Schooled!

 

I went fishing with DJ last night in Narragansett.  It was the first time he has gone saltwater fishing with me this year. We tried a couple spots before dark. We saw some fish way out before dark. We were frustrated by seeing fish that we could not reach.

We set up in current just after dark. After the tide turned outgoing fish started hitting. I was using a swimmer while he used a Cocahoe on a jig.  I caught the first fish, then DJ took over. I ended up catching five stripers. They were all schoolies, the biggest was just under keeper size. DJ put on a show and ended up catching 19 fish. Luckily for me it was freezing out so I heard him complain about cold hands instead of trash talking.

DJ isn’t much of a fishermen, but every time he goes he always has good luck. I’m glad he came fishing with me. Even though he kicked my but 19-5, it was still a really fun night.

 

I will be in Florida for the next two weeks with my cousins. So I will not be writing in that time. We will be staying at his house in northern Florida and I don’t think I will even have cell phone reception never mind Internet access.

A Great Night in an Inconsistent Fall



My big fish for the night

If you were one of those to find stripers every time you looked for them this fall consider yourself very lucky. If you were one of those to seem to be in the wrong place/wrong time this fall take solace in that you were not alone. The only thing I can say about striper fishing this fall is that it has been consistently inconsistent from shore. There have been great days mixed in with a week of nothing.

On Friday, I found fish big time. I got down to Narragansett late because of traffic on Route 95. I got to Pt. Judith right at sunset. I managed one schoolies. Apparently, huge numbers of fish were gorging themselves a mile to my north on one inch bay anchovies. They were very picky and casting into a school the size of a football field usually meant reeling in nothing more often than a fish.

After I left PJ, I tried a place with moving water. At first I couldn’t catch anything while my friend was killing schoolies on a black deceiver. Finally I hooked into a good fish on a Daiwa minnow. After at least a ten minute battle, I lipped a fish that easily went 25 pounds. This was my biggest fish of the year to date. Then I went back to catching nothing while those around me kept catching.

I decided to experiment. First I tried a shad on a jighead…Nothing. Then I tried a Cocahoe. That did the trick. I started landing fish on every third cast. I didn’t get any more giants or even keepers, but got over 20 fish to just under keeper size. I guess they were keying on the small bait in the current. The Cocahoe certainly worked on them.

I did not go back down Saturday because I was watching game three of the World Series, but I am curious if the fish will still be around of not. This year, I wouldn’t be surprised either way. 

 

Carp Anglers Group Fall Fish In

The Rhode Island chapter of the Carp Anglers Group (CAG) had our semi-annual fish in over the weekend. Fish-ins as I have mentioned are get togethers for our group. They are not competitive. We all get together to see old friends, catch up and hopefully a few fish are caught.

We have had terrible success reaching the goal of actually catching fish. At these get togethers for whatever reason, not many fish are caught. This is amazing for a couple reasons. First off just the man hours of bait in the water is incredible. Today we had about ten guys show up each with two rods. Each guy fished anywhere from two to six hours. Odds are a fish or two would be caught.The other reason is this is such a surprise is this group of guys are most of the best carp fishermen in Rhode Island. Most of these guys have many twenty pound fish under there belts. They are dedicated fishermen that through many hours on the bank have experimented with everything from cheap bite alarms to tutti-frutti flavored corn. When this group of anglers goes fishless, then the fish are just not biting.

I don’t go to the Fish-ins to catch fish, they are just a bonus. I go to see people I might only fish with twice a year. They are a really good bunch of guys. Everyone is willing to share information. We talk about our families, the newest carp flavors and the weather. If any new members show up, and they have questions they are answered by a group of experts. Anyone new to carp fishing that wants to get into it seriously, should consider joining the club. The learning curve is much quicker when helped by someone with experience.

The CAG is a national group. Each state has its own chapter. I for instance live in Mass but since I fish mostly in Rhode Island I asked to be placed in that chapter. The president of each chapter will be notified of a new member.

Even though I didn’t catch any fish at the Fish-in, I still had fun. When I arrived at 9:30 am, I met a guy named Todd. He fishes a lot and has a lot of experience in largemouth bass tournaments. I had a few good conversations with him about carp, bass, and New Hampshire among other things. In the early afternoon, I was fishing with a guy named Ben that I know. I’ve known Ben for a few years because of the CAG. Ben is a cool guy that does a lot of fun things in the little amount of free time that he has. I found out that we his in the process of hiking New Hampshire’s 4000 foot mountains, as I am. I large chunk of the conversation revolved around hiking.

So even though fishing was not hot and heavy, the fish in was a success. I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally had fun and am looking forward with high hopes to our next one.

 

Attempting to Answer Reader Question about Scup Fishing

A reader asked a couple questions in the comments spot on my last blog post. The questions were “Are scup still around and where are some places to fish for them?”

Let me start by saying I am far from an expert on scup fishing. I only fish for them a couple times a year.

For the first question, whether scup are still around, the short answer is I don’t know. The longer answer is I checked fishing reports from The Fisherman Magazine and www.onthewater.com. I couldn’t find much of anything about scup from shore. A few of the charter boats and headboats were catching scup last week. With the really cold nights, I don’t know if fishing will slow or not. My advice is to call a tackle shop near where you fish and ask if scup are still biting.

As for where to catch them, I can be more help. I saltwater fish in Rhode Island almost exclusively.  Scup seem to be everywhere. Some of the more famous places are the East Wall  and West Wall. A lot of people fish for them in Narragansett. Besides the East Wall, the avenues can be good hot spots. I personally saw a bunch of scup caught at Black Point last month. Watch Hill will cost you a lot of terminal tackle, but scup are there.

In Narragansett Bay, places like Rocky Point in Warwick and Colt State Park in Bristol are popular. A couple weeks ago some teenagers had half a bucket full of scup at the Barrington River Bridge along the East Bay bikepath. One place I have done well is under the Mount Hope Bridge in Bristol. One day I’d have a fish on before it hit the bottom. I have also seen scup caught from the Conimicut Point Beach, but that spot can be crowded.

I don’t saltwater fish in Massachusetts very much. The only spot I know produces regularly is the west end of the Cape Cod Canal. I’ve seen a lot of scup caught at the Maritime Academy.

I hope this helps. Scup seem to be everywhere when they are “in season”. I just don’t know for sure if they are still around, good luck. Sorry I didn't get this out before the start of the weekend.

 

Relearning Old Lessons

I wrote this last week as an essay to myself. I had not planned on publishing it. The more I thought about it, maybe it will help others to not make the same mistakes I made.

Friday (October 11)I went saltwater fishing. As I mentioned I caught 13 and saw at least 100 caught. There were three guys that caught over twenty fish. Sadly, there are a couple of reasons I was on the low end of the numbers. I made a couple of mistakes, because of them, I missed some fish.

In the afternoon the fish were not hitting too well at first. My friend Tom was anxious to try other spots. He was considering leaving to try them. I told him I’d put my phone in my pocket and check it every few minutes. That way if he found fish he could text me. If fish started hitting, I could text him. Tom never left and we all caught fish for the next hour or so. Closer to dark when the water was near low the fish were way out past the breakers. The couple guys that could get near the breakers were nailing fish at the end of the cast. Until low tide we were all catching at about the same rate. Once the fish went way out, those guys that could walk those extra few feet out did the best.

I was standing in knee deep water and having waves crash my waste but I was hesitant to go any further out. Not because I didn’t want to get wet, but because I didn’t want to fall and ruin my phone. The shore consisted of bowling ball sized slippery rocks. Every step was a challenge. If I would have left my phone in the car, I easily would have gone a few feet further out. Having my phone on me certainly cost me fish. Another very simply solution could have been to put my phone in a ziplock bag. I usually keep some in the car for just that purpose. However, when I got my phone, I rushed to get back to the water instead of spending the extra 15 seconds at my trunk. I lost fish today and for that I am embarrassed.

I had my gear with me carp fishing to also go saltwater. I had my “bay bag” with me as opposed to my surf bag. That in itself is no big deal. My surf bag consists mostly of large plugs and poppers. Both bags have bucktails, cocahoes, and flukes. Since the fish were on small bait the big plugs would have been useless. Having the “bay bag” was probably better today anyway. However, I do not carry one critical piece of hardware in my bay bag that I need at the ocean…heavy shock leaders.

When I fish the bay the water is usually calm. I fish a sandy point and outflows. A lot of the time I’ll just use a piece of twenty pound mono tied to my main line with a blood knot. An angry ocean full of sharp boulders definitely is a place for a three foot shock leader. Normally I use thirty to forty pound test leader material. I had one of these with me today. After I lost it, I had to use 20 pound mono. The truth is it didn’t really make a difference today because the fish were small. But if I hooked anything near keeper size never mind a trophy, it surely would have cut me off in the rocks.

So this day was certainly a learning experience for me. I fished a place that I never would have attempted if I was alone because it was so rough. Now I have the confidence to go there even during a storm. It helped that I had success and success breeds confidence. But I could have done better and I hopefully learned and remembered a few things that will help me in the future.

Fishing Report for the Week

One of my smaller stripers I caught in the rough water

I have been out fishing seven of the last nine days. I’ve fished for largemouth/smallmouth bass, carp and stripers. Here are my findings.

Early in the week I fished for freshwater bass from shore. I only went the last 90 minutes before dark. I was catching one to three a night on an unweighted plastic worm. If you live in southeastern MA and bass fish don’t give up yet. I can tell you I wet waded and was plenty comfortable in the water after the initial shock. The water is still plenty warm enough for the bass to be actively feeding.

I went carp fishing a Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday night we nailed them from late afternoon until after dark. Between the two of us we caught about fifteen fish. We were using chick peas in a trout pond (no corn allowed). Friday before heading down to the ocean, I stopped again. In two and a half hours I caught two and Dave caught two. All were nice commons in the mid teen range. I can’t tell you that carp fishing is hot everywhere, but if you put in your time and hit multiple spots you should find some active carp.

Thursday night I tried fishing for stripers all over East Providence, RI. I did not catch any. I didn’t have any hits and saw very little bait. I’ve heard there menhaden way out at Sabins Point a couple weeks ago. It felt like I was fishing in a swimming pool. Maybe things will get better in the upcoming weeks but Thursday was an official step backwards.

While I was up in the bay Thursday getting blanked, my friend Dave was nailing them at the ocean. Between Dave and his son they caught about 30 stripers.  I went down Friday. The ocean was very angry thanks to a large offshore storm. The water was fishable, but common sense dictated that wading up to your chest was out of the question. I ended up catching 13 stripers on a wooden egg and cocahoes. I saw a lot more than that caught. At least 100 stripers were caught in the rough white water this afternoon. I didn’t see any keepers but with action that hot, who cares. At least three guys had over 20 each. Fishing petered out at dark and we all left.

After having so much fun Friday of course I went back to the ocean Saturday. The water was actually much rougher. I couldn’t believe the waves were bigger and faster. A couple fish had been caught so I put on my waders. At first I didn’t get anything, I thought there was a good chance I was going to go fishless. Then it was suggested to me to try the other side of the point. That worked, I got 7 small schoolies in half an hour.  After fish stopped hitting, I went back to the other side of the point again. I saw a few fish caught but nothing like Friday.

 So there is my fishing report. Other than Narragansett Bay, it is extremely positive. Freshwater bass are still hitting because of the warmish water. Carp fishing is great in places. Striper fishing is great if you can find bait however stripers are not around if there’s no bait. The rough water certainly made a difference also. I honestly don’t think striper fishing will be awesome by any means. There will be fishless days, but knowing that at some place along the shore fish are within casting distance. That in itself is a reason to keep looking for them. Lastly, I haven’t been out trout fishing but stocking trucks have been out in anticipation of Columbus Day. Now is the time to be out!

 

New Hampshire Act 5- Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Russell Pond in the morning

Laurie and I planned a trip to New Hampshire to see the foliage. Last year we also went up this weekend. It was a miserable camping experience with forty degree rain making life miserable and the viewing limited to the car. For that reason, I planned on crashing at my cousin Mark’s house in nearby Maine. This year the weather was perfect. It was in the low 70’s and not a cloud in the sky.

Wednesday we went up when I got out of work. Because it was so nice, we slept in the tent at Russell Pond campground. We didn’t arrive until after dark thanks to Route 128 traffic. We set up the tent then went to Lincoln for some pizza and beer (root beer) Laurie bought me a new tent for my birthday so we tested it out. We slept with the rainfly off to look at the stars.

When I woke up Thursday morning I fished Russell Pond for half an hour without any luck. The foliage was nice so I took some pictures. I wet waded and the water was cold as was the morning mountain air. I got Laurie up and we packed up quickly to start our day.

One of the Cascades in Waterville

We drove down Tripoli Road to Waterville Valley. Laurie saw a bear cross the road. Sadly, I did not see it. When we got to Waterville, we pulled into the trailhead for Waterville Cascades. I hiked to these cascades with DJ last month and wanted Laurie to see them. There is a series of waterfalls one on top of another only separated by beautiful deep pools. We stopped at each one and relaxed.

After the hike we headed to the Kancamangus Highway. We did the tourist thing stopping and taking pictures at outlooks. We stopped in Conway for groceries. We arrived at Mark’s house about 5pm. We ate steak tips and caught up until we all went to bed. Mark and his wife Dotty just bought a 35 foot camper. That is where Laurie and I slept. It was awesome.

Black Pond

Friday morning after saying our goodbyes we went back down the Kanc stopping at Lower Falls. We went to the Ranger Station in Lincoln and hiked out to Black Pond. Black Pond is the easiest hike I have ever done. It’s just over three miles to the pond but it is almost completely flat. I fished for trout for a while with the same luck I had at Russell the day before. I ended up targeting some shiners which after looking them up turned out to be common shiners, duh.

When we got back to the car we slowly made our way home. We stopped at the Mountain Wanderer bookstore. The owner is a guy named Steven D. Smith. He has written many guidebooks. I popped in to ask him to sign my copy of Ponds in the White Mountains. I also bought another book. We chatted for a few minutes then were on our way.

We stopped at lunch at Canon Mountain and I fished Echo Lake picking up only three small trout. Laurie walked around with camera in hand taking pictures.

Since we would have arrived at the Mass border at rush hour, we stopped at a roadside pond that had a beautiful view. I knew it was a smallmouth lake so I was hoping it had red breasted sunfish. A species I may have caught hundreds of in my childhood up in Maine. I never have identified it so I’ve either caught hundreds or zero. For the last two years I have assumed my count was zero. It has eluded me every opportunity I have had to fish for them.

Red Breasted Sunfish

On my second cast today I finally landed a red breasted sunfish. I was walking back to Laurie so she could get a picture of it. A guy that had just pulled up to take some pictures of the leaves asked me if I caught anything. I told him a sunfish. His look on his face was of pity. I could read that he thought I wasted my time. He didn’t know how excited I was to catch this three inch fish. Beauty truly was “in the eye of the beholder.” I caught one more right after that then we headed home.

Animals- bear (just Laurie), fox, newt, three trout, common shiners, RED BREASTED SUNFISH