Congradulations DJ!!!

On Monday night DJ and I went striper fishing in Providence. We tried a place I had never fished before based on a tip from my friend Dave. On Sunday night I went fishing at one spot while Dave fished another. I ended up with two big schoolies while Dave caught 12 schoolies with much less effort. Since DJ isn't in love with fishing like I am, I took him to the place that had the best chance to catch some fish.

It was a short walk from the parking lot to the water. After we put on our waders we walked down. DJ tok both a spinning rod and his new saltwater fly rod from Christmas. The plan was to practice with the fly rod until he got bored or tired. If the fish were to far out or not hitting the fly, he could switch over to the spinning rod and catch fish.

By the time we got into the water, Dave had already caught a couple small ones and had a couple more hits. I started casting and within a minute or two landed my first schoolie of the night. The problem was all Dave's fish and mine were being hooked way out at the end of the cast way past fly rod range. Luckily about 10 minutes into fishing I hooked a fish in close to shore. As I was reeling it in DJ got a strike too. He set the hook and the battle began. As both Dave and myself were a little in disbelief that DJ hooked a fish so close to shore we both stopped fishing to watch. Never catching a saltwater fish before on a fly rod, DJ didn't know how to play it and actually asked out loud " What do I do?". We told him to play the fish until it tired some. It wasn't a giant so he got it in pretty quick. It ended up being about 20 inches long ( just a guess). Luckily, luckily, luckily Dave had a camera on him and took a picture of DJ fighting the fish and one holding it. Then DJ let it go

Two other guys showed up so there was 5 of us in a very small area fishing The fish continued to hit for about the next 45 minutes. Dave caught about 5 . I caught 3 and had five other hits I couldn't hook. Of the two new guys, one caught a keeper and as far as I know the other guy just had bad luck and just got one. As for DJ he caught one more small schoolie and had three other hits. Considering he was the only one of the five of us using a fly rod and we could out cast him by three hundred percent, he more than held his own with four VERY EXPERIENCED striper fishermen.

So I am sure I will be reminded often that he caught a striper on a fly rod before I did. He only beat me by 21 years. Also many thanks to Dave for having the camera on him.

Good job DJ !!

World Class Fishing in New England

Sometimes the phrase world class is over used. No doubt outdoors folk are known to exaggerate. I have heard many anglers talk about how wonderful the fishing is in New England. I have heard them say things like " Theres no reason to go any where else for world class fishing we have it right in our backyard" I think to a certain extent this is absolutely true, but it depends on what you are fishing for.

If we are going to be totally honest, we certainly do not live in the largemouth capitol of the world. Understanding that largemouth bass are the number one fished for fish in the USA. People spend over a billion dollars a year trying to catch them. Money spent on rods, reels and bass boats make largemouth bass number one. Although we do hold some pretty decent lakes and ponds New England can not compete with Florida, Texas, the San Diego area of California or really anywhere in the sun belt.

If we are going to talk about trout, New England can almost hold its own. Unfortunately there is a catch. For most of New England, trout can not reproduce in our waters, therefore most all of the trout you try to catch on opening day are stocked. Most of these fish are of the put and take variety. Many lakes are stocked with enough trout to get them through the spring surge of fishermen. Any trout that survives until June avoiding lures and bait in a warmwater pond will die from warm water temps in the fall.

I am not talking about these trout waters. There are a few places in southern New England and many up north that offer really good trout fishing. New Hampshire stocks many of there lakes with " fingerlings". These are little baby trout that after a couple years become decent size fish. They are placed in lakes with cool enough water temps to survive summers but do not have enough spawning habitat to reproduce. Do not expect trophies, but the fishing can be fun.

We have a few major rivers that have excellent trout fishing. To name some we have the Housatonic, and Farmington in Connecticut. Wood River in RI. Mass has the Deerfield and Swift.

New Hampshire has the Upper Connecticut River and Androscoggin, Maine and Vermont have quite a few trout streams

Many of these rivers are excellent, my issue is they are all stocking dependent. Without stocking these rivers would be almost empty. There are holdover fish that grow quite big, and some have limited spawning. These are pretty dam good rivers and I want to fish them.Many people would consider these rivers as world class.

I would argue Montana has world class trout fishing. According to one magazine article I read, 5 of the top 10 trout streams in the country are in Montana. The Yellowstone, Madison, Gallatin, the Bighorn and Missouri are in Montana. All the trout are wild and they average about 16 inches!!! If I wanted to do some world class trout fishing, that would be my destination. Also, the Green River in Utah is probably the best trout stream in the country. I can say I saw many 6 pound rainbows and browns in the Green!!! They are all wild!!!

To keep this from getting out of hand I will condense the other non world class gamefish we have. Pike and Musky fishing is great in a belt running from New York- South Dakota. Our catfishing is a joke compared to southern reservoirs. Deep sea fishing although not bad is much better down south of Virgina. If you like carp as much as I do, you would want to fish the St Lawrence River.Sadly, our one and only salmon species is on the endangered species list and I seriously doubt there population will ever recover.

NOW THE WORLD CLASS FISHING IN NEW ENGLAND

Now that I've made you think of how pathetic our little corner of the country is, here is the good news. In New England we have world class fishing for two species. They are... pause for dramatic effect... striped bass and smallmouth bass.

You have read many times about my complaints about h0w bad the fishing was in Rhode Island this summer for stripers. It is true. Also the stocks are going down. This means the population of striped bass is not what it was 5 years ago ( the good old days). There is reason for concern their population is crashing. That said we live in the striper capital of the world. If they rebound this is where they will do it. Cape Cod had a pretty good year for stripers. The Cape Cod Canal was red hot all the way from the herring run in May through July. People from far away will plan their vacations around the fall run at places like Race Point and Narragansett. I have been told schoolie fishing can be great all summer as far north as the Penobscot River. Of all the fish out there I consider striped bass to be the best gamefish in the world. We are lucky to have a truly great fish in our backyard.http://southernnewenglandoutdoors.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-love-of-striped-bass.html

Smallmouth Bass

If you are looking for world class smallie action in the lower three New England states, I think you will be disappointed. There are some good smallmouth lakes. The Cape Cod kettle ponds are good as is Candlewood Lake and Wachusetts Reservoir. If you really want some great action you will have to take a little drive up north. Lake Champlain, Lake Winnipesaukee are as good as any lake in the country. National tournaments are held on both lakes. They are huge and a little intimidating. Hiring a guide or doing some research could prove the difference in a skunking and a great day.

On top of those two huge lakes, The lakes regoin of New Hampshire has a lot of really good smallmouth lakes. Many lakes in the 200 acre range have some nice fish. I have fished Squam Lake ( from the movie Golden Pond) and had my best bass day ever. I caught 34 bass. The top five weighed about 15 pounds. That is a 3 pound average. The truth was I had 7 or 8 that size. Squam is a big lake, but we found fish everywhere we stopped to fish. I don't think any place in the world could be better than Squam. As good... maybe, better... I doubt it.

Maine has so many underfished smallmouth lakes, its almost ridiculous. There are litterally hundreds of bass lakes in Maine. Most people are fishing for the trout. The lakes on the entire coast region from Sebago Lake to the Canadian border have good populations of smallmouth. I would love to have a summer to explore some of them.

So to sum up. To have top notch fishing for two great gamefish, I think we are pretty lucky. No one would ever say that smallies are stripers are over rated. They compare with all the greatest fish in the world. If you get a chance to head up north or can get a day off to head to the Cape get out and enjoy our world class fishing!

By the way the picture at the top was just a typical bass I caught on Squam Lake.I caught 33 more about the same size. I know what your thinking " Those shades make me look hot"... I know right

Providence River Waste of Time

I am always writing that if I find or do something that is not worth your time I will tell you. Here is one. After writing last month about how to catch keeper stripers in winter, I am telling you not to waste your time. This winter like the rest of the year has been terrible for striper fishing. They just are not in the Providence River like they used to be. I only had one good outing and it was almost a month ago. I was there on January 1. It was warm out ( about 40 at night). There were a lot of guys fishing right around high tide on both sides of the river. Everyone was trying to catch their first fish of the year. The whole time I fished, no one caught any. My friend Dave, who is still fishing has gotten got blanked 5 trips in a row.
I wish the stripers were there, I really do. Fishing for stripers in Providence is the one winter activity I enjoy. Now more than ever, I am looking forward to spring!!!

Providence River Wintering Stripers.

Believe it or not it is possible to catch stripers every month of the year. Although most stripers go south for the winter, a few will winter over in a few spots in New England. The most famous winter over site is the Thames River in Connecticut. In Rhode Island some fish winter over in the Providence River. Sometimes fishing can be hot and heavy, other times you can get skunked for a week. The reason these brave fish winter over instead of go south is the warm water discharge at the Power Plant at the Hurricane Barrier. Since the water is warmed by the Powerplant some stripers stick it out up here.

I am confident that if every person that has ever caught a striper in New England reads this post and I tell them exactly how to catch stripers from the Providence River, I will still have very little competition. Most striper fishermen know about this fishery but very few people fish it. During the occasional 45 degree night a few guys might be found, but on a typical 25-30 degree night in December theres only a couple die hards.

This is a winter fishery. So it is cold. Also, it is a night time fishery so you are fishing in the city after dark. Maybe a lot of people don't feel safe. I don't know. I have been fishing for years in Providence at night and never had a problem. Lastly, although keepers are sometimes caught and getting one isn't to much of a suprise, this is mostly a schoolie fishery. Average size fish is about 22 inches. There are plenty of fish in the teens and a few bigger. If you are planning on catching keepers consistantly, your best bet is to wait until May.

Equipment is easy for this fishing. Using a light saltwater pole between 7-8 foot will get the job done. It has to be light enough to cast a 1/4 ounce jig. A medium heavy freshwater rod will work also. Most guys use 12 pound line.

For lures that is even easier. Use a 4 inch zoom fluke in white or albino on either 1/4 or 3/8 ounce jig head depending on how fast the water is running. Bring a flashlight or headlamp and pliers. Thats it. It is very simple. This can fit it all in a ziplock bag in your pocket. You do not need to carry a tackle box.

Usually the best tide is 3 hours either side of high. If you go and the water is closer to low. Your best bet is to fish right on the Point Street Bridge. If you do hook a fish ( and the bridge is a great place to fish)you will need some way to bring the fish to the top of the bridge or you can walk to the end of the bridge to the get down to the water. This is where a bridge net comes in handy. http://www.popnetnets.com/ . Sometimes I will try a 3" shad body if the fish are not hitting, but usually if the fish aren't hitting the zoom fluke, they are sulking and won't hit anything.

The more important issue is keeping warm in this weather. Bundle up as best you can if its cold out. Nothing will destroy a trip more than cold. Keep your feet and core warm. The hardest thing to keep warm are your hands. Find a pair of gloves that you can wear and still cast with. Also remember if you catch a fish you might have to take a glove off and get your hand wet.

I don't ice fish ( yet) so catching stripers in the winter is a good way to kill time in such a depressing boring season. I know that no one will actually give it a try but if anyone dares to brave the cold and the supposed crime, Good Luck

Pictures:

1. Striper from last night

2. Bridge Net. Used for lifting fish from bridges and piers.

3. All the equipment you will need to be successful winter striper fishing.

Washington D.C. Part II later in the week.

Postscript: A reader named Chris left me a question in Comments at the bottom of my post. He wanted to know if I had any advice for how to fish the zoom fluke. 95% of the time I just reel it in with a steady retrieve with the rod tip at about 45 degree angle. I get most of my hits this way. I try to fish it a little on the slow side. My friend Dave pumps his rod tip up and down while using a steady retrieve. When we fish together we usually catch about the same amount of fish. Chris- also there are a lot less fish the last couple winters as there were before that. It was very common to have5-10 fish nights. Skunkings are much more common than they used to be. You might not be doing anything wrong. Good Luck!