I had not done so yet. I had barely
targeted any largemouth bass this season. I had the urge for some top water
action but thought I might also potentially want to also target some trout too.
So I chose a lake that had both, just incase. I decided to go very early before
all the water sports freaks came out, aka zipper heads. You fishermen know the
kind. The ones that sleep in and begin to appear somewhere around 9:00 or 10
AM. Zipping around in a circle at mock speed, over and over again. Acting as if
they were out on the open ocean but there really on just a small lake.
Sometimes dragging someone on water skis, tubes and boards. Don’t get me wrong
I don’t have a problem with these activities but when these zipper heads get
within feet of your boat, kicking up serious wakes while your just trying to
relax and fish without having to reach for something to grab onto to maintain
your balance. It astonishes me at how many inconsiderate boaters there are who
refuse to keep a safe distance away from other watercraft. So in order to avoid
the frustration and anger from these whirlpool makers I decided to get an early
start and be off the water before too many of them appeared. Not to mention the
early part of the morning is usually best. As planned I got to the lake very
early. After launching my boat I only noticed one other boat out on the water.
I pulled out a lure I had not yet used, that had been sitting in my tackle box
since March. I couldn’t wait to throw it and see how the bass would react to
it. The lure a whopper plopper, a big floating bait with a spinning tail end
that kicks up water. Kind of like a buzz bait on steroids effect but with a
fish shape profile. This particular bait is for musky fishing. But I had a
feeling it would make a good bait for big largemouth bass, turns out I was
right. After about 45 minutes of fishing the bait over deep water I heard a big
splash and then saw a largemouth suck in the bait. I set the hook hard and
brought up a largemouth around 4.5-5 lbs. Not a monster but a good one. I then
temporarily put the fish in my live well to get back on the bite quickly. Prior
to the catch I had two other bass in the 3-4 lb range in shallow water, close
to shore follow my bait but not commit. I was working deep water again and
about another 35 minutes later or so I got slammed again and brought up another
decent largemouth around 4 lbs or so and slipped her too into the live well. I
was pleased with how the live well was working, pumping in water and providing
good aeration. Both bass seemed to be alive and well. About 15 minutes later I
hook up with another bass close to shore around 2 lbs. I switch over to a
rubber worm fished wacky style and landed 3 small bass almost back to back.
After working the Lilly pads I go back to the whopper plopper and head out to
deeper water. Surprisingly I notice bait fish breaking the water and a big fish
splash on the surface, I quickly cast out my bait and crank down on it and
watch it go over the spot with high hopes for a strike but no luck. A couple of
boats had suddenly appeared flying around in circles, I debated on leaving or
slow trolling for trout in the deep stretch. It wasn’t to hot yet so I decided
to switch to trout fishing and set up a down rigger at 25 feet with a spoon and
put out another rod with lead-core line, with enough out to sink about 10-15
feet down. Not the best time of year to fish for trout but if anything I
figured cruising around slowly would be a nice change of pace. My down rigger
went off not to long after and I set the hook and judging from the depth of the
bite and the weight I felt, I thought I had a real big trout on. To my surprise
a largemouth surfaces. I land it and it looked like another 4 pound or so fish.
I guess when I stopped bass fishing to target trout I forgot to tell the
bass...LOL. I was happy to catch the largemouth but a little disappointed too
that it wasn’t the large trout I thought it was. Moments later my lead-core rod
gets hit and I land the days first trout, a brown trout. Shortly after I make
another pass over the same spot and get hit again but by the time I grab the
rod the fish had come un-buttoned. I make another couple of passes over the
same spot but nothing. So I move on to another spot with deep water about 60
feet deep but no takers, I accelerate the speed and after about a second or two
of doing so I get slammed. I carefully reel the trout in slowly and when I net
it I was pleasantly surprised to discover I had landed a beautiful tiger trout
sporting its summer color pattern. I unhooked it and quickly threw it in the
live well to get the rod and net out of the way and get the camera ready for a
few shots. But when I open up the live well the 2 largemouth I had kept in the
live well were alive and well and looking good but both trout were belly up.
The trout simply could not handle being in the warm water for too long. I
decided to take the two put and take trout home for the nights dinner. After
snapping a few pics of the trout I did the same with the 2 bass in the live well
and let them go. I wanted to go back to the spot where I had hooked up with the
tiger trout but to many more boats appeared and made fishing that spot
impossible. So I went back to the spot where I had hooked up with the brown
trout earlier and trolled it again but slightly faster and hooked up with 2
more brown trout. This time after landing them I had unhooked them both boat
side and they immediately swam like little bullets straight down after their
release. The lake had turned into a zoo of zipper heads; I had caught enough
fish and decided to split and call it a day. It was an enjoyable and productive
morning of fishing. Shortly after getting home I cleaned the trout and one of
them interesting enough inside it’s stomach had a alewife baitfish, which
identified for me the type of minnows I saw earlier in the morning breaking the
water and fleeing from a predator. In addition to the alewife baitfish was a
whole entire black rubber worm within the stomach of the same trout. I’ve seen
this before and it never ceases to amaze me. Anyway summer wont last long, get
out while you can. Tight Lines All! –George
MY 2 BIGGEST LARGEMOUTH BASS OF THE DAY
BROWN TROUT ON LEFT AND A RARE TIGER TROUT ON RIGHT
ANOTHER PIC OF THE TIGER TROUT IN IT'S SUMMER COLORS
TESTING OUT THE LIVE WELL WITH IT'S FIRST GUEST
THE BASS BAIT OF THE DAY, THE WHOPPER PLOPPER
THE LIVE WELL STARTING TO GET FULL
THIS ALEWIFE BAITFISH AND RUBBER WORM WERE BOTH INSIDE ONE OF THE TROUTS STOMACH
JUNE 30, 2012: MERRIMAC RIVER
STRIPERS, MA
If
you followed my reports so far this season you have probably noticed I have
neglected some of my usual freshwater pursuits in favor of pursuing striped
bass. The salt bug has been stronger on me this season versus past other
seasons. So anytime an opportunity presents itself to chase these incredible
sport fish I jump at it. This week I was supposed to go on a charter for
striped bass out on Monomoy and was pumped and looking very much forward to it.
I did this very same trip last year at this same time of year and we crushed
the stripers. Unfortunately for me the trip fell through. But as luck would have
it, while hanging out at my club with some friends, I got an invite by my
friend Bob to join him on his boat along with our mutual friend Al. So it
looked like I’d be chasing stripers this week out of a boat after all. The
destination was the Merrimac River. We get to the river in the morning and it’s
pouring. According to the forecast it was supposed to just be a passing shower.
We wait for the pouring rain to settle down to a light drizzle and launch the
boat. Bob has fished the river for years and has a bunch of spots he likes to
hit where he has caught many of stripers. As we make our way out of the boat
area the rain starts pouring hard again (so much for a quick passing shower). I
had left my rain gear back home inside my boat with the boat cover tied all
around the boat. I was leaving in the morning to meet up with the guys when I remembered
that I needed rain gear. I had run out of time to undue all the pieces of rope,
reach in and grab it and stretch and tie back on the cover. To do so I would
have been late, so I chose not to grab it and hoped for the best. Well Murphy’s
law I was soaked to the bone and a bit chilly, especially when the boat was
cruising at a fast speeds. We started off at the first spot along the river and
Al started off working a fly rod and had a few missed strikes. Bob and I were
working cut bait off the bottom. I had one nibble and that seemed to be it. I
was rather slow. Streaks of lightning and thunder rolled in, so we moved to
another spot closer to shore incase things got worse and we needed to quickly
get off the water we would not be far from the boat launch area. The storm
finally passed completely through and the sun, which I thought was taking the
day off finally, appeared. Shortly after I began to dry off and feel
comfortable again. Bob bounced around showing me some of his favorite spots on
the river. Fishing was slow but it was enjoyable hearing Bob and Al’s stories,
while waiting for fish strikes. Bob had one more spot he wanted to try. We all
casted out cut bait and set our rods in the rod holders and waited for a
striper to pick one of our baits off the bottom. It was still slow so Al went
to the bow of the boat and took a nap. An hour later, just as it seemed like it
was not going to happen today, especially after hearing that the action on the
river had been spotty at best. My rod tip starts dancing, I quickly grabbed my
rod out of the holder and set the hook hard and I was on, locked and loaded.
The fish felt good, fought hard and took drag. I knew it was a keeper
immediately and when it broke water a distance away I was pretty happy when I
saw the size of it. In the meantime Al’s rod is bending and Bob yells over to
Al who was shaking the cobwebs off from his nap to grab his rod. I make a joke
about what a great way to wake up from a nap. The boat has a double were both
on and Bob says he’s netting the first fish to reach the back of the boat
first. Having a head start fighting mine, the striper makes a few runs away
from the stern of the boat but eventually Bob slips the striper into the net. We
get it in the boat and dump it out on the deck floor and Bob waits a slight bit
then nets Al’s fish. A double followed by two successful landings. Shortly
after a few quick pictures were taken and the fish dumped in the ice chest, Bob
was hooked up on his rod with a decent striper. I slip the net under it and slide
her in head. Unfortunately it was just one inch shy of being a keeper. So the
fish was released to fight another day. Our patience paid off with a flurry of
fish that had moved in. When the little flurry had ended we left. It was a good
time, thanks for the invite Bob.
MERRIMACK RIVER STRIPER
THE STRIPES OF A STRIPED BASS
AL HOLDING HIS STRIPER
AL AND I POSING WITH OUR KEEPERS
ANOTHER SHOT
JUNE 16th & 17th, 2012: BROOK
TROUT BASHING, NH
Day 1: I have been fishing my
whole life, you always here about those 100 trout days. It’s never happened to
me, though I have had some great days on the water with amazing results. I
invited my close friend George, creator of The Local Hookup website for a
couple days of brook trout fishing. Our target is to get into the brookies and
hope for a chance at a trophy, on a fly-fishing only lake. We packed the truck
the night before with our gear and got up nice and early in the morning, so we
could just get changed and head out to our destination. We were on the water by
5:30 AM and were fast into them. George and my son Mike were in one canoe, my
twin boys Sam and Skylar were with me in the other canoe. George and Mike
caught 3 before we got our first but our first was 14" and 1 1/2 lbs, we
just nailed them non-stop after that all day long. George and Mike kept a pace
ahead of us with both size and numbers. As we headed in for lunch Skylar hooked
into a real nice trout and at first he thought he was hooked on the bottom but
after a few headshakes we knew otherwise, he ended up landing a 16" 2 lb 4
oz brookie. On shore during lunch we talked numbers and laughed about the
morning, George and Mike had 50 trout we had 35!!!! Amazing 85 trout in the
first 6 hours. George and Mike had us on large trout as well; they had 4 in the
16" 2lb class!!! After a great shore lunch we headed back on the lake
trolling our flies. From lunch on we were never able to catch up with Mike and
George they just kept out doing us on numbers but we both caught some more in
the 2 lb class. We called it quits at 5:00 we were just exhausted from lack of
sleep. The grand Total for the day Mike and George 79 brookies with 7 in the
16" 2 lb class. Our canoe 64 brookies with 3 in the 16" 2 lb class
with skylars as the largest at 2 lbs 4 oz. Total number of
brook trout for the day 143. Never in my 10 years of
targeting these jewels did I have a day like that.
Day
2: Even though we got a
late start we hiked into a pond that has some nice brookies in the 8-12"
range with some larger ones caught occasionally. The first part of the morning
was slow at first and we struggled. We had only got 3 brook trout between all
of us but George brought an idea that he thought we should try. Well it worked
and by the end of the morning we ended up with 18. We were all real tired so we
called it a day. Back at Camp Deloia we enjoyed a feast of Brookies and
breakfast. With all the clowning around it was non stop laughing. We had a very
memorable get away at Camp Deloia on Fathers Day weekend. Keep those Reels
screaming and take a kid fishing. Mike Deloia and the Deloia Clan
GEORGE WITH A BIG NH BROOK TROUT
CHECK OUT THE BLUE HALOS ON THIS COLORFUL BROOK TROUT
BEAUTIFUL SCENERY
MIKE WITH A NICE SIZE BROOKIE
MIKE WITH ANOTHER FINE BROOK TROUT
GEORGE WITH ANOTHER BEAUTY.
THE DAYS TRANSPORTATION
YOUNGER MIKE WITH A BIG ONE OF HIS OWN
SKYLAR WITH THE BIGEST FISH OF THE WEEKEND
LOTS OF BIG BROOK TROUT ON THIS TRIP
JUNE 11, 2012: FINALLY BOUGHT
A REAL BOAT!
Finally bit the bullet
and boat a real boat. It’s going to make a perfect Quabbin Boat. Always did love Lund boats and find them to be the
perfect multi-species boats. It already came decked out for fishing and comes with a bimini top (not shown in the pictures).
Going to make some further improvements on it. Buying an additional seat or two, to add to the existing other two in the boat
and will be finally able to bring more than one friend at a time. Can't wait for the maiden voyage. Going to fish the hell
out of this boat.
JUNE 09, 2012: MORE SALT ACTION,
MA
I got
another invitation to jump on my friends boat and join a group of 6 buddies of
mine on the salt. We got a report of a good mackerel bite so we were off to try
and fill the live well with mackerel. The tip we got was on the money because
the mackerel bite was sick. Using mackerel jigs we were hauling up anywhere
from 2-6 at a time. Mostly tinker mackerel (striper candy) with some occasional
larger macs caught. The fish were being caught all over the water column. From
the very top where you could sight fish for them to all the way to the bottom.
With 3 of us fishing mackerel fishing it did not take long to fill the live
well. After doing so we then shot over to our striper spot for the first tide
and live-lined mackerel in hopes of big stripers. My buddy Joe almost
immediately was hooked up with a monster striper peeling drag. He was able to
get the fish close to boat side, the whole gang got a good look at it and we
estimated the football shaped striper to be around 30 lbs or so. Unfortunately
for Joe the striper spit out the hook and took off before a gaff or net could
be used. What made matters worse is that it would have been Joe’s first striper
and what a beauty of a first it would have made. I felt so bad I let him take
my turn next. Only 2 of us at a time were fishing to prevent tangles. I was
expecting the action to be hot and heavy but after Joes fish it was dead slow
with a couple of short striking bass that refused to be hooked thrown in.
However during one of my turns I had put a weight on to see if getting the live
mac down deeper would be more effective and during the drift I got slammed and
finally hooked a striped bass. The fish pulled hard and took bits of drag out.
When it was finally in view it wasn’t a monster but a good size keeper striper
and to this fresh water fisherman any fish this size is big to me. Being how
slow it was I was relieved when the fish got gaffed and was brought into the
boat. I hoped this catch would also be a good sign of maybe the bite picking up
and the other guys getting a crack at boarding some fish but it wasn’t
happening. We decided to make a run over to another spot and try our luck at
the sea bass instead and try again later for stripers at the next tide change.
We got to our sea bass spot only to find out that they would not be cooperating
with us. We didn't get into any sea bass but we did manage to get into a
handful of scup. Which included a scup I caught that was pushing 2 pounds. I
didn’t even realize how big of a scup it was until my buddies Bill & Henry
enlightened me. It continued to be dead so we gave up on the sea bass fishing
and headed back to our striper spot but only to be disappointed. So we made
another run to another different location and did some trolling with lead-core
line. It seemed we had a few fish playing with our baits but none sticking.
Then one of the rods got slammed and it was Joe on again with what looked to be
a monster with the rod bent and drag coming off his reel. It was something just
plain powerful. Joe had mentioned it felt bigger and was fighting harder than
his other hook up with a 3 pounder and it looked it. Unfortunately the fish
went under the boat and the line rubbed and off she went. Clearly Joe was
having a tough time but all fisherman at some point have had days like this
when everything seems to go wrong, especially me. Bob also had briefly hooked a
striper that also came off. I was back on the rod again and trying to be
patient while we trolled and enough time had passed that made me think we were
not going to see another fish but fishing is unpredictable and after a long
time waiting I finally got slammed again. What a fight, more drag off the real
with some weight behind it. I could have sworn it was a striper but then a
bluefish surfaced and I was slightly surprised. Bill stuck it with the gaff and
brought her into the boat. A big bluefish pushing around 15 pounds or so even
with her emaciated looking stomach. The throat was immediately slashed to bleed
her out quick and then the blue was filleted soon after by Bill (thanks buddy)
and then thrown on ice. I found out why the fish was handled this way later
when I ate it. I don’t normally think much of bluefish meat but in this case
the way the fish was prepped on the boat along with a great recipe I
discovered, best bluefish I ever ate. The striper was good too. Unfortunately
at the end of the trip aside from a handful of scup my striper and blue were
the only fish landed and in the icebox. Everyone still enjoyed themselves. I can’t
wait to get back out there again even if it’s slow. By the way the canal bite
is still hot. While we were cruising through it I saw plenty of boys hooked up
with stripers. Tight Lines All! George D.
STRIPER AND A BIG BLUEFISH
A GIANT SCUP
A BEAUTIFUL SHIP CRUISING THRU THE CANAL, IS JOHNNY DEPP IN THERE?
JUNE 02, 2012: HIKE IN BROOKIES,
NH
It really seems
like the past couple years my 3 boys are my hardcore fishing partners, that’s
ok with me. We had really wanted to hit one of our trophy lakes but with the
weather report being rain and more rain we decided to do a hike in pond that
had given us a tough time this year with producing brookies. We got to NH early
enough that we did a quick 1 1/2 hour trial run. We
ended up catching 3
brookies on the small to average size 8-10". Knowing trout were hitting we
talked about our choices of trophy fishing an hour away or going for numbers
Saturday morning. We decided to hit the hike in again and just do some classic
brook trout fishing with crawlers. We got to the pond at 5:30 with the light
rain just starting. The rain just got heavier as the morning went on. We ended
up with 12 brookies for the morning in just 3 hours. Mike caught 6 and Skylar
and myself caught 3 each. We lost a few right at the net! The rain was just
coming down so hard we had to call it a day. Overall it was a great weekend up
at our camp, 15 trout the biggest 11". They were the most colorful of the
year, no debate on that. This pond will produce 15-17" 2+ lb brook trout every
so often. Mike Deloia and the Deloia Clan Take a kid fishing
SKYLAR WITH A BROOK TROUT
MIKE WITH A BROOKIE
MAY 26, 2012: BACK FOR MORE STRIPERS,
MA
After
yesterdays fun of hauling up striped bass I was pumped to get back out on the
Cape and do it all over again. This time I met up with my buddy Bill and we
headed down to the Marina together to meet up with everyone else at the boat
slip. Henry invited some of his other friends that I met for the first time,
who were kind enough to bring us all a feast. I was on day one of starting my
new diet of which as the day progressed quickly crashed and burned. We had a
fuller boat today but all good company. The plan was the same as yesterdays
winning formula. Find the mackerel and load up the live well. Then take a ride
to yesterday’s hot spot where we knew the stripers would be ready, willing and
able if we could catch the tide just right and have plenty of striper candy (mackerel)
to tempt them with. Unfortunately we struggled even harder than yesterday to
get enough live mackerel in the live well to make it worth targeting the
stripers. After what felt like endless jigging we did manage to get some
mackerel, not as many as we would have wanted for such a big crew but enough to
see some stripers in the boat, so we headed out to our striper spot. We had
just missed the beginning of the tide but it was still prime time and only a
few boats in our spot. After putting out the live mackerel it didn’t take long
to hook up with the days first striper. After the second striped bass was
landed I looked up and typical of the Memorial Day holiday weekend we had an
infestation of boats all around us, all trying for the same pod of stripers.
Which makes me appreciate like yesterday, the extra elbowroom fishing out on
the surf during a weekday just a bit more. We made repetitive drifts over our
preferred spot and were hooked into a striper during most of the drifts.
Another part of our strategy was having only two anglers fishing on the back of
the boat in rotation, so that everyone got turns with rods at hand and lines
out anticipating a run at any moment. After someone landed a fish, short or
legal the next person was up. Having just two guys fishing at the same time
helped prevent line tangles and even that was challenging during double hook
ups but a fun kind of chaos. As predicted we were burning through our bait
rather quickly. Luckily before we were about to run out a friend of the
Captains pulled up to our boat and gave us a couple of heavy net full's of
mackerel. Not to long after the live well was filled back up the action went
dead, the best action of the tide change had come to an end and with it the end
of the boat zoo, as quick as they came most of the boats had disappeared
already. It wasn’t a long window of prime fishing time but enough to get our
fix. Not long after the fish went lockjaw on us we called it a day as well and
headed back to the marina. When it was all said and done Bill and I were back
in the truck heading home with each of us having landed two keeper sized
stripers under our belts for the day. Most of the others landed fish as well.
Thanks Bill and Henry for the invite, it was a blast as always on the tuna nut
boat. Hope to do it again sometime.
MY FIRST KEEPER OF THE DAY
ANOTHER SHOT
DANIEL WITH HIS OWN STRIPER
MY SECOND KEEPER SIZED STRIPER
ANOTHER PIC OF IT
MAY 25, 2012: CAPE COD STRIPED
BASS, MA
I got an invite to join some
friends on their boat again and fish for Striped Bass. I met up with my friend
Henry in the morning and then we were Cape Cod bound. The plan was to catch
some mackerel first to use as live bait and then head over to another spot to
fish for stripers. It actually took us much longer to catch the mackerel than
it did the striped bass. I think we spent around two and a half hours or so
fishing for mackerel until we had just enough of them in the live well to make
our upcoming striper party worth the effort. After doing so we then headed out
to our striper spot. We got there just right before the tide change and began
live lining our mackerel and letting them out a distance. Each of us holding
our rods while we drifted over our honey spot. It seemed on every pass there was
hook up, sometimes some chaotic doubles as well. You could feel the mackerel at
times suddenly acting more erratic then usual, signaling that within seconds
you were about to be locked and loaded with a striper. When you felt the bait
acting more erratic, you anticipated the strike quick and every second felt
like minutes. When the stripers took the bait we let them run with it for a
little bit, watching the line rapidly peeling off the spool, then we would lock
up our lever reels, lower the rods and set the hooks hard. Then it was game on
and a fun fight. Every once in while slowly reeling our bait back in we would
be pleasantly surprised with a hard jerk slamming our line. When those stripers
are on the feed they are not kidding around. I don’t know how many we caught
total but everyone got their limit pretty quick, many more than caught were
released back into the salt. It seemed within an hour or so we burned right
through all our live bait. We even recycled a couple of dead mackerel that
still got crushed by stripers. I took honors for the largest fish of the day, a
striper at 36 inches. The class of fish we were getting into were not monsters
but big enough to put a smile on my face, what a blast. When it was over I
couldn’t wait to do it again, so when I got invited to come back tomorrow I
quickly accepted. Special thanks to Bill and Henry for the invite. Tight Lines
All! -George
MAY 23, 2012: STREAM BROOK TROUT,
MA
After
work I stopped at a near by stream for an hour or so. Nothing serious, just to
check it out and end some of my curiosity. It’s one of those spots I always
think about trying when I drive by but never get around to exploring. Well at
least until this evening. I messed around with an ultra-light rod and some
spinners, working the deeper pools in the stream and got into a few small brook
trout. The brookies looked pretty good and had all their fins in tact, with
really good coloration. I didn’t think this stream received any stocked fish
and now I’m wondering if the brook trout I caught are hatchery fish or possibly
wild fish. At some point I’ll have to do a little research and find out. Either
way a short but fun little trip on a very pleasant evening. I wasn’t in the
mood today for photography but for the spirit of this journal I took this real
quick shot below with my phone. All three of the small brook trout were
released. Tight Lines All! -George
MAY 20, 2012: A TROPHY SMALLMOUTH FOR HER BIRTHDAY, MA
It was a
beautiful day and my wife's birthday. Though I had already made some plans for
her in the evening, being that it was her day I asked her if there was anything
else special she also wanted to do during this beautiful sunny afternoon. She
replied saying she wanted to go for a boat ride and work on her tan. With the
seal on my little boat I’m only allowed to take it out on the Quabbin, she
knows this. Then she mentions since we are going all the way out to the Quabbin
we mine as well bring the fishing rods. All I could think was I get to go
fishing on your birthday, it seemed rather alien being able to do that and not
what I expected her to want to do on her birthday. So I quickly hitched the
boat and got everything packed and headed out with her before she changed her
mind. We didn’t end up fishing for to long, just a couple of hours. We tried
slow trolling for trout and salmon the first hour or so but it was pretty dead.
She was getting bored, so I took her for another little boat ride and headed to
a spot that has plenty of smallmouth. Not long after I finally stopped the boat
I began working the water and quickly hooked up but something seemed off. The
rod suddenly felt like it was stuck on the bottom but I could have sworn I got
hit. All I felt was dead weight and thought maybe I was stuck still keeping
tension on the line incase I was wrong. I move the rod off to the side and
began feeling something tugging back, something heavy. I knew it was going to
be a really good fish. My wife had not caught anything yet so I asked her if
she wanted to haul up a giant fish and she said yes, so I handed her the rod
and said happy birthday. She handled the rod like a champ and when I finally
got to see the fish just as I predicted it was a pig smallmouth. I carefully
slipped it in the net. A large pregnant female loaded with a belly full of the
next generation. It looked like it could be a pin fish but I forgot my digital
scale and the local tackle shop was closed by this time for a weigh in and
certification. She didn’t care and was happy just getting a few pictures and
letting the smallmouth go. I’m pretty good at guessing weights and I’d bet she
was pushing 5 lbs or close to it. I had already given her a bunch of birthday
gifts back at the house I didn’t know I would be giving her another out on the
lake. What smallmouth that was. We pretty much ended the day on that note and
headed back for our evening plans. Tight Lines All! -George
THE WIFE GOT A TROPHY SMALLMOUTH FOR HER BIRTHDAY
NICE JOB BABY!
MAY 19, 2012: TARGETING SEA BASS,
MA
During
the week I got a phone call and an invite to head out to Cape Cod and jump on a
friends boat (named the tuna nut) to target Sea Bass and Stripers. The sea bass
are a fish that I never really targeted and was interested in and as far as the
striped bass go I’m already a fan of fishing for that species so I graciously
accepted. After especially hearing the latest fishing reports I was looking
forward to it even more so. So I decided to abort my original plan of targeting
landlocked salmon at the Quabbin reservoir. I got a brand new rod and high
speed reel for jigging the salt and for handling large fish back in January and
have been watching it collect dust since, I was finally going to get a chance
to put it to use. I met up with the guys and we all consolidated into two
vehicles and made our way down the cape and jumped aboard the boat. We headed
out and afterwards it didn’t take long to figure out where the fish were by the
big cluster of boats all hanging out in one general spot. We worked the same
big general area. Making drifts with the boat and working crippled herring and
diamond jigs off the bottom. We all got into them and it didn’t take long to
fill the cooler with our limits. The sea bass were spawning and the males all
seemed to have a big hump on their heads making it easy to distinguish them
from the females. If you ask me they almost look like a cross between a peacock
bass and a largemouth bass but with a much darker paint job. An interesting
looking fish to say the least. Mixed in with the sea bass were some catches of
scup. My friend Willy also got a nice surprise when he hauled up a nice size
Tautog. Unfortunately the boat was overheating a bit and as a safety precaution
the Captain decided it would be best to end the day early and have his boat
looked at versus taking any chances and breaking down. Everyone understood and
didn’t seem to mind, not to mention there was plenty of action getting our
limits of sea bass. Henry made a very fitting joke about what the term “boat”
means. BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand. For the Captains sake I had
hoped that whatever was wrong with the boat would be a quick and inexpensive
repair. The stripers will just have to wait for another day. After the boat was
back in its slip, we all still stuck around the boat for a bit at the marina
for a few more laughs and a beer or two. It was a great time as always. Thank
you Henry and Bill for the invite. Hope to do it again.
A WEIRD BUT COOL LOOKING FISH
WE ALL LIMITED OUT
PLENTY OF SCUP ALONG WITH THE SEA BASS CAME UP AS WELL
WILLY WITH A NICE TAUTOG/BLACK FISH
MAY 19, 2012: LOTS OF BROOKIES,
NH
Just another
one of our brookie outings. I had all 3 of my boys and my oldest son Mikes
friend Tyler in search of some brookies. We really have had a tough time
getting one of those elusive trophies this year. It seems like we got one every
time out last year. On this trip we had 2 canoes with my twins Sam and
Skylar and myself in one and Mike and Tyler in the other. We were
fast into them; Skylar landed 1 in less than a minute on the water.
It was a very good day for numbers and between the 5 of us we landed 39
brookies that’s a lot of trout for anyone. The biggest was mine at
14.5" and weighing 1lb 6oz. We fished for 12 hours!!! As always we had a
great lunch on shore. I am convinced that some Monster brookies will be caught
this year due to the mild winter; it’s just a matter of time. Take a kid
fishing, Mike Deloia and the Deloia clan
MIKE WITH A DECENT BROOK TROUT
LITTLE SKYLAR WITH A BROOK TROUT
MAY 17, 2012: LANDLOCKED SALMON
HUNT AT THE QUABBIN RESERVOIR, MA
Headed
out to the Quabbin again but this time without my boat on the trailer hitch. I
met up with my new friend Mike who has been a long time reader of this website
and a Quabbin angler as well. He’s also a good fly tier. I had met Mike once
last year at one of the reservoirs gates, he had recognized me from this
website and said hello. Recently we started exchanging emails and texts.
Sharing Quabbin fishing reports and conditions. He invited me to join him on
his boat and try our luck together on the salmon. It was actually a nice break
for me being a passenger for a change. I had thoughts of upgrading to a better
Quabbin boat, I had already felt I outgrown my rig and when I jumped into Mikes
boat and checked it out it just solidified my thoughts even further. I've been
slowly putting around the Quabbin reservoir in a little 12-foot boat and moving
at the rate of a turtle with my 7.5 hp outboard for the past 3 years. Compared
to my rig Mikes 25 hp outboard (maximum allowed on the Quabbin) felt like a racecar
and his boat nice and spacious. I remember thinking so this is what it’s like
being in a real Quabbin boat; lets put some salmon in it. The landlocked salmon
fishing at the Quabbin had been pretty spotty at best so far this year for us.
There’s also talk of the smelt not doing so great and the salmon that have been
caught this season by anglers looking mostly skinny. Regardless Mike and I were
targeting them and hoping we might give each other some luck. Early on we
started off fishing some of Mikes favorite spots but action was slow and no
takers. So we switched and tried some of my old spots, fishing was still
painfully slow for a while but my rod finally got slammed. The way the fish was
fighting at first had me doubting it was even a salmon until I got it near the
boat. That’s when the metallic fish went ballistic. I took my time playing the fish
and enjoying the fight before Mike was able to slip our target the landlocked
salmon head first into the net. After admiring the fish I noticed a deep
puncture wound on it’s side and the only thing we could think of that could
inflict such a wound on a fish like this is probably one of the bald eagles or
other birds of prey that we often see fishing the reservoir. I wasn’t sure if
the salmon was going to make it, in fact I thought it was going to be a goner
and possibly diner some night this week for me but we put it in the live well
and after checking it within an hour or so it seemed to bounce back with life
and doing well. So I decided she was in good enough shape to be released. When
I let her go she swam off like a champ, which I managed to capture in a under
water video clip that I hope to post and share soon. It was surprising to me
that even with what looked to be a fresh puncture wound, she was still actively
feeding. That’s one tough fish. Hooking up with her near the surface just
reinforced our eagle theory. Any fish feeding near the surface would be a clear
view target for an eagle’s talons. The fish was not nearly as portly as others
I have caught in past seasons. Hopefully the released fish will heal from her
wound and have a chance to spawn and reproduce. And if she’s successful in
doing so, when the time comes hopefully her offspring will have a more abundant
forage base to feed on. As interesting as this catch was it unfortunately was
the only salmon of the day we managed to catch. Unlike say targeting bass you
cant always predict where these elusive fish will roam or feed, especially in
such a large body of water. It still beat being skunked but I was hoping for at
least a few more fish and for Mike at the very least to hook up as well. But that’s
the nature of this kind of fishing, it can be non productive to very fruitful,
that’s salmon fishing. Regardless it was still a nice day to be out on the
water and hanging out with a fellow diehard. Special Thanks to Mike for the
cool hat and flies, we’ll crush the salmon hard next time. Tight Lines All!
A LANDLOCKED SALMON FROM THE QUABBIN RESERVOIR
A PUNCTURE WOUND FROM PROBABLY A TALON FROM ONE OF THE MANY BALD EAGLES RESIDING AT THE QUABBIN
MAY 15, 2012: MORE SMALLMOUTH
AT THE QUABBIN, MA
I headed
out again to the Quabbin Reservoir and when I pulled into the gate on this
rainy weekday I only saw one other truck and trailer. It seemed today I had the
lake practically all to myself. The gatekeeper seemed surprised I was going to
head out in the rain but it was days like this last year that I got into some
good numbers of fish. I had my rain gear on and headed out in the boat. Though
I was feeling optimistic even in during the on again off again rain showers I
wasn’t having any luck at first. I didn’t want to fool around and was trolling
with live bait, the bait seemed just a little to large for salmon fishing but
it was the best I could get from the local bait shop but gave it a go. I worked
some favorite spots of mine and ended up having to salmon hookup and come off
simultaneously. When I checked the baits I could see the scales removed just
below the hook on the tales on both baits. I re rigged the hooks onto fresher
baits and placed the hooks closer to the back of the baits on the rigs incase I
got anymore short strikers. Later there was one other moment that followed when
my live bait suddenly became over active looking like it was try to escape a
predator, right afterwards followed a boil caused by a salmon that attempted to
strike the bait but missed due to the golden shiner unfortunately being
successful at dodging the strike. The salmon lost interest and surprisingly
didn’t strike again. Another day of bad luck with the salmon but I did manage
to land a handful of smallmouth. At the end of the day I decided to abort the
salmon fishing for the last hour and fished a nice rocky and shallow spot just
off a point. In doing so ended up hooking and landing a nice hard fighting 4
pound plus smallmouth. And on that note I ended the trip. I’ll be back. Tight
Lines All! -George
TRYING TO GET AN ARTISTIC SHOT OF THIS RED EYE WITH THE CAMERA
OVERCAST AND A BREAK FROM THE WIND & RAIN
TAKING A QUICK SHOT BEFORE THE RAIN PICKED UP AGAIN
MAY 12, 2012: QUABBIN RESERVOIR,
MA
Headed
out to the Quabbin Reservoir again but this time with my buddy Mark. His twin
brother Peter who I brought with me last time to the Q was also fishing the
same area with our mutual friend Chris, in another boat. The plan was to sort
of work together as a team by spreading out in spots that had been good last
season and keep in touch via cell phone if either boat found a school of
feeding salmon. Mark and I caught 4 smallmouth. Including one that Mark dragged
over a small island to land...I’m still chuckling over that one. Chris and
Peter still had not caught anything yet. However later on in the day Chris
hooked up with a small lake trout. Then toward the end of the day Chris hooked
up again with a small salmon. Hoping the spot he hooked up in had a school of
actively feeding fish, we both worked our boats covering and combing the area
pretty hard and both of us marking plenty of fish on our fish finders but still
no more takers. We worked the whole water column, particularly the depths we were
marking them, our offerings included both live bait and artificial spoons but
the fish just were not in the feeding mood. The fish eventually disappeared
from the fish finders and so did we when we decided to pack up and split not to
long before the gates closing time. Not a great day but not a bad day either.
Tight Lines All! -George
MARK WITH HIS FIRST SMALLMOUTH OF THE DAY
ANOTHER SHOT OF IT
MAY 12, 2012: COLD MORNING TROUT,
NH
It’s been a
very strange year in NH. One of my favorite spots has not been stocked; I think
it’s because of the hurricane last fall. It washed out the hiking path to the
pond. I know trout are still holding over but its tough to get them. I left at
5 am with hopes that just maybe the state found a way in. This was not my day;
it was 45 at my camp not bad!! When I got to the pond it was 30 and windy, ice
on my guides, my hands could feel the bite of the wind even with the gloves on.
I got one brookie about 11". I put in 2 hours in that bitter wind driven
cold, I couldn’t close my thumb to my pinky so I knew I was done BRRRRRRR. I
did go fishing on my lake at the camp, I picked up one brown also 11".
This year has been a very slow to start. Keep those reels screaming. Mike
Deloia
BROOK TROUT
CAMP BROWN TROUT
MAY 11, 2012: BROOK TROUT &
RAINBOW TROUT, MA
Driving home from work I decided to hit the
local reservoir before heading home. I had read on the Internet it had been
stocked this week. I got to the reservoir and grabbed my rod and began casting
a kastmaster and working it. While doing so I watched another angler catch his
limit and leave in about 15 minutes. I had not had any luck yet but clearly the
lake indeed had been stocked and even more transparent was the fact I needed to
make a lure change and switched to a spinner. I worked the spinner pretty fast
just keeping it subsurface. The switch was like day and night and I got slammed
almost immediately with an 18-19 inch rainbow. The bow took plenty of drag off
my reel and ultra-light rod. Then it took to the air a few times before being
subdued on shore. I continued on and had another trout slam my bait, I got it
near the shore and watched a brook trout come unbuttoned a mere 4 feet away
from me. I tossed out the bait again and hooked and landed another plump
rainbow, that also took to the air but still ended up in my hands. Shortly
after another rainbow hook up came unbuttoned when it went airborne. I had
plans this evening and did not have allot of time left to fish and needed to
leave soon but wanted to wrap things up with one more trout for a lake creel
limit and as hoped I was on shortly again. This trout didn’t feel as big and
was staying under and not leaping at all, so I assumed it might be a brook
trout and my assumption was true when I beached a fine brook trout. Brook trout
may not be the leapers that rainbow trout are but personally I think they taste
better. After switching lures I realized I had also landed a limit of 3 (and a
couple of misses) in about 15 minutes as well. It felt like the fast food of
fishing but shows that even a quick little trip can be productive once in a
while. The rivers and ponds are loaded so get out there. Tight Lines All!
-George
THE DAYS LAKE CREEL LIMIT
MAY 07, 2012: RIVER RAINBOW TROUT,
MA
After work I hit the river again for an hour
or so before dark. I’m sure many trout have already been plucked out but after
witnessing the last stocking for myself I knew the river was still loaded with
plenty of trout. When I got there was a friendly fly fisherman in my preferred
spot, so I moved further down allowing him plenty of casting room. He had not
had any luck yet but was expecting his luck to occur closer to evening when the
bug hatch would be in full swing. I kind of wished I had my waders and 5 wt fly
rod, I’m sure it would have been more fun but at the same time I had a feeling
my ultra-light rod loaded with 4 LB test and a spinner would probably entice
the rainbows a bit more. Knowing how much even more effective it would be I
purposely left the power bait in the truck, I hate using that stuff. Even if it
meant not catching any trout today so be it. But around my fourth cast I was
hooked up and had a nice aerial show display by a rainbow I had clearly
interrupted and angered. The fly fisher had also enjoyed watching the leaping
rainbow and yelled out nice jump as I finished landing it. I continued casting
and had two more rainbows take the bait and come unbuttoned close to shore. I moved
down slightly further and hooked and landed another rainbow and through it on
shore with the other. Thanks to my kind wife's pan-frying skills I’ve been
enjoying plenty of fresh put and take trout this season and wanted to continue
doing so. I move back to my original spot and hooked and lost another and
wondered if it’s my angle I’m setting the hook on or if I’m not setting hard
enough. After making some slight adjustments to my methods I proceed to land
the next 3 trout. I threw one on the shore with the other two landed
previously, just enough for a fresh trout dinner and released the rest. I could
have continued to fish and kept every trout until reaching a full 8 trout river
creel limit but chose to just take what I need. Three plump trout would be
enough for the wife and I for dinner. Not to mention I have already taken
enough this season. I was almost tempted to do some more catch and release
fishing with the rainbows feeding so actively but wanted to get home and eat at
a decent hour. Within an hour I was done and checked back with the fly fisher
on the way out who had watched me hook every trout and who still had not had
any luck yet himself. I wished him luck and felt bad he had not connected yet.
But who knows maybe he did slay them at dusk. Tight Lines All! -George
RIVER RAINBOW TROUT
MAY 05, 2012: QUABBIN RESERVOIR
LAKE TROUT, MA
Originally I was going to fish the Quabbin
the entire day (or at least as much of it as I could stand) but Peter wanted to
join me and needed to be back home in the afternoon for his son’s baseball
game. Rather than leave him behind just to fish a little longer I decided to
fish a half a day with him. We got to the gate at the opening time of 6:30 AM
and fished until noon. Landlocked Salmon and Lake Trout was what we were after.
We slowly trolled and combed the water in search of our targets. Working a bunch
of spots that traditionally in past seasons have been good but today no takers.
It was very slow fishing for most of the morning, which I found very odd for
this time of year. We only had about 2 hours left so I decided to make a move
and try out another spot I discovered last year around this time where I found
salmon stacked up between 10-20 feet of water. When we arrived at the spot and
put our baits out it was as if someone hit a switch to activate the bite that
had been dead earlier (but that’s how the Quabbin is). Peter hooked up first
with a lake trout, while he was fighting his fish I was trying to maintain boat
control, get the net ready and shoot a video clip of Peters first Quabbin
laker. While in the process of all the multi-tasking I got bit to and saw my
rod bending back and fourth but with everything going on my fish came
unbuttoned before I could pull it out of the rod holder for a hard hook set.
However I was able to slide Peter’s lake trout head first into the net. The
next thing you know I’m hooked up again but this time playing the fish. After
netting and releasing both fish we started making another pass in the same
location. I had just begun to let some line out and another lake trout slammed
the bait before I even nearly finished letting the line out of my spool. It was
clear the lake trout were stacked up. Last year the salmon were taking up
residency in this particular area but now it seems they have moved out and the
trout now reside in this neighborhood. Finally we were into them good. Within
the hour there were five lakers in the net and a few unbuttoned fish to. Would
have probably landed more if we didn’t go all Hollywood using valuable fishing
time on camera pics and clips but then again how boring would this report be if
we didn’t. We only had 1 hour left to fish before we had to leave and head back
to the marina, so Pete could make his sons game. I told Peter we had enough
time to hit one more spot and see if we could find any salmon or stay put and
continue to work the area for more lake trout action. After giving him the
option we broke the cardinal rule. We left fish to find fish! Not something I
normally do but salmon fishing has been spotty this season. The word from the
local bait shop, fishermen and Quabbin gate keepers is that the salmon are
skinny this year and not feeding as actively on top for this time of season
nearly as much as in past years and it’s being blamed on a smelt decline.
Regardless Peter and I wanted to still try and did but unfortunately the gamble
didn't pay out. The last hour fruitless hour at least didn’t feel as painful as
it could have if we did not already hook up earlier with some action. Though no
salmon this time it had still been a fun morning trip catching wild green trout
that are much larger than what typically comes out of a hatchery stock truck. Tight Lines All! -George
MY FIRST & LARGEST LAKER OF THE DAY
LAKE TROUT
FIRST FISH OF THE DAY WENT TO PETER
MY SECOND QUABBIN CHAR
PETER WITH HIS SECOND LAKER OF THE DAY
ANOTHER SHOT
MY LAST LAKER OF THE DAY
MAY 05, 2012: EARLY SEASON BROOK
TROUT, NH
The weather
report was 45-60 degrees overcast with a 10% chance for rain. They lied! We had
very high hopes of catching some great brookies in some decent weather. Along
with my sons Mike and Skylar we were in search of a few trophy brookies in NH.
The first night we got skunked at one of our hot spots. We were ok with that
because this hike in pond was just a warm up for Saturday. We were out the door
at 3:30 and on the Lake at dawn. Mike caught the biggest
brookie I've seen caught in New England on this same lake, our goal is to
top the camp record 4lb 13oz monster he caught last spring. The weather
was the worst I've fished in years. The air temp was 41 and the winds just
whipped all day along with the rain and near zero visibility it was really
tough. The boys really hung in with it. We did get some nice brookies 12 in all,
8 in the 15" range with Mikes taking top honors at 16" 2lbs 4oz. We
were freezing and soaked so after 5 1/2 hours we called it quits. The crazy
thing was just a few miles away it was sunny and dry in the 60's. I took a
photo of what we were in just because I have never seen anything like it, from
a distance you can see how this cloud system was "STUCK" in the
notch. We did fish back at our camp and caught a 14" rainbow and a couple
browns in the 10-11" range. The next day we just slept in after fishing a
total of 12 hours and driving 3 it was a great but memorable day. No doubt in
my mind we will get a couple monsters this year. With the mild winter and the
holdover brookies I honestly think we have a shot at a 4-5 lb giant, only time
will tell. After the amazing 2011 season we had its tough to come down to
reality. Take a kid fishing Mike Deloia
YOUNG MIKE WITH A FINE BROOK TROUT
THE NOTCH
SKYLAR WITH A CAMP BROWN TROUT
OLDER MIKE WITH A CAMP RAINBOW TROUT
SKYLAR WITH A BROOK TROUT, LOOKS COLD.....BURR!
YOUNG MIKE WITH ANOTHER BROOKIE
MAY 04, 2012: FRESHLY STOCKED
RAINBOW TROUT, MA
I had an
hour to fish and hit the Sudbury River again. According to the Internet it was
supposedly stocked again. I get down there and make my first cast and a trout
smashes my lure instantly but then comes undone. So I assumed the river had already
been stocked again this week and thought great. Before I can finish reeling up
my line to take the second cast I see the Mass Wildlife truck pull up. I watch
as they dump 200 plump rainbow trout with a couple dozen fish looking like they
could push 2.5-3 lbs. The mild winter kept the raceways at the hatchery from
freezing and allowing the fish to feed a bit longer and fatten up. Judging by
the size and variety we got a great crop of trout this season. With all the
fish dumped in it was easy pickings and I could have easily kept a limit of 8
out of the river but didn’t want to be greedy and allowed myself a lake creel
of 3. I caught and released fish repeatedly for about an hour and called it
quits. I was a little surprised when I pulled up on my stringer and found one
of my largest trout on my stringer half eaten by a sneaky snapping turtle. I
threw back the other half and figured he mine as well finish it. Tight Lines
All! -George
VICTIM OF A SNAPPING TURTTLE
A FAT RAINBOW TROUT
A CLOSE UP
MAY 02, 2012: RAINBOW & BROWN
TROUT BITE, MA
I had an
hour to fish at a local reservoir and decided to load the rod with some heavy
metal. I put on a kastmaster so I would be able to make long casts and more
effectively comb the water from shore. Keeping the kastmaster near the top
(subsurface) and working it quickly with some jerks of the rod I landed 3
rainbows and 1 brown. I carefully released all fish today. Would have loved to be
able to stay longer. Regardless a fun little trip. Tight Lines All! -George
A CLOSE UP SHOT
RAINBOW TROUT ON A KASTMASTER LURE
BROWN TROUT
APRIL 30, 2012: BIG BROODSTOCK
ATLANTIC SALMON CAUGHT RECENTLY, MA
I called my buddy Dave up while driving home from work and he told me about a big 32 inch Broodstock Atlantic
Salmon a friend of his caught today. Which weighed out at 10 pounds. His buddy after landing it dropped it on the ground,
it also flopped around and didn’t look like it was going to make it. Rather than release a dead fish he gave it to my
friend Dave so it would be eaten and not wasted. Dave was at the lake and I happen to be around the area so I popped by to
look at the fish and snap a few shots before heading home. The fish was long but emaciated and probably weighed around 15
pounds or so when it was freshly stocked out by the state last December. This fish looked like it was on the verge of starving
to death, some lakes just don’t have the forage base needed to sustain fish for very long. The White River Fish Hatchery
in Bethel Vermont had always been the primary source of our states Broodstock Atlantic Salmon fishery but compliments of tropical
storm Irene on August 28, 2011. The storm virtually destroyed the hatchery by the severe floods it’s caused. It’s
doubtful that the hatchery will be back on it’s feet anytime soon and if it will get the funding it desperately needs
to repair the millions of dollars of damage done. The hatcheries within our home state produce very few fish in comparison
to what we used to receive from the White River Fish Hatchery allotment. So fish like the one pictured below are sadly even
more rare and difficult to come across than in past years. It was never an easy fish to target with so few fish stocked and
now with even much fewer available for the stocking program the fishery is a needle in the haystack at best. So if you land
one be grateful. Tight Lines All! -George
THIS ATLANTIC SALMON HIT THE 10 LB MARK
THIS EMACIATED 32 INCH BROOD SALMON COULD HAVE WEIGHED 15 LBS WHEN STOCKED OUT
APRIL 28, 2012: QUABBIN BOUND,
MA
It was
finally here opening day at the Quabbin Reservoir. I knew with the great sunny
weather that it would be a mad house in the morning trying to launch a boat at
any of the gates. I instead I chose to not rush and waited until opening morning to hitch and
prep the boat, load the rods with new line and rig them with hopefully some
fish tempting offerings. I got there late around 1 PM to find the place was
still a mad house. I finally dunk the boat hope in start the motor up. As I
make my way to my first spot I notice the jet stream is not shooting out of my
outboard and excess smoke is coming off the motor. As I’m about to reach and
hit the kill button on the motor, it stalled out and shut itself off from being
over heated. I thought to myself not again, last years opening day the outboard
broke down too and needed a throttle cable. I used the electric motor to get
back to the marina and then headed to the nearest outboard repair shop. I got
to the shop and it looked like they had 20 other motors to repair before mine.
They were very busy and also mentioned it could take around a few weeks for
them to even look at it. I wondered if it was repairable and if I was going to
miss the great spring fishing at the Quabbin this season. I was leaving in a
few days for vacation and would be away for 9 days. I thought it wouldn’t be so
bad and be perfect timing if I could have it back and fixed after getting back
from my vacation. I would be home on a Friday and hit the Quabbin on Saturday
as a nice way to end my vacation but figured it would be wishful thinking. But
while in Mexico it was sunny and warm here it was rainy, raw and nasty. Which
gave the marine repair shop an opportunity to catch up on they're work. When I
got back home and checked my messages there was a voice mail telling the motor
was fixed and to pick up anytime. So Saturday I picked the motor up and put it
back on the boat and made my way to the Quabbin. I didn’t stray out very far
but worked a bunch of spots that have been good to me in the past hoping some
salmon would be present. I didn’t find any salmon and figured in order for a
shot I would have to venture further out, due to the late start and that it
would take too long with my small 7.5 hp outboard to get to the far out spots.
I continued to fish nearby keeping the gate within a short boat ride. I toyed
with a school of yellow perch I found just to feel a bend in the rod and then I
started trolling a bit closer to an island I was working and finally hooked up
with my second target fish, a small lake trout. I quickly release it and turn
the boat around and make another pass in the same spot and before I knew it I
was on another laker. Both fish looked like they would barely hit the 2-pound
mark and looked skinny. Made me wonder if there was something negatively
impacting the smelt population. Which sustains the lake trout (and other fish)
and helps keep them fat and happy. I make another pass in the general spot but
in slightly deeper water and hook up again but this time with a decent lake
trout. I worked the area again and a couple of other spots with no luck. When
the day ended I was just happy nothing broke and the motor ran. Catching a few
lake trout was the icing on the cake. I’ll be back for the salmon, larger lake
trout and some smallmouth action in the coming weeks. Tight Lines All! -George
LAKE TROUT
A SCHOOL OF YELLOWS WERE BITING TOO
APRIL 25, 2012: MORE BONITO TUNA,
CANCUN, MEXICO
The
guys and I met up for
breakfast and then headed out to the marina. When we got there and I climbed
into the boat I was immediately impressed by how much cleaner and organized the
boat was compared to yesterday’s charter. Yesterday’s charter rods sported old
penn senator reels that looked and acted like they should have been retired.
Today's charter has some sweet penn internationals on they're rods, that look
like they caught a few fish but still in good shape and not nearly as worn and
beat as yesterday charter gear. After introductions the Captain asked what we
wanted to fish for. The guys and I all said sailfish and the captains response
was a little similar to what I had heard yesterday. He said that it was a
little early for them but there are a few around. We would need to troll for
them. If we headed the opposite direction we could troll and target wahoo and
dolphin. Another option would be to go ground fishing for grouper and snapper,
which has been good lately. Both the captain from yesterday and today both
seemed to favor ground fishing. We asked what our chances of hooking up would
be with a sailfish and he confidently said 1 maybe two but it was just the
beginning of the season and it would be slow fishing but we might also hook
into some tuna as well. Everyone still wanted to target sailfish. Ground
fishing did not interest us since we do plenty of that back home for cod and
decided to just risk the day and go for it. Even just seeing 1 sailfish coming
boat side would have been fun for all of us to see. Not to mention the guys
knew from my report yesterday that the bonito tuna were in and after telling
them yesterdays stories and how hard the bonito tuna fight they each also
seemed pretty interested in tangling with them also. Our confidence went up
when the captain mentioned landing a sailfish yesterday. My thought was if he
could bring one to the boat in yesterdays rough water chances are that it might
even be better with today's more favorable conditions. Maybe the baits being
more easily visible to the fish could be a drastic improvement versus the
swells I was fishing in yesterday morning. I was feeling optimistic thinking
that today one of us was going to hook something with a long bill on it. As we
pulled out of the marina and started making our way to the fishing grounds for
the first time I saw schools of flying fish dart out of the water and fly. Fish
with wings that when spooked by the boat would jump out of the water and glide
about a 100 yards. I had heard of these fish and seen pictures of them but
never actually seen them out on the ocean before. It was an amazing sight to
see. We finally got to the fishing grounds and it looked very familiar, it was
the same area I had fished yesterday and I also noticed some of the same boats
from yesterday as well fishing the area again. We saw a dolphin (mahi-mahi)
jump out of the water that another boat hooked up with. Which had me thinking
there could be a school of dolphin fish that we might get a shot at further
adding to the anticipation. However once we were fully set up and trolling
action was very slow but did finally come in spurts. As I guessed we got into
some bonito tuna again. Because of the better conditions and the fresh live
bait that the mate caught for us, I saw more tuna hooked and landed than
yesterday. At one point toward the middle of the trip we were all asleep only
to be awakened by the yells of fish on by the captain and mate and drag noises.
We had a double and enough adrenaline from the spurt of action to keep us awake
for the remainder of the trip. We tried to be clear and mention that we did not
want to keep any of the fish we caught and did let some go, however the mate
would sometimes unhook the fish for us and then throw them in the fish box. But
there was either a language problem or maybe the mate figured if we didn’t want
any than they would help themselves. On one of my turns the rod went off and
the captain yelled out sailfish, you want to talk about being overly excited. I
could hardly contain myself thinking I finally latched on to one of those
brutes but once I had the rod at hand for a minute or two it felt familiar, it
felt like another tuna. I kept hoping a sailfish would suddenly break water and
give us some kind of aerial show, but unfortunately I was correct, but at least
it was a decent size tuna. The first one I got earlier was a bit small. All 4
of us fishing: Joe, Bill, Steve and I each landed about 2-3 bonito a piece.
There were also some fish that came unbuttoned, including one that gave Steve a
serious run for his money, Steve spent a bit of time on the rod patiently
waiting to tire out the brute, only to have the fish come off right at the back
of the boat and not even so much as get a visual of the fish for all his
efforts. On one of Bill’s turns the Captain yelled out sailfish, Bills line was
screaming out at warp speed for a minute but unfortunately that fish came
unbuttoned too while it was pulling drag out. I don't know if the captain
visually saw the sailfish from his high vantage point. Bill mentioned though
that it didn’t feel like a bonito and that it felt much more powerful and was
convinced the Captain was right this time about having a sailfish hooked. Then
there was one short moment I stand and turn around to grab a sandwich out of
the cooler I was sitting on and I hear everyone marvel over something they saw
in the water, I turned around but missed it. A few of the guys saw a giant blue
marlin jump and break water. The one time I turn around ...figures. A sea
turtle or two also made an appearance. Unfortunately we ran out of fishing time
and did not land any other species besides bonito tuna. But everyone was still
pretty content with the action the bonito’s gave us and they're hard fighting
abilities. Over all a fun trip. When we got back to the marina and after
getting off the boat I noticed the Captain giving one of our kept fish to a
dock worker. Guess our fish were being put to good use and helping feed some
folks. Which made me feel better. As for the billfish I have not yet given up
on them and will try again for them another time. Tight Lines All! -George
OUR FISHING BOAT FOR THE DAY
JOE WITH ONE OF HIS TUNA
BILLS BONNITO TUNA
STEVE FINALLY NAILS A LARGE ONE
ONE OF THE ONES I GOT
WE RELEASED SOME FISH BUT THE CAPTAIN KEPT SOME
POOL OR SEA FOR A DIP?
BREAKFAST IN PARADISE
A SHOT WITH THE WHOLE GANG.
COOL WATER SPLASH
MY WIFE THE MERMAID
THE POOL BAR
KEEP THEM COMING MY FRIEND
THAT MARTIAN COUPLE NEXT TO US IS KINDA WEIRD HONEY
SAYING GOODBYE TO CANCUN SHORTLY AFTER TAKE OFF
April 24, 2012: BONNITO TUNA
BITE, CANCUN, MEXICO
Many
months ago I was looking into vacation destinations, I wanted to take my wife
someplace nice that she would enjoy, some place warm. I happen to mention this
to some friends of mine who happen to be in the midst of planning a trip to
Cancun, Mexico with their wives and they said why don’t you just come with us
to our Cancun trip. After getting more info, I asked the wife how would you
like to lie on a warm sandy beach for 9 days in April and stay at a 5 star
resort in Cancun and before I could finish with the details she happily said
yes. So naturally I accepted the invite and booked the trip. The resort was all-inclusive;
it had all the food, soft beverages, beer, liquor and entertainment you could possibly
consume. Swimming pools everywhere, one with a pool bar (that did me in one
night) and another pool that was actually a lazy river that went around the
resort, sporting grass huts for shade and some cool looking hammocks hung over
the water and a spa in the middle. The place was decked out, the beach and the
resort were just plain beautiful. I honestly thought that this would be more of
a trip for my wife than me, because I never considered myself much of a beach guy, due
to usually getting bored after laying out in the sun for a couple hours around
the cape beaches (maybe I’m ADD). However this proved not to be the case in
Cancun. The vibe and the beach felt good to me. I’m sure it also helped that
there was a waiter at our beck and call bringing us whatever drinks we wanted,
chefs preparing food for us on the beach and my built in hunting and fishing
buddies and their wives, all hanging out and having a few laughs, none of us
had a care in the world during our stay. Because this is the fishing reports
link page I will keep it short but I will be writing a full story about the
whole trip and include the resort name and location for anyone interested in
looking into Cancun as a vacation destination and also include allot more pictures.
Look for this full story to come on the “road trips & Destinations link
page”. During one of the days at the beach with the gang, my buddy Bill was
staring into the ocean and said with all that water that I must be thinking
about fishing. Everyone chuckled and I hate to admit it but he was partly
right. All the guys talked about getting together and doing a fishing charter
for one of our days. We finally decided on a day and booked the charter; while
the guys fished the girls would get together and hit the spa. I figured while
I’m in Cancun and being such an avid fisherman I’d try and maybe get out an
additional day, I asked my wife if she would be interested in doing a fishing
charter, just the two of us. Luckily for me my wife enjoys a little fishing
sometimes and happened to be up for it. So I booked it but being that we
were already at the tail end of the trip I had to book the charter the day
before my other charter with the guys. I would have preferred to space out the
charters a little but no worries. I was pumped about finally getting out on the
blue ocean and hoped for good conditions and smooth sailing. However the
morning our trip the wind was blowing hard enough to form white caps and swells
on the surface of the ocean. Though I have taken my wife many times fishing,
those trips were mostly fresh water, on hand picked days by my part with
perfect conditions for her comfort level. I had never taken her out on a boat
in the ocean before and neither of us knew if she was easily prone to seasickness
or not. The night before my buddy Bill gave me some seasickness pills for her
to take but I still worried. I purposely booked a 6 hour charter versus the 8
hour I would have preferred just incase the trip was hard on her. We get to the
marina and I have mixed feelings, I’m excited about the days fishing
possibilities and yet nervous and worried about my wife the whole time. We pull
out and it was rough, I got a smaller 30 foot boat since it was just the two of
us, versus the 38 foot more stable boat I booked with the guys for the next
day. With the boat rocking back and forth so hard we got a crash course in
building up our sea legs and balance. I was starting to wish I had chartered a
bigger boat for better stability. The captain asked what I
wanted to fish for. I replied sailfish and marlin, he said that there were some
but it was just the beginning of the season and it would be a tough bite and
slow fishing but there could always be a chance at maybe hooking up with one.
He then began telling me how the ground fishing was really good at this time
for grouper and snapper but I was the boss and that it was my choice. I told
him I wanted to give the sailfish and marlin a shot, my wife also agreed. She
knows I have always wanted to hook a marlin & sailfish and I knew she wouldn’t also mind one on her
line too. I figured even if we only happen to hook into just one. A big 100 lb
sailfish or a 400-600 lb blue marlin (yes I'm dreaming) it would keep us both busy for a while. We
could simply take turns fighting that same fish, switching off when the other is
tired. So even though they’re not many around, we only need one good one. The
wife requested me to take the first hook up so she could feel out what she
needed to do when she got on the rod. It was an hour and a half to get out to
the fishing grounds bumping wave after wave. My wife seemed fine at first but
then started to look a little off, I told her if you begin to feel even just a
little queasy to get out of the cabin and hang out in the back of the boat, out
in the open and she would feel better. If you get seasick the worst thing you
can do is hang inside the cabin. She followed my advice and felt much better
and was a true trooper. We finally arrive to the fishing grounds and slow down
and begun setting up the gear to begin trolling. The bait is sawed on ballyhoo
with a pink teaser right above the beak (see picture below). 4 rods were put
out, 1 on a down rigger, 1 on the out rigger, 1 set up high above by the
captain and the other right behind the boat. The lines were not out 5 minutes
before we had a run. I set the hook hard and the drag
began to scream, I asked the captain if he thought it was a sailfish and he
said no. I then thought to myself then what the heck is it. It was pulling hard
and felt powerful. Every time I gained a little line the fish would take it
back with more line as interest. This went on for about 15 minutes or so and
when I finally got the fish near the boat and saw some color, the captain yells
out tuna, bonito tuna. It made a few more runs before being pulled up into the
boat by the mate. The fish was large, the mate estimated the fish around 19-20
lbs but I felt like it should have been 2-3 times larger and heavier for the
hard fight it gave. However after admiring the catch and noticing it’s perfect aerodynamics,
I realized how built for speed these fish are and how I shouldn't be so
surprised of its size. It was not the target species but my first tuna (of any
kind) and catching a new species has always been exciting to me. I also realized why the bonitos cousin the giant bluefin
tuna we have back home, once reeled in near the boat side why it has to be speared. With these little bonitos fighting so
hard I cant even imagine what a 1,000 LB bluefin could do. Anyway after
a few camera shots of the catch, the baits were put back out and just as the captain warned the
action got real slow. We hadn't had a bite for what seemed like a couple of
hours. Regardless I told my wife to be ready another bite could happen at
anytime. She then told me she would not be grabbing the next fish, she wanted
me back on the rod again incase our target species hit. She knows I want
a sailfish or marlin badly. I told her don’t be silly it’s your turn. One of
the rods finally goes off again and I signal and tell her to grab it and she refuses. I set
the hook and try giving her the rod but she doesn’t want it. I get another line screamer and this fish feels
familiar. It’s fighting just like the tuna earlier, the fish heads toward the
boat like a rocket, like I said built for speed and cranking down on the reel
as fast as I can I find myself getting tired trying to catch up with this
fish. I breathe a sign of relief when I finally feel it pulling back again.
After a long tug of war and finally getting it in the boat, as I suspected
another bonito tuna. We set back up and were at it again and I told my wife she
absolutely better grab the next rod. She replied but what if it’s a sailfish,
then you reel it in I responded and chuckled. After a bit longer the rod on the
downrigger got hit hard the mate was right next to it and grabbed it to set the
hook but nobody home. He checked the line and noticed about 8 inches of the
tail end of the line shredded with bait and hook gone. Barracuda he says and by
the looks of the line I believed him. Soon after we had 2 rods go off and come unbuttoned instantly before we could even set
the hook on them. The ocean calmed
down a little but was still rough and we saw a small school of dolphins swimming
by, throughout the day we also spotted a few big sea turtles. It
became painfully slow again but a rod finally popped and my wife got in the
fighting chair and it was game on. I assumed she had a tuna at first until I
noticed her working the fish in rather quickly and within a matter of minutes
we had a barracuda in the boat. These fish have nasty gill rakers and canine teeth;
they are the oceans equivalency of the northern pike. Back in business again
and waiting for another strike I tell the wife since she missed a turn earlier
to take my turn next and to get ready and she says no, it’s your turn. I realize we have about a 1.5-hour ride back
to the
marina soon and that we are almost running out of time and wonder if we will
catch anything else. The rod does go off one last time and I try to hand it off
to the wife but she tells me to bring it in the boat. I realize then my wife
really came just to keep me company and to watch me get all excited each time I
had a fish on. I would have loved to end this story with the last fish of the
day brought in being a giant billfish of some kind but it ended up being
another bonito. But that’s okay, I may not have chartered the boat with hopes of
catching bonito but I left with hopes of catching more of them someday. The mate indicated it was time to go and on the way
back I told my wife
how I could not get over how the rough sea didn’t phase her. It was so bad you
risked falling every time you tried walking to any part of the boat, even if
you had something to hang onto and fighting fish standing up was not an option
unless you felt like getting tossed around the boat. I told her how I have fished with some guys who I have seen get sick
in water not nearly as
rough as today and how proud I was of her and how I was going to have to take
her the cape this summer and get her to haul up some big stripers, I think she
liked that idea. I didn’t keep all the tuna caught but enough to bring back to
the resort and feed my group of friends. The chef at the resorts seafood
restaurant did an outstanding job preparing the tuna. We had it as an appetizer
and followed it up with lobsters as the main course, what a meal and way to end
the day. Tight Lines All! -George
MY FIRST BONITO TUNA
MY WIFE POSING WITH HER FIRST BARRACUDA
ANOTHER SHOT OF HER SALT WATER PIKE
TOOTHY OCEAN CRITTER
THE BAIT
BIG ONE
A WILD & WELL CAMOUFLAGED MEXICAN IGUANA
SOME FRESH TUNA I CAUGHT PREPARED BY THE CHEF
AFTER THE TUNA THE MAIN COURSE, LOBSTER...YUM!
CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT BUT THERE IS SOMETHING I LIKE ABOUT THIS STATUE
APRIL 18, 2012: MIXED BAG, NH
My buddy Mike sent me this report below of his trip with his
boys to NH...below.
With this crazy
winter we had or I should say didn't have I was curious how the fishing was
going to be up north. It was kids week off from school so I took my three boys
up to the camp in search of whatever would hit on whatever we were using.
Well we caught so many species it was just crazy over the 5 days and 4 bodies
of water we caught rainbow trout, brown trout, smallmouth, largemouth bass,
fallfish, suckers and some real nice pickerel up to 20"+ and over 2lbs.
When my son Sam hooked the 1st big Pickerel I thought it was a small pike it
really caught me off guard. Mike was his usual self non-stop fishing he caught
one of everything. No monsters but some great tales to talk about back at camp.
We used crayfish, shiners, worms, spinners, spoons and we even used fly rods
from shore and trolling with sinking and floating lines. I think we put in
about 35 hours of total fishing. That’s not counting another 10 hours of driving
to the lakes and rivers! Take a kid fishing, Mike Deloia and the boys.
MIKE WITH A RAINBOW TROUT
MIKE WITH A WHITE SUCKER
SMALLMOUTH BASS
ALL 3 BOYS WITH RAINBOWS & BROWNS
MIKE WITH A LARGEMOUTH BASS
SAMMY WITH A NICE CHAIN PICKEREL
SKYLAR WITH A NICE FALLFISH
APRIL 11, 2012: PENDING WORLD
LINE CLASS & WA STATE RECORD TIGER TROUT
Every once
in a while I will get an email from angler that is jaw dropping. This was the
case when Kirk Herrin emailed me to inform me of his pending Washington State
record Tiger Trout of 15.04 pounds, caught on April 11 at Roses Lake, at 11 AM.
Kirka reports it took him a total of 25 minutes to land this amazing fish. Once
the paperwork clears the fish will also be the number 2 all-tackle listing
Tiger Trout of world records maintained by the International Game Fish Association
and be the world record tiger in the IGFA's 10-pound-test-line class. As well
as the 10-pound-test-line class record in the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. The
only tiger on the books, from anywhere, larger than Herrin's fish is the IGFA
all-tackle world record of 20 pounds, 13 ounces, caught in Lake Michigan 34
years ago. See the tiger trout page to see a picture of the world record. The
current state record is 13.75 pounds, caught May 27, 2008, in Fish Lake, near
Spokane, by Evan Roda. The existing IGFA 10-pound-line class record is an
almost insignificant 3 pounds, and the FFHF 10-pound line class record an even
more insignificant 2 pounds, Kirk has smashed these. Kirk was bass fishing with
a rainbow colored Zoom Fluke (a soft bass bait) when he incidentally hooked
into the leviathan. You just never really know what you can potentially hook
out there, can you. Congratulation Kirk on a job well done and thank you for
contacting us on this outstanding catch. Now if only they got that big in
Massachusetts.
15 POUND 04 OUNCE TIGER TROUT
KIRK WITH HIS RECORD FISH
NEW VIDEO RELEASES BELOW
With the new Quabbin Reservoir fishing season opening
up this Saturday
on April 14, 2012, in the spirit and excitement of the new season
approaching I have uploaded this video, containing some of the
highlights caught on film during last years 2011 (spring) season.
Quabbin Reservoir anglers are usually pretty much divided into two
categories of fishermen, the trout/salmon guys & the
smallmouth/largemouth bass guys. Personally I love them all, so in this
video are clips of both lake trout and smallmouth bass This video shows some lunker smallmouth, a couple of buddies on my
boat
catching their very first smallies and interesting enough a lake trout
trying to bite my neck. I still have a bunch of content from last year
to edit and put together and figured I better catch up a bit and in
doing so have started with this very video. As usual I'll be bringing my
camera on this seasons fishing excursions and looking into new editing
software and new ideas for improvements to new upcoming 2012 season
videos to be shot. TIGHT LINES!
APRIL 07, 2012: TROUT TRIFECTA
(BROOK, RAINBOW, & BROWN TROUT), SUDBURY RIVER, MA
Having a full day to fish today and having done well
yesterday fishing 2 separate hours, there was no need to figure out where to go. I headed back to the Sudbury River again,
anticipating that the brook trout would cooperate again. When I got to the river there were 2 guys fishing it and I wondered
if they were here because they checked the stocking report last night. Luckily I was able to get a good spot at the deeper
pool I like to fish. Some of you wont like hearing this but I brought my stringer again and still needed more fish for tomorrows
family fish fry. My mother also wanted a few for her freezer. So I was a little under pressure but felt confident. I put out
a rod with the Berkley power dough bait (still hate the stuff) and worked an in-spinner with the other rod. On the first cast
I was immediately hooked up with a brook trout. After I was done putting it on the stringer my other rod got hit and I brought
in another brook trout. One of the other fishermen closest to me was looking up and didn’t look to happy. Looked like
he was fishing earth worms off the bottom without to much luck. I slide the other fish on the stringer and got back to fishing.
My rod with the dough bait got hit again and I set the hook but this fish felt heavier and was pulling allot more drag and
fighting a little differently than the small brook trout I just landed and felt bigger than any of the fish I caught yesterday
too. I played the fish very carefully and pulled the opposite direction of all the shoreline over hangs & snags not to
loose it. I immediately assumed it was one of those big trout I saw yesterday. This felt like a state pin fish, so I
assumed since all I had caught so far had been brook trout, lots of them and thought this was going to be a real big brookie.
But as the fish finally made it’s way into my net. I realized it was not a brookie after all but a decent sized 18-19
inch Rainbow Trout, pushing around 3 pounds. It was a bitter sweet feeling, I really thought I had hooked a trophy sized brook
trout and was entirely surprised to find out it was a rainbow but on the other hand it was a fine sized rainbow. Little did
I know it wouldn’t be the only surprise of the morning that the river would offer up to me. After getting settled again
and getting the lines back out not long after I was hooked up again and this fish also felt bigger than the smaller brook
trout. I finally slid the feisty trout into the net, another rainbow. All I could think was were did these rainbows come from.
I caught a boat load of brookies yesterday and nothing else. Now I’m into rainbows (would not have guessed this after
yesterday). This particular rainbow looked a little freakish. It was missing most of its tail fin and had a shorter tail than
the other trout. Another fish that fell victim to the concrete raceways at the hatchery. I got settled in again and noticed
the two other anglers leaving. A fly fisher and the worm dunker. Why would they leave when the fish are biting, maybe they
got irritated watching me catch while they struggled but then again it’s no secret how I'm catching these fish, power
bait. The fly guys did not catch anything but I wish I had brought my fly rod and tried my luck with it and the worm dunker
I did notice hook up once. But why are they giving up now, who knows? As I’m retrieving a cast with a spinner I get
slammed. This fish also felt bigger than the brookies and was taking some drag. So at this point I assumed it was another
rainbow but was surprised again when I slid a fat brown trout into the net. While admiring the brown I realized I achieved
a rare trifecta. I caught all the trout species the Sudbury River had to offer in one morning trip. When I hooked up again
afterwards I had no idea what to expect anymore and ended up with another brown. At the end of the day I kept a limit of 8
and had all the fish needed for the family fish fry. I kept 2 rainbows (1 of which was pushing 3 lbs & the big fish of
the day), 3 brook trout and 3 brown trout. Also caught and released a few other brook trout and called it a day. Could have
caught & released more but I already had my fun and figured let someone else catch some. While packing up I also decided
to stay away from the river from here on in until it’s at least stocked again. I’ve already taken my fair share.
Another angler approached the bank and began fishing and asked if I had any luck. He was pleased when I told them they were
biting and what they were biting on. I also suggested he move to my spot as I was getting ready to leave. He thanked me and
we parted. As I got into my truck and pulled away I noticed he had fought and landed a trout and I was glad for him. It was
a great day of trout fishing with some unexpected surprises. Tight Lines All! -George
LEFT: A BROWN TROUT, MIDDLE: A RAINBOW TROUT AND RIGHT: A BROOK TROUT
THIS PARTICULAR BROOK TROUT HAD SOME PRETTY COLORS FOR A SPRING FISH
THIS 18 INCH, 3 LB PLUMP RAINBOW TROUT WAS THE LARGEST OF THE DAY
ANOTHER SHOT OF THE BIG RAINBOW
BROWN TROUT
BEAUTIFUL PAINT JOB
14 INCH FAT BROOK TROUT
A (RIVER) CREEL LIMIT OF 8 TROUT
SOME OF THE TROUT SERVED DURING THE FAMILY FISH FRY
APRIL 06, 2012: BROOK TROUT FISHING,
SUDBURY RIVER, MA
Friday I got up very early
before work, I wanted to be able to fish a little before work and still get out of work early enough to leave at a reasonable
time. I stopped at
the Sudbury River to wet a line. I only fished for about an hour. It’s around
that time of year when the state focuses its stocking efforts on the rivers and
streams versus the lakes and ponds that will receive fish later in the season.
I also wanted to survey the river and see what the water levels were like. The
river looked very low so I began casting into a deep pool and ignoring the
shallow water and then moving on to the next deeper pool. I spend most of my
time fishing lakes & ponds in a boat and wanted a different change of pace
from last year. On other trips elsewhere I had already recently caught some
rainbows and browns, so now I was hoping for some brook trout and thought since
the sate usually stocks more of their brookies in our rivers and streams maybe
my odds would be better on focusing on a river like this. But honestly any
species of trout caught on this day would have been welcomed. It felt good
fishing the river again and it felt even better having the whole river to
myself. Especially since it was one of those rare trips when everything lined
up perfectly. I could see rises immediately and even spotted a couple of trout
cruising with my polarized glasses. The silhouettes I noticed were definitely
trout and thought I saw some white tipped edges on the fins (a give away for
brook trout identification) but still kind of hard to tell. It didn’t take long
to figure out that the state must of stocked the river and no one really knew
yet. A river full of fish and some solitude, cant beat that. My next thought
before casting is will the fish bite today or have lock jaw. On the first cast
I had a trout follow my spinner but failed to commit. After about five casts I
landed my first brook trout of the season. While admiring my fish I felt
pleased to know the state did put some brook trout in. What started off as a
long shot for the target species turned into a reality. The action got slow so
I put on a cast master and casted into the pool. I got another follow and then
after a few more casts I landed another brook trout. I threw on a small spoon
and began casting that and once again I got another follow but then no more
action. I didn’t really want to do it but decided to put a rod out with that
nasty dough bait, don’t know why I hate using the stuff, especially since it
works better this time of year than the artificial’ s. But anyway after putting
a rod out with power bait it seemed every cast I was into a fish instantly. I
gave up trying to cast lures out with the other rod because there was no time.
The rod with the power bait kept me too busy to work the other rod. Brookies
are my favorite trout to eat, after wishing I had kept a few more trout last
year in my freezer to eat over the winter I decided to keep a limit of them
today. Not to mention if I’m going to eat anything out of this river it was
going to be freshly stocked fish. In the past the river received some sources
of pollution. Though better now I would still not eat anything that has swam in
this river for to long. Unfortunately this is what trout fishing has become, I
would have loved to have experienced fishing these local rivers long before any
of the European settlements arrived and seen what the native brook trout
fishing was really like. Today we fish rivers littered with beer cans and trash
on its shores, left by the ignorant and lazy and hoping the state has planted
some recent trout. But it is what it is. Anyway normally I only keep a few to
eat once in a while but knowing the creel is higher on the river I kept 6 and
released a bunch more. I was glad I had a fish cooler loaded with ice already
in the truck and knew the fish would hold until after work. Later on in the day
I received word that the family wanted to get together over the weekend and
have a fish fry. Apparently it became my responsibility to provide the main
ingredient but no pressure.... gulp! Being pretty much the only guy that fishes
in the family clearly has its drawbacks. I didn’t think 6 fish would cut it for
all of us. I went online and found out the river had been stocked, no surprise
there and that the legal limit at this time of year is 8 trout for this river.
I used this as an excuse to return back to the river after work and caught 2 more to complete the day’s limit. In addition
I also caught and carefully released a few more trout before calling it quits and heading home.
The largest brook trout of the day were a 13-inch and 14 inch. Every trout
caught was a brook trout. I saw a couple of trout cruising that looked around
17-18 inches, that I never hooked and large for brookies. Tomorrow I will have
a full day to fish and will be back to catch those 2 larger trout of the
school. Been a while since I caught so many brook trout. I felt a little greedy
taking 8 fish but they would not be wasted. It's spring, so get out
there while the trout are biting. Tight Lines All! -George
THE 2 I WENT BACK FOR TO COMPLETE A LIMIT OF 8 FOR THE WEEKEND FISH FRY
THE FIRST 6 I KEPT EARLER IN THE DAY
DON'T YOU HATE IT WHEN THE PICTURE COMES OUT GOOD EXCEPT FOR THE GOOFY LOOK ON YOUR FACE
THE COMPLETE RIVER CREEL OF 8, READY TO BE CLEANED & PREPARED
APRIL 01, 2012: TARGETING CARP,
MA
Congratulations
to little Ryan, who caught this common carp
at a local fishing spot, while fishing with dad and friends. This fish has qualified
him for his first ever Massachusetts state pin. Way to go!
LITTLE RYAN WITH A COMMON CARP
BIG FISH EQUALS BIG SMILE
MARCH 31, 2012: BAIT COLLECTING,
MA
Went out collecting more
bait
today. Hit the river out back behind my home for some fallfish. Worked the
river with an ultra light rod and an inline spinner. Hooked up with a few than
called it quits.
Then headed
out with a cast net
to a local reservoir. I was in the area anyway so I figured I’d try my luck at
some mystery minnows I noticed darting around the shoreline last week. I knew
they were not shiners and I was curious and wanted to know what kind of minnows
they are. I learned that these little fish are a little more difficult to catch
than the native shiners. Even with perfect full circle net casts on top of them
most still escaped. They are extremely quick. But then again if I were a minnow
being chased by hungry predatory fish all day trying to eat I would learn to be
quick too. After about 6 throws of the net I caught about a dozen of them.
Turns out that these mystery minnows are Banded Killifish. Pretty neat looking for
little minnows. Tight Lines All! -George
BANDED KILLIFISH
PRETTY LITTLE GUYS
FALLFISH
BIG BAIT HOPEFULLY EQUALS BIG FISH
MARCH 26, 2012: A NEW MEMBER
TO THE GOLDEN PALOMINO TROUT CLUB, OK
Brad contacted me to share his palomino catch and has asked
me to add him to the Golden Palomino Trout Club. Brad you got it!
Here’s his email: I was reading your posts… Good
stuff. I
attached a pic of a Palomino Trout I caught yesterday on the Lower Mountain
Fork River in Broken Bow, OK. -Brad Bessett
BRAD WITH HIS GOLDEN PALOMINO TROUT
MARCH 24, 2011: BAIT COLLECTING,
MA
Hit a pond today but this time
with a cast net. My buddy was hoping I could collect some native shiners for
his fishing trip tomorrow. I also wanted to stockpile a couple of dozen shiners
for myself for a couple of fishing trips of my own coming up. Ended up catching
enough for all of us. Caught a surprise gold fish too (did not think there were
any in this pond) and a bunch of tadpoles, with their legs starting to sprout.
Not a standard fishing report but all things wild interest me and since I also
enjoy some amateur photography thought I'd share some pictures of the day.
Tight Lines All! -George
THE TARGET: NATIVE SHINERS
SURPRISE GOLDFISH
CLOSE UP OF MY NEW PET
TADPOLE
IF YOU LOOK CLOSE ENOUGH YOU WILL SEE IT'S LEGS STARTING TO SPROUT & FORM
MARCH 22, 2012: BROWN TROUT FISHING,
MA
The pond
up the street from my home had a little more traffic in its parking lot than usual.
I had a hunch that there might have been some trout freshly stocked with such
an instant influx of people around the pond shore. I happen to have some gear
in my truck and a little time so I pulled in. Sure enough I had heard from
other anglers that it had been stocked and seeing someone pull a trout out of
my favorite spot confirmed it. The pond was crowded so I couldn’t really fish
the spots I wanted, I did had a few nibbles on power bait and a couple of
follows on spinners but no luck. I returned early the next morning to avoid the
crowd that would be there in the evening and to fish my favorite spot on the
pond. I brought just one rod, an ultra light with an inline spinner attached to
the line. The fish were swirling and rising and I had a feeling before I even
took the first cast that they would cooperate. After the first cast out I was
hooked up. From there on it seemed I was hooking up on every other cast. The
pond is usually stocked with rainbow trout but to my surprise this year they
loaded it with brown trout, a nice change up from the norm. The browns were not
very big though, especially when compared to last year’s larger and plump
rainbows but not complaining. I don’t have any more trout from last year in my
freezer and knowing how shallow the pond is I know what little chance these
trout have surviving the summer water temps. So I kept a limit of three and
released the rest. As I packed up and headed home to shower and go to work
there was one other angler who was also leaving and asked if I wanted a trout
that he had caught to add to my stringer. It wasn’t worth it for him to get
dirty just for one fish, so I thanked him, took it and left (hence the photo
with 4 fish below). Not a bad little morning before work. It’s only going to get
better from here as it gets warmer. Grab your rod and head out there. Tight
Lines All! -George
MARCH 22, 2012: IT RUNS IN THE
FAMILY
My
brother likes to fish as well and has sent me his seasons first catches. His
first outing of the year was at Louisa Lake in Milford, MA. All trout were
caught off of power bait. Good going bro! Keep at it.
BERT'S CREEL LIMIT OF THE DAY
MARCH 12, 2012: FIRST FISH OF
THE SEASON, MA
Though it feels weird that there is no ice left on our local waters (and hasn’t been for a
while now) and that the state has already gotten an early jump-start and stocked some local waters with rainbow trout. As
weird as it seems and Mother Nature feeling a little out of order, I cant help but also feel relieved. After last years crazy
winter I feel as though we were owed a mild one this time around and indeed that’s what we got. I decided to take advantage
today and try my luck for some rainbows at a local reservoir. Though the conditions today are rather pleasant and warm the
water is still freezing cold. And cold enough to even make cold water fish like the trout in this lake feel lethargic. I figured
I’d keep things simple today. I did not get up early or bring my canoe and trays full of artificial baits to cast or
troll. I brought some power bait and rolled a couple of small globs into two little nuggets for both my rods and loaded two
small treble hooks with a 1 foot floro leader attached to a swivel, bead and egg sinker to the main lines. I casted each of
lines into two promising spots. Presenting the two nuggets floating a foot off the bottom. I then propped the rods up and
hoped for a bite. Though this is a very popular and often successful method around her for trout. I don’t often like
to fish this way. I prefer fooling trout with artificial baits but today I just felt like being simple. I also knew I would
have a better shot fishing off the bottom with power bait than I would casting out lures all day. I also decided to fish the
warmest part of the day, the afternoon. I thought maybe if the trout had a chance to warm up then maybe they would be more
willing to feed. That was my crazy logic or maybe deep down just an excuse to sleep in and not rush to the waters edge. As
I watched the lines I hoped that I would break in the new season with a trout as my first 2012 rod fish. Last year my first
rod fish of 2011 was a carp. My first fish of the ice season (if you can cal it that with the lack of ice) was a yellow perch.
This time I want a trout but then again after not handling a rod all fall and winter some tugs from any fish would be welcomed.
After 30 minutes of taking in some much missed warm sunrays and watching the Canadian geese. My rod starts twitching then
bends forward. I grab it and set the hook. Feeling the pulls and runs of a fish felt good again. I landed the fish and then
admired the colors, spots and the band on the beautiful rainbow trout. It was not a trophy or a monster size fish but it was
the first of the season (the beginning). Shortly after I had another on the bank. I released the first trout; since the second
rainbow was bleeding all over me I knew its chances of survival were slim. So I decided to make him a dinner for some night
and slid her on a stringer. I had a couple of other bites that came unbuttoned during my hook sets and blamed it on being
rusty and setting to hard. All the action all seemed to happen all within one hour and then it went dead. My friend Dave pulled
in next to me and was gearing up to fish. While chatting and catching up with him he let me borrow a live shiner (minnow).
I replaced the rig on my rod with a shiner hooked just under the dorsal fin hung about 3 feet below a bobber and casted away
hoping for a broodstock salmon. Later on I noticed the live shiner darting trying to flea a predator. There were also a couple
of swirls, a fish had taken a strike or two but missed the bait. Dave mentioned that the small rainbows seem to play more
with a live offering rather than take it. More time passes and the bobber goes under I set the hook and it feels like a decent
fish and end up pulling out a chain pickerel. Though we have good populations of chain pickerel all over most of our waters
this particular reservoir I have been fishing for the last 30 years or so and have never seen one here before. Though not
the target species today I was happy to get it. This early in the season any action in my book is welcomed. After that decent
pickerel action went dead again. Knowing that days like this are rare for March I stuck around until dark enjoying the warm
evening and sunset. Not much of a report but it’s a start. Tight Lines All! -George
STICKING AROUND UNTIL DARK IS REWARDING WITH SUNSETS LIKE THIS
IN MARCH WHEN FISH ARE SLUGGISH TO BITE EVEN A PICKEREL IS WELCOMED
A CLOSE LOOK AT A CHAIN PICKERELS SIGNATURE BLACK TEAR DROP
THIS RAINBOW TROUT WAS MY FIRST ROD CAUGHT 2012 FISH
FEBRUARY 26, 2012: BORED WITH
NO SAFE ICE
Would
love to go ice fishing today but there is no safe ice around. I was bored and
found a wood tail swim bait that was already primed and that I received quite
some time ago but never got around to painting. Figured I’d paint her up and
add her to my collection of swim baits to toss around this summer for bass and
maybe some pike to. But what color should I paint it? I remember this past
summer staring at a couple of golden palomino trout in the water and how much
they stood out compared to all the other game fish in the pound, like the
rainbows and largemouth. So I decided on that color scheme, played around and
came up with this (see pics below). Looking forward to testing this bait out.
Now if only that unsafe ice would melt. Tight Lines All! -George
BEFORE
AFTER
MEET GOLDILOCKS - CHECK BACK THIS SUMMER AND SEE IF SHE GETS BIT
JANUARY 20, 2012: IS THERE REALLY
ICE (PERCH & PICKEREL), MA
My
buddies and I wanted to get together Saturday and go ice fishing but it’s still
been too warm and safe ice is nowhere to be found. My buddy Peter scouted out a
cove on one of his honey holes on Friday. When he called me up to tell me there
was safe ice it did not take long for me to agree to Saturdays outing. Most of
the lake was open or unsafe so we were stuck on a single cove, holding the only
safe ice. The lake has some big largemouth bass in it and that’s what we were
hoping to tangle with. The cove however was not showing any presence of any
largemouth bass, typically we prefer other spots on this lake but this cove is
the only safe ice. The whole group was getting into plenty of yellow perch and
an occasional pickerel but not one bass showed up to the party. While the perch
were biting I took advantage of it and played around with the jigging rod. Not
exactly an epic ice trip but beggars cant be choosers and it was fun hanging
out with everyone and feeling some tugs on the line and more importantly
getting out of my house again for some fresh air.
Tight Lines All! -George
YELLOW PERCH LACK IN SIZE BUT MAKE UP FOR IT WITH THEIR BRILLIANT COLORS
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CHAIN PATTERN
JANUARY 20, 2012: ICE FISHING
FOR TROUT & SALMON. COMET POND, MA
After the end of a successful hunting season (and a freezer full of venison) it’s time to
switch gears with thoughts of fish being hauled up by hand through holes that were drilled in the ice. However this winter
ice seems to be scarce. Not much safe ice locally to maintain much of a ice fishing season but a small crew of guys and I
(Mark, Peter and Johnny) headed out to a cove off comet pond that had some safe ice. Johnny had fished it already and caught
some trout. So we knew it was safe and that the trek out there would not be a waste of time. There still were allot of open
spots out in the middle so we all stayed within the cove. The ice was around 7 inches thick and more than safe enough. Felt
great to be out on the ice again but fishing was slow as it usually is when targeting trout and salmon. Hopes of any of us
hooking up with a salmon seemed slim. Especially since the primary hatchery that raises and distributes the bulk of the broodstock
salmon to our state flooded out and got severely damaged from the big storm that hit over the summer. So few salmon got stocked
out this year. In years past with the higher numbers of salmon stocked out it was still difficult now it’s become even
more difficult but our little group was still up for it and willing to try. While waiting and waiting for one of those orange
flags to pop off one of our tilts we cooked up some nice and hot food. Some shaved steak, onions and venison sausage, just
what the taste buds ordered. Soon after eating the trap I had set furthest away got a flag. I quickly got over to it and noticed
the spool spinning at a good rate. I set the hook and brought the fish all the way near the hole and it was a nice brown trout
but not very big. After seeing how small it was I decided to stop trying to play it and tire it and just yank it up through
the hole and in doing so I got the fish half way out of the hole when the hook came undone and the brown trout fell right
back in the hole and swam off with it’s life spared. It was a rookie move and I misjudged the fish because of its small
size. Loosing the fish did not bother me but the way I lost it did. Live and learn I guess. Later on Johnny got a flag and
was fighting a fish he thought was small but as the fight progressed and it started to get closer to the hole he realized
it was not such a small fish anymore as it started to really give him a tussle. We wondered if he hooked one of the few salmon
in the pond. As the fish came near the hole and gave us a silver flash of color all four of us knew it was a confirmed Atlantic
salmon. Now we were all excited to get a closer look at this fish. Each time it got close to the hole it made a run but it
finally tired out enough for Johnny to carefully slip it’s head into the hole and slide her onto the ice. Not a monster
but still a big fish at around 4 pounds. After that catch for a while it got slow again and finally another flag popped. It
was one of Johns traps again, he played the fish and mentioned it was small, joking with him I said isn't that what you said
last time. Shortly after my comment Johnny iced another fish, it wasn’t a big salmon this time but instead a very colorful
rainbow trout. We hung around a little longer after that before packing up but no further luck. Hopefully we can get back
out on the ice again soon but with the warm days ahead who knows, fish while you can. Tight Lines All! -George
JOHNNY WITH A ICED BROODSTOCK ATLANTIC SALMON
LOOKS LIKE A GOOD DAY FOR JOHNY
NICE LOOKING TROUT
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