The first brown of the year was by far the hardest to catch

   

For the last couple of weeks I have been targeting brown trout on at least one of my days off. This week was no exception, in my quest for 30 species, browns fit into the category just under sure bet (sure bets are fish like bluegill, yellow perch, carp and stripers, fish I am definitely going to catch every year). Browns are in the category of “if I put in enough time I should easily get one”. Unfortunately, I have put in a lot of time and before today…no brown trout to show for it.

So I set out on my weekly pilgrimage Thursday. I planned on hitting a few lakes. I was going to fish in Plymouth early and when the stocking report came out from Mass Wildlife, decide whether or not I would go to the Cape. My first stop was Fearings. Last week I could not access this pond because the road was being paved. This week access was easy on the smooth new asphalt. What was not easy was catching fish. The weather was perfect. It was warm and cloudy. The surface was flat because there was no wind to speak of. There were bugs hatching all over the surface.

   In the two hours I was there I only saw three trout jump. That’s it! I only caught a few sunfish on my fly rod. I tried near shore and way out with my spinning gear. About 10:30 I checked the report and saw Lout and Little had been stocked. I couldn’t get to Lout last week either because of some other road work. I figured I’d give those two lakes a shot.

   When I arrived at Lout a guy with a canoe was cleaning a fish on the shoreline. I thought “this looks promising”. He said it was a brown… even better. Then he told me they were very fussy. Cocky me thought “I’ll figure it out”.

   On my first cast I had a very solid hit but missed it. I thought “All right I’ve got a school in front of me”. And I did, I could see fish, sometimes swimming within feet of the shoreline. They were fussy as the fisherman said. I didn’t get any from shore.

   So I launched my kayak and covered the shoreline with my spinning gear and mixed in a few casts on the long rod. In two hours casting everything I had, I had three hits. I think they were hitting with their mouth closed. All the hits were smashed but there wasn’t anything to show for it.

   Finally I hooked a brown trout on a firetiger Roostertail. After playing the foot long fish way too carefully I netted my first brown of the year. I took a couple pictures and let it go. I was so relieved I almost left. I then casted with my spinning gear another ten minutes without a hit.

   I decided to fish the small area of shoreline that I caught that fish with a fly. The fly of choice was a size 10 olive beadhead wooly bugger. I figured I’d give them some meat. Although to be honest I didn’t plan on catching anything else.  To my astonishment I did catch them. I landed fourteen more trout in the next 90 minutes on the bugger. I also figured out where the fish were. Almost everything I caught was within three feet of the shoreline. Some of my hits were in six to eight inches of water. It was a blast. I couldn’t “sight fish”, but I could watch my fly and see it get smashed. I probably missed another ten hits, sometimes reacting too quickly to seeing the fly get wacked.

   Fishing is a funny game. I’ve spent entire days looking for this species of fish the last couple weeks. Thursday I went four hours of solid fishing in lakes THAT HAD BROWNS without a fish. Then all of the sudden all hell breaks loose and I catch them as fast as I could get them in for an hour and a half. I was soaked from fish splashing while trying to land them. I even caught one on my last cast so who knows how many fish were in that thirty feet of shoreline. I guess that’s why I love it… you just never know when it’s going to be great!  

A Little Bit of Everything Thursday

   I have been planning on hitting a bunch of close spots Thursday for a few days.  Since I spent this past week fishing for carp, I wanted to mix it up. The weather conditions were basically the worst I could imagine. A cold front came through, bringing with it thirty mile an hour northwest winds and a bluebird sky. None the less, I had Thursday off and wasn’t going to waste it. I also figured if I tried multiple spots for multiple species, something would be biting.

   I left the house about 6:30 am. My first goal was to try East Providence for stripers. I knew full well that there wasn’t any there, but if I caught just one, it would be a big accomplishment. Before I went to the brine, I baited up a spot at Roger Williams Park with corn. Prebaiting is always a good idea if you can do it when it comes to carp fishing.

   I hit the salt about 7:20. I fished for about an hour hitting multiple spots on my bike. I did not catch anything, but I did not expect to either. What I did expect was a howling NW wind. That did not disappoint. The strong wind made the 45 degree air temperature feel more like freezing.

 From there I moved on to Roger Williams. I gave myself until 11 to catch fish. If I didn’t have any luck I’d simply move on to Destination C. About 10:30 a guy named Jack Sprengel showed up. I met Jack one other time while carp fishing. Jack is a saltwater guide who fishes and catches multiple species. We started talking about everything from carp to peacock bass. My self- imposed deadline came and went. Sometime around 11:20 one of my alarms went off.    I reeled in a decent carp. It went about 19 pounds, easily my largest this year. Jack got a couple pictures before I let it go. It would be the only hit either of us would get. I left about 1 pm.

After a quick errand and lunch I was back at it around 2:30. For my next challenge, I had been told about a small stream that had been known to harbor wild brook trout in northern Rhode Island about ten years ago. I checked to see if the fish were still there. The stream is easily small enough to spit across. That didn’t bother me, I was just hoping that with ten years of droughts and floods, cold winters and hot summers these little native brookies could survive.

   To my astonishment after less than two minutes I had my first wild brookie. It was of course very small, maybe five inches. When it comes to native wild trout, size is irrelevant. They are little treasures. I did not want to intrude so I only caught a couple more and moved on. These little fish were held in one deep pool (about three feet) in a creek that is only four inches deep in most spots. I did not want to fish the place out so I only caught a couple more. I’m sure there existence in that one little pool is a hard life. Therefore out of respect for those beautiful little fish alone. I will be happy they are there and not bother them. I will probably try to catch one in the fall just so I can get a picture in spawning colors. Until then I’m glad those treasures are so close to home.

Destination D was to fish the Blackstone River for carp. I could only fish until 6 pm because Laurie was coming over. After my wild trout expedition, this only gave me ninety minutes. I didn’t get any carp, but I did have one run. My friend Dave showed up as I was leaving. He caught two carp and a couple hornpout.

All in all, considering the horrible weather, I thought today was a pretty good day. Although I only caught one carp it was a big one. I can’t say enough about the trout. I’m glad I caught them. As for the stripers, I knew I was wasting my time. 

Despite the fact this is my favorite time of the year for fishing for a variety of fish, I have put in a lot of time carp fishing. Since I went to Wachusetts Reservoir last Friday I have been out fishing every day, including Easter.

Every one of those outings was spent chasing Mr. Carp.  I have had very good success. I've caught 14 fish on my last four outings. The downside is that I haven’t caught anything very big yet. My largest two fish were 15 pounds and 14 ½ pounds. I have been trying to get a twenty pounder fishing a spot known to produce them. As of yet no luck

I apologize that I do not have any fishing reports of other fish first hand. I can tell you that striper fishing for fresh fish is really nonexistent in Rhode Island and Massachusetts so far this spring. That could change any day but from multiple reports striper fishing sucks right now…despite what you are reading in fishing reports.

Thursday I am going to change things up. I’m going to hit multiple spots and fish for multiple species. I’m going to give each species an hour or two of my time and see what happens. I’m going to try for everything from four inch wild brookies to giving Upper Narragansett Bay a try for the small chance stripers are up in the bay. The weather conditions will be tough with 30 mph winds and a bright sky, but what the hell its my day off I’m going to make the best of it.

Persistence at Wachusetts Finally Pays Off

   Today I went to Wachusetts Reservoir for the first time this year. I planned on going last Saturday but the
weather was “too nice”. It was sunny and warm. Not ideal conditions for catching lake trout. Since I usually go fishless every time I fish at Wachusett, I thought there wasn’t any point in going when the odds were not
in my favor.

   Today the daytime high temperature was only supposed to be forty five degrees. Also the forecast called for partly cloudy skies. I thought I might as well give the Chu a try. So I packed a lunch and drove for an hour before reaching the bait shop. I bought a dozen shiners and set off for Gate 30.
My usual plan when I fish the reservoir is to fish an area I’ve never been too then after a couple hours go to spots I’ve been to before. I had never fished at Gate 30. I had read that fishing is good at Tahanto Point.

    Unfortunately I wasted forty five minutes trying to find a legal place to park. I even drove back to the bait shop, the owner wasn’t sure where I could park. I then drove to Mass wildlife where they were friendly but equally unhelpful. So I drove to Gate 29 and walked to Gate 30.

   It’s a long walk to Tahonto Point. To my chagrin, it was not as deep as I imagined. I fished there for 90 minutes without any luck. This would become the theme for my day. Fish an area for an hour or more and move to another area. I never went back to the car. I walked and fished the area from Tahonto Point to the Cellar Holes. This is a distance of a couple miles.

   Even though I wasn’t catching fish I could tell I was in fishy water. The map said the deep water came very close to shore. Casting a red/gold Kastmater confirmed I was in deep water. Around 1:30 I sat down and ate some cookies (I left my lunch in the car assuming I’d be back in a couple hours). While eating a guy came out of the woods and told me he caught 7 lake trout yesterday. He also told me he went fishless until 3:30 pm then “all hell broke loose”. I felt a surge of adrenaline when he told me there was hope. Then I felt glum when I realized I had another two hours until 3:30. Even then I assumed with my luck I wasn’t going to catch anything anyway.  At that point I was trying to figure how much time I’d have to fish the fly pond in Rhode Island if I left then. Needless to say, I sucked it up and stayed until 3:30.

   Well three thirty came around and…nothing. I fished hard. I had one rod with a shiner on the bottom. I casted the Kastmaster with the other rod. Every twenty minutes I’d reel in the shiner and cast it in a different spot thirty feet up the shoreline.

   Four thirty came around and still nothing to show for it. Keep in mind, I am a carp fisherman so I know what it’s like to wait hours for a fish to hit my bait on the bottom. Carp fishing will make any fisherman patient or they quickly give up targeting carp. Still at this point I’d fished seven hours without a hit at a giant lake that I’ve caught exactly one lake trout and one salmon (and a few smallmouth but I was not targeting them today). I had a couple highlights. I saw a couple deer. I got some good pictures of loons and some warblers.  Again I was thinking “if I left right now I’d have an hour at the trout pond”.

   At four thirty the light breeze shifted from northeast to south. It was really cool to see it. The change reminded me of the current change at the Cape Cod Canal. One second it was blowing from NE then it was calm then small waves went in the opposite direction.

    Right after the wind changed I got my first hit. I was using my baitrunner reel on the shiner rod. I set the hook and reeled in a lake trout about 17 inches. I put another shiner on and casted out. I got my camera ready to take a couple pictures. My rod started bouncing again. I picked it up and set the hook. Instantly I could tell this fish was much bigger. One thing about lake trout, there fight will never be confused with a bluefish or smallmouth bass. It’s like reeling in a trash bag. None the less, I didn’t want to lose it or break the line so I played it cautiously. I was very relieved it land it. It was about five pounds and easily the largest of the three lakers I’ve caught in my life.

   As lake trout go, a five pounder is a decent fish but not a giant. The leader board at the bait store has a thirteen pounder as the top fish so far. Still I was extremely happy to catch this fish. I took a boat load of pictures of it.

   The wind turned northeast again and the fish stopped biting. I have no idea if the wind direction turned the fish on and then off again. In theory a school of lakers could have came through at that time. Maybe the wind direction was the key. Either way, I fished another hour and made the forty-five minute walk back to the car where I devoured two turkey sandwiches and a banana before heading home.

In case you go;

The spoon most recommended at the bait shop was a 3/8 ounce red/gold Kastmaster.

I caught my fish on medium shiners. I used a one ounce sinker and two feet of 10# fluorocarbon and a size 4 hook.

The fish were caught between Gate 30-32. It’s a solid 30-40 minute walk.

Gate 8 is across the way. This is where I caught my only other laker a couple years ago. Today was Good Friday and I knew there would be a lot of people there. Sure enough I saw 5-6 guys on the point.

Any gate with a short walk to the water was filled with cars. This was one reason I took the long walk.

Expect to be overwhelmed by the immenseness of the lake and do not be disappointed in a skunking. Even though I caught two today, I firmly expect to get skunked every time I go.

There is a lot of wildlife. I saw deer, loons, warblers and a game warden (yes he checked my license) told me there is a young moose hanging around the reservoir.

Be patient

Quest for thirty -10,11,12

Carp, sorry had to crop out the background

White Sucker

Lake Trout

Its the most Wonderful Time of the Year

   With all due respect to the Holiday Season we are upon my favorite time of the year. In my opinion and in the opinion of others in our area of southern New England the time period from April 15- the end of May produces the best fishing.

   Backtrack to the last couple of weeks. I’ve been fishing most every day with almost nothing to show for it. For a week straight I went carp fishing almost every day after work. Although I have friends that were doing okay, I was striking out. I also went trout fishing once, I got a couple, but nothing to brag about.

Fast forward to this week; we finally got some weather consistently in the sixties and a couple warm nights. That has really gotten the fish going. This Saturday was opening day for trout fishing in Rhode Island. The few days before the opening, guys scouting the ponds reported watching so many fish feeding at the surface it looked like rain.

  Opening day did not disappoint. Although I did not deal with the zoo in the morning, fish were willing. I know of one guy that caught 16 trout in 90 minutes. I went later in the afternoon dragging my friend Laurie along. I caught two quick trout in a few minutes. Sunday afternoon after work, I went for longer catching six trout in an hour of fly fishing.

   Tonight I went carp fishing again. After last week’s disappointment I was not expecting any action. I brought two books with me to keep me occupied. I went to the Blackstone River and set up on the riverbank. I actually caught three carp up to 12 pounds and had another runner. The fish were aggressive and fought hard. After many fruitless outings it was nice to have so much action.

   All of this good fishing can easily be attributed to spring finally getting to the area. The great thing is the fishing will get better and better. Not only will fishing for carp and trout get better, but as the water warms a few more degrees there will be more options.

   Largemouth bass and pickerel are also hitting well right now. Largemouth bass are going to be spawning a couple weeks. Besides the water temperature getting near perfect the bass also want to put on some weight before they spawn. They will hit just about anything this time of year.

Any day now a tidal wave of schoolies stripers will be hitting the West Wall and Narragansett Bay. With warm winters the last couple years, schoolies have shown up in early April. This year the stripers will reach us at a more normal date. That date is any day now

   

   In early May for saltwater bait dunkers, fluke and blackfish will be on the feed. By the end of the month bluefish and scup will be everywhere (assuming bluefish numbers have recovered).

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

My first spring day

My first open water fish of the year

For the first time this year I fished as though it was actually spring. Although ice had been off most of the ponds for a few days I could not bring myself to go fishing. We have had some cold days and to be honest I just didn’t want to put up with that shit any more.

   As I have said before I consider the first day of spring to be when trout are stocked. Some years this can be the first week of March. More likely trucks start rolling out to lakes and ponds the second week of the month. Since winter is just now loosening its noose on southern New England the trucks finally got out this week on Cape Cod ponds.

   I learned of the news Thursday night but was not sure which lakes had been stocked. I went to the Mass Wildlife website at 8:30 this morning. Most of the ponds in Plymouth got their initial stocking this week. When I saw this I was invigorated. Within 20 minutes I packed my waders, rods, and gear. I made a couple sandwiches and packed a lunch. I got gas and took the eastward journey down I-495.

   I did not have a lot of time because my afternoon had been planned for two months. I was going to the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association show (RISAA) with a kid whose mother I work with. So I only had time to fish Fearings Pond. I love Fearings; it may be my favorite trout water in the state. I knew that fishing would be slow because of the frigid water temperatures, but that did not temper my enthusiasm. Sure enough, some of the shaded vernal pools were still locked in with ice. There was also snow on the ground thanks to a Wednesday storm that pummeled the outer Cape.

   There were two groups fishing when I arrived. They were spaced a few hundred yards apart. I set up shop in the middle. I tried the usual assortment of trout lures. I knew the chances of cold sulking trout chasing a lure were slim, but casting and reeling kept me busy. I worked the whole shoreline between the two groups, careful to keep a respectable distance. I had one bump. One group caught absolutely nothing. The other group (two older guys) kept getting bangs on Powerbait. I know when the weather is this cold Powerbait can not be beat, but I HATE using it. These guys ended up catching three trout each.

After a couple unfruitful hours I set one rod up with Powerbait. I still didn’t get anything. Finally the older guys left. I set up one rod with Powerbait and the other I kept casting lures where they were. I hooked one rainbow on Powerbait about 12 inches long. I got a quick picture and released it.

   To be honest even though fishing wasn’t very good I could have stayed all day. I forced myself to leave for the RISAA show. I still left an hour later than I planned and ended up missing the seminar I most wanted to see.

   I picked up my friend’s son (Ronnie) at 4 pm, thanks to the delightful Providence traffic. He only lives five minutes from the Rhode Island Convention Center. If you are into saltwater fishing this is by far the best show of the year. Ninety percent of the booths are actually fishing related. There isn’t all that other crap (doors, kitchen appliances) that you find at some of the other shows. Also there are so many experts at this show. If you know anything about saltwater fishing, this place is a who’s who of terrific fishermen. On Friday I had a long conversation with Toby Lapinski who is the editor of The Fisherman Magazine. I bought a book from Dennis Zambrotta, who probably knows more about Block Island stripers than any other human being alive today.

   There are terrific seminars. We sat in on one; it was about fishing around Newport. I learned a lot about spots and how to fish them. I could have kicked myself for not bringing a piece of notebook paper and a pen. Everywhere I looked there was another expert. Steve McKenna was at the Quaker Lane booth. DJ Mueller was doing his usually excellent seminars. Seriously, this show is a great place to go to quickly shorten the learning curve.

   Of course the bulk of the show is taken up by vendors. There are many people selling tackle, rods, and reels. The only thing I bought was Dennis Zambrotta’s book. Ronnie spent six dollars on some soft plastics. About 8 pm called it a day and I brought Ronnie home.

   So all in all I had a great day. I caught my first open water fish of the year. I had some terrific conversations at the show. I learned a lot at the seminar. The forecast is looking more spring like the next ten days. There are more days with a predicted high in the fifties than there are in the forties. Spring although not super warm is finally here!