Back to New England

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.

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.