Dinosaur State Park, CT

   

A diorama of Dilophosaurus

   I was supposed to go hiking up in New Hampshire with my buddy Adam on Thursday, but once again Mother Nature was not kind. We knew that in the White Mountains that cold or even snow this time of year could cancel our trip. However, three days of a (warmish) rain was not on our bingo card. So we needed to come up with a plan B. The best I could come up with was visit our old boss at his new job at Cabela's. Adam had a much better idea. He suggested we go to Connecticut and look at the dinosaur tracks.

   In 1966 while bulldozing to build a foundation for a Dept of Transportation building a worker noticed strange markings on some of the stones. Scientists were called and they discovered fossilized dinosaur tracks. The governor of Connecticut immediately named the area a state park.

   The park centers around a dome to protect the dinosaur footprints. They had been buried beneath six feet of topsoil for 200 million years. Exposing them to New England weather could and would crack rocks with frost heaves, wind, and rain. So the state built a dome to keep everything dry. 

   Inside the dome there are seven hundred and fifty footprints. They are of different sizes and some are better preserved than others. They are all from the same dinosaur. No bones were found but by the footprints it was a three toed carnivore with a sharp middle claw. It stood six feet at the hip and weighed about a thousand pounds. It was roughly twenty feet long. There are bones in the United States of a dinosaur from that time period that fits that description named Dilophosaurus. If the prints are not from that dinosaur, it would be a close cousin.

   

Fossilized dinosaur footprints

   The cost to enter is six dollars and they are closed on Mondays. The dome has a few reptiles and amphibians. There are some turtles, a gecko, and some snakes. There is an auditorium where a movie is played explaining how the park is formed and what they know about the dinosaurs. It was very interesting. There are other programs also. We sat in on an animal encounter. The two animals were a  Leopard Gecko and a Ball Python. The girl that talked about the animals was very knowledgeable. It was a little awkward since we were the only two people in the room with her. 

   Next we went to the main event, the dinosaur tracks. You walk on a bridge above the tracks looking down on them. As I said some are more pronounced than others. It is speculated they were made over the span of a couple weeks and not all from the same day. If you or I walked in soft mud today, and our friend walked in the mud a week from now, our tracks would have started to fill in or wash away, while our friend's track would be fresh. It is the  same with these tracks. It seems as though this was just a place for this dinosaur to pass through. They were not a herd because the tracks do not all go in the same direction. It is much more likely random individuals walked across the mud at separate times. On the bridge there was a short talk with a state park ranger and he answered a lot of questions by Adam and myself. 

   

A well formed example

   Outside there are hiking trails and we did hike since it wasn't raining when we finished the indoor stuff. We walked below some basalt mounds through the woods. We found a Red Backed Salamander and a dead mouse. There was a bat box and to my surprise there were a few bats in it that hadn't migrated south. 

  In all we spent roughly three hours at the park before heading home and getting a pizza along the way. Dinosaur State Park is south of Hartford. From Providence it is an hour forty minute drive. There wasn't any traffic but we hit the Hartford area after the morning rush. Without a doubt seeing the dinosaur footprints was worth doing!

More photos below

The main building built to protect the fossils

There were other fossils in the museum not from the site

This Kingsnake, and most of the animals were 
surrendered pets

Red Backed Salamander

Bat box

with bats inside. Most likely Big Brown Bats

Mother Nature kicked my ass again last night

   

Very common Black Bellied Plovers
were where the Godwit should have been

   Eric Church has a song called "Jack Daniels kicked my ass again last night". I can't help change the lyrics to the title of this blog. I am on a terrible slump when it comes to accomplishing anything I've tried outdoors over the last month.

   It all started about thirty days ago when I fished for albies. I didn't get any from either of my two shore trips. I went out on my friend Dick's boat and we blanked. I hooked one on my first trip while blind casting. Other than that, from shore, I never made a cast near an albie.

  About ten days ago a Sora had been seen at the Cumberland Monastery for a few days. When I had a chance to go see it I went. While someone saw it the day I went at the crack of dawn, I along with four other birders did not see it from 8-11:30 am. Sora along with the Connecticut Warbler (below) are two of the six species I have seen in New England that I do not have a photo of. Every other of my 348 species except for those six I have at least an awful documentation photo. 

   Since it has been so nice out, I've been taking trips to the Cape Cod Canal. Most of my fishing has been half-hearted at best. Some nights Laurie and I would walk the Canal after dark looking for mammals in the woods and fish in the water. Other days I've brought my bike down and rode it. The few times I've seen fish, they have been in the middle out of range of everyone except Ron Arra. Even if my attempts were half hearted I am amazed I have not run into fish nor saw any caught with as many times as I've been there.

Last Wednesday, I was supposed to go to Block Island with my two friends Claudia and Joe. The weather forecast Monday looked good so Claudia reserved a spot on the ferry for her car. Tuesday they predicted a small craft advisory. We checked all night Tuesday and when we got up Wednesday morning to see if the ferry was cancelled. It wasn't so we all made the hour drive from different places (Norton, MA, Seekonk, MA and Coventry, RI). We met at 7:20 am for the 8:30 ferry so Claudia could get her car on the ferry. At 7:25 it was announced that ferry's were cancelled for the day. 

 

I did see a Coyote while stalking the
CT Warbler

   We made the best of it and birded all morning. I had fun with them. After we got lunch, I went back north to Lincoln where there had been a Connecticut Warbler. It had been seen that morning. Connecticut's are one of the hardest species in America to see. They are really rare and they HATE being seen. They hide in deep underbrush. When they move, they prefer to walk than to fly so they stay well hidden. I spent almost three hours looking for the bird right where it had been seen but it never came out. Luckily my buddy Tim came to look for it so we spent about half that time together.

  I had Friday Oct 3 off from work and wasn't sure what I'd do. I figured I'd probably go striper fishing. When I woke up, there were reports of a  Bar Tailed Godwit in Plymouth. This is a European bird. It almost certainly got pulled from home by the northeast winds caused by the two offshore hurricanes. A Bar Tailed Godwit would be a lifer so I went for it. I drove to Plymouth and rode my bike up the long narrow beach as far as I could and hoofed it the rest of the way. Long story short, I was the first person to miss it. It hangs around at high tide but once the tide dropped it went out to an offshore sandbar until the next high tide (which would have been at dark). People saw the Godwit on Saturday but I worked.

    I had Sunday off also. I never get weekend days off anymore so I was excited to spend the day with Laurie. I wanted the day to be epic. The weather was perfect. I wanted to drive to NH and hike Mt. Cardigan in the Lakes Region but Laurie didn't want to. So the best I could come up with was to go seining and see if we could see some tropical fish.

   We got up early just in case someone reported the Bar Tailed Godwit early. We drove by the exit to Plymouth but it wasn't reported. So we drove to the Cape Cod Canal where we took a walk while I carried my rod and made a few casts. Nothing was going on, I never saw a bird or a fish. After we left the Canal we went to Market Basket to get a couple things for a picnic. We drove all the way to Newport and had a picnic at a trout pond. We had burgers and they came out great. This pond has Western Mosquitofish. As you can probably tell by the name they are not native to the northeast. I've seen them before but when I caught one in the net, it was a lifer for Laurie (not that she cares about lifers)

   

Pompano

   After we left the trout pond we drove to Third Beach to seine. Laurie was cranky because she really didn't want to but we were there and she never came up with an alternative. We seined the beach and the rocks but found only one tropical fish species. We caught three Pompano. These were another lifer for Laurie but I'd seen them multiple times. We got some photos and let them go.  We didn't get anymore tropicals or for that matter anything but Silversides and two baby Cunner. 

   It was really nice out and after we seined the beach Laurie actually swam in the ocean for a half hour (Oct 5!). This put her in a great mood since she loves to swim and relaxes her muscles. Since it was still early and we had time to kill before the Patriots game we took a forty minute detour on our way home and went back to the Railroad Bridge at the Cape Cod Canal. No one was fishing and I never saw anything including bait. We enjoyed our last ice cream of the season and went home. 

   I had been trying to document all of the fun stuff I'd done this year. This is why when I had free time I'd sometimes write three or four blogposts in the same day. Other than this post, it should be obvious why I have only written once since Sept 17. Nothing I have done has been productive. I really need Mother Nature to stop kicking my ass!

   

 

I got to pet a Dog

 It's ridiculous, I had never caught a Smooth Dogfish. Considering that I used eels for five years in my hardcore striper days, it is amazing that I never hooked up with a big Dogfish. This year I actively tried to catch one a few times. I used small eel chunks over the summer. A few nights ago I went night fishing with my friend Adam with squid. I looked on helplessly as Adam caught four Dogfish and all I got was a small Black Sea Bass.

   It really is weird that I have actually caught a real shark before I've caught a Dogfish. As I wrote in July, when we went shark fishing, Adam let me reel in one of his Dogfish. Pathetic.

   Finally, last Friday I caught a Smooth Dogfish. Same deal, I went with Adam. We fished squid at night. Within thirty seconds of my first cast I hooked a Dogfish. It wasn't a monster, maybe two feet and a couple of pounds. They are cute as hell, and I love the rough feeling of shark skin.

     

A Musk Turtle but not much else

 

Musk Turtle

   I had Saturday off from work. After a morning commitment I went to Trustom Pond looking for snakes. I ran into many of my friends that were there that saw two Philadelphia Vireos. Laurie and I tagged along with Allison O'Conner and a new guy named Chris and we ran into one of the Vireos along with Blue Headed and Red Eyed Vireos. 

   My real intention was to find a Green Snake. Allison came across one the day before. We looked everywhere but didn't see any. I also thought it was a good idea to walk through the four foot tall grass to flip rocks to look for other snake species. On a perfect 75 degree day I am amazed I did not find a single snake.

   Back at the parking lot Allison pointed out tick nymphs on all of our clothes. Smaller than a grain of sand they were barely visible. Everyone but myself stayed on the mowed trail but they were still covered in these tiny nymphs. Allison had a lint roller and we all took turns rubbing it against us to get them off. Because of walking through the tall grass I had them all the way up on my shirt. I was especially careful to do my best at getting them off.

   The past two years I had gotten what I thought were chiggers under my skin from Trustom in September. The bites lasted well into the winter and were itchy the entire time. I now realize that the bites were most likely these tick nymphs. To make a long story short, I still got about twenty welts on my skin from behind my ankle up to a few on my butt cheek.  I felt like it was my own stupidity from waling in the tall grass but Sue, who was much more careful than myself also has multiple bites. So word of caution, Trustom is dangerous in late summer and getting tiny tick nymphs on you is inevitable

Snapping Turtle and a few Painted

  After Trustom, Laurie and I went to Wakefield for a picnic. We love a spot near the water. The cool thing about this spot is that it has Eastern Musk Turtles. I usually (but not always) see one. Saturday we had three species. We had the ever present Painted Turtles, we did have one Musk, but there was also a smallish Snapping Turtle sun bathing. 

  We watched the turtles for a long time. Eastern Musk Turtles can climb. We watched one come out of the water and climb up a branch until it was almost three feet above the water. It had to climb right over a very agitated Painted Turtle to do so. It was really interesting to watch. 

  Later in the day we drove down the Cape Cod Canal where we did a three to four mile walk after dark looking for mammals. We didn't see anything other than two rabbits. Also of note, we did not see anyone fishing (on a Saturday night) from the Sagamore Bridge to the Fish Pier at Scussett Beach (no one on the pier either). 

   So all in all, I was surprised by the lack of snakes in the afternoon and the mammals at night. Still, it beat being at work. 

Below is a series of photos of the Eastern Musk Turtle climbing over the Painted Turtle then over a sizable cutting on the branch before finally resting three feet above the water. 

Little Lies, Sweet Little Lies

  In this summer of tribute bands, Laurie and I went to see the Fleetwood Mac tribute band Little Lies. They were playing at a club called The Met in Pawtucket. We had originally tried to see them at a free outdoor concert in Onset in July. There were so many people and cars we could not find a parking place. We tried for an hour before eventually giving up. As we were looking for parking, we could see the band playing in the park. There were a couple thousand people watching the free show. They played at the Easton Library a week later but I had to work that night.

  

   Frustrated that I missed two free shows we sucked it up and bought tickets to see them at The Met in Pawtucket. Tickets were $20 in advance and $25 at the door. I bought them in advance and requested the night off from work. Unlike the Onset concert, there was barely a hundred people in the club, maybe less. We walked in twenty minutes before show time and got a table to sit at. I bought a beer and we sat down.

   Little Lies was awesome. They had three singers each with voices much like Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVee. They had four other band members. They sounded great. They played almost three hours with a break in the middle. They played every Fleetwood Mac song that would be on a greatest hits album. They also played a couple of deeper cuts that I did not know. 

   Really, every song was a highlight. They nailed them all. "You Make Lovin' Fun", "Landslide", "Silver Spring", Rhiannon", "gold Dust Woman", and "Go Your Own Way" were just some of the many songs they sang. 

Little Lies is a New England based band so if you like Fleetwood Mac songs it would worth your time to check and see if they are playing near you anytime soon. Link to their website below.

https://www.littleliestribute.com/schedule

Seining 2025 Part 2

 Tuesday i went seining with my friend Carlos Pedro. Carlos always picks up a new hobby every summer after the birds of spring have migrated. He has had summers where he identified a hundred species of dragonflies. Another year, he learned the safe mushrooms to eat so he was always out "mushrooming" while walking through the woods. 

   This year he has been trying to identify species of fish. He has been asking me to go seining all summer but our schedules (mine really, he is retired) have made it difficult. I went a couple weeks ago with Carlos and Sue Palmer. I found time to go seining again this Tuesday. This time it was just with Carlos.

  We hit the beach at 9 am and seined for two and a half hours. We didn't get a lot of species but he ended up getting three lifers. I didn't get any lifers but it is always fun to see tropical fish. 

   All of the photos below are from Carlos's iPhone. I held the fish and the tank while he took the photos. 

   The first lifer Carlos got was the Florida Pompano below

We ended up catching a ton of baby Menhaden. They go by many name: Bunker, when they are small they are called Peanut Bunker, and Pogy

Another lifer for Carlos was Kingfish. Usually we catch a lot at this beach but on this trip we only caught four

My favorite fish of the day was a large Atlantic Needlefish. It was roughly ten or eleven inches long. I did not realize how sharp their teeth are but they are like saws. 

A Redneck Woman at the Woodstock Fair

    Last Saturday, Laurie went to the Woodstock Fair in Woodstock, CT. This fair is actually the oldest continuously running fair in the country. A couple months ago I did a blogpost with many of the fairs that happen during the summer and fall. I wrote the post after going to the Barnstable County Fair. I hadn't gone to any of the other fairs since, however, Gretchen Wilson was playing Saturday night at Woodstock so I requested a day off from work. 

   County fairs are set up the same. There is a midway and food vendors. There are usually barns with farm animals and contests for the best farm produce. So in comparing the Barnstable Fair to the Woodstock Fair, I'd say the Woodstock Fair was way better. There were row after row of food vendors. Not only was there typical fair food but there was exotic food like Thai, Greek, and things like Strombolis. I bought some egg rolls that contained mac and cheese, another that had desert chocolate in it. I got Thai food for supper. Laurie bought a delicious milk shake. We could have gotten the typical dough boys or cotton candy but figured why not try something new.

   The Woodstock Fair had a lot of animals to look at. There was entire barn with rabbits, another with sheep, and another with cows. We saw a bunch of pigs including little piglets nursing off of their mother. Very cute. After the small amount of livestock at Barnstable, I was glad to see so many animals at the fair. 

   As for the entertainment, Gretchen was awesome. She went on at 8 pm and played about an hour and ten minutes. She started with "I'm here for the party". Her voice was still awesome at fifty two years old. She played her hits and a few covers. She played "Simple Man" by Skynyrd."  Her encore was "Redneck Woman"  and "Her Strut" by Bob Seger as he last song. For a free concert, it kicked ass. 

 

Google Images

    There are so many fairs within driving distance, that it makes since to go to ones that have a free show of someone I want to see. The reason I went to Barnstable was to see the oldies group The Buckinghams. We chose Saturday to see Gretchen in Woodstock. Sunday Uncle Cracker was playing the Woodstock Fair and honestly, I'd have taken the drive and paid the fifteen dollar admission if I didn't have to work. I don't think  I'm going to make it to anymore fairs this year because of my work schedule and other days I have to tke off for events. But I am glad I got to see the Redneck woman again.  

A great day finding herps

    I went herping this morning. Despite not finding my intended target, Red Bellied Snake, I still had a really good day. The first place I went was for the snake. Instead of finding it, I came across a mouse under a rock. This was the first time I have flipped a rock and found a mouse. I looked at the mouse and let it crawl into the brush before putting the rock down. I was afraid I'd crush it. 

   A little while later down the path I came across a small Eastern Milk Snake. Though it was small, it was feisty. It bit me the entire time I was holding it. It was a pretty little snake. After a few photos I put it back. 

After I left that area, I went to a small pond that usually has Northern Water Snakes. It took a few minutes but I found one. I didn't have my big lens. The best I could do is get this photo as it swam by.

Next I went to my favorite herping spot. I've seen Fowler's Toads, Black Racers, Pickerel Frogs and many other species. The sun was bright so I knew snakes and toads would be unlikely, but I'd probably see Pickerel Frogs. I caught three of them including one of the biggest I've seen.

Thinking my herping was over, Laurie and I went to the 

Cape Cod Canal for a picnic supper. After supper we looked for animals with a spotlight. It was a surprise to say the least, to see a Fowler's Toad out in the open. 

Fowler's Toad and below

Relaxing summer nights at the Cape Cod Canal

 

The Railroad Bridge

From Laurie's house, we can make it to the Cape Cod Canal in about thirty five minutes. When we both get out of work early, we spend many evenings at the canal. We usually bring a picnic and make chicken salad sandwiches or I bring the grill and have burgers. These trips are an extremely relaxing way to spend an evening.

   The first thing we do is find an open picnic table and carry our food/grill/ plates to it. I heat up the grill and cook while  Laurie pours us lemonade and gets the utensils ready. Eating supper while watching the boats go by is really enjoyable. When we are done eating we usually sit for half an hour before packing up the food and bringing it to the car.

   After dinner we usually walk along the canal. I bring my surf rod and make some casts. I haven't caught anything on these walks not even seen a fish. Still, it is good to take the rod just in case fish come by. 

   After our walk, sometimes we walk up to the road in Buzzard's Bay and get an ice cream. If we do, we walk back to the railroad bridge and sit on a bench. At this spot, as soon as it gets dark the mosquitoes come out and they drive us to drive home. 

 

 We have probably had supper at the Canal about ten times this summer. I would much rather eat outside than indoors and the trip is short enough that it doesn't feel like a long drive. There is a lot to do, besides supper, I can fish, walk, bike ride, get an ice cream, and go for a swim in Onset if we choose. Now that it is getting dark earlier, it is getting harder to make the trip worth it when I get out of work at 5:30. There are a couple days next week where I am working 8:30-4:30 so we may get to go another time or two before the summer ends. 

  These trips have been an easy way to enjoy nights after work. Between supper, boats, possible fish, ice cream, and walks on the path, the time goes by too quickly. That is part of the reason we keep going back

Bourne Bridge in the distance

Scopoli's Shearwaters and Dolphins

 

Common Dolphins

   Last year I retired from pelagic birding trips. I had gotten seasick too many times to justify the expense. Most of the trip would be a very expensive nap in the fetal position after throwing up. It made no sense to keep spending money to be miserable. Then I encountered a problem.
   

  Cory's Shearwater, a species I've seen many times split into two. There used to be a sub-species of Cory's known as Scopoli's. However, science is changing and the Scopoli's became their own species overnight. I had seen Scopoli's Shearwaters in North Carolina when I went on pelagics there. Kate Sutherland would call them out. They look almost identical to Cory's Shearwater except the tip of the underwing is whiter. This is an impossible field mark to notice when the birds are cruising in the wind. Usually you need a photo to positively ID the bird.

    In Rhode Island, I had almost certainly seen Scopoli's Shearwaters. No one called them out before when they were just a sub-species. But I have been on enough pelagics that without a doubt I laid my eyes on many of them even if I never did get the ID. Last year, on the pelagic that made me retire a couple of Scopoli's were seen but I never got on the birds. Then after I went in the cabin, I laid down for hours. So...when I got the ebird report of birds we had seen I took Scopoli's off of my list. 

   I immediately regretted my decision. As I said, I am positive I must have seen them in the past. I could have left the species on my list but I want my list to be pure with no questions asked (especially by myself). So I knew that I'd still have to go look for Scopoli's Shearwater again. I was not looking forward it.

   

   To avoid going on an eight hour pelagic, I tried getting a Scopoli's from the Block Island Ferry where they had been seen all summer. No luck. Then I went on a whale watch and still didn't get it. So I was already out $110. When Tim asked me if I wanted to go on the pelagic August 28 I said yes knowing I'd be around great birders, there would be multiple Scopolis seen, and I would probably get seasick.

   It turned out that I was right about the first two but didn't get seasick. The water was very calm. I had gotten a prescription patch to put behind my ear that helps with seasickness. Also, I was offered the strongest anti-nausea pill on the market (actually made for chemo patients). I took it and I felt great all day. There wasn't any negative side affects (like drowsiness) nor any other positive ones (such as getting a buzz). My stomach felt great all day long. It has been years since I felt so good on the open ocean.

   We saw tons of birds. I got my Scopoli's Shearwater. I made sure to put my binoculars on every Cory's type we saw. We got photo evidence of at least two. I got some decent shots of Cory's and Great Shearwaters. We saw a Sooty too. This left only the Manx that we missed of the possible types of Shearwaters. 

 

Cory's Shearwater

   If it weren't for finally seeing a Rhode Island Scopoli's Shearwater, the highlight would be all of the Common Dolphins we saw. We saw hundreds of Dolphins. Many of them swam right next to the boat and went right under it. I got some okay photos of them coming out of the water but most ended up blurry. The experience was awesome though.  

  This was by far my favorite pelagic trip in years. It opened up the possibility that I may go on pelagics again. There is still some worry. Did I stay vertical because of the calm seas? or was it the anti-nausea medicine, or the combination of both? I'd hate to find out the medicine won't work when the seas get choppy. Whether or not I "unretire" from pelagics, I had a great time on this one. It has been a long time since I could say that.

The dolphins and birds were following the trawlers

Great Shearwater

Cory's

Boat House Row

    Saturday night we went to Plymouth Memorial Hall and saw a "yacht rock" group called Boat House Row. Yacht Rock is basically soft rock from the 70s through the 80s. It is pretty chill music with some complex instruments. You could consider yacht rock a guilty pleasure for some.

   The concert, as I previously said was at Plymouth Memorial Hall. The venue was only about one sixth full and I felt bad for the band. However, the few people that were there were singing along and dancing their little hearts out.

   The show started at 8 pm. There was a fifteen minute intermission at 9 pm and including the encore ran till almost 10:30. Boat House Row was awesome. The band had six people in it. The keyboards guy and drummer took turns as the singers. The guy that played the sax actually played five different instruments throughout the show. They were very talented musicians.

   I knew I'd know most of the songs but not all of them. I don't really listen to soft rock on the radio. There were about six songs I'd never heard. For Laurie, that number was only one. My favorite song they played was "Brandy" by The Looking Glass

                                              My recording sucks. They sounded much better than this but you can still get a feel for the mood of the crowd. 

   The crowd really for into it when they played "Africa" by Toto and "The Pina Colada Song" by Rupert Holmes. Other songs that I very much enjoyed were "Maneater " by Hall and Oates and "Lido Shuffle" by Boz Scaggs which was the last song of the encore.

   I would be remiss if I did not mention the people watching. We were in the mezzanine near the stage. We had a great view of the band, the floor, and the mezzanine across from us. There were a couple gay guys dancing like crazy about as badly as I dance. There was one guy on the floor, a huge man dressed like a cowboy with sunglasses on. He looked exactly like Cole Hauser, Rip, from Yellowstone. The only way I could tell it wasn't Rip was listening to his voice when he ordered a beer.  I was ten feet away and could not tell it wasn't Cole just by looking. Multiple people asked him if they could take his photo.

Google image

   Lots of  spectators had on those white Captain type hats that Laurie says is from the Love boat. Before the show started I had counted twenty seven before I stopped scanning when the show started. One guy was wearing one but also a navy blue jacket. The best part was he was wearing an apricot colored scarf. I didn't realize why until Laurie explained he was being the guy Carly Simon wrote about in "Your so Vain"

"You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht

Your hat strategically dipped below one eye

Your scarf was apricot"

   I wanted to ask the guy if I could take a photo with him but chose not to. When a song came on that I had never heard, I just watched all these characters and others dancing and having the time of their lives

  Boat House Row is from Philadelphia. They aren't playing any other tour dates around here. However, there are multiple yacht rock groups that tour. So any one of them could be playing again soon. They have some original names "Yachtly Crue" "Yacht Rock Review" and all have been in the area.

   I honestly have to admit that going to this concert was one of the highlights of my summer. With both Laurie and I being healthy, we have done a lot of fun stuff  this year. I had so much fun, the only thing I enjoyed more was catching the Brown Shark. There is no question that when another yacht rock group close close enough to go to, I'm going. Call it a guilty pleasure.

Differing views on rods and reels

    Admittedly, what I'm about to write is really about those of us that have multiple rods and reels. If you own one freshwater rod and/or one saltwater rod with no plans to buy others then you may find the following interesting but otherwise useless.

   Most serious fishermen have multiple combos for fishing. Most bass fishermen have spinning rods and baitcasters. From there, it gets broken down to mediums, medium-heavy, heavy, and even extra heavy. Some of these rods are made for special techniques such as swimbaits, dropshot, and Ned rigs. You can't use the same rod for dropshoting as you would frogging. In the ocean it would be difficult to use the same rod to fish chunks on the bottom and also casting small Zoom flukes on the surface. The point is most guys have rods for many situations.

   I have the added issue of not only fishin for largemouth bass and striped bass but everything much smaller and much bigger. I love fishing for many species. I've spent plenty of time casting for three inch Common Shiners. I've also chased sharks and everything in between. While I do not consider myself a gear junkie I do have rods and reels for everything I fish for. 

   While talking with other fishermen there are differing philosophies on how they choose what to buy.  When I am on my canoe I bring four or five rods. When I fish with Adam I limit myself to three and he brings three or four. Many boat guys will bring ten rods all pre-rigged with lures. 

   Many guys will use all of the same brand in different models. Some fishermen believe that if you get all of the same brand then you will be used to the feel when you pick up the next rod. For example, many pros fish Lew's so all of the rods in their boat will be high end Lew's rods/reels. They may have the KVD rod in ten different models from a medium light spinning to a heavy baitcaster. Obviously, many of these pros are sponsored so it is easy to use the same brand when the company gives you twenty five new rods a year. 

   But many working stiffs will also be loyal to one brand and model. They believe if something works for them why change (if it ain't broke why fix it?). Many guys come into the store who only fish St Croix rods. Many are really loyal to Shimano rods and reels. I can't argue their philosophy. If they put down a medium St Croix Premier and pick up a heavy Premier, in theory they should have a good idea of the sensitivity and strength of that model. 

   I had a conversation with Adam about this and he completely disagrees with this choice. He prefers to fish many different brands and has many models. His counterpoint is equally valid. It is fun to fish with different gear. It's fun to put down a Stradic and pick up a Johnny Morris Signature. 

   I think in general, most of us have different brands in our storage room. If for no other reason sometimes we are willing to spend more money and other times money might be a factor. So until we get really serious most of buy based on want and price over brand loyalty. However, there does come a time when you ask yourself "if I am satisfied with this rod/reel do I want another of the same model or do I spend more for the next one up in quality, maybe even a nicer model in a different brand?" 

   I've given this question a lot of thought. My boss makes fun of me and is shocked that I am (at my age) not loyal to one brand or another. Part of that can be explained that much of my gear is old but still in good shape. So until I got this job, I had kept the same stuff for years. But, since I now have access to almost all the brands on the market with a discount, I have tried a lot of different brands. 

  However, now that I've tried a lot of different models I reached the point of knowing what I think is great gear and what is over rated. So when I buy a rod now I ask myself that question of buying a different rod of a model I like or do I buy a different brand? I hate to ever admit agreeing with Adam but I think it is more fun to have differing rods and reels. It's more fun to use my Shimano Stradic for Smallmouth and a Carbonlite for trout than it would be to use two Stradics. 

   There is another catch to all of this... Experimenting with different rods and reels does not come without its own peril. Adam has a buddy that owns a bass boat. His name is Mark and he has multiple Bass Pro Carbonlite rods. He is satisfied with them but he is a gear junkie. He came in the other day and was thinking about buying the Platinum.  The Platinum is a $200 rod and honestly it is the nicest rod I have ever owned ( I did not pay $200 for it). Fishing it for five minutes and I knew it is better than any rod I have ever casted. When I told Mark how much I loved it, he actually went back and bought another Carbonlite AND NOT the Platinum.

    His reasoning was this, if he noticed the Platinum was far superior to Carbonlites then he would then consider his Carbonlites junk and he wouldn't want to use them anymore. This would send him down a rabbit hole of replacing very nice rods with an arsenal of $200 rods because he liked them better. I can not argue with this and I have faced similar circumstances. There have been times where I bought a rod to fish along side a similar power (like a medium) only to find out the new rod was so much superior that I no longer wanted to fish the old rod at all and it sits in the closet as a "spare". 

   There is no right or wrong answer to this question. It is interesting to think about the differimg philosophies. I doubt myself or Adam has ever missed a fish because we were not as familiar with a rod than the guy that has been fishing Daiwa for thirty years. At the same time, if that guy has been using Daiwa for thirty years (I've been using Daiwa reels for twenty for surf casting) who am I to say they are wrong.

Cranberry Cup and the Summer Sizzler

    In mid-August Laurie an I went to the Cranberry Cup figure skating competition like we do every year. Just a week later there was another event at Skating Club of Boston called The Summer Sizzler. The Sizzler had all of the best American skaters from all of the disciplines. They were expected to show their new routines for the upcoming season.

   Cranberry Cup

   

   We had hoped that since this is an Olympic year that the Cranberry Cup would be stacked with probable Olympic athletes hoping to get the season started. Four years ago, during the first Cranberry Cup held at The Skating Club of Boston the competition was loaded with many of the best skaters from all over the world. There almost no fans at the Cranberry Cup. The rink holds 2500 people but I bet there was less than 150 fans each day

   Unfortunately, the depth of both the men's and women's  events was lacking. For the men, Roman Sadovsky of Canada was the only real good skater. He easily won the event. The best American skater in the event was Jimmy Ma. He was leading after the short program but after a disastrous long program he ended up seventh. At his best, Jimmy is probably the fifth or sixth best American. He trains at The Skating Club of Boston and we have seen him many times. 

   For the ladies, Isabeau Levito, an American was the biggest name at the event. She will be in the hunt for an Olympic medal. She came in second at World's last year. Isabeau won the competition as expected. However, the real surprise of the ladies was a girl from Kazakhstan named Sophia Samodelkina. She was in one of the first groups during the short program which is where most of the less talented athletes perform. During the short she was amazing. She did multiple triples and her combination was perfect. After the short she was in second place.

   On day two, for the long, Sophia went second to last. She actually beat Isabeau in the long but Isabeau had a big enough lead to stay in first place. Laurie and I were very impressed and will follow Sophia during the season. 

Summer Sizzler

 

World Champion Alyssa Liu

   The Sizzler was billed as a place for the Americans to show off their new programs for the season. The top men, women, pairs, and ice dancers from the USA were all ther.e The entire rink was sold out with fans. A few of the athletes performed their new routines though for the most part they were watered down. No one did a triple-triple combination. Almost all the men did triples instead of quads and most of the ladies did doubles instead of triples. 

   While a few did the watered down version of their new routines, most of the athletes treated the Sizzler as a Stars on Ice exhibition. Most of them did what would be called their "exhibition" routines. People like World Champion Alyssa Liu did her routine from last year as did others. World champions from the dance comp, Chock and Bates, did their exhibition routine that involved a flowy fabric they wrapped themselves in.

   All in all, the Summer Sizzler was a disappointment. We did not see high quality skating. Anything new was watered down and most of it wasn't new anyway. So in the end, Laurie and I agreed that we would rather go to the Cranberry Cup. Though most of the competitors are not going to make the Olympic teams for their country at least they were giving it their all. I'd rather see someone fall trying to do a triple-triple competition than not try at all. We decided to skip the Summer Sizzler next year because we know we will be disappointed.

World Champion Ice Dancers
Madison Chock and Evan Bates
to the right
World Champion man 
Ilia Malinin  

   

Roman Sadovsky in the middle

Isabeau Levito