Living in North Attleboro, MA I am lucky to live very close to three interstate highways. Both Routes 95 and 295 are just minutes from my driveway. Route 495 is about 10 minutes away depending on how many red light I hit. It is very easy for me to get to my favorite far away destinations. I drive down to Narragansett and Jamestown to fish the surf regularly. If I want to bird at Plum Island or Charlestown Breachway I just jump on the highway. Those trips do require at least a half day and some planning. Most of us don't have the time to make a 125 mile round trip everyday to often.
That is why I am dedicating my first blog to my hometown treasures (these may not be in "my hometown" but are very close distance from home). No matter where we live we all have places within a few minutes drive that can be real special to us. I think sometimes we take these places for granted because they are so accessible. The truth is we shouldn't take them for granted but instead we should enjoy the fact they are in our backyard. I can go trout fishing .5 miles from my house at Falls Pond. There are plenty of other areas I want to and do fish, but its not like I'm going to get to Peters Pond in Sandwich everyday, but I can fish Falls Pond anytime I want. If I have a half hour after coaching little league, I can go. If I need to kill an hour before I pick my son up at track, I can go.When I was a kid, I'd get up at 5:30 am to fish for 45 minutes before school during May. Here is a short list of my hometown treasures
Caratunk Wildlife Refuge, Seekonk MA
If I want to take a walk or go birding and have a limited amount of time I go to Caratunk. The wildlife refuge while being in Massachusetts is part of Rhode Island Audubon Society. It is a great place with a variety of landscapes. When leaving the parking lot you walk through a vast meadow. There are bluebirds and tree swallows nesting in the boxes in the spring. This is also my favorite place to see woodcocks. Past the field (if you went left from the parking lot) is a pond, where the turtle picture above was taken. The bushes and trees around the pond are loaded with bird life. Yesterday (April 15) I saw yellow rump warblers around the pond. Along with the pond and fields there are trails through the woods and swamp. There is a brook that you cross on bridges a couple times through the refuge. Besides it being a great place to see woodland and field birds, I have seen deer, turkeys,coyotes and muskrats there.The manager of Caratunk is Mike Tucker. He is a person I consider to be an expert naturalist. Mike is an expert birder and seems to know the answer to all my questions I have about plants, butterflies and anything else on the refuge. I bombard him with questions every chance I get.
Norton Reservoir, MA
Seventeen Minutes from home is the little cartop boat ramp for Norton Reservoir. This lake is absolutely loaded with fish. There are some big bass in the lake. I caught my first five pounder here when I was younger. The main reason to fish the lake is for numbers of panfish. It is a GREAT place to bring a kid in a canoe ( assuming its not to windy ). Using a 1/16 jighead and a 1 1/2 inch shad body its easy to catch 30 fish in a couple hours. Most of the fish are going to be stunted white perch, but you can expect to catch yellow perch, crappie, bass, sunfish, and a pickrel or two. I can't reccomend a better place to take a young kid fishing if you have a canoe or rowboat.
Cumberland and Lioncoln, RI carp fishing areas
In a small area of a couple square miles there are a bunch of places to go carp fishing. In a drive of about five minute a fisherman can check out Scotts Pond, Little Scotts Pond, the Blackstone Canal, Blackstone River and Lincoln Woods. There is no excuse for me to not go carp fishing if my " favorite spot " is taken. Theres always another place to fish
There are other places close to home that I spend a lot of time at. Ponds include Turnpike Lake, Lake Mirimichi, and Hopping Hill Reservoir. Other birding areas include Stony Brook and Moose Hill, I will talk about both in a later post.
The whole point of this blog is not only to show you my close destinations but to remind you of yours. If you live in Boston, maybe you should take a walk by the Charles River or Mt. Auburn Cemetery. If you live in Warwick, Goddard State Park has great fishing for schoolie stripers in May. Get out and enjoy it.
That is why I am dedicating my first blog to my hometown treasures (these may not be in "my hometown" but are very close distance from home). No matter where we live we all have places within a few minutes drive that can be real special to us. I think sometimes we take these places for granted because they are so accessible. The truth is we shouldn't take them for granted but instead we should enjoy the fact they are in our backyard. I can go trout fishing .5 miles from my house at Falls Pond. There are plenty of other areas I want to and do fish, but its not like I'm going to get to Peters Pond in Sandwich everyday, but I can fish Falls Pond anytime I want. If I have a half hour after coaching little league, I can go. If I need to kill an hour before I pick my son up at track, I can go.When I was a kid, I'd get up at 5:30 am to fish for 45 minutes before school during May. Here is a short list of my hometown treasures
Caratunk Wildlife Refuge, Seekonk MA
If I want to take a walk or go birding and have a limited amount of time I go to Caratunk. The wildlife refuge while being in Massachusetts is part of Rhode Island Audubon Society. It is a great place with a variety of landscapes. When leaving the parking lot you walk through a vast meadow. There are bluebirds and tree swallows nesting in the boxes in the spring. This is also my favorite place to see woodcocks. Past the field (if you went left from the parking lot) is a pond, where the turtle picture above was taken. The bushes and trees around the pond are loaded with bird life. Yesterday (April 15) I saw yellow rump warblers around the pond. Along with the pond and fields there are trails through the woods and swamp. There is a brook that you cross on bridges a couple times through the refuge. Besides it being a great place to see woodland and field birds, I have seen deer, turkeys,coyotes and muskrats there.The manager of Caratunk is Mike Tucker. He is a person I consider to be an expert naturalist. Mike is an expert birder and seems to know the answer to all my questions I have about plants, butterflies and anything else on the refuge. I bombard him with questions every chance I get.
Norton Reservoir, MA
Seventeen Minutes from home is the little cartop boat ramp for Norton Reservoir. This lake is absolutely loaded with fish. There are some big bass in the lake. I caught my first five pounder here when I was younger. The main reason to fish the lake is for numbers of panfish. It is a GREAT place to bring a kid in a canoe ( assuming its not to windy ). Using a 1/16 jighead and a 1 1/2 inch shad body its easy to catch 30 fish in a couple hours. Most of the fish are going to be stunted white perch, but you can expect to catch yellow perch, crappie, bass, sunfish, and a pickrel or two. I can't reccomend a better place to take a young kid fishing if you have a canoe or rowboat.
Cumberland and Lioncoln, RI carp fishing areas
In a small area of a couple square miles there are a bunch of places to go carp fishing. In a drive of about five minute a fisherman can check out Scotts Pond, Little Scotts Pond, the Blackstone Canal, Blackstone River and Lincoln Woods. There is no excuse for me to not go carp fishing if my " favorite spot " is taken. Theres always another place to fish
There are other places close to home that I spend a lot of time at. Ponds include Turnpike Lake, Lake Mirimichi, and Hopping Hill Reservoir. Other birding areas include Stony Brook and Moose Hill, I will talk about both in a later post.
The whole point of this blog is not only to show you my close destinations but to remind you of yours. If you live in Boston, maybe you should take a walk by the Charles River or Mt. Auburn Cemetery. If you live in Warwick, Goddard State Park has great fishing for schoolie stripers in May. Get out and enjoy it.
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