World Class Fishing in New England

Sometimes the phrase world class is over used. No doubt outdoors folk are known to exaggerate. I have heard many anglers talk about how wonderful the fishing is in New England. I have heard them say things like " Theres no reason to go any where else for world class fishing we have it right in our backyard" I think to a certain extent this is absolutely true, but it depends on what you are fishing for.

If we are going to be totally honest, we certainly do not live in the largemouth capitol of the world. Understanding that largemouth bass are the number one fished for fish in the USA. People spend over a billion dollars a year trying to catch them. Money spent on rods, reels and bass boats make largemouth bass number one. Although we do hold some pretty decent lakes and ponds New England can not compete with Florida, Texas, the San Diego area of California or really anywhere in the sun belt.

If we are going to talk about trout, New England can almost hold its own. Unfortunately there is a catch. For most of New England, trout can not reproduce in our waters, therefore most all of the trout you try to catch on opening day are stocked. Most of these fish are of the put and take variety. Many lakes are stocked with enough trout to get them through the spring surge of fishermen. Any trout that survives until June avoiding lures and bait in a warmwater pond will die from warm water temps in the fall.

I am not talking about these trout waters. There are a few places in southern New England and many up north that offer really good trout fishing. New Hampshire stocks many of there lakes with " fingerlings". These are little baby trout that after a couple years become decent size fish. They are placed in lakes with cool enough water temps to survive summers but do not have enough spawning habitat to reproduce. Do not expect trophies, but the fishing can be fun.

We have a few major rivers that have excellent trout fishing. To name some we have the Housatonic, and Farmington in Connecticut. Wood River in RI. Mass has the Deerfield and Swift.

New Hampshire has the Upper Connecticut River and Androscoggin, Maine and Vermont have quite a few trout streams

Many of these rivers are excellent, my issue is they are all stocking dependent. Without stocking these rivers would be almost empty. There are holdover fish that grow quite big, and some have limited spawning. These are pretty dam good rivers and I want to fish them.Many people would consider these rivers as world class.

I would argue Montana has world class trout fishing. According to one magazine article I read, 5 of the top 10 trout streams in the country are in Montana. The Yellowstone, Madison, Gallatin, the Bighorn and Missouri are in Montana. All the trout are wild and they average about 16 inches!!! If I wanted to do some world class trout fishing, that would be my destination. Also, the Green River in Utah is probably the best trout stream in the country. I can say I saw many 6 pound rainbows and browns in the Green!!! They are all wild!!!

To keep this from getting out of hand I will condense the other non world class gamefish we have. Pike and Musky fishing is great in a belt running from New York- South Dakota. Our catfishing is a joke compared to southern reservoirs. Deep sea fishing although not bad is much better down south of Virgina. If you like carp as much as I do, you would want to fish the St Lawrence River.Sadly, our one and only salmon species is on the endangered species list and I seriously doubt there population will ever recover.

NOW THE WORLD CLASS FISHING IN NEW ENGLAND

Now that I've made you think of how pathetic our little corner of the country is, here is the good news. In New England we have world class fishing for two species. They are... pause for dramatic effect... striped bass and smallmouth bass.

You have read many times about my complaints about h0w bad the fishing was in Rhode Island this summer for stripers. It is true. Also the stocks are going down. This means the population of striped bass is not what it was 5 years ago ( the good old days). There is reason for concern their population is crashing. That said we live in the striper capital of the world. If they rebound this is where they will do it. Cape Cod had a pretty good year for stripers. The Cape Cod Canal was red hot all the way from the herring run in May through July. People from far away will plan their vacations around the fall run at places like Race Point and Narragansett. I have been told schoolie fishing can be great all summer as far north as the Penobscot River. Of all the fish out there I consider striped bass to be the best gamefish in the world. We are lucky to have a truly great fish in our backyard.http://southernnewenglandoutdoors.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-love-of-striped-bass.html

Smallmouth Bass

If you are looking for world class smallie action in the lower three New England states, I think you will be disappointed. There are some good smallmouth lakes. The Cape Cod kettle ponds are good as is Candlewood Lake and Wachusetts Reservoir. If you really want some great action you will have to take a little drive up north. Lake Champlain, Lake Winnipesaukee are as good as any lake in the country. National tournaments are held on both lakes. They are huge and a little intimidating. Hiring a guide or doing some research could prove the difference in a skunking and a great day.

On top of those two huge lakes, The lakes regoin of New Hampshire has a lot of really good smallmouth lakes. Many lakes in the 200 acre range have some nice fish. I have fished Squam Lake ( from the movie Golden Pond) and had my best bass day ever. I caught 34 bass. The top five weighed about 15 pounds. That is a 3 pound average. The truth was I had 7 or 8 that size. Squam is a big lake, but we found fish everywhere we stopped to fish. I don't think any place in the world could be better than Squam. As good... maybe, better... I doubt it.

Maine has so many underfished smallmouth lakes, its almost ridiculous. There are litterally hundreds of bass lakes in Maine. Most people are fishing for the trout. The lakes on the entire coast region from Sebago Lake to the Canadian border have good populations of smallmouth. I would love to have a summer to explore some of them.

So to sum up. To have top notch fishing for two great gamefish, I think we are pretty lucky. No one would ever say that smallies are stripers are over rated. They compare with all the greatest fish in the world. If you get a chance to head up north or can get a day off to head to the Cape get out and enjoy our world class fishing!

By the way the picture at the top was just a typical bass I caught on Squam Lake.I caught 33 more about the same size. I know what your thinking " Those shades make me look hot"... I know right

Fly Fishing Expo

Today I went to The Fly Fishing Show at the Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlboro, MA. The cost is a steep $ 15 per person ( 2 day pass for $25). The main expo center has booths ranging from buying flies, fly making equipment, rods and reels. Also there are booths for travel destinations from close locations like the Housatonic River, to places in Montana, Labrador, and the tropics. It is not nearly as large as the Eastern Fishing and Outdoor Expo at the DCU Center. Everything is related specifically to fly fishing except for a couple booths like On the Water Magazine and some fish photos. There were many dealers selling flies. Some were as much as $10/ dozen flies. One guy towards the back of the room was selling flies $5/ dozen. This is about the best deal I've seen for flies. I bought $25 worth. He had a huge selection of at least a couple hundred flies. Most flies had a selection of at least 4 sizes. It was hard not to be the kid in a candy shop, especially since there was an ATM in the building.

The reason I went to the show and shelled out $15 was to go to the seminars. Seminars are run by experts. Whether its fishing guides on a specific lake river, resort or a guy teaching you how to make fly patterns these guys knew there stuff. During each hour there was usually 4 seminars going on in different rooms. The rooms were in the main hotel. It was about 100 yard walk through the parking lot between buildings but there was also a shuttle constantly going back and forth. You had to show your hand stamp to get into the seminars. I went to 5 seminars today.
There was an owner of a fly shop on the Housatonic River in Connecticut doing a presentation. Another about the Upper Delaware. Two on flies most used in New England and lastly one about planning a trip to trout fish Montana. Like I said, there were usually 4 or 5 going on at a time. These were the ones I chose to go to. I learned a ton Mostly about what flies I should have in my fly box. Usually the fly shop owners or guide would give a quick advertisement for there place of work I was happy however, that they did not try to push there place.

Take for instance my second seminar " Fishing the Delaware". This seminar was done by a resort owner right on the river. He could have told us all about his resort. Instead he covered the two branches of the river and the main river after they connect. He told us about public access and what flies would work. Of course, if some of the guys in the crowd want to fish the Delaware maybe they will stay at his resort in the future. I am to cheap to pay $160 a night to fish and will gladly sleep in a campground for $20/ night. My point is the seminars were about fishing as opposed to seminars by bass pros. If you've ever been to one, the whole time they are talking its like a big commercial for there sponsors.

I had fun today, took three pages of notes ( I was happy to say I wasn't the only one) and bought some cheap flies. The show runs the rest of the weekend. Just search fly fishing expo in Marlboro on google and you should get any info pretty quickly. If you want to go to a couple of seminars, it is definately worth your time and money.

Providence River Waste of Time

I am always writing that if I find or do something that is not worth your time I will tell you. Here is one. After writing last month about how to catch keeper stripers in winter, I am telling you not to waste your time. This winter like the rest of the year has been terrible for striper fishing. They just are not in the Providence River like they used to be. I only had one good outing and it was almost a month ago. I was there on January 1. It was warm out ( about 40 at night). There were a lot of guys fishing right around high tide on both sides of the river. Everyone was trying to catch their first fish of the year. The whole time I fished, no one caught any. My friend Dave, who is still fishing has gotten got blanked 5 trips in a row.
I wish the stripers were there, I really do. Fishing for stripers in Providence is the one winter activity I enjoy. Now more than ever, I am looking forward to spring!!!

Plans for 2011

Okay, so other than control my winter waistband, resolutions really aren't my thing. I have no plans to fall in love or promise to be nicer to people. I usually put a list together of things I would like to do for fun during the new year. Most years I don't accomplish everything on the list and in some cases I can't. An example is I can't see Deirks Bentley in concert if his tour doesn't come around here.

This list is mostly things I haven't done, or want to do again. What is not on the list is fishing in Falls Pond near my house, striper fishing or birding places I frequent regularly. There is no need to write things I do often.

Some of the things on the list, I have wanted to do for years. Washburn Island is an island in Falmouth. It can only be reached by boat/ kayak. There are campsites that can be reserved through the state. For years I have wanted to camp there. It is right near South Cape Beach so I suppose the fishing is pretty good. Unfortunately working 6 days a week for the last 10 years has made it difficult to plan an overnight camping. I would need 2 days off for the trip. This summer being pleasantly unemployed, I booked a campsite for a Sunday night in June with Laurie. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It rained all day Sunday and Monday's forecast was for 30 mph winds. Instead of taking the chance of having to abandon ship ( canoe) we abandoned our plans. So camping on Washburn Island is still on my to do list.

There is a prescript to this list.

I hope to be working a Monday-Friday job very soon. Since I was 20 I never had a job with weekends off. I always had 6 day a week jobs. Monday, Wednesday or Thursdays were my one day off. For the last 8 years I was on call 24 hours a day. I could get a call at midnight that the donut van was broken down, or a call at 2:30 am from a sick girl, and have to go in at 4am. On the other hand I could get done with a days work and be driving home at 4pm, and get a call the closer wasn't coming in and I'd have to stay until 10pm. This didn't happen often, but enough where there was always a sick feeling in my stomach when my phone rang.

On the other extreme, this summer being unemployed I had tons of free time. If I didn't feel like doing something or the weather wasn't perfect I could put off a daytrip for a few days. Assuming my next job I have weekends off I will have to use my time more judiciously. I will have to plan around traffic with the masses. I will have to realize that fishing spots I have to myself on Thursday nights, might be taken by weekend warriors.

Fun things I would like to do in 2011:

I would like to do some combined camping/fishing trips in Massachusetts this spring. Fishing for either smallmouth bass or holdover trout would be a change of pace for my normal fishing of stripers and carp. I'd like to do this during May while the trout are still active and the smallmouth haven't gone deep because of summer temps

1. Myles Standish in Plymouth- Camping here would mean I could trout fish in Fearing Pond right in the state park. The state stocks brookies, rainbows and browns. Also Long Pond is an excellent coldwater lake right up the street.

2. Shawme Crowell, Sandwich- Using Shame Crowell as a basecamp would give me access to a few smallmouth waters just over the canal. I could fish Peters Pond, which has smallies, trout and is stocked with broodstocked salmon. Lawrence Pond also in Sandwich is full of smallmouth and largemouth. On top of those close ponds to the campground Mashpee-Wakeby, Johns Pond and Coonamessett are only a short drive. All have good fishing for smallies.

3. Nickerson State Park- There are a ton of camping spots and FOUR trout ponds in Nickerson. What more do you need?

4. Washburn Island- Reservations are probably already booked for next years spring and summer weekends

Lakes I would like to fish- Besides the lakes in the camping state parks there are a few lakes I have wanted to get too, but for one reason or another ( usually distance ) I haven't fished

1. Stafford Pond, Tiverton- the best smallmouth lake in Rhode Island

2. Billington Sea, Plymouth- largemouth bass lake.

3. Carolina Trout Pond- Richmond, RI- the name says it all

4. Wachusetts Reservoir- I fished there once with no luck. The lake has huge lake trout, salmon and smallmouth bass. I want to catch a landlocked salmon. Wachusetts and Quabbin are my only options south of New Hampshire.

5. Round Top Ponds, Burrillville- trout ponds in a pretty setting

6. Whites Pond, Concord- known for having large holdover trout

New Hampshire-

During June it would be nice if we could get up to the Lakes Region and do some smallmouth fishing on some of the smaller lakes. If DJ has baseball chances are this won't happen.

After schools out for the summer I hope DJ and I can do some camping in the mountains. With our new love of fly-fishing we are dying to fish some mountain lakes for trout. Shoal Pond and Ethan Pond, both backcountry lakes, have WILD trout. Profile Lake at the base of where the Old Man of the Mountain used to keep watch ( RIP) has some trophy sized trout. Theres a bunch of mountain lakes that have trout. Trust me, I have been doing my research and can't wait to get up there.

DJ and I are currently trying to hike all 48 peaks in New Hampshire over 4000 feet. If we can get up to NH for a few summer weekends we should be able to put a big dent in the number we have left, 25 more.

Vacation- if I get a summer vacation this year, my plan is either to go to Acadia National Park in June or Baxter State Park in August

Other:

Most of my plans involve either camping, fishing, New Hampshire or any combination of the three. A few other things I would like to do:

The Wayside- home of the authors in Concord, MA

Hawk Migration- during September hawks migrate south. They ride thermals on the way south. A great place to see them is Mt Wachusetts. If weather conditions are right hundreds can be seen in a single day.

Salmon Run- During the fall landlocked salmon run up tributary rivers to spawn the same a salmon going up stream from either Wachusetts or Quabbin. I would enjoy seeing this.

Concerts and baseball games- Summer wouldn't be summer without tailgating at Jimmy Buffett and going to a Cape Cod League game.

Hopefully I can do some of these things. I would like to write about these experiences. Letting you guys know what is worth the time, what campsites might suck, things like that. If I get to fish any of these ponds I will give all of you fishing reports for what works to put fish in your hand.