As we all know gas prices are through the roof. Gas has taken a much larger chunk of every families income over the last couple of years than it ever used too. Decisions have to be made on what is worth the price of gas and what isn't. It used to be, going somewhere meant how much you paid for a ticket. The price of gas was an afterthought. If a family wanted to go to Newport for example to enjoy one of its great restaurants and beaches, they had to think about which dining establishments were in their budget. With gas almost $4 gallon, now they are calculating how much it will cost just to get there and back.
For those of us that spend a lot of time fishing and being outdoors, decisions have to be made on what is worth the gas and what is not. For those of us obsessed with fishing, we would do it every day and night if we could. Of course life gets in the way, and we can't be fishing 24/7. We still get out every chance we can. So with gas costing double what it did before Katrina, we have to decide what is worth the money of 1/2 a tank and what is not. Reading my blog, you will notice I have done a boatload of fishing. I fish every chance I can. However, I am not driving to Narragansett and Charlestown, RI 3-4 times a week like I did seven or eight years ago. I thought I'd give you some examples of even though I still fish a lot, I have drastically cut back my driving.
Trout fishing-
Just by trout fishing so much during the spring I saved miles on my car and gas in my tank. I have four trout ponds within 15 minutes of my house. Falls Pond is about a 5 minute walk away. Whitings Pond is also in North Attleboro. The pond I fished opening day in Rhode Island is just across the border. The fly fishing only pond I love so much is only 15 minutes away. The truth is there is no reason to drive very far for trout. Almost every town in New England has a trout stream or pond. The ones that are stocked have plenty of fish to go around. I fished Fearings Pond in Plymouth a couple of times. One of those times I stayed at the campground over night. Its about an hour drive from my house. The night I stayed over, I fished for five hours and again another 3 hours the next morning before heading home. I tried to make as much of my long drive as possible.
Just by enjoying trout fishing so much this year, it saved me many miles by not chasing stripers as much this spring. Although I love stripers I was having so much fun with the trout I couldn't pull myself away. Fishing within a few minutes of my house instead of driving to the coast was just as much fun with a lot less effort.
Striper fishing-
Although I haven't striper fished as much as I normally do, I had another way to cut costs. I fished the bay a lot more than I normally do. I fished my spots in Providence ( 20 minutes) more than normal. I have a good high tide spot in Providence and another in Jamestown, I fished the Providence spot a lot and only made it to Jamestown once so far. Unfortunately, the bay was disappointing this year. Not many fish came in. Instead of having ten fish nights it was more like two or three. I understand there have been a lot of fish around Newport this year. I just couldn't justify the drive when I had guaranteed trout right up the street. Because the bay was disappointing, I had two options drive further away or fish for something else. As you can see by many of my posts trout filled the gap nicely.
Making choices...
Some of my plans for 2011 never came through. Part of the reason was not being able to justify the cost of gas and time. I'll give you an example. One of the things I wanted to do this spring was to fish Wachusetts Reservoir for lakers and salmon. Wachusetts is an hour drive for me. So it would be two hours roundtrip driving. I just never felt like doing that trip burning gas to go to a giant lake and hope to catch a fish. I've never fished for lakers or salmon, so if I caught one it would have been pure luck. Just going up myself blindly casting into a 4000 acre lake would have been like finding a needle in a haystack.
On the other hand, I made the run to Plymouth a couple of times. It was the same distance, gas and time, yet I felt more confident fishing the ponds there. I did reasonably well fishing even though the ponds I fished I'd never been to before this year.
"Necessity is the mother of invention" but it can also be the mother of discovery. We used to go to an ice cream place in Wickford,RI. It won Rhode Island Monthly's award for best ice cream in the state. We used to go down a couple times a year. Of course a 40 minute ride for ice cream isn't worth the effort. We went just for something to do. It was a fun way to burn a couple hours. Again being raped by oil companies, who can justify spending more on gas than ice cream. So we discovered a place in Mansfield, MA only a few minutes down the highway. Now we get ice cream without the drive. Flint Farm has a ton of flavors and the ice cream is delicious. The coconut is the best.
Same goes for largemouth bass fishing. My two favorite lakes are Lake Chauncy in Westboro and Whitehall Reservoir in Hopkington. Chauncy has huge fish. My best five fish limit t weighed 15 pounds including two five pounders. Another day I caught three pickerel over 22 inches in one morning. Not many ponds can match it for overall size of big fish. Whitehall Reservoir on the other hand is absolutely loaded with smaller bass and pickerel. Its nothing for DJ and I to catch 10 fish each.
But you know what, I have a ton of weedy bass lakes right near my house that are as loaded as Whitehall. They may not be as big,but they have just as many fish per acre. So I ask myself, why the hell don't I just fish these lakes 10 minutes from home?
I guess the whole point of this post is, I have to remind myself of my first ever blog post "Treasures close to Home" www.southernnewenglandoutdoors.blogspot.com/2010/04/treasures-close-to-home
For those of us that spend a lot of time fishing and being outdoors, decisions have to be made on what is worth the gas and what is not. For those of us obsessed with fishing, we would do it every day and night if we could. Of course life gets in the way, and we can't be fishing 24/7. We still get out every chance we can. So with gas costing double what it did before Katrina, we have to decide what is worth the money of 1/2 a tank and what is not. Reading my blog, you will notice I have done a boatload of fishing. I fish every chance I can. However, I am not driving to Narragansett and Charlestown, RI 3-4 times a week like I did seven or eight years ago. I thought I'd give you some examples of even though I still fish a lot, I have drastically cut back my driving.
Trout fishing-
Just by trout fishing so much during the spring I saved miles on my car and gas in my tank. I have four trout ponds within 15 minutes of my house. Falls Pond is about a 5 minute walk away. Whitings Pond is also in North Attleboro. The pond I fished opening day in Rhode Island is just across the border. The fly fishing only pond I love so much is only 15 minutes away. The truth is there is no reason to drive very far for trout. Almost every town in New England has a trout stream or pond. The ones that are stocked have plenty of fish to go around. I fished Fearings Pond in Plymouth a couple of times. One of those times I stayed at the campground over night. Its about an hour drive from my house. The night I stayed over, I fished for five hours and again another 3 hours the next morning before heading home. I tried to make as much of my long drive as possible.
Just by enjoying trout fishing so much this year, it saved me many miles by not chasing stripers as much this spring. Although I love stripers I was having so much fun with the trout I couldn't pull myself away. Fishing within a few minutes of my house instead of driving to the coast was just as much fun with a lot less effort.
Striper fishing-
Although I haven't striper fished as much as I normally do, I had another way to cut costs. I fished the bay a lot more than I normally do. I fished my spots in Providence ( 20 minutes) more than normal. I have a good high tide spot in Providence and another in Jamestown, I fished the Providence spot a lot and only made it to Jamestown once so far. Unfortunately, the bay was disappointing this year. Not many fish came in. Instead of having ten fish nights it was more like two or three. I understand there have been a lot of fish around Newport this year. I just couldn't justify the drive when I had guaranteed trout right up the street. Because the bay was disappointing, I had two options drive further away or fish for something else. As you can see by many of my posts trout filled the gap nicely.
Making choices...
Some of my plans for 2011 never came through. Part of the reason was not being able to justify the cost of gas and time. I'll give you an example. One of the things I wanted to do this spring was to fish Wachusetts Reservoir for lakers and salmon. Wachusetts is an hour drive for me. So it would be two hours roundtrip driving. I just never felt like doing that trip burning gas to go to a giant lake and hope to catch a fish. I've never fished for lakers or salmon, so if I caught one it would have been pure luck. Just going up myself blindly casting into a 4000 acre lake would have been like finding a needle in a haystack.
On the other hand, I made the run to Plymouth a couple of times. It was the same distance, gas and time, yet I felt more confident fishing the ponds there. I did reasonably well fishing even though the ponds I fished I'd never been to before this year.
"Necessity is the mother of invention" but it can also be the mother of discovery. We used to go to an ice cream place in Wickford,RI. It won Rhode Island Monthly's award for best ice cream in the state. We used to go down a couple times a year. Of course a 40 minute ride for ice cream isn't worth the effort. We went just for something to do. It was a fun way to burn a couple hours. Again being raped by oil companies, who can justify spending more on gas than ice cream. So we discovered a place in Mansfield, MA only a few minutes down the highway. Now we get ice cream without the drive. Flint Farm has a ton of flavors and the ice cream is delicious. The coconut is the best.
Same goes for largemouth bass fishing. My two favorite lakes are Lake Chauncy in Westboro and Whitehall Reservoir in Hopkington. Chauncy has huge fish. My best five fish limit t weighed 15 pounds including two five pounders. Another day I caught three pickerel over 22 inches in one morning. Not many ponds can match it for overall size of big fish. Whitehall Reservoir on the other hand is absolutely loaded with smaller bass and pickerel. Its nothing for DJ and I to catch 10 fish each.
But you know what, I have a ton of weedy bass lakes right near my house that are as loaded as Whitehall. They may not be as big,but they have just as many fish per acre. So I ask myself, why the hell don't I just fish these lakes 10 minutes from home?
I guess the whole point of this post is, I have to remind myself of my first ever blog post "Treasures close to Home" www.southernnewenglandoutdoors.blogspot.com/2010/04/treasures-close-to-home
I don't want high gas prices to ruin my fun. Maybe I'm sounding cheap by whining about the same gas that we all have to pay for. I know given the choice of fishing at Lake Chauncy once a week or fishing close ponds five days for the same amount of gas, I'll choose the close ponds. I may have to choose where I fish because of high gas prices, but I won't let it determine IF I fish. Besides, I can easily justify the spending $80 for gas for a three day in New Hampshire. I love it up there.
Other than gas, going to New Hampshire is surprisingly cheap for me. Camping is free for me because I know a few free legal camping spots on some back roads. Last time I went up to fish with Clay I went up Monday and came home Wednesday. I would have stayed another day, but I wanted to see the Bruins play Game 7. For food I ate 2 cans of Ravioli, 2 sleeves of fruit newtons, a couple packs of fruit snacks, 4 bagels ( unheated) and 2 Gatorades. The whole cost of lodging and food combined was about $6. Of course gas was about $75. I had a great time. I fished four hours Monday and another 7 on Tuesday. If my check engine light on my car wouldn't have came on, I would have gotten in another 3 hours Wednesday morning. Having that much fun and catching 23 brook trout is well worth the three hour drive each way to me.
So to sum up- Striper fishing although one of my favorite past times has not really been worth it to me this year. Having trout ponds all around has filled a void for me. I also have many carp and bass ponds within twenty minutes. I realized while writing this, I haven't fished many far away ponds on my "to fish list". Other than Wachusetts, I have also wanted to fish Stafford Pond in Tiverton and the Farmington River in Connecticut. I always seem to find excuses why I should fish somewhere else. Lastly, New Hampshire has it all, mountains, smallmouth lakes , trout lakes and streams and amazing scenery. Of course Vermont and Maine are beautiful, but I can make it to the Lakes Region in 2:20 and the mountains in less than three hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment