Memorial Day Report - Niantic

Wow. The start of this season has been as cold (literally and figuratively) as last season was smokin' hot. After a trip to the UK, and a busy lacrosse season, I was looking forward to getting the striper season off to the start I had last year in which my first trip landed 2 dozen keepers in a bit over 2 hrs. Missed the early run on the River. Two weeks of rain led to two brief an unproductive trips out of Haddam. Today I decided to try out the salt H20, hearing good reports from Stonington. Not used to fishing Stonington in a small boat in fog at night, I opted for Niantic. Fog was thick and I had to rely on GPS to cross the bay and the mouth of Jordan's Cove. Marked lots of bait in Niantic Bay, and fished up to Harkness by 7:00 am without a bite. Decided to throw in the towel and fish the reactor outflow. I typically feel like I'm fishing in the children's pond when I reach this point. As I made my way back to Millstone, the fog was giving way to dark clouds. After a quick check of my radar (Yes, my 14 ft. boat has radar and a GPS chartplotter - an iPhone), I decided to head for the barn. As I was feet from the dock, the heavens opened up. I ended a short morning with a wet skunking. My hope is that I'm getting the bad juju out of the way before heading down to the Carolinas in a few weeks.

The "Gemma Rose" Project

Two season's ago, after months of "to own" or not "to own" a new boat (and all the monthly costs associated), I compromised and bought the "Gemma Rose", a 14 ft. aluminum that I could throw in lakes, rivers and near the shore in the summer. I would no longer be landlocked, nor tied to the payments of a large boat, leaving me free to travel and charter in different locations. Originally outfitted with an old Merc 18hp and some oars, I've made a few modifications, turning the Gemma Rose into a true redneck fishing platform. Below, you can see the transformation from the bare-bones version, to the additions of the forward casting platform and storage, to the final vid of the necked out Gemma Rose. I dare you to find a 14ft. aluminum solo fishing machine with more crap!

9 bass in a bit over an hour. All 1-3 lb. range. Lost the only bigger fish (probably 4-5 female) that I had been stalking after catching the male and harrassing until she hit. Water was murky in my local hole, so I was fishing a black buzz bait with red metallic fleck. Got hit on the first cast, and it kept up for 45 minutes until every fish within a few hundred square yards had seen my bait presentation.

9 bass in a bit over an hour. All 1-3 lb. range. Lost the only bigger fish (probably 4-5 female) that I had been stalking after catching the male and harrassing until she hit. Water was murky in my local hole, so I was fishing a black buzz bait with red metallic fleck. Got hit on the first cast, and it kept up for 45 minutes until every fish within a few hundred square yards had seen my bait presentation.[img]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/13/09/62/88/5-10-110.jpg[/img]
(3 lb. From Monday Night)
[img]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/13/09/62/88/5-11-110.jpg[/img]
Typical of today's fish.

QRiver 5-6-11

Got a quick stop in this afternoon before I had to run out. About 8 trout (6 rainbows, 2 brookies) in a bit over an hour. All on a Rapala minnow, though I did float a lot of nymphs. Took a bath as well. WEAR YOU WADING BELTS! Managed to get soaked and enough water down the waders to get cold after a while, but not too big a deal. Check out the vid. I will admit to adding footage of a snake from just a few days before with Meatloaf. I never cut in old fish footage, but the snake was kinda cool, and the report is legit.