Summer Smallmouth and Pike

August is typically a slower saltwater month in the NE, and since my boat has been out of action anyway, I've had the chance to branch out a bit. Smallmouth bass action on the rivers in the NE has been red hot, so yesterday I drove up to Cornwall on the Upper Housatonic to fish some smallies and pike. This is a great fishery for kids, and while you won't find the 5+lb fish such as at a place like Candlewood, catching a few dozen 1-2lb fish on ultralight gear is a blast. Everything from small spinners, Cleos, Rebel Crawdads to soft plastics will draw strikes. A nearly skunksafe method with kids is fishing live crayfish. Bring a small pail and bait net, and let them have at it. They'll have as much fun catching bait as the fish. The Upper Housy has several fly only sections, and a two pound smallmouth on a 3wt with a crawdad imitation feels like a mini-tarpon. I finished up my day by jumping in my kayak to target some last light pike with bladed spinners. Little rivers up and down the Mid-Atlantic to the North East will have hungry smallmouth, and now is the time to have at 'em.

-Danny with a Salmon River smallie
-Pike on a white/chartreuse willow leaf spinner

 

Frogg Toggs Toadz™ Hellbender™ Wading & Fly Jacket

I don't have enough good things to say after a day of fishing in torrential rain in my new Frogg Toggs Hellbender Wading jacket.  Gary at CT Outfitters put out a special pre-order, and given my satisfaction with their other products, I jumped on this one.  My boat never leaves the dock without the All Sport Rainsuit stowed away for those unexpected storms, and I liked this so much I have a second set in Realtree camo.  In addition, my ToadRageJacket has served me well over the past several seasons.  The Hellbender is another product that improves their the Frogg Togg lineup of great products and affordable prices.  The Hellbender has everything I would expect in a jacket 2-3x the price.  I'm a big guy, and the 2XL was roomy and flexible for a full day of unencumbered casting.  It's got loads of pocket space and D-rings to attach essentials.  The neoprene and Velcro cuffs keep water out, and after 8 hours of steady rain last Sunday, the interior of the jacket was bone dry.  I could zip and button up to my chin without chaffing, and the hood was just the right size.  The exterior is the tough ToadSkinz while the interior is the familiar non-woven material from the original rain suits.   If you want a wading jacket that offers a ton of bang for the buck, check this one out!

 

Early October in the Eastern Long Island Sound

October typically brings some of the best fishing of the year to the eastern Long Island Sound.  Bass and blues are putting on the feed bags, often in insane surface blitzes, before their migrations south.  Black fish season reopens, and anglers look to fill freezers for the winter with these and dinner plate size scup.  Bay anchovies and other bait fish choke the reefs, with albies giving chase.  Fall is arriving, and with it shifting weather conditions including increased winds and waves, making it tougher on recreational anglers hoping Mother Nature coordinates with days off.  For the past several years, a day out typically guaranteed great fishing.  While the weather has generally cooperated thus far, fishing has been a bit more hit and miss this season.  I know guys will say that they caught a ton of blues, or stripers, and maybe some albies, but the mass of fish in many of the usual places isn't what it has been in seasons past.  I've had discussions all summer about causes, but guys who fish on a regular basis will tell you that it has been tougher.  Places like the Gut, Pidgeon and the Race are all safe bets to fill coolers with blues, and porgies are hitting well on the rock piles.  Fisher's is seeing some top water striper action near Race Point and locations along the south side, but they are not the acre+ of churning bass and blues that I look forward to in October.  The reefs in the Watch Hill area have been hit or miss as well.  Sure, you can always grind out fish, but the action and numbers are just down.  This weekend I ran from Groton (CT) to Point Judith, RI.  Saturday's weather was as ideal as one could ask for, and my first stop was Watch Hill.  The tide was beginning to push in, and the fishing just wasn't happening.  I quickly decided to run east up the coast, working all the way over to PJ in my little skiff, the Gemma Rose II.  Bay anchovies are working in, as football field sized schools circled west of the break walls, with the occasional schools of albies or bonito slashing through.  Despite the masses of bait, the numbers of top water blitzes were few and small.  Hanging around the breachways is going to score fish, but I'm looking for the massive catch 'til your arms fall off October runs.  Seeing all the bait was encouraging, and I along with all of the other salt water anglers that fish the ELIS are hoping the action builds up as well.  We need our fix of massive striper blitzes to see us through to the spring!    

Capt. Jack "Bones" Balint put his client on some good fishing this weekend, including this nice bonito.

Eastern LIS Report 9-2-13

There has definitely been an upswing in the fishing in the eastern LIS, Watch Hill and Western Rhode Island. Bait has been filling in on all the reefs, bringing in loads of mixed blues and bass. The last few weeks saw quite a few bonito landed is well. Now the wait is on (and it won't be too long) 'til the albies start showing up.

Big jellies are drifting the RI coast with schools of small butterfish hanging underneath. Birds have been working small bait from East Point, Fisher's Island right across the inner and outer reefs to Watch Hill. The fish are beginning to put the fall feedbag on as the time for a southern migration is now just a month or two away.

I've had a ton of success fishing Zoom Flukes on 1/4-1/2oz. Kalin's jig head or Deadly Dicks. Be sure to keep a rod rigged and at the ready with an unweighted Zoom and lighter flouro leader for when those albies pop up.

September is my absolute favorite month of fishing. My plan from now until November is to get out as often as the wind and work will allow.

My buddy John with the results of our first few casts of the day. The GoPro battery crapped out afterwards.

Big Cats

Just returned from a week down in Virginia with my wife and kids, visiting friends and family and sneaking in some fishing as well. I've been waiting for a chance to fish some of the James River blue catfish for quite a while. This fishery has gained a national reputation for producing some of the largest cats in the country. I called up Capt. Jim Garrett at Tripout Catfishing to see if he could take me out for a day. This was a last minute decision, and as tends to happen with me, we had a front moving in with a mass of cold air behind it.

We initially planned a Tuesday afternoon through the night trip, but the forecast forced us to push back to Wednesday morning. I was too excited about the chance at some trophy cats to get much sleep, and by 10:30pm, Fredericksburg had yet to see much of the rain and severe storms predicted. Much of the weather was pushing well north, and my sister in Philly reported 12" of rain and severe flooding. When I rolled out at 2:00am, the air was still warm and the wind was barely noticeable.

I met up with Capt. Jim in Hopewell a bit before 4:00am, and soon we were on the river. The winds were beginning to build to 10-15 knots as we ran down river. Now, if you're looking for fishing with all the bells, whistles and creature comforts of a salon, frou-frou luncheon etc., better charter elsewhere. If you want to catch some monster cats and don't mind a bit of slime, fish with Jim. By 4:30, we were bait in the water, and not long after that, reeling in the first cats.

We had a nice incoming tide, and were fishing a ledge at the mouth of a creek with fresh cut baits on big 8/0 hooks. The catching started of with a 12 pounder and kept getting better from there. We were regular hooking fish in the 15-20lb. range, and soon after sunrise I hooked my first citation fish of the day, a fat 33lber. I was amazed at the tail slaps I could see all around us and out in the main channel. It was like being surrounded by 30-50lb. stripers crashing the surface. Some of these fish had to be well north of 50lbs. These things are the apex predator on the river, and will chase shad or anything else around. Not too long after the first big fish, citation number two at just over 30lbs. was brought on board. It between, I'm pitching numerous 20 pound fish back into the water. (I did take two smaller fish for some fried catfish!)

By about 11:00am, the tide was changing and the wind was blowing 22 knots. The fishing had slowed, and I was guessing we were nearing the end of the day. The front rod doubled over and line began to peel. I knew I had a decent fish on, but he came up pretty quickly...until he saw the boat. Back to the bottom a few times before we brought my biggest fish of the day, a beautiful 43lb. Virginia blue catfish, on board. This is what I had come down for!

Jim asked the one question I love to hear from captain, "You got anywhere you need to be?" Hell no. We continued to mark some big catfish, and I was more than happy to fish a while longer. We set up for another hour, landing one more good fish, before taking the ride back up river. It really was a pretty ride, past plantations and some beautiful countryside that I hadn't been able to see during the ride down. One shocker was the fact that we never saw another boat the entire trip!

I can't wait to fish for these beasts again, and will certainly be giving Jim a call whenever I head back to VA. That 100+lb. fish is out there somewhere. Maybe we'll have a catfish fry for Christmas!

Eastern LIS Report 6-16-13

Sunday, June 16th
The morning’s trip began much the same as last weeks, with the exception of the fact we now had an outgoing tide as opposed to incoming.  My buddy Jeff and I launched from Avery Point a bit before 5:00am, with the intent of starting the day between Wicopessette and Sugar Reef.  Storms Thursday night had dumped another 4” of rain in the region, and the water remained stained the color of coffee.  The wind was 5-10knots out of the SW, and seas were calm.  Given my last trip, I anticipated tough fishing, and was not disappointed.  This time of year is all about stripers and light tackle fishing.  I’m not that interested in the livelining , and running an 18’ skiff, not in a position to drift the rips looking for fish holding deep.  We were soon sitting on Sugar Reef with a growing number of boats, marking a few fish but not getting any hits.  One or two boats picked up schoolies in the 45 minutes or so we hung around.  Running back inside the reefs towards Fisher’s, I noticed a school breaking the surface and we pulled up for a few casts.  My sudden stop drew the attention of a couple of additional boats who were soon motoring in our direction.  The glimmer of hope didn’t yield any results, and over the next few hours we worked Fisher’s Island Sound to Race Point, and over to Bartlet’s.  A repeat of last week, with the exception that I wasn’t even marking any bait balls above Bartlett’s.  We headed back east and give Watch Hill a last look on the incoming tide, which was about as productive as when we left.  In a final Hail Mary we decided to try back in the salt marshes around Stonington, some of Jeff’s yak haunts.  With an electric motor and push pole, I can fish some skinny water.  The HM paid off, as we finally found fish that wanted to play. While not fifty pounders, these schoolies were ready to smash some topwater poppers.  For the last hour to hour and a half we threw Gibbs Poppers and picked up an number of fish.  While none landed were keepers, it definitely salvaged the day!    

Jeff can only stretch his arms so far.  Maybe if I had a macro lens. 

 

 



Stripers, Police and more.

First good, long trip of the season.  The CT River is full of herring and stripers!  Put in Friday evening at Rocky Hill around dusk.  Lot was about full.  Just north I hit the flotilla of boats catching stripers either anchored doing the soak and sit or casting.  I hate fishing in big groups, so I decided to run north.  Went as far as the Farmington before I began working back down.  There were herring and stripers scattered the whole way. I was tossing a few different soft plastics, pencil poppers, Bomber A-Salts and some other similar type lures.  Picked up a number of schoolies and fish in the low 30's.  When I got tired of casting, I'd switch over to trolling a big jointed surface plug and a sub-surface swimmer in a herring pattern.  Hits on those as well.  I'd occasionally snag herring on the trolling lures, and as tempting as it was to liveline, threw 'em back. 

 

The fishing wasn't the only interesting activity.  Sometime around midnight at the mouth of Wethersfield Cove, I heard several sets of brakes lock for 2-3 seconds before a series of crashes on 91.  By about 2:00 am, I arrived back at the Rocky Hill launch.  There was one guy packing up on the dock, and mine was the only trailer left.  I pulled my boat, stowed some gear, and crawled into the back for a nap before heading back out.  I remember waking when the rain started a bit after three.  It was loud as hell on the truck cap roof.  I dozed off again.  I was awakened less than an hour later by a door shutting, voices, and flashing blue lights.  I couldn't see a damn thing through the fogged windows.  I cleared a small patch and peered out at the three squad cars surrounding a vehicle not fifty feet from me.  Cops were questioning the two occupants.  Not wanting to just pop out behind them, I tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep.  Thirty minutes later, as as another fisherman was pulling in, I decided it was time to get back out. 

 

Pretty much took the same approach as earlier, with a lot less success.  Caught some fish busting on top around Crow's Point, but otherwise it was pretty slow. A few schoolies.  I talked with several guys who where getting shut out.  When I returned to the launch, there where only a dozen or so trailers, and I probably saw most all of those boats on the river.  I haven't spent near as much time fishing north of Middletown, and I've got to say I'm far more comfortable in the lower part of the river.  All this taken into account, it won't be too long before squid start arriving in the Watch Hill area, and I will say goodbye to the river until November.  This is when the real striper fishing begins!         

Triumph Skiff Review - The Gemma Rose II

I promised a review of my new Triumph Skiff once I'd had a chance to get her out on the water and run her around. I chose this model after considering a number of skiff and inshore types boats including the Carolina Skiffs, Mako Skiffs, Clearwaters, Livingston's and a few others. My list of requirements included the following: an ability to fish skinny waters in coves and salt marshes as well as run around the LIS, lots of space for casting, an ability to haul around my kids and dog, economy of use and maintenance, and price. All of the above met these, with the hull configurations of the Triumph, Carolina and Clearwater skiffs being very similar. The Triumph is not a true flat bottom, but is close and sports a 6" draft and 7 degree deadrise.

What you may or may not know is that the Triumph is a Roplene hull. In other words, it's plastic. It's a floating Yeti cooler. I considered the downsides (it's plastic, heavier, plastic), spoke with some owners, and wrangled a ride on one last season. Triumph evolved from Logic Boats, and their reputation has as well. As advertised, the boat really absorbs the chop without transferring the shock right though you as so many other skiffs will do. It's heavier than fiberglass, and while a 40-50hp will push a similar Carolina Skiff, I'm running a 75 E-Tec. I ran her from Salmon Cove to Wethersfield Cove (roughly 30 miles one way) this past weekend on less than one of my two twelve gallon tanks, and the upriver leg was against a tide and 15-20mph wind. At 3500rpm, she made a nice 24-25mph up river.

Triumph claims to make the worlds toughest boats, and this I have already put to the test in my twelve hours or so on the water. With no docking facilities in place yet on the CT River, I launched in a fast tide and ripping wind from a concrete ramp. The Gemma Rose II was bouncing and banging repeatedly. Backing out, we were pushed against the pilings and I just used one to cantilever myself into the direction I needed to go. Don't think I would have tried any of this with a fiberglass hull. The results? See for yourself. Fiberglass skiffs in the Keys or the OBX with their sandy bottoms? No problem. I reckon I'll be sliding across more than one rocky bottom fishing skinny up here in New England. The Gemma Rose is just like a whitewater kayak in that regard. A few scratches are no big deal. While heavy and by no means a flats skiff, I can trim up my motor and still pole her across some really shallow water.



As for fishability, the Gemma Rose II at 17'8" with an 8' beam is almost entirely fishable space with casting platforms front and rear and tons of room around the center console. She easily has as much deck space as many 20-22' boats. She's nice and stable as well (which is good, 'cause I'm not a lightweight). She has ample storage under the front casting deck and the console seating, and I installed six vertical and four horizontal rod holders, so I should be able to squeak by with gear. Who know, maybe some rocket launchers behind the console seat???

At this point, I'm pretty happy with the Gemma Rose II. Of course the final verdict is a least a season, if not a few, away. However, if you have any questions just give me a shout.

CT River Fishing Easter Weekend

Beautiful weather brought out a decent number of anglers on the CT River this weekend, and I was one making my first and somewhat belated trip. I posted a bit about my screw up with the Gemma Rose II 's electronics, but not much on the fishing. With water temps pushing up towards the mid 40s and ice long gone, many fish have on the pre-spawn feedbag. I was hoping to nab a pike or two, but given the late start and need to be off the water by mid-afternoon, I wasn't holding my breath. I like to target pike in those magic hours of dawn or dusk. Seeing as this was the maiden voyage of the GRII, priority number one was just getting a few fish over the rail, and fat slab crappie and pre-spawn yellow perch were a plenty in the Haddam area coves. Had a couple of aggressive pickerel whack some Sebile swimmers as well. I didn't really mess with bass as I was looking for pike, but several boats had hooked into bass in the laydowns.

I'll need to make some minor adjustments here and there on the boat before heading out next weekend, where I have to make the fishing count as I'll be overseas for the start of the herring runs! As far as the Triumph Skiff goes, it would be difficult to give much of an evaluation based on yesterday, but I can say that I'm happy it didn't have gel coat (see pic). With no docking facilities, I just tied it up to the concrete ramp. A few scratches. Who cares!

Sweet Dreams

Dreaming she was sold in Florida....