Carolina on my Mind

Every year during Rhode Island’s Free Fishing Weekend, the DEM puts about 100 golden trout in one pond in the state. This year, the chosen pond is Carolina Trout Pond in Richmond. I took Saturday off from work in the hopes of getting one. I did not see any goldens caught. The entire time I was there, fifty people lined the shoreline. I only saw about fifteen trout caught. I managed two browns about a foot long.

Really wanting another shot at a golden trout, I went back again tonight Monday.  I saw one golden trout caught by a teenager. It was roughly five pounds. What a beautiful fish. I did not land any goldens, but I did manage ten trout. I caught seven bows and three browns. They were caught on Powerbait, Roostertail, and a casting bubble/fly. I got two that were about 17 inches. There were about ten other guys fishing and I saw about five other trout caught including the golden trout.

My days off this week are Wednesday and Thursday. I decided to go down to Carolina again. I arrived about 10 am. I went back to the spot that I had the most luck on Monday. It is away from the crowd but weedy. I used Powerbait on one rod and and alternated my other rod between lures and a casting bubble fly combo.  Right away I caught a rainbow on Powerbait. For the next couple hours I could only hits on the Powerbait. Then it started to rain. The crowd left the less weedy section of the pond.

I decided to move since I would have the less weedy section to myself. To make a long story short, I started catching fish on both the Powerbait and the casting bubble/fly. I could not convince any fish to chase any other lures. I tried spinners, spoons, shads, 1 inch grubs, and Rapalas. They would not touch them.  I ended up catching quite a few. Half were on the fly, the rest on Powerbait. Four were browns, the rest rainbows. The biggest was 17 inches. It was a fun day fishing.

In case you go:

Carolina trout pond is sort of shaped like an hour glass. There is a narrow section in the middle. The top of the pond is larger and longer than the smaller southern end. The southern part of the pond is shaped like an onion. The whole thing is probably about five acres.  It’s a skinny pond so with good casts the whole pond can be covered. There is no need to put any watercraft in.

The top of the pond is very weedy. There are open spots and casting a lure is possible. The southern end is clear. There are very few weeds. Because of this, the majority of fishermen fish this end and the narrow area. When I arrived at 10 am, there were eight retired guys fly fishing this small area.

I have a theory on why the trout will only hit flies and Powerbait. This pond is heavily pressured. You will never fish this pond alone. Fifteen minutes after the rain stopped Wednesday, three or four cars pulled in. I believe, the trout are so spooked and stressed; getting them to chase lures is difficult. On the other hand, Powerbait once casted sits quietly. Flies land quietly. Even though my casting bubble makes a lot of noise, it casts so far, that by the time it’s in front of a fishes face, the water is already quiet.

Lastly, the thought of catching a golden trout would seem like a good reason to make this trip. They are difficult to catch. I believe a lot of luck is going to required to catch one. There are so many other trout, it’s tough to weed through them to get a golden.