Post Thanksgiving Picnic, Hell Ya!!!

I can't believe this weather. This weekend was in the low sixties. Laurie and I thought it would be fun to have a picnic three days before December first. Last picnic we had was late summer at Colt State Park in Bristol,RI. Today we went to Fearings Pond in Myles Standish. I know what your thinking... I just wanted to go trout fishing. Not really, it was beautiful out. I really wanted to enjoy the weather. 

We brought some chicken salad, bulky rolls, chips and pasta salad. We washed it all down with root beer. After we ate we went for a walk and scouted out the campground for nice flat spots. In case we want to camp there in the summer, we found some really good sites.

After our walk I did break out the fishing pole. I only fished for about 20 minutes. Laurie read the newspaper in the sun. No fish were biting so we left and drove around the state park.

On our way home we saw 10 wild turkeys, a good way to end the day.

Stripers on Turkey Day

Before stuffing my face at dinner today, Jeff and I did some fishing down in southern Rhode Island. We left home at 6:00 am. We fished different spots until about noon. We did not have the numbers of fish from earlier in the week, nor did we expect too. After yesterdays storm and east wind followed by a northwest wind today, it was a crapshoot if we would find fish.

We did find a couple of fish. Jeff and I both got a striper and a bluefish. We both had a couple more hits. The blue I caught was about 5-6 pounds. I didn't see Jeff's blue. Both stripers were small. If we didn't have to come home for dinner, I think we could have found some more. Oh well, if this was my last day surf fishing for the year, at least I didn't get skunked.

Happy Thaksgiving everyone!!!

The Life I don't Want

At the risk of offending readers, I am going to give you my opinion of something that bothered me a little today. For the last few days the beaches in Southern Rhode Island have been red hot for fishing. Stripers of all sizes from a foot to keeper size have been caught by the hundreds the last few days. There have also been schools of bluefish also.

I could not enjoy this fantastic fishing. I worked Sat, Sun,and Monday. I was also on call this weekend so I couldn't go very far when I got out of work.

Today while I was at work, I was talking to a few regular customers. They are retired guys in their mid 60's. There is a young 60 and an old 60. We probably all know people at that age that are sickly and we know people that you could swear are forty. The guys in the donut shop are healthy strong and most importantly like to fish.

These guys talk about fishing almost as much as I do. They look forward to opening day and talk about stripers as much as sports. One of the guys asked me if I got down to the beach for the great bluefish action. He had gotten a call from a friend in Charlestown about the action. The friend told him how great the fishing was.

 I would also like to point out that even though it is mid November the weather has been amazing. Sunday it was sixty degrees. At the beach it was barely windy at all. The water was glass calm ( last time I was there 10 foot rollers were crashing on the shore). Sometimes mid November fishing can be downright painful. I have fished in thirty five degree temps with biting winds standing in water cold enough that with waders on I was chilled through. Right now the weather has been perfect. Anyone that can should take advantage of it.

The point of all this disjointed thought is this. These guys knew that fish were blitzing all over southern Rhode Island yet they were in a donut shop! They knew fish were biting, they talk about fishing all the time, the weather was awesome and they were sitting inside drinking a medium regular. My mind can not comprehend this.

I could understand if they had family commitments and couldn't fish, but they were in a donut shop all afternoon. I obviously understand having to work, but they were retired. I could understand if they didn't have the money for gas, but all these guys drive nice cars and trucks and I know that is not an issue. Lastly I could understand if they didn't want to fish in a dangerous situation. No matter how healthy you are I understand that at an advanced age falling on rocks into a heavy surf could be life threatening. Like I said earlier, the fish were blitzing a beach, the water was calm and and the walk from the parking lot was only about 2 minutes.

I don't want to grow older like that. I want to fish instead of talk about fishing. I hope I continue to fish and hike all the time. I do not consider 60 old. One of my best friends is that age. I plan on following his example and fishing, hiking and kayaking. I don't want to talk about doing things when I could be doing them.

-Life is not a spectator sport, if watching is all your gonna do then your gonna watch your life go by without ya

                               - Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame ( that's right)

-There's just so many summers and just so many springs

                                 -Don Henley

Best November I ever had

  This year I have fished more this November than I ever had. Considering it is only the 17th and I have almost 2 more weeks left, this could be my best November ever. Today, I fished with my friend Dave, we went carp fishing. We landed a whole bunch of carp, no monsters, but plenty into the teens. It was a great day fishing. By any standards any month of the year today's carp fishing would be a success. The fact that we caught 10 a month and a week before Christmas is awesome.

This has been a very warm November. I've been at work comfortable in  just a t-shirt almost every day outside. That is one reason why the fishing has been so great. I have also been out more that usual. Even on days I work and then pick DJ up from track I've trout fished for an hour or so in between. 

This month I finally caught my first lake trout. I've caught some stripers each time I have fished for them and I've caught some trout here and there.

Catching carp today has just been added to a great month. Going again tomorrow

VINDICATION !!!

My first lake trout and a mouth full of sunflower seeds

As many of you are probably sick of reading I have spent a few days this year fishing at Wachusetts Reservoir mostly for lake trout. It has been fruitless. It has been  as frustrating as being stalked by an ex-girlfreind. So what did I do on my day off today? I drove to "the Chu" at six o'clock this morning to give it another try. The definition of insane is ... Me!

Only this time I dragged my buddy Jeff along with me. So we left home at 6 am in 34 degree temperatures to fish for a fish I haven't caught in five tries.To make things even cheerier, there was a 25 mph wind howling out of the southwest. When we pulled into the parking lot at 7:15 there were three cars in the lot. I was devestated. Of the 37 miles of shoreline ( just a guess) I only wanted to fish 25 feet. If someone would have been in those 25 feet, I may as well have slept in. We walked out to the point. There was one guy fishing, but there was room to fish without crowding him. So we set up two poles with shiners. We each  fished a spoon near the bottom with another pole. After three hours it was looking bad. Then we each caught a lake trout! I caught mine on a shiner. Jeff's was caught in such a lucky way, that if it swam up to him and said "I surrender" it wouldn't have been any less suprising. I'm not even going to write about it.

Mass Wildlife feels there are too many lakers in the lake ( yeah right- six trips one trout, they are not swimming in my direction) so they encourage the taking of smaller lakers by not having a size limit, so we kept them.  We brought them home and ate them two ways. We wrapped some chunks in bacon and fried them up. We also baked some fillets in breadcrumbs, garlic powder and pepper. I heard lake trout tasted like crap, but they were delicious.

So finally after all those trips I feel like they were all learning experiences for today- All my time wasted, gas money spent and hikes to the lake are finally vindicated ( justified)!!!

Homemade deceivers

My buddies up in New Hampshire asked me to show them some pictures of deceivers. A deceiver is a fly that is shaped like a small baitfish. For saltwater they are usually made on a size 2/0 or 3/0 hook. They are fairly simple to make. All you need is some bucktail, the hook and some hackle feathers, thread and of course a way to work on the hook like a fly tying vise.

A deceiver can be used as a fly on a fly rod. It can also be effectively used as a teaser on a leader. They are usually fished a 18 inches or so ahead of a heavier lure for casting like a bomber plug or bucktail jig.

They can be made in any color combination. To make them at home, I only make three colors. I make a white one, a black one and an olive one with a white belly. I feel the olive is much more realistic than all white for daytime use. I use the black one at night. Truthfully, most of the summer my leader were without teasers. I'm regretting that now. Having a teaser ahead of your main lure doubles your chances.

Although, I caught a my first fish the other night on one of my homemade teasers, DJ already had. He caught a few fish with them on his fly rod this spring and summer. He caught fish in the evening on the olive one and I caught mine the other night on black. At the risk of making my blog an ode to my friend Dave's blog, if you want to learn how to make them you can check out his video. They are simple to make and very effective

http://ristripedbass.blogspot.com/2009/07/tying-black-deceiver-flyteaser.html

State Record Carp caught and released by one of my best friends!!!

If you read my posts a lot you see that down in Mass and Rhode Island I only have a couple fishing buddies. I fish with Dave Pickering and Jeff Henderson. I have occasionally gotten together with a few guys from the Rhode Island chapter of the Carp Anglers Group.

I am proud to say that Dave Pickering caught the state record carp today. The fish was over 36 pounds. It would have beaten the old mark by almost four pounds. Why did I say would have? Because true to his conservation minded philosophy he weighed it and let it go. To have a record be official, you need to get it weighed at an official weigh station. There is no way a fish that size would survive a journey like that no matter how big the bucket. So Dave did the only thing that his conscience would allow and let it go.
Amazingly, Dave has caught another fish this year that would have broken the record. Also he has caught fish in Massachusetts that would easily win the state pin for the largest carp caught in the state many times. All were set free.

Take a minute and check out a picture of the fish on his blog. Its pretty amazing.

http://www.ricarpfishing.blogspot.com/

A day late, but not quite a dollar short

Sunday through Tuesday the ocean in southern Rhode Island has been lit up with schoolie bass all over the place. The weather has been really warm and there has been almost no wind. Of course I had to work. So I was missing out on days where guys were catching 20- 50 fish a day. I couldn't take it any more so I asked my boss if I could go in early on Wednesday and get out about noon. He said I could.

When I got up Wed morning  the weather forecast for the day predicted 5-10 mph winds out  of the southeast. I knew the water wouldn't be glass calm like it had been. I just hoped the fish were still around. I picked Jeff up at 12:30 and headed down.

We fished three different spots and found fish in all three. It was not like it had been. I caught a schoolie at Gallilee Channel. We found more fishermen than fish at a beach in South County. Still I was probably 20 fish caught, and Jeff and I got a couple in the mix. Finally, he stopped at a very easy to fish rocky area in Narragansett on the way home. We picked up a couple more there. All the fish caught by us and everyone else were schoolies. I didn't see any keeper bass. I did see two blues and I suspect a few more were caught.

My highlight for the day was a fish I caught after dark. It hit one of my homemade deceivers that I made last winter. Its always cool when you catch a fish on something you made.

So even though the story of my year has been " you should have been here yesterday" we caught a few fish today. The weather was nice and I only had to work until noon. It could have been better, but all in all a good day. Like I said Friday any fish in November is a good fish.

I will post pictures after work today.

Any fish in November is a good fish!!!

I found out that the ocean was  not fishable today. The waves were big and the water was dirty. Unfortunately I had plans with Jeff to fish the Rhode Island south shore. This caused a dilemma for me. I knew Jeff was really looking forward to fishing today, but I was unwilling to waste all that gas money and time. Some how I had to break the news to my buddy. I couldn't get in touch with him by phone so I had to go to his house. When I pulled up, he came out of his house with his warm clothes in hand oblivious to the fact, I was about to let him down. When he opened the back door of my truck, he saw I didn't have any fishing gear in the back. I quickly told him that the ocean was unfishable. He thought I was pulling his leg at first. After a few seconds, he realized I was serious and wasn't driving down. The look on his face was about the same as realizing you have a winning lottery ticket, but for the wrong lottery.

We sat around for a little while and tried to figure out other fishing spots. Jeff kept suggesting places in the ocean that might be clean because they were out of the wind. I, however, had to play the role of Debbie Downer and tell him it just wasn't worth our gas. Each time I did, it was the loosing lottery ticket face. I don't blame Jeff for wanting to go despite the weather report. I have many times hoped that " it probably isn't that bad" At this time of year, if the ocean is dirty there just aren't as many options. The bay is pretty much vacant of fish, and the breachways are much better after dark. Also the tide at the breachways was wrong for trying them.

So after some grieving by both of us... we moved on with our lives. We decided to go trout fishing at my favorite pond. We went to Fearings in Myles Standish State Park. We got there about 2 and fished till 5:15. Fishing wasn't great, but it was fairly warm ( as opposed to the ocean breeze of 35 mph.) Between us we landed five trout. Jeff caught 4 and I caught only one. Jeff's four were the first ones for the year. So I'm calling it beginners luck dam it! So even though I only caught one trout, time went by quickly. I had fun, the pond is in a pretty setting and at least I knew there were fish in the lake. At the ocean, there may have not been any fish for miles. I think we made the right decision!

No pictures I left the camera in the car. Most fish were about ten inches, one was 14.

P.S. Feline AIDS is the number one killer of domestic cats ( if you get that reference you rock!!!)

Ah- Chu... You let me down again

this is the best picture I could get of the salmon

Stillwater River

You know those women that are in shitty relationships and keep running back to loser guys, as their friend you can't figure out what spell these women are under? Well that is my relationship with Wachusetts Reservoir. I had an unexpected Wednesday off today. Instead of going to the ocean and chase fish with stripes I went to the "Chu". I am sure I could have fished with Dave if I gave him a call ,and I'm sure Jeff  would have been glad to go to the ocean. Instead, I chased my dream of catching a landlocked salmon and lake trout, fruitlessly once again.

So todays plan was to fish the Sillwater River for spawning landlocks then try a gate I hadn't yet fished for lakers and smallmouth. I got to the river about 10 am. I tried one area of the river for a couple hours. I kept fishing different pools for about 1/2 mile from my parking spot. I didn't so much as see a shiner. Then I went upstream to another parking area near a bridge. I looked down into the water and saw a four pound female. I got my gear and quietly went downstream a bit. I was not going to keep any spawning salmon if I caught one. Still it felt like an unfair fight. I was 10 feet from a fish I could plainly see. It did not seem very " sporting". As it turns out it was unfair. I casted at that fish for 20 minutes and it didn't so much as look at my offering. I will say this, seeing a wild ( non hatchery raised) salmon was one of my goals this year. Even though I didn't catch it, seeing it was a privilege I am grateful to have witnessed.

After my salmon fishing outing I headed to one of the gates that had a long walk. I went to a point that supposedly has deep water around it. It seemed very shallow for as far as I can cast. So I walked the shoreline to another point with deeper water. There was another fisherman at the next point a hundred yards away. I didn't catch anything of course, but he landed 9 lakers. I'd say that was frustrating, but I learned at least a spot on the dam lake that gives up fish. I don't know how big his largest was and I only saw him catch a couple. I biologist was walking around doing a fishermen surveys and she told me he caught the 9. Finally about 4:45, I called it a day.

On the bright side, I saw a bald eagle. I avoided a turkey that flew across the road while I was driving around the lake, and I saw my first salmon.

So considering this was just another epic fail for me at the Chu, it was the most productive. I actually saw a salmon in the river. Maybe if I get lucky, next time whether this year or next, there will be more salmon in the river and I will have a better shot. Also I now know where to fish for lakers next time. Hopefully, that point will be vacant. I don't need nine, I would be quite satisfied with one!!!

Friday I will be at the ocean!!!