A Change in my Fishing Philosophy

Why do I take crazy trips when these are almost in my backyard?

This is basically a journal entry to organize my spring plans. I do not think it makes for an exciting read but it’s your choice to read further or not.

Every February I look ahead to my days off during the months of March, April, and May. Assuming the end of March is somewhat cool and not biting ass cold, I have about ten weeks of daytrips I can plan on my “weekends”. Only a fool would attempt to plan something for every one of those twenty days. The spring weather is so unpredictable, that it’s not really feasible to plan every day off weeks in advance.

Last year the weather was so nice, I could day trip (all day fishing trips) almost every week. This year Mother Nature hasn’t been so kind. Even when we have had two or three days of nice weather, it has been ending right before my weekend. Those are the breaks, I just make do, and fish locally.

Usually my spring plans are about the same. A trip to Nickerson State Park, a couple trout trips to Plymouth and other Cape ponds. When Wachusetts opens, I try catching lake trout. This year I also want to try for walleye and tatoug.

However, I might be changing this philosophy of taking these “adventures” to more mundane exploits. I look forward to the adventures, but based on risk/reward, I am not sure I can justify them. Going to Nickerson for example could become a great memory. The state park is gorgeous and there are four good trout ponds. That said, its 90 miles away. I have to drive by many excellent trout ponds to get there and there’s no guarantee fish will be biting. Also being on the outer Cape, the weather is unpredictable. Last year when I went the wind was howling at 40 mph. I caught one brookie and one pickerel in five hours.

As much as I enjoy catching exotic fish (fish that I rarely catch, even if not exotic to others), I’m going to TRY to concentrate on five species this year, carp, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass (from shore at a pond close to home), stripers, and trout. I’m going to TRY to give up the silly notion that going to Wachusetts is a good idea.

I had today off. My original plan was to go to Wachusetts Reservoir in search of lake trout and possibly salmon. I chose not to go when a friend from work asked me if I wanted to fish with her today (she bailed so I had to come up with another plan). I went carp fishing. I ended up with seven carp. All were over ten pounds, the biggest was 18. Now if I went to the Chu, what would the best case scenario have been? I’ve gone about 10 times over the last three years. I have one laker and one salmon for my efforts. So best case scenario, I catch two lakers or a salmon. A big salmon is three or four pounds. A big laker is 4-8 pounds. How can I justify spending all that time chasing lakers when carp that dwarf any laker are twenty minutes away from my house.

My point I am trying to make (or really get through my own thick head) is these trips sometimes are not worth taking time away from fishing that I love.  I might go to Wachusetts next week or even Nickerson, but I think I will be spending less time going to these type places. It’s not even about gas money, just about value of my time spent fishing. (I think that makes sense)

I’ve been largemouth bass fishing a lot after work this year and for the first time in a decade have really been getting into it. Besides the largemouths, pickerel are fun to catch. I have actually been fishing for largemouths and pickerel so much in weedy lakes I’ve caught a lot less trout this year that I did the same date last year.

When I go striper fishing, bluefish and hickory shad, and the occasional fluke are also in the mix. So if I target the four fish mentioned earlier, I should still have chances at other species. Normally I end up catching somewhere between 25-28 species a year. I believe as of now that number will be much lower this year (Sorry Clay)

Do not get me wrong, this is my plan for the spring. I kind of plan my daytrips by season. Hopefully this summer I will see tons of license plates that read Live Free or Die. This fall I surely will be in Narragansett praying for a false albacore or twenty pound striper to come my way.

Thoughts about the Last Week

First off their will be nothing political here. There will be no discussion about gun control, immigration or your thoughts about Obama.

My son was in Boston during the bombing. He was two blocks away when they went off. He was with two friends. They were close enough that they could tell it was a bomb. They were making their way towards the finish line when it happened. They were going to go into Marathon Sports. The Red Sox game was close so before they went to the marathon, they tried to get into Fenway to catch the end of the game. After they were refused entry, they started making their way towards Marathon Sports.

Right after the bombs went off, he called me from a friend’s phone. Reception was bad and I could barely understand him. His first words were “You heard about the bombs at the Marathon?”

What? No? Huh? He told me about the bombing and he was alright. I could barely talk to him then he had to get off the phone. I called his phone and it went to voice mail. I tried the number he called me from, same thing. Phones were shut off so they could not be used to detonate more bombs. I didn’t know where he was or how/when he was getting home.

I got home from work and turned on the tv. I had no contact with my son for some time. I was scared and pissed. I wanted to hurt the people that put my son’s life in danger. I kept telling myself as long as nothing new happened he was safe.

After a while, they managed to get out of Boston. They took the train to Attleboro and got picked up. We hugged and he told me the story of police, ambulance, SWAT, and closed down subways.  We went for a walk then got Chinese food.

I am so proud of the job the police and all the agencies did to catch those pieces of shit. I have never been prouder to be from Massachusetts. The way the city and state kept going and didn’t let these savages change their everyday lives was truly impressive. There is no doubt, lives were ruined. People died and many of the injured lost limbs and will never be the same. I think all of our hearts go out to them. As happy and proud that the terrorists were caught, no one will forget the innocent that were harmed.

Lastly, this is trivial compared to everything else that happened but I want to thank New York. From day one New Yorkers stood with Boston because of this tragedy. All over Facebook anyone with a New York connection had many messages from hope to sympathy. I cannot believe the compassion that poured from that city.

What the Yankees did with Sweet Caroline was the classiest thing I have ever seen in sports. I usually hear the “Red Sox Suck” chant so loud announcers have to yell over them. Bostonians are no better. I allowed DJ to say “Yankees Suck” at much too young of an age. Yet, when the shit hit the fan, the city of New York and the Yankees, reached out to Boston.

It’s easy to hate the Yankees as I am sure they hate the Red Sox, but baseball is just a game. It is absolutely trivial compared to 9/11, the Marathon bombing, or the explosion in west Texas. The only point I am trying to make is both the residents of New York and the Yankees organization have my respect (although I’m still routing for the Sox to beat them and any small market team).

I will no longer engage in random “Yankees suck” chants. When I hear “Red Sox Suck” again, and I am sure I will, it is fine with me, because in the end New York has our back!

P.S.  DJ will be eighteen next year at this time. He wants to qualify for the Boston Marathon. He has done two half marathons so it is possible. He will not need my permission as an eighteen year old. That said he fully has my support and I will be at the finish line to watch him finish. Scumbags will have no effect on the decisions I make. If we succumb to fear, they win.

Proud to be an American, Proud to be from Massachusetts

Nick

Slow Going

The weather report for Friday called for a high of 50 degrees and rain. So as of Thursday night I had decided not to do a daytrip trout fishing down the Cape. I stilled planned of fishing rain or shine. However, I figured the trout fishing would not be very good during a cold rain. So I decided to stay close and fish near home.

First I went trout fishing at a couple ponds in Seekonk, MA. I was fishing by 8 am. It was cold and cloudy and it looked like it would rain any minute. I didn’t have any luck at the first pond so I went up the street to the second. Both ponds were stocked on Thursday. I tried spoons, spinners, and a casting bubble/fly. I didn’t get a hit.

Finally I resorted to (sigh) Powerbait. Within 10 seconds of my first cast I got a hit. It was a 13 inch rainbow. I caught it in the same spot I had been casting lures for half an hour. This proved to me the trout were not in a chasing mood and I felt better about my decision about not going to the Cape. I reluctantly continued using Powerbait for another hour. I held the rod in my hand and set the hook as soon as I felt a tap. I ended up with four bows and a few other hits. Occasionally, I’d leave the Powerbait rod in and cast lures. Still I never got a bite on lures.

I left about 11 am. Catching trout on Powerbait is only slightly more fun to me than not catching anything. So I left in pursuit of other fish. About noon I put my kayak in a really shallow weedy bass lake. Within 10 minutes of putting my craft in the water, the sky cleared and it warmed up to almost 60 degrees. I tried much of the lake. I caught two pickerel and a bass on an unweighted Zoom fluke. I didn’t exactly kill them there. The sun was high and bright so I left about 1:45 to get some lunch and do a couple things at home.

After supper I met up with Dave and we carp fished until after dark. I ended up with one. Dave had baited the spot up several times, yet it was the only runner we had.

All things considered, I’d say today was a very slow day. On the Water reports fantastic trout and bass fishing down the Cape this week. Northern and western Massachusetts are still reporting ice in some locations and fishing has been slow. Based on my fishing trips the last week, I think fishing has been horrible for this time of year. We are going to get some warm weather next week. Maybe things will perk up then.