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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

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

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.

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.

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