Out going Catin'

Since I am still nursing my sore knee it seemed like a good idea not to do any "adventures" on my days off. I  sat around most of the day. The highlight was watching "Act of Valor". I got bored sitting around and decided to go fishing. My options were limited. I wasn't going to risk taking the walk on a sandy spit at Conimicut or for that matter take any long walks at all.  Besides, my knee is feeling much better today, so I don't want to mess it up again. I could barely walk on it after work the last few days, so I am really trying to be smart.

I decided to go catfishing at a spot I could sit in my car if I wanted too. I got to my destination about dark. There was a family fishing in the spot I wanted to fish. So I fished across the street. I used two rods and fished with hot dogs.  I didn't get any hits. Then the family left so I moved all my gear to the spot.

Within minutes I hooked into a big catfish. It ended up being about 17 inches. I'm pretty sure it was a white catfish.

There  is a controversy in Rhode Island about if there are channel cat in the state. There are plenty of reliable reports from a lot of experienced fishermen. RI DEM, in their wisdom, denies these claims.

However, this fish had a huge head. That is a tell tale sign of a white cat. Both whites and channels have a forked tail. This fish clearly had that. After I let it go I caught three more catfish but they were all bullheads. One was almost as big as the first catfish, but it had the rounded tail of a bullhead.

* I think I will be spending a couple days a week catfishing between now and Sept 1. Catching big cats is fun. The only issue is the place I fished tonight gets crowded. I tried fishing there last night. When I pulled up at 8:40 last night, there was five or six cars parked. I just drove back home.  I will pick my nights but would really like to catch a catfish over 20 inches.

** The name of this post is the title of a country song by the group Sawyer Brown

Another one of my friends gets their first carp

Last night I went fishing with Rachel a friend from work. She knows how to fish and even goes fishing on her own quite a bit. Rachel had never caught a carp before. I told her that last week my friend Dave and I were catching loads of small ones. She seemed interested in this so I invited her for a fishing trip.  Although she thinks I invited her fishing because her catching one would make a good blog post, its also fun to see any fishermen catch a new species.

I knew that fishing in the secret spot had slowed dramatically, however the chances of catching at least one were near 100%. So we set out a couple poles. Within minutes she caught a sucker. Rachel had never caught a sucker before, so no matter what she was going home with at least one new fish under her belt. She caught a couple more suckers and I worried that they might be out competing the carp.

Luckily, she did end up with two small carp. She also had one decent one on that " dropped" the bait. All in all it wasn't two bad. She caught I believe three suckers and two carp plus many more bumps and runs in two hours fishing.

New Hampshire 2012 Episode III. A pain in the knee

Got up to New Hampshire for the third time this year this weekend. It was a three day trip. I had to cover for someone last week at work, so this week I got an extra day off, yeah buddy! So DJ and I went up to do some hiking. We went up Wednesday night after I got out of work.  We got stuck in a little traffic at the New Hampshire border.

Once in NH, we set up our tent and ate a sandwich.  After supper we drove around. We went to a favorite spot to pick raspberries. After we ate the berries we looked for animals at dusk. We ended up seeing 2 bears, a raccoon, and a coyote. I kid you not. This was the most amazing amount of animals I have ever seen in an hour in New England.

Thursday we went hiking. Our plan was to hike up to Galehead, if we were up to it we would hike the Twins ( North and South Twin). South Twin is over a thousand vertical feet higher than Galehead. North Twin is 1.1 miles further than South with another 1200 feet to and back. We made it Galehead in two hours ( 5.1 miles). There isn't much of a view from the top because it is covered in trees. So we decided to hike South Twin. I knew this would be the most grueling part of the day.

DJ on South Twin, with Mt
Washington in the background

The view from the top was amazing. Three hundred sixty degree view in all directions. It was absolutely awesome. I was tired from the hike, but really wanted to get another peak so we journeyed over to North Twin. There are a couple open ledges for views so it was not a waste of time. On the way back from North Twin to South, I could feel my body getting tired. However, I was over 6 miles from the car, so I had to suck it up. We went  back down to Galehead Hut and ate Spaghetti-Os for lunch. From there we hiked back down to the car. On the way, I could feel some tightening in my left knee. I put it out of mind, but the tightening turned to pain. We ended up doing 14 miles and about 4500 vertical feet.

In the middle of the night sleeping in the tent, I woke up a couple times when I twisted my knee the wrong way.

Friday, I woke up with some " discomfort" in my knee but could still walk on it normal. Our plan was to hike out to Shoal Pond and Thoreau Falls. This is a long hike but extremely flat. I figured I could handle it. The first three miles went by smoothly. Then I found it difficult to step down. Every time I had to take a step down on a lower rock I had to stop and take that step slowly. Then we came to the only "difficult" section of the hike. For about .1 mile I had to walk on boulders and up and over rocks.
Once I crossed this area, I was done for. I could barely take a step.

What I should have done is turn around, right? Not me, knowing the trail was flat and I was only a mile from the lake and waterfall I kept going. I got to the lake, and didn't catch any fish. Then went to the fall. It was awesome. The waterfall is in a deep gorge with views of huge mountains ( I think the Hancocks).

Thoreau Falls below and awesome view above

Problem was I was now five miles from the car and I could no longer bend my knee to lift it off the ground. On the way back on the extremely flat rockless part of the trail, I could make good time. I'd walk quickly and just lift my foot slightly off the ground. When we got  to any rocky section ( if you have ever hiked in New England, you know most of the trails are rocky) I would lift my straight leg up and swing it around the rock instead of walk over it. If I had to step down, I stopped completely and used my good leg to step down then swing my bad leg to the same height.  I made it back and learned the definition of " self rescue"

My knee does not hurt to stand on it. It does not hurt to the touch. I did not hear any pop, so I didn't tear anything. If I walk on flat pavement, you would barely notice any hitch in my giddy up. But I tell you what, the outside part of my knee kills (killed) when I tried to lift it more than 3 inches off the ground. We hiked 12 miles in all. Eight of them after my knee really started to hurt badly. I was never so happy to see the parking lot. After the hike I soaked my knee in a river and then we ate pizza.

We came home this morning after lunch in Waterville Valley. Hiking was out of the question today. I made a dumb decision to keep going when I should have turned around. No question about it. However, I am glad that I could get out of the woods on my own. Hopefully not, but maybe I might have a more serious issue than a shooting pain in my knee someday. I will be able to look back and know I can handle it. The views were awesome, so I do not regret the hike, just not a smart decision.. It was a nice three days and we nailed three 4000 foot mountains. We ended up doing exactly 26.2 miles hiking. Hopefully in a day or two with the help of my good friends Advil and Ice I will be fine.

We saw tons of animals. I did not catch any fish in the short time I got to fish after hikes.



Animals:    2 bear, ruffed grouse, coyote, raccoon, frogs, tadpoles, newt, brook trout, cedar waxwings


This is how high I could lift my leg and only if I tilted it to the
side. I couldn't get it half that height if I turned it forward.
The smile was of amazement as I struggled to lift my leg as
high as it is.

Having Fun Doing What I Love

One of the bigger fish of the night

As many of you know, sometimes I get the ideas for fishing adventures. I always say I will fish for anything. Sometimes these adventures become some of my favorite fishing experiences of my life. Earlier in the year I caught my first ever salmon. That was great. Sometimes though things don't work out and I burn myself. For example, last year I went to Wachusetts Reservoir one day in October looking for lakers and salmon. I did not catch a fish. That same day, the Narragansett shore was lit up with miles of blitzing stripers, blues and false albacore.

More often than not, when I fish for " the exotic fish, like lakers, salmon, or walleye I don't have a good day. this week, I planned on trying a spot in Warwick for scup. Although scup may not be " exotic" for me they are a rare catch. I have only fished for them about 10 times in my life. So for me  scup fishing is adventure or at least a departure of my normal fishing- trout, carp, stripers.

However my friend Dave was catching tons of carp at a spot that has not been that good the last couple summers. This year it is on fire. On Friday, the tide was perfect for scup fishing. Low tide would have been exactly where I wanted it. Yet there are some variables the most important being the bay is as warm as bathwater. So I  would have no idea if the carp were there.

Instead, I took the safe bet and went carp fishing. Normally I choose the adventure and get burned. The safe bet was not only productive ( between us we caught 24 fish) but also a hell of a lot more fun. I don't know if I would have caught any scup, I do know that everytime my alarm went off it was euphoric. I had a great time. For three hours one of us or both of us would have one ( or two on). Also, the carp world is not competitive. We root for each other to catch fish. If Dave catches more than me or vice-versa it only matters that WE are catching.

Record breaking fish number 13

Last night I went back to this spot. Again, fishing was awesome. I think combined we got about 27. I broke my record for carp. I ended up with 14. My old record was 12.

My point being, sometimes I over think my fishing options. Sometimes I try to chase an adventure. Yet, more often than not I have more fun catching the species that I fish for most.

Big Carp night in Secret Spot

My friend Dave has been catching a ton of carp in a secret spot the last two nights (48 carp). He texted me on Wednesday to let me know he was killing them but it was to late to go (long ride). Thursday I had plans with Laurie so I could not go again ( he got 26 on Thursday).

So needless to say tonight I went to this spot. Dave got there 10 minutes before me. He already had landed two or three. To make this short, tonight was in his words " a slow night" . Between us we "only" ended up with 24. I caught 10 to his 14. I also landed two suckers.

Although none of the carp could be confused with trophies, I will gladly take the action. In July and August carp can be sluggish. When they get hot, they get tough to catch as they spend as much time being cranky in the heat as we do. So to have this spot where the bottom is literally covered in them is a blessing.

Best of all no one is fishing here. We have the shoreline to ourselves. Obviously I can't tell you where it is. I would probably loose one of my best friends if I did. Honestly, this is one spot I do  not want to burn anyway.

I can't get back to this spot again until Monday. I'm looking forward to it already.

We didn't get any pictures of the carp, but I did take one of this sucker I caught after dark.

July and August

If your wondering why I haven't wrote anything since I got back from Maine, well hoss, I haven't done anything worthwhile. My car neeeded work so I did NOTHING on my two days off of Friday and Saturday.

However, my car was fixed today and I was sick of sitting around watching movies. So I went and did a little bass fishing tonight. It wasn't the best night fishing but it was nice to be outside.

So anyway now that my Maine vacation is two weeks in the past and we are clearly into summer pattern I have been trying to figure out my summer plans. Striper fishing sucks right now. I'm not a huge fan of ninety five degree days and neither are carp. So most of my summer plans are going to be evening and night fishing. I plan on doing a couple of day trips also.

The problem with summer is that most of the things I can do are not worth it to me to justify the gas. I'll give you an example. During spring, I have no problem driving down the Cape to trout fish some kettle ponds. I look forward to my next adventure after I'm done with my last. Yet, I can't bring myself to drive down to Chatham to striper fish. There are just to many variables that it makes the trip too much of a gamble.  Chatham can have great fishing. Unfortunately, the chances of outer Cape beaches being unfishable because of a seaweed called " mung" are always high. Also so many seals summer on the Cape, they can shut down the fishing.

So since striper fishing is about done for me till September ( except maybe one trip to Jamestown) my summer plans will be closer to home. Ideas I have for the next two months.

1. Combine a fishing trip of carp and catfish.

2. Go scup fishing in Warwick ( maybe Wednesday night)

3. More evening bass fishing

4. Try some fluke fishing down on the West West Wall.

For daytrips, as always I plan on getting to New Hampshire at least once this month.

Thursday I'm going to Prudence Island. There I'm going to do a little snorkling. Maybe try scup fishing at high tide (3 pm). In Rhode Island only residents can harvest clams for free. Non residents can buy a shellfish license for $112. So I can not tell you that I will bring a bottle of Tabasco sauce and find a couple littlenecks for lunch... that would be illegal.

Another fun summer thing I do is go to Charlestown Beach. I can bird the mud flats in the salt pond. Theres thousands of shorebirds. I can swim at the beach. I can also fish in the breachway and aslong the breakwater. If I got bored I could always hit the West Wall or East Wall on the way home. Combining two trips into one to save gas and driving.

Glory Days

Rioux Cabin where I spent two weeks a year

When I was young,  my parents and their best friend Author Sharon  ( nicknamed Beezy because of a childhood fight with a swarm of bees) would go to Maine two weeks a year. We would stay in Surry,ME in a cabin. Surry is one town over from Ellsworth which in turn is 30 minutes from Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We went up about ten years from ages  6-16.

I had great memories at the cabin. We would go up either the second and third week of August or the third and fourth depending on what was available. The cabin ( there were three and we stayed in the middle sized one) was on a nine mile long lake named Toddy Pond. There was a dock down at the water. Also I had access to a canoe. I would fish a little cove in search of sunfish, perch, big golden shiners and the prize- fallfish. I caught my first ever trout in a little stream behind a firestation.

Almost every evening I would fish the dock in front of the cabin. I would catch white perch, chubs, eels, and catfish. This was the first lake I ever saw any of the first three of those fish. Not knowing what a white perch was I mistakenly identified it as a calico bass ( apparently I didn't know what a calico bass was either). I'd fish until after dark then we would all play cards. I did not enjoy playing cards as such as the other four, so my brother played more than me especially when I got older.

First trout stream 22 years later

I also made a friend, he lived on the same road as our cabin. His name was Brian.  He spent his summers at his grandmother's house. Brian was a couple years older than me. He taught me where to catch frogs and the names of the new fish I was catching. All in all Brian was a good kid and I looked forward to hanging out with him.  One time we went hunting with his bb gun and he shot a chipmunk. I didn't like the feeling of killing something just for sport and not eating it ( still don't).



My best memory with Brian was when we were older he took me to a pickerel pond with monster fish. We fished with big topwater plugs under a bright sun and goliath sized pickerel exploded on them. We missed more than we hooked but it was awesome.

I have a million memories of the cabin. We slept in bunkbeds, then when I got older I'd sleep on a cot on the porch. It was the first place I used a fireplace and a campfire.

Every year we'd go to Acadia for a day or two. We would drive up Cadillac Mountain then Ocean Drive. We would eat at Bar Harbor and my dad would undoubtably get us  lost and start screaming about it. ( bad Italian temper).

Brian's grandmother's house

The reason why I write all this is my vacation last week was sort of a homecoming for me. I remember being on Cadillac Mountain with my family and also seeing other parts of the park.

Closer to the heart, one of the days it was raining last week we drove to the cabin I stayed at. It took a little while to find it. There are more side roads to the water than there used to be. When I found the road, I went down, (  call it my Memory Lane). Sadness came over me, I remembered the good times but missed my parents ( as you may know I lost my mom when I was 17 and my dad a few years later).

There is one terrible memory form my time at the cabin. My cousin Billy, 17 at the time passed away while we were on vacation. We came home for a couple of days for the wake and funeral. I was telling the story to DJ about my cousin's passing while driving to the trout stream.. I then told him how without my cousin Billy, DJ would not be here. When I was about three years old I was at a family cookout. My whole family was there aunts, uncles, and tons of kids. We were swimming in the pool and when it was time to eat I did not get out. I somehow lost my hand holds on the edge and went under. I could not get myself back up. Luckily, Billy pulled me out. Without him I surely would have drowned. I do remember almost drowning. I remember gasping for air, but the rest of the memory is a bit foggy. It has told to me several times since. So in telling DJ about my cousin, his passing and my close call, I think DJ got a little more repect for the places and events that lead to his existance.

We drove to the cabin. From the driveway you can only see the back. The front faces the water. I took some pictures. A new cabin has been built making the total, four. I only stayed a couple minutes and didn't get out of the car. There was a truck in the driveway. I wanted to intrude, but thought better of it.

 I could feel the ghosts from my childhood. Even though I am very happy, I yearned for those days at the cabin. I could see the thirteen year old me running around a corner barefoot too fast and ripping off the toe nail on my pinky toe. It hurt like hell, but an hour later I thought it was cool it happened and proud I didn't cry. I could hear the call of the loons. I could hear my brother and I laughing after we flipped the canoe in three feet of water twenty years ago.

I did cry the last day of vacation most years. I would walk up and down the paths and slap the branches as a good bye handshake. A thank you for a fun vacation and a promise I would see them the following year. I could have stayed there the whole summer. That last day was the payment I had to make for  two weeks worth of memories.

I had to go visit on this vacation. Mentally I would have been crushed to have been that close and not take the trip to Toddy Pond. Yet, it was a tough day. My happy memories turned into sadness knowing I really can't go back. I can't relive them and spend time with my parents again. I loved that cabin and as much as my home in North Attleboro it was " the house that built me" but maybe some things are best left in the past.