DATE: June 4, 2012
LOCATION: Connecticut River, Hanover, NH
With: Katie, from shore
TIME: Afternoon and evening
HOURS: 2 - 3
WEATHER/CONDITIONS: Overcast, generally calm, 60 F, some light
showers
Katie finished her last final of Freshman Year; we quickly
ate lunch, packed her room, procured NH licenses and with pride and relief hit
the Connecticut River for some shore fishing.
We tried at the boat launch south of campus off East Wilder road (just
upstream from the Sunset Motel); in lower Mink Brook at my favorite rock and at
the confluence of the brook and the Connecticut River; just up the river from
there, where the trail intersected a weedy point; and at the Lions Club Public
Access a few miles upriver, past The Chieftain Inn.
This was all about fun and relaxation, enjoying each other’s company and getting Katie some practice with her equipment. I was also getting used to Nanofil line on an old re-habbed Shimano rod. While I hoped to catch a few fish, that was less important than letting Katie relax and to introduce her to the river that I’ve loved, and which was so important to me as a Dartmouth student. High water levels and discharge rates from Wilder Dam kept the current flowing unnaturally fast (to me), but all in the all the water was reasonably clear and very fishable.
On about the third cast at the first spot, a nice 13”
smallie took my F9 “faded perch” Rapala off the surface and was returned to the
water after a few pictures. In what
seemed to be the pattern for the day, he was the only fish encountered at this
spot. Even though he was small, he was
familiar, fun on the appropriate gear, and worth every penny of our license
fees.
.jpeg)
Each of the next few spots yielded 0-1 strikes, and only 1 more smallie was landed, but we each had chances, it gave us a chance to work out some early season kinks, and to enjoy each other’s company. We went back to the Sunset to shower up, watch an interesting Sox loss on NESN, and dream of fish to come.
DATE: June 5, 2012
LOCATION: Dewey’s Mill Pond, Quechee Vermont
With: Katie and John Marshall of River
Excitement Charters
TIME: 10 AM – 4:30 PM
HOURS: 6.5
WEATHER/CONDITIONS: Spring, summer and fall all in one trip;
anything from overcast to windy with rain showers or bright and calm; generally
about 60 F
I had originally booked this as a Connecticut River float
trip below Wilder Dam, with the goal of satisfying my nostalgic needs while
introducing Katie to the simple beauty and pleasures of smallmouth fishing and
the Upper Valley Region. However, high
discharge rates would have limited the fishing opportunities, Monday’s weather
was fairly dismal, and the forecast included a good chance of some more
rain. Captain Marshall, who seemed to be
(and proved to be) sincerely interested in both our enjoyment and success,
provided the flexibility of public pond fishing for largemouths and pike in
Vermont. We met at 10 AM for a simple
float in his McKenzie River-style boat while targeting fish in the 30-acre pond
with top-waters and rubber worms.
Dewey’s Mill Pond seems to be an impounded slough of the Ottauquechee
River, and is heavily weeded with pads, hydrilla and cabbage. Water temps were about 67 F, and Captain John
reported that the bass were post spawn. Katie
took the seat up front, where Captain John could talk her through the various
techniques and nuances, actively guiding her while I fished out of the back of
the boat, initially with a gold F9 Rapala.
The fish quickly declared their mood when a bass visibly advanced on my
twitching Rapala, half-heartedly struck in slow motion and turned without the
bait. Further down the bank, Katie
caught the first fish, a pike, on a Ribbit frog, but this proved to be the only
true topwater fish of the day. The first
bass of the day followed shortly on the Rapala, but the rest of the day’s fish
came on the simplest of all bass baits; a Texas-rigged black Berkley Power Worm
with a 1/8-ounce bullet sinker. Fishing
wasn’t easy, but the strikes piled up and we ended up boating around 25 fish, a
nice mix of bass and pike. The pike were
smallish (to about 26”), but a large pike was seen, and I got snipped off once
on the take, so bigger ones were there; and the bass were quality, usually 2-
3.5 pounds, with only one “small” bass landed and a few larger ones landed or
encountered. The largest bass landed was
4.3 pounds, but Katie jumped one that gave everybody a good look and a reason
to gasp, as it appeared to easily be a 5-pounder.
Captain John was very helpful, pleasant, and worked hard to
position the boat and keep us on fish.
The nature of the pond was such that every cast felt like it had the
potential to produce; and the quality of the fish was impressive enough that
each strike could have been the fish of the day. The pond reminded me of a larger version of
Baker Pond or Wakeley Lake and seemed quite familiar to me. Time went quickly, Katie became proficient at
casting and worming, and all in all, conditions on the Connecticut River
couldn’t have mattered less; Dewey’s Mill Pond delivered everything I was
looking for this day.
DATE: June 8, 2012
LOCATION: Narragansett Bay (mostly Mount Hope Bay)
With: Katie and Brian Patterson of
Patterson Guide Service, FinDeep
TIME: 6 AM – 1 PM
HOURS: 7
WEATHER/CONDITIONS: Foggy and calm to bright and sunny with a
southerly wind; 60 F to 75 F; low tide at 5:11 AM; water temps were 63 – 65 F
This trip was a long time in the making as I day-dreamed the
winter away, found You-Tube videos on striper fishing, realized I’d yet to
catch a Rhode Island striper and came to learn that this time of year afforded
a reasonable shot at quality bass using live bait techniques. So it was back to my roots, but with a twist;
and Captain Brian of Patterson Guide Services proved also to be flexible,
affable, and interested in providing an enjoyable trip. We met at the Mount Hope Fishing Access site
in Bristol, RI at 6 AM under foggy skies to board his beautiful (and
importantly to Katie, sea-foam green) 23-foot North Coast center console.
 |
| Katie |
 |
| FinDeep |
He reported that bait was spread through-out the bay, and 5
minutes later we were off the coast of North Tiverton, drifting large pogie
chunks while trying to make bait by snagging these 1+ pound baits with weighted
treble hooks from visible schools. Bait
was fairly spread out here, and while we snagged a few, we neither marked many
fish nor received any strikes; and so we moved south and east to the tip of
Poppasquash Point, Hog Island, “The Hump” and the edges of shipping
channels. Here we encountered thicker
schools of bunker and actively feeding fish, and Katie and I quickly doubled up
on beautiful bass. Mine was 34”. Her’s
was her largest ever, over 35”, and was also the heaviest bass of the day. Her’s ate a live pogie with a 3-ounce sinker
on a fish-finder rig, presented off a rod holder. Mine ate a pogie off the snagging treble and
was quite a battle on the spinning gear used for collecting bait; it was also a
reminder that my first striper ever came on a spoon-hooked mackerel, halfway to
the dock.
 |
| Steve's first striper of the day |
 |
| Katie's heavy striper |
Bluefish became an issue and we missed many strikes on bass;
the circle hooks weren’t sticking so well today! Despite much experimentation in drop-back
time, etc., we landed only one more striper, but at 36”, it’s eligible for The
Striper Cup!
 |
| Bluefished! |
 |
| 36 inches and Striper Cup eligible |
At about 11 AM, just south of Colt State Park on the west
side of Bristol, we encountered the thickest bait of the day. Bluefish were mixed in with bass, as proved
when I dropped a half-chopped snagged bait to a visibly charging bass; only to
set the hooks into the largest bluefish Captain Brian has reportedly seen this
season, well over 10 pounds.
 |
| Nice blue |
 |
| Release |
As we probed deeper water near the Mount Hope Bridge, the
wind came up and we lost our ability to control the drift with confidence.
Although we had a few bites (including one immediately adjacent to the boat as
we moved to a new spot), there were no more hookups for the day. Despite all the predatory action, we still
had many live baits left, and 2 days later, I’m still suffering from Sore
Menhaden Muscle. That wouldn’t stop me
from considering taking Captain Patterson up on his offer to become FinDeep’s Bunker Boy. This day was a lot of fun, with pleasant
conditions, abundant bait, beautiful equipment, strong predators and fulfilled
hope.
 |
| Steve at the helm. |
 |
| Add caption |
I’ve got to figure out a way to become a Lowrance Pro (even
Captain Patterson was in awe of his new electronics, including down scan and
side scan), and I was favorably impressed by FinDeep, too. Katie suggested that I also look into also becoming a Cadbury Chocolate Pro Guide. I wonder which would add more pleasure to future fishing excursions? A couple of
things I’d have added to the day were a rigged-and-ready topwater lure for
surfacing stripers and blues; and a fun option for the problematic blues.
In summary, these were great trips to re-connect with Katie,
share some old haunts with her (especially Newport Creamery?), and enjoy some
new adventures. From the familiarity of
the bass fishing to the simplicity of the striper fishing, and the peacefulness
of bassing on a small pond to the excitement of bass and blues balling up bait
in the salt, it was a great week. It
afforded a nice balance of recalling the past with a glimpse of a possible
future; with friendship and beautiful fish and settings running through it.
No comments:
Post a Comment