Today's Photo

I went carp fishing again today. I didn't go nearly as far from home as yesterday. Fishing was decent early in the day.  I landed three fish before noon. The biggest by far was this 28 pounder. This is my second largest carp ever. Not a bad consolation prize since my camping weekend was cancelled.

No Camping Trip, No Problem

This fish wasn't that long, but it was extremely fat

There is no question that I had really looked forward to going camping for two and a half days in Newburyport. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my plans because of the lousy two days of rain. I was really bummed out by Tuesday because the weather forecast was so ominous. I could have still gone but I would have been very limited to what I could have done.

So I came up with Plan B. I asked my friend Dave if he wanted to go carp fishing in one of the more exotic locations in New England. It was a two hour drive and I offered to drive. He said yes (when we fish together he drives more often than me because of his roof rack holds rods). I had a little bump in the road because I had difficulty getting my out of state fishing license online. I ended up buying it at the bait shop near the fishin' hole. Between the online snafu and the tackle shop, I probably wasted an hour. Luckily for us, fishing this spot should have been better later as opposed to early.

By no means was our day wasted. Between us we caught ten fish. The biggest carp was 22 pounds. We both had a fish on that "was the big one that got away". This spot is known for some huge carp.

 Dave also caught a channel catfish. I wanted one very badly and was the main reason I paid $55 for a non-resident license. I used one rod exclusively for catfish. I alternated between liver and hot dogs but that rod never got a hit. Next time I am going to bring cut up fish chunks None the less it was nice to fish an area with big fish. The place we fished has known carp over thirty five pounds. Who knows how big the fish was I lost? Maybe fifteen pounds, maybe a monster.

Today was absolutely making the best of my day. Going carp fishing  on this body of water was on my 2017 bucket list. If I would have made the plans to go carp fishing I would have really been looking forward to it. Since it was rainy all day and camping was not an option, there really was no place I would rather have been.

Taking a night off from fishing/ Bad luck with this weather birding

One of the highlights of my week was this decent
keeper

In the first twenty one days of May, I have been out every night except a rainy Sunday that Laurie was over. For the most part it has been stripers, stripers, stripers. I've gone carp fishing twice and trout fishing once. The striper fishing has been very good. I have gotten a couple of keepers. I learned a new spot where I caught a very decent fish thanks to a new friend. If you haven't been out striper fishing yet, what are you waiting for? The fishing is very good.

I did take tonight off from fishing because I had a lot of stuff I needed to get done. I have a surf column article that I wanted to finish for The Fisherman Magazine, I bought some plants for the garden,  and paid a couple of bills. I'm still delivering donuts two nights a week for what looks to be the next month. I hope to use the extra money to pay for all of my New Hampshire weekends this year. Since the only real expense is gas (and pizza when I go with Laurie) that could actually happen.

I'll be back out tomorrow night. I accomplished everything on  my to do list today except plant my garden, which I consider fun anyway.

Bad Luck on My Days Off

I clearly love striper fishing and as you just read I do it almost every night. However, there is so much to do in May that I really try to do as much as I can on my days off from work (do you see a whine coming?). Last week I went to Newburyport birding for a day. This week I had planned on going up there from Wednesday after work until Friday evening. The weather looks like it is not going to cooperate. Thursday might be a total wash.

Although I can't control the weather and doesn't do any good to complain, these rainy days during this month just destroy my chances of seeing a lot of birds. I really need nice weather to fall on my eight days off during May. I got rained out my first weekend ( I went trout fishing in the morning and Wachusett in a downpour in the afternoon). I have seen far less species this year than last. I had no desire to beat my personal best record, but I would like to be in the ballpark. The rainy days falling  on my days off are really hurting that.

I'm sure I'll find something to do on Thursday but I was really looking forward to my camping trip. I planned on birding Wed evening, both Thurs and Fri morning. I was going shad fish around noon time in the Merrimack. In the afternoon Thursday I planned a big hike at Ipswich River. On my way home Friday I was going to Oxbow NWR which is a place I really enjoy. As you can see, I had a lot planned.

Maybe the weather forecast might change but if not it looks like more fishing for me.

An okay day at Parker is still a really good day

Many Baltimore Orioles today

For the last four days I have been doing my job at work and someone else's. Our delivery guy is out
with health problems. I have literally been doing two jobs. This is a financial windfall for me, but physically it is taking its toll. Since you SoB's prefer fresh donuts, I can't go do the donut delivery until night time. So I have been getting home between 12-1 am and going into work at my normal time (what is the sense of making extra money, if you cut back later on). Believe it or not, even with this extra work I have been fishing every evening, so what is being sacrificed is...sleep.

Red Winged Blackbird

What the hell do you care about this for? Today I went to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Normally I would try to be there very early, usually leaving my house at 5 am or earlier. However, since I didn't get to sleep until 2:15 last night, it was a miracle that I woke up to leave at 6:15 without an alarm.

It was over 90 degrees on the island today.
This smart turkey stayed in the shade

However, this did mean I didn't get there until 8 am, and since I try to beat rush hour traffic in Lowell, I leave around 1 pm. Getting there at 8, meant I burned three hours of prime daylight,

Eastern Towhee. Picture not cropped. It was
singing four feet from me

I started my morning at a quick stop at lot #1. I saw the resident purple martins. I should have gone out to the beach with my spotting scope to scan the ocean for birds. I planned on coming back that way before I left and do it. When I got back to the lot in the early afternoon it was full of cars. Beachgoers park there because it is one part of the beach not closed for piping plovers. It doesn't look good for a single guy in his forties to bring binoculars and a spotting scope to a beach with bikinis around. So I just left the beach for the early morning next time.

I kind of made a quick drive to the Hellcat area. There are birds all over the refuge. Some of the other great spots are the Old Blind, S curves, and the Pines. I was going to stop at the S curves but there was an Audubon group just getting out of their caravan, so I moved on. I like walking the trails at Hellcat anyway.

The theme for today was there were a lot of birds but not a lot of species. I only ended up with 44 species. However, I saw a lot of those species. I saw what had to be over one hundred American Redstarts and Magnolia Warblers today. There were Baltimore Orioles everywhere.

Of course there were notable exceptions when you only see 44 species. I was hoping to see Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Great Crested Flycatcher, and a few of the less common warblers such as Bay Breasted. I didn't spend any time at the open marshes which is the main reason I saw few shorebirds and no Great Blue Herons (Great and Snowy Egrets were everywhere though).

My best bird was a Northern Waterthrush.  I got to watch one for quite sometime in a swamp. I also

Red Eyed Vireo

saw a first of the year Kingbird, which should not have taken me this long at all. The best bird that was at the refuge today was a Prothonotary Warbler. However, by the time I heard about it, I was ready to go as my body was giving out to exhaustion.

All in all, birding today at the refuge was average. I clearly could have seen more birds if I went to lot #1. I also didn't go to Sandy Point where I have seen Piping Plovers and Two species of terns every time I was there. If I were trying to see how many species I could in the day I would have done those things. I wouldn't have spent three hours at Hellcat.

Instead of making it a contest, I just want to enjoy the birds. No other place I go has such a diversity of wood warblers as Plum Island. However the season is short, in a few weeks those birds will be breeding to the north. Instead of rushing to the next bird, I want to enjoy the ones in front  of me. Based on that criteria then the mission was accomplished today.

...And, because addiction is real, after a nap I went fishing tonight catching my biggest striper to date for the year.

Chasing Spring Migrants

Osprey coming in hot

Having today off from work and for a change, not raining I did some birding. My plan was to bird hard but not to rush from place to place. I saw 50 species for the day. I got two new species for the year yesterday while fishing and 12 new species today Here is a list of some of today's new birds and some other good birds for the day if anyone wants to go find birds

Yesterday

Orchard Oriole Assabet River
                                                                           
Ring Necked Pheasant Sachuest Point

Today at Ponagansett Road, Scituate

Scarlet Tanager                                          
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Northern Parula
American Redstart                                                            

Great Egret

multiple Orioles
Ovenbird
House Wren
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Phoebe
Yellow Rump
Chipping Sparrows
Pine Warbler

Great Swamp Management Area

Swamp Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Black Throated Green Warbler
Bluewing Warbler
Black and White Warbler
Wood Thrush
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Wood Ducks



also there were lots of Ospreys, Red Wing Blackbirds, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret,


Path near Middle Bridge I saw a Nashville Warbler, House Finch and multiple Yellowthroats. However, after the 30 minute walk I had to pull 24 ticks off of my sweatpants!

Last night's pheasant on a ridge

Jig size

I caught this fish on a 1/2 ounce jig
The wind was too strong for anything
lighter.

I fish a lot with jigs for striped bass. I usually use 3/8 and 1/2 ounce jigheads. For the mot part I use soft plastics on the jigheads. I always carry Zoom Flukes, Cocahoes, and 3,4, and 6 inch shad bodies with me.I do carry bigger jigheads up to an ounce when big bait is around in deep water. I also use bucktail jig quite often.

In the spring I usually fish shallow water in the bay for bass. I usually start my day with four inch Zoom Flukes. If the water is cranking, I'll use a 1/2 ounce jig. If it is slow I'll use the 3/8. I never give much thought to the size of the jig and the "profile" it gives to the fish. The difference in length of a Zoom fluke on a 3/8 or a 1/2 ounce jighead is minimal...or so I thought.

Last week I'm fishing a sand bar with a few other guys including my friend Dave and his son Jon. We are all using Zoom flukes and fishing is slow. I was using a 1/2 ounce jighead that I had on from the night before. Although the night I was fishing with Jon was calm, the night before the wind was howling and I needed the little bigger jig or else the wind would bring my lure close to the surface.

All of the sudden Jon starts catching one fish after another. I'm on one side of him and his dad is on the other. Jon is killing the fish and I'm struggling to get a couple hits. I asked Jon if he was was using the fluke and he said yes. He also told me he put on a tiny jighead because he was scraping bottom on the bigger one. So I decided to put on a lighter jighead. The smallest I had was a quarter ounce. As soon as I put the smaller jighead on  I started to catch fish. I ended up with thirteen in about an hour.

We were only casting into four or five feet of water. I don't know why the fish took the smaller jig. Could it be they liked the smaller profile? I doubt it was because the smaller jig was higher in the water column and that is where the fish were. In four feet of water, a striper doesn't have to move far vertically to find food. I guess I will never know.

The next night I went back to the same location. The wind changed and it was blowing directly in our face at first then it became a brutal crosswind. The quarter ounce jig became useless as the wind just blew it across the waves. So we put on the half ounce jig again. We missed a lot of fish because of the huge bow in our line but between us we ended up with 31 fish.

So the point of this post is,if your not catching fish, don't just try different lures, but try different weights. Sometimes a different size profile or differnt depth is what the fish want.

Turkey Photo Shoot

Before I went fishing today I did a little birding after work. I didn't see too many spring migrants but I did see a bald eagle. I came across a couple flocks of turkeys that were very deliberate in their movements. Because of that fact I got some good pictures.

Simply Epic Trout Fishing (and more)

Today I took my friends Eric and Zach (Eric's son) trout fishing in Rhode Island. Our quarry was the glorious golden trout. Although I have caught them three or four years in a row now, Eric and Zach really wanted to go after them. Neither had ever caught one. Eric told me he really needed one and anything more than that was gravy. That is exactly how I felt the first time I went after them (and how I felt about albies. Praying to the fishing gods to let you catch one)

Although I very much suspected catching a few would be easy, I still felt some pressure as their fishing guide to deliver the goods. We left my house at the ungodly hour of 5 am and drove the hour to the pond. When we pulled into the lot, there were already five cars there. As we went to go use the restroom two more cars showed up. I got a little anxious and rushed "my clients" to the water so we could get a prime spot.

Eric and Zach live on a trout lake. They have caught plenty of trout. Since they are seasoned trout fishermen , I wasn't giving much trout advice if they didn't want it. Eric called me last night to go over the game plan. I told him the importance of casting distance in what amounts to Opening Day crowds. On the drive to the pond, I explained what works for me, what time crowds show up, and where the best fishing is I also told him I would probably use a casting bubble and fly exclusively and I would set them up with a rig if they wanted to use it.

My biggest trout

We started fishing an open beach. Within a couple minutes Eric caught one on Powerbait and I got one on the bubble/fly. We each took pictures. Then Zach got one on the fly also. By my fourth golden trout, Eric decided there might be something to the bubble/fly combo and put one on. He ended up catching a few fish on it. The Powerbait rod went cold and his Kastmaster didn't get a sniff. Luckily, enogh trout were interested in the fly to keep everyone happy.

This seems like a good time to explain something. Here is some extremely important advice. If you want to catch more trout (and you are not a fly fisherman) learn the casting bubble/fly technique. I guarantee it is one of the best ways to catch trout there is. No one seems to use it. I saw over forty fishermen today, only one other guy besides us was casting a bubble. He caught a lot of fish. It isn't rocket science to learn how to do it. The weight of the bubble casts a country mile. You don't need a full fly box full of flies. Wooly Buggers and maybe a beadhead Hares Ear is all you need. Do yourself a favor and make it part of your arsenal. 

Since no one needs a play by play of all the fish caught, Eric and Zach each got a few fish. All three of us caught a trout that was twenty inches long. I ended up catching fourteen trout. I got a twenty inch rainbow and two goldens just about the same size. After my tenth fish, I put down the spinning rod and used my fly rod. I caught my first ever fly rod golden trout on my third or fourth cast. Unfortunately too many people were crowding in and using the fly rod would be too dangerous. I only got to use it for a few minutes.   One of the best things about the day was I was with two guys that know the value of a good picture. Some of the pictures we took came out terrific.

Eric's twenty inch rainbow

This was one of the best days ever for me trout fishing. First off, I was glad my friends could land some of the most beautiful fish I have ever seen. They caught some very big fish.  I ended up catching my biggest trout ever, my biggest golden trout, and my first golden on a fly rod. Catching a bunch of fish wasn't too shabby either.

 Zach also caught his personal best trout today. (Let me say, Zach, who is 12, can fish. It got shoulder to shoulder and the only way to cast was straight out. Zach can cast straight as an arrow. We were standing next to each other for an hour each using the bubble/fly. We never tangled once or got in each others way. Most adults I know couldn't have done that. He also cares about little details in fishing such as colors, and speed.) His big fish was a huge golden trout. He watched it follow and take the fly almost to the shoreline. It was a great experience for him.

Zach and his big golden trout

After I dropped Eric off, I went fishing again. The RI Carp Anglers Group was having their semi-annual fish in. I joined them. I ended up catching one carp (see pic below). I also got to photograph a couple carp Dave caught including a twenty three pound hog. I stayed there for three hours. We all left at 3:45 pm. I knew if I went home I would fall asleep (I got up at 4 am). So I got some supper at a BBQ restaurant.

Roughly ten pounds

Because addiction is real, after supper I met up with Dave again and we fished for stripers until dark. The conditions were terrible. We were very lucky to land a fish a piece.

Not ten pounds, but I'll take it

Taking advantage of the rainy day!!!

The brown trout in the water right before its release

Nope, that headline was FAKE NEWS. I would really prefer the weather on my days off to be sunny and 70 degrees in May. I fish every night after work. On my days off I'd really like to go birding. Since there are only four Fridays this month, that means I only have eight opportunities to go birding in ,by far, the best birding month of the year.

However, it does no good trying to change the weather, so I did what I could on this crappy miserable day. First, I went fishing for the elusive brown trout. For some reason browns are the hardest trout for me to catch. Now before you go telling me that browns are the smartest most wily of trout, realize these are hatchery fish. They have lived on corn pellets for the last two years. They are jut stocked trout. Still, I usually have to try fishing for them three or four times a spring before I land one.

So this morning I took a trip to Plymouth and started trout fishing. On my first cast I landed a 17 inch trout. I couldn't tell if it was a brown or a tiger (the color of a brown but no spots). On my next cast I had three hits. The cast after that I hooked a fish that came off at my feet. I thought I was in for a big, big, day

Then crickets...Nothing for the next hour and a half. I walked the shoreline in both directions. I tried many different lures. Finally I got another hit and reeled in a decent 13-14 inch brown trout. After that fish, I tried for another hour but caught diddly squat. So I drove the hour home and ate lunch.

After lunch I was off again. Since the worst of the rain was predicted to be in the afternoon, I went fishing at Wachusett Reservoir. The fishing is usually much better in bad weather. The wind was blowing and the rain was pouring down. I thought for sure I would land something. I didn't buy any shiners so I only used lures today. I had planned on buying shiners. When I got to the bait shop there was a sign on the door that said "be back in five minutes". I waited 15 minutes then the rain started to pick up. I figured there wasn't any point waiting on this guy any longer so I went fishing.

I fished for almost two hours in  a downpour. I tried small spoons for salmon on the surface and big ones for lakers on the bottom. I never got a hit. I'm never surprised when I get a goose egg at the Chu, but I was today. The lake should have given up a fish or two in what was perfect fishing weather for that place. Also, it would have been nice if Mother Nature could have thrown me a bone.

After fishing I went home and dried off. I did about a million things around the house. The most important was get my trout gear cleaned and organized in anticipation of catching some golden trout tomorrow!!!

May Day!

This Towhee is so excited that it is
May, he can't stop singing

I look forward to it for eleven months of the year. May. It is by far my favorite month. Everything is awesome in May. If you enjoy the outdoors anywhere in Southern New England, chances are anything you like to do peaks this month. I love being outside in May so much, I make sure not to buy tickets to plays, concerts or sporting events (other than a possible Paw Sox game on a night Laurie will be over anyway).

For me, I have too many hobbies and sometimes I feel like they are all pulling me into opposite directions. So I have tried to cut back and do my favorite few things. Those, of course, are striper fishing and birding. Striper fishing is great for schoolies at the beginning of the month, By the middle of the month big stripers will be all over Rhode Island.

As for birding, no month is like May. All of the birds are in their bright breeding plumage. This is the month for migration. When birds come back north, this is the month when the majority come through. A trip to the right places (like Swan Point or Plum Island will lead to a rainbow of colors in the woods.

My plan, for the most part, is to fish for stripers most nights after work. I plan on spending most of my days off birding. Of course I enjoy carp and trout fishing. They are both great in May also. They do take a back seat to stripers. I will still try to get out a couple times during the month to fish for them. And I still have not used my kayak to fish for tautog. I had planned on doing that in April so there is a chance I will have to "waste" a day off from birding if the seas are flat.

So if you like being outdoors, my advice is to do your favorite hobbies. The grass can wait. The gardening can be done after work instead of on a day off. Too many fish are biting, too many birds are flying, and too many hikes are waiting for you to sit inside!!!


Quick Fishing Report

I have been out striper fishing every chance I can. The only thing I can say about the fishing-amazing. It has been off the hook! Schoolie stripers seem to be absolutely everywhere. I have yet to get skunked and my worst evening was 5 fish. If you want action, I highly recommend putting a small jig on your line with either bucktail, cocahoe, or Zoom flukes and your almost guaranteed to drop it on a migrating striper. It has been that good!