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!

Steelhead and Salmon on the Fly

This past weekend I fished the Salmon River in Altmar, NY (west of Pulaski) with my brother Doug and his friend John. We again stayed at the Tinker Tavern Lodge with guide Scott Glazier. Scott is a full time resident of Altmar and year round guide who has been featured in episodes of OTW, so he has the detailed local knowledge to put you on the fish. I really enjoy fishing with him and highly recommend his service. This was my first trip to target big salmon, as Scott had recommended late October as the salmon are still in the upper sections of the river, and a large population of fresh steelies would be working their way up as well. I made the 5 hour drive up Thursday evening, fished on my own Friday, and managing to hook into some salmon and do a bit of exploring. Fish were stacked in several locations. My knowledge of both the area and fishing methods is still pretty basic, so I quickly found myself running out of what the fish were hitting on, and carrying lots of useless gear. Oh well. The next morning we were all on the water at 4:45am to get to our first location. Fishing doesn't begin until dawn. After a short drift we reached our spot. One advantage of drift fishing is getting to spots ahead of walk-ins. We were ready when dawn broke, and so were the fish. Doug and John landed their first salmon, while I lost my first few hookups. Steelhead were mixed in among the spawning salmon, and I ripped my egg out of ones mouth. I cast back and line shout out through my fingers. As I came tight, a big chrome steelhead exploded. I rarely fly fish, and to say I'm a novice is pretty accurate. Now I'm hooked up with the ultimate freshwater target. To say I was pumped to land this fish was an understatement. Over thus course of the day I managed to hook and lose numerous fish, proving the "on and gone" is no myth. I'd definitely have to put my fist steelhead on a fly rod right up there with my first tarpon and marlin.

Montauk is going' off!

Got a call from Jack last night that Montauk was lit up with acres of bass and blues puttin' on the feedbag for the run south. Put 8 keepers in the box in 45 minutes and then it was all catch and release. Called him back this morning and he was back out there with the same results. I could hear guys calling "fish on" in the background. Either it's really good fishing, or he's trained his clients to start yelling "fish on" whenever he answers the phone. Wind is supposed to shift to the east Wednesday, which will probably put a damper on things for guys running from CT.

Watch Hill to Race Point 9/29

Fisher's Island NY
9/29/2011

Thursday 9/29
A day late (or hour) and a dollar short! Kinda sums up my trip Thursday. One of the downsides of chartering is that sometimes you just have to roll the dice with dates. Can't say that we came up snake eyes, but I have fished better days. Fished with my "baby" brother Doug (in video) and Capt. Steve on the Lauren B., a veteran of these waters who will go above and beyond to try and put you on fish. We started out at Watch Hill at 6:30 in heavy fog, encountering some leftover messy swells and no signs of fish. We worked in to Sugar Reef and Wiccopesset Passage. Nada. Visibility was no more than a few hundred feet. Rather than bounce around blind, we decided to work the north side of Fishers Island so at least we would be sheltered. We worked the ENTIRE side of Fishers all the way to Race Point, picking up a few blues and getting a few bass to hit. Nothing big. Decided to stop back by Napatree and Watch Hill before heading in. Weather was clearing and the tide was beginning to go slack, but the albies were in. A guy was hooked up on a fly outfit and a second boat was hooked up as well. I missed a strike and the school was gone. Another popped up a few hundred yards away and was moving towards us. The boat next to us doubled up and then I hooked into a fish. It took two hard runs zigzagging away, and then a hard turn to the boat. I lost the fish. The tide seemed to go completely slack, and that was it. We moved over to Watch Hill where lots of birds were chasing numerous schools, but the fish weren't really hitting. I hooked and lost a second, and that was it. We were an hour past our charter time and had to head back. I'm pretty sure the boats out there would killed them as the tide picked up again.

Sunday 10/2
Went out in the little Gemma Rose hoping to catch some albies and worked from Goshen Point down to Brothers. No albies, just schools of small blues here and there, but still lots of fun.

Fall Trout Fishing Picks Up as Water Settles Down

Albies Show, But All I Got Was The Blues!

My fishing schedule has sucked as people expect me to go to work! Got out today (as did half of CT, RI and NY) to try and chase some stripers and albies. Ended up with the blues. Went with Capt. Jack and my good friend and Anglers' Pledge recruit Dave. He's now been out four times this year (beginning w/ one of 'Lungs cod trips) and loves it! Big lone choppers were roaming Watch Hill early as the tide was coming in, and for the first hour or so it was steady hookups with lots of break offs as they sawed through 80lb. test leaders. The fish were in the low teens. As the bass, which had been off and on here all through August, never showed, we made a move along the south side of Fisher's to Race Point. The blues continued for another hour or so as the tide began to slack. We were fairly close to what is left of the grounded tug and I had just released a long cast. A school of albies broke thirty feet to my side of the boat. Dave had a line out the other side. I ditched my rod and grabbed for a ready rod to throw a Zoom Super Fluke, but it was too late. School broke again 50 yards farther out. Ten minutes later, a school broke off our stern heading away. I was finishing a retrieve and snapped off a quick cast but came up short. That was it. No albies today. The tide was completely slack, and of the 40-50 boats that were out at Valiant Rock, at least half were motoring in our direction. If there were any more fish in the area, they weren't coming up with a boat idling every 30 yards. As the outgoing tide began to pick up, the fishing did not. We had boats from Orient Point and Montauk over in our neck of the woods, so their fishing must have really sucked. Wanting to get away from the bulk of the traffic, we moved back to Watch Hill, were Dave went off on big blues and a bass which flattened the hook as Dave got over-excited when he drew it up to the boat. I got nada. One hit as I dropped my jig off the backside of a flat-top rock that I know usually has a bass or two waiting. SO in the end, lots of blues, some lost bass, and we at least saw some albies. All in all, a fun day.