The Race is On

Went out this morning on the Blackhawk, hoping to pick up some stripers in the Race, as my little Gemma Rose can't venture out that far.  The last few trips they had limited out by mid-morning.  Weather was beautiful, too good for an early spring day with lots of guys itching to get out.   Before we left, Capt. Greg warned us that the fish were in, but holding in relatively small areas, and once large numbers of boats got on top of them, the bite was done.  We had the entire flood tide, and were on fish pretty quickly about 1/4-1/2 mile away from the 3 dozen closest boats.  We weren't slamming them, but several keepers were coming over the rail per drift.  I had a decent fish that ended up being the pool winner.  However, after half a dozen drifts, every boat within sight was motoring towards us.  As predicted, that was about it for the decent fishing.  By about 8:30-9:00am, we were surrounded by dozens of boats.  We moved, picked up a few more fish, and drew another crowd.  It wasn't as busy as it gets at the height of summer, but the blues are in thick by then and less bothered by the number of boats.  If you have a boat, the fishing is really good right now weekdays early am or late in the afternoon to evening.  I have a coworker who has been catching steady keepers on the north side of Fisher's Island.  I plan to start fishing there soon.  From here on out, I try to fish weekdays and nights. 

Probably won't get out again 'til after Memorial Day, as it is by far the worst weekend of the year to be on the water. 

CT River Honoring Veteran's Striper Tourny

CT River Honoring Veteran's Striper Tourny - What a day!  I can't remember when I've fished so hard for such little return.  It was definitely a day of fishing as opposed to catching.  I went back and forth over whether to fish out of Wethersfield or down at the mouth of the river.  I ultimately decided to head south, despite all of the nice fish Slinger and Lung have been posting from the Hartford area.  While the southern part of the river has been more miss than hit, I was hoping that a few really big linesiders would be lurking along Great Island.  Conditions were nice, overcast with the largest full moon of the year hidden behind the clouds as I launched just before 4:40am from Salmon Cove.  I ran south, prospecting at a few places where I'd had success in the past, but had no luck.  Picked up my first schoolies around the RR bridge by the DEP headquarters.  There was a ton of bait in the mouth.  At various times I had bunker and herring breaking all around me, but despite throwing just about everything I had (artificials only, no live baits allowed), didn't find any stripers.  I covered Great Island, the mouth, across to South Cove (We couldn't fish past the breakwall) and back up to the bridges with swim baits, soft plastics, tube and Gulp worms, etc.  The guys out fishing live baits weren't doing any better.  I finally got fed up and called it quits a bit after noon.  My "big fish" was only 24-25", though the leading catch at that time was just 31".   I guess the place to be was actually out in the LIS, where guys were hammering stripers all weekend.

Spring Steelhead in Altmar, NY

Made it up to Altmar, NY to fish the tail end of the steelie run. As usual, I stayed up at the Tinker Tavern Lodge and fished with Scott Glazier. I put my money (literally) on Scott as the best guide on the upper Salmon River. I had a great 5 days of fishing, landing numerous steelhead and a few smaller Atlantic Salmon. Got the skunk out the way early my first late afternoon with a decent sized female, not the most beautiful of fish, but a steelhead none the less. Poked around a bit more and picked up another fish, losing a few along the way. The next day (THR) was a drift trip with Scott. It was one of those days that was actually embarrassing to talk about with the number of people up here who fish all day and never catch a fish. Have to give most of the credit to Scott, who would put us in places where we were on fish and people 30-40 yards away caught squat. Once I'd pull half a dozen fish and completely worked the section we'd move on. Guys would be stumbling to get on the played out spot and still be catching squat. I went back later that evening after the stompers moved out and caught the fish that had settled back in. Would have been there longer, but my TFO rod broke with a fish on (only 4lb. tippit). Not sure what that was about. Managed to land the fish with 2/3 of a rod. While not landing any trophies (I lost some big fish), the action was steady and that's what I'd hoped for. Nothing like listening to line getting stripped off your reel. Helluva day! Friday I was back on my own, and decided to do a bit of exploring lower down the river. Walked a mile or so up from Sportsman's Pool to some islands with nice gravel banks and managed a few fish. Went down to 2a and did a lot of walking, but in the wrong direction. Saturday was another drift day with weather moving in. The location we had started at Thursday had been hammered pretty good, so with only 2 hits and one landed in an hour, we moved down to a place mostly overlooked by people. We hooked some nice steelies and a pair of Atlantic Salmon (those things can burn some line out!). This hole held some monsters, and I had caught a large male there the evening before and lost a really big, fresh run fish. No monsters, but good fish. The rain soon arrived, and as the temperature dropped, the bite really slowed. I lost one more Atlantic Salmon, before we finally headed for the ramp and to trade the cold and wet for a nice, warm bar. All and all, a great trip!

Back for 2012

With the ridiculous winter, the season never really ended.  I been out at least weekly since the new year, and done pretty well on bass, pickerel, perch and crappy.  Spent a lot of time on the CT and Mattabesset Rivers.  The stripers are starting to show, though I have yet to catch any.  I'm looking for the first migratory fish that really signal the start of the season for me.  Next week, I'll me heading back up to Tinker Tavern Lodge in Altmar, NY., hoping to catch some steelies.  Planning on dragging my boat up as well to check our Lake Oneida.  I should be updating reports weekly from here on out, so check back often! 

New Years Eve with RNA

Quick post from today final trip of the year! Fish on all day! Drinks all this evening! Happy New Year!

The Frozen Few

Sometimes you're catching, sometimes just fishing. This past weekend I was freezing while fishing. I arrived in Altmar, NY Friday night with plans to walk in and fish Saturday and run a drift trip with my brother Doug and Scott Glazier from Tinker Tavern Guide Service on Sunday. Scott had called mid-week and asked if we wanted to fish Saturday as he had an opening. Unfortunately, Doug couldn't get away from work early enough, so I stuck to my original plan. Saturday morning was cold, about 24 degrees when I started fishing at 8:00. The river was running at 750 cfs, up significantly from the 250 cfs in October. The low water in the fall really took a toll on the salmon. The morning was slow, as I only landed one brown and lost a pair of steelhead. Some coho were lingering in the cutouts, but they weren't long for this world. I broke off for an early lunch, hoping to meet up with Doug and get back out for the afternoon. About 2 o'clock I finally heard from Doug. He hadn't left Philly. I threw in the towel on the afternoon, figuring I would be out 9-10 hours on Sunday. After all, we would have the mobility of a drift boat, and should get a lot of hook-ups. Was I wrong! We awoke to 8 degrees, a flow of 1800 cfs, and fish that didn't want to know about anything we threw at them. We didn't get a nibble from 7:30 until almost 3 o'clock. The sharp drop in temperature and significant increase in flow seemed to just switch the bite off. While fishermen were clamoring for an increased let-off in October, the sudden change was killing us Sunday. We had a short flurry near the end of the day, with Scott and I both hooking fish and losing them. Mine took off down stream along a particularly treacherous wading area, eventually taking out 40-50 yards and never turning before finally spitting the hook. That was it. My one shot at a steelhead for the day. Looking back though, who can really complain about a weekend of fishing, five hours and a world away from all of the crap of daily life?

2011 CT River Finale!

                                                         John with a slab.


Last day on the CT River for 2011. Went out with my friend John, aka Meatloaf in the fishing world. Love fishing with him, but haven't been able to coordinate a trip in ages. Left him a message last night, and he showed up this morning. We were hoping for some big pike, but settled for catching crappie. It was COLD. Couldn't caste well for much of the morning as the line and eyes on my baitcasters iced up. Braid + Baitcaster + 20 degrees = frustrated angler. With no pike action in Chapman's or the outflow, I switched to my 6 year old's Ugly Stick combo and small shiners. Felt like a kid again. Had fun catching crappie for some time before giving the pike a last shot. John's 7-8" shiner got absolutely hammered, and he did a bassmaster hookset that broke a knot. As far as you guys know, that was a 4 foot pike. No huge fish, but it turned out to be a really enjoyable finale on the river.

Black Friday, RNA Style

No malls, no crazy shoppers or traffic. Just me, a bucket a bait, and a leftover turkey and dressing sandwich. Put in a the mouth of the Salmon River at about 7:30 for a day or relaxing fishing while my wife went shopping. Stopped into Fishin' Factory III for some jumbo shiners. Go big or go home. Started at the mouth of the outflow, but the tide was changing and there was another boat where I wanted fish. Ran out a few lines and worked the adjacent area with a few swim baits. Kid in the boat near me managed to hook and land a 32" pike, but nothing for me. Ran into Salmon Cove, and then down to Chapman's. Chapman's was loaded with some fat yellow perch, pickerel and a number of pike. Hooked some smaller pike, but for the most part, they just shredded my jumbo shiners without getting the hook. Lost a fish that made the entire balloon disappear underwater. That's the type of fish I want. Caught enough that I decided to head back towards Salmon, then decided to take another shot at the outflow. Tide was moving out, and the day was getting longer. The last few boats where heading out as I landed a fat 9lb., 31-32" pike, followed by a 26" fish. Not a bad way to spend Black Friday!

Freezer Filler on the Blackhawk

Great November day to head out and replace some of the fish I had to throw out last week. Went out on the Blackhawk in search of anything we could find on the bottom. Left from Noank at 8:00am and headed to the north side of Block for a quick look. The area had slowed down from last week so after 2 drifts we continued to head south around Block Island. On the south side we immediately started catching - dogfish. The only dogfish I want to land is a Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA or one of their other fine brews (www.dogfish.com - check them out!). We continued south to deeper waters, gradually working all the way down near Coxes Ledge. The fishing for dinner plate size scup, nice sea bass and the occasional keeper cod was steady, and we ended up staying on the fishing grounds for an additional 2 hours. If this was my last salt water trip of the year, it was a good way to finish up. Thanks to Capt. Greg, Steve and the crew of the Blackhawk.

Great bit of knowledge that could save a day fishing.

My dad taught me this when I was a kid. Told me he used it all the time in the ER. Used the same technique to take the small treble out from above my lip (earlier post). Should have video recorded that!