Rambling on

Pre script: If you read this, it is basically a journal entry. I make no claims that I tried in anyway to present myself as a good writer. It jumps around a lot and is basically me trying to organize some of my thoughts.

    I realized tonight that over the past year, I learned a lot about fishing. It may sound strange to say that. I have been fishing for 34 years now. Of course there is always something to learn. I don't mean that " I think I know everything, theres nothing you can teach me" Quite the opposite, I always want to learn a new lure, spot or technique  I did realize that over the last year, I learned more than I have in most other years. You have to realize that I love to learn about fishing. I spend many winters reading new and old magazines, books and internet sites. I for all intensive purposes am a fishing nerd. I ask way to many questions and spend to much time lying in bed thinking about fish.

So it kind of surprised me tonight when I realized that this past year I learned a lot of new things, more than most other years. I'm not going to sit here and write everything I was taught, figured out, or got lucky enough to do. The title is called rambling on, but come on, that would be ridiculous.

I have often wondered why I enjoy trout fishing so much. I keep telling myself all the reasons I shouldn't like it. Most of the places I go trout are stocked not wild. They are no where as big as the stripers, blues and carp I catch. Compared to similar size smallmouth bass they don't fight nearly as hard. Yet I keep fishing for them. I spend a lot time asking myself, Why? I gave up some striper nights last year to fish until complete darkness catching rainbows in a fly fishing only pond.

Every time I think I have an answer to why? I easily contradict it. I love to cast my fly rod. Okay, but I caught only 1/3 of my trout on the fly rod. I still chose to fish for trout other ways so that's not it. I can fish for trout close to home, okay why am I planning a trip to the Connecticut lakes 5 hours away? A lot of places I trout fish are pretty natural settings, yeah but not all of them. Trout are pretty, but so are other fish. I think all of those contradictions added up and this one fact is why I love fishing for them : I have only been fishing for trout a few years so its still new to me.

For me, when I started fishing for trout a few years ago. There was a whole void in fishing knowledge that I could fill. There were ways to catch them I never used on other fish.  Also I got to learn about flies and the real insects they represent. I learned the life cycle of insects. The movements of trout throughout a river or lake. How they react to different weather conditions. I believe that my wanting to learn and adjust is the reason I almost always outfish other guys( with way more experience) on the shoreline. I don't always catch more but I would place the bets on myself in a tournament. So after spending so much time wondering why I enjoy trout fishing so much, thats what I came up with. Its still new to me and I still have a lot to learn.

I learned a lot of new places to fish this year. I can't say, I am a great fisherman at these spots. I learned where a few spots are and maybe what tide or weather they fish well. Dave showed me a spot in Narragansett that fishes well at high tide after dark in November. Apparently this is no secret. Many guys were there and they were catching. However it was new to me. I caught a few fish there, but I still don't know the best wind.  I caught trout in about 10 different lakes I had previously never caught one. I caught a few in rivers, something I had never done before. I am no expert on river fishing. I barely know what I'm doing. Yet, I now have the confidence that if I start fishing a river, I will figure it out. Before my first few trout, I was wide eyed and intimidated by the easiest rivers to fish.

I learned a few ways to catch fish this year that I previously never had. I caught a striper on a homemade deceiver. That was fun. I used spoons to catch a lot of trout. I figured out when to use them and when to leave them in the box.  I've caught more stripers this winter than in the past. I know the tide and way more importantly the weather pattern to fish for them. I will say this not everything I learned was trial and error. I got a lot of helpful advice from good friends.I was all smiles when Clay brought me to the little trout pond. I caught about ten little wild trout. It was as much fun as I had all year. Even tonight as I'm writing this, I got a tip about where the stripers are right now. One thing I learned was that a corn called pesciviva works awesome for carp. How did I learn this? I was the one not using it watching one carp after another get caught while I watched.

Rock bass

Because of my constant goals I keep giving myself, I want to catch new species of fish ( yes Dave K and Clay this is inspired by you guys). I now want to catch things that I never even thought of. I am not going to " quest to catch every fish in MA". However I found out redfin pickerel live in Ponkapoag Pond in Canton. I learned that red breasted sunfish live in Sudbury Reservoir in Marlboro and rock bass are in Clinton and Sterling, MA. I also found out longear sunfish live in Lake Archer, only 15 minutes from my house, however all the shoreline is privately owned so I can't fish there. For whatever reason, I will get more satisfaction catching a little eight inch pickerel and a 6 inch red breasted sunfish than I would a five pound bass. So this spring, I plan on taking trips to those places to fish for sunfish and a pickerel that grows to about eight inches. I am really hoping to get to Center Harbor and fish for rock bass and to Sunken Meadow Cove to fish for giant white perch. Why?  Why will I drive 2 1/2 hours to fish for rock bass? a little fish shaped between a sunfish and a smallmouth bass, but only about eight inches? Because its different and doable.

I can't fish for peacock bass in the Everglades and have very little interest in leaving this great country even to vacation, but I can go catch a pretty little red breasted sunfish.


So, with what I have learned over the past year, I am well prepared for 2012. I think its going to be a great year for fishing. I plan on catching a bunch of trout and stripers. I want to catch my biggest carp.I am going back to the Chu for lake trout. I hope to get to New Hampshire a lot. Lastly, I hope to catch some wild trout, rock bass, redfin pickerel, and red breasted sunfish. Why?... just because I haven't