Ice fishing January 27 2013

With a cold week for temperatures this is getting the ice on its way for a much needed kick start to get our ice season going this year. Weather today was sunny skies, mid 20's for air temperature and still can't get rid of the strong winter winds. We went back to the same lake that we fished last weekend as we had heard reports that there were some big fish in a different area of the lake. So we made the walk to the other end of the lake to give it a try and with the little snow on top of the ice, made for some fun walking to getting there. The far side of the lake depth wise is a lot different then where you get onto the lake. The shorelines are deep and isn't much for weed structure as well, but usually these are the areas that bigger fish live in and no one usually bothers them there. We setup in a cove in water depths from 6 feet out to 20 plus. Tried for an hour or so and had no takers and we also tried some jigging for panfish and that didn't pan out either. Packed up that location and went across the lake into another cove that had a small island to the one side. Started punching holes around the island and the water depths ranged from 4 feet out to 18 feet so we setup our traps in a variety of depths to cover all of the water depths. The winds were howling much stronger onto this side and as the afternoon went on, the shadows from the trees definitely made it feel a lot cooler than it actually was. We did catch a few fish in this cove but all of them were smaller pickerels. We weren't able to find any bass on this trip but if we come back to this lake again, we are ruling out waters that we don't need to fish. Warm temps moving in this coming week with rain and this will mess with the ice a bit, but we already have a game plan fir fishing this weekend and will be chasing some large crappies.

Ice Fishing Jan 20 2013

The ice season has finally come around and since there was no ice last season, is a very welcome sight and can't wait to get this season underway. The ice had formed very nicely with a few inches of clear solid ice but then a very warm spell came through and for most ponds and lakes, this created very unsafe if not open water once again. We have a few places that the access points are consistently in the shade so this allows for no ice degradation to occur. This first pond we wanted to explore the local town’s fire and rescue departments decided to use it as a ice rescue practice site not allowing us access to the ice. So we moved on to another pond a bit further away to finding access was good as well. We had the ice to ourselves and setup not to far from the access point. This is a cove with a outlet so there is a bit of moving water going through this area. The winds had picked up considerably and made it a bit tough for fishing as everything was blowing around and actually the wind blew some of the traps out of the holes. We weren't able to do any jigging because of this but had our allotted number of traps in and this allowed us to catch bass and pickerel. The fish were fairly active and with the warm mid 40's weather, made for enjoyable afternoon of fishing. The last half hour slowed way down as a major cold front was moving in with higher winds and dropping temperatures. But all in all was a very productive and fun day for once again getting out on the ice as we never had an ice season last year.

December 15 AM Hunt

After taking off time during the shotgun season, headed back into the field to hopefully find some whitetail deer once again. Weather was cool in the mid 20's, light breeze and sunny clear skies. Started the morning in a stand that typically has good morning activity with views of a small corn field, necked down area of woods and overlooking a salt marsh. Typically the deer come down the edge of the swamp, through the necked down woods and head towards the bigger woods. But once again this day was not going to show that scenario and no deer sighted at this location. Did have an owl sitting in a tree directly behind me and had a fisher cat scamper through the area. After 3 hours of sitting decided to move to my other stand that is deeper in the woods to see if anything was milling around that area. Only thing that was milling around there were 3 different hunters that skirted around me. With wearing blaze orange and standing out, one would think that once another hunter is spotted, you would make an effort to stay clear of the sitting hunter. Not these guys as they all skirted not more than 50 yards around me. If I were to be walking through the woods and came upon another hunter, I would either turn around and go back or change total direction and would stay clear of the other hunter. After these walked past, I got down and took a slow walk around myself as I headed back to the truck and called it a day.

November 23 PM Hunt

The weather continues to be fairly nice and the rain is non existent which is nice for a change, sun shining, 40's for temps and light winds. Went to my farther deeper stand in hopes of seeing deer on the move heading to their evening feeding locations. The squirrels are always very active at this location and the red squirrels in particular are some of the noisiest animals in these woods. There would be the leaves russling sounds as well as twigs breaking and to find out all it is are the red squirrels rummaging around. Never realized either that these red squirrels are very mean to other animals and particularly for the gray squirrels. As the evening progressed on and squirrel watching continued, the deer once again were not going to be making a showing this evening. Even other hunters that are hunting these woods are not seeing any deer as well and hopefully with the upcoming gun season and more hunters in the woods, this will get these deer moving around more during the daylight hours. Always seeing fresh sign that they are always there during the evening hours but gone once daylight comes.

November 22 AM Hunt

Thanksgiving morning hunts have also been pretty productive in seeing very decent deer. Not really sure why, but hopefully it will continue again this year. Weather was nice, sunny skies, light breeze and cooler temps was a nice way to start the day out. Decided to go back to the stand from the previous night and see if anything was going to move through while doing the rattling and bleat calling. Got to be around 9:30 AM and still had no activity what so ever so decided to take a walk to another stand that is deeper into the woods and hope to see some late morning activity. After sitting there for another 2 plus hours and no activity, decided to call it a day and go enjoy a turkey dinner. This season is not becoming very fruitful what so ever and just another day of trying to figure out what is going on out here. Did walk back along the marsh swamp just to look at anything I could see and came across a flock of wild turkey's. Where there was tall swamp grass in a couple of areas there was a well beaten deer trail through both of them heading into the marsh and crossing the farther river. Across the river there is a good chunk of land and have a feeling that they are bedding down across over there but the river is to big to get across and when the tide comes in, you could be trapped there for quite a while. Hopefully with a couple of more days to hunt, I can figure out something and get some action going on. Been a long season already and something has got to change from what is going on right now.

November 21 PM Hunt

Long weekend ahead with many opportunities to fill a deer tag before the upcoming gun season of the next week. Weather wise was a very nice sunny day, upper 50's for temps and a light breeze. Wanted to spend more time at the camera location that has been the most productive with the pictures and hope to see one of these bad boys that frequent these woods. Did do some rattling as well as brought along a doe bleat call to try and entice Mr. Buck into my lair. After countless efforts to try and fool one of these beauties, my efforts went un rewarded once again and nothing was going to show itself once again. Seems to be the trend in this particular woods this year that the deer are definitely only moving at night and just have vacated the area during the daylight hours. Still trying to figure out what is going on in these woods as I have never seen this happening here before and another hunter that has been here for quite sometime, is saying the same thing. Something has changed but no one can seem to figure it out.

November 17 PM Hunt

Headed back to the woods after a quick lunch and the weather temps were in the mid 40's, clear sunny skies and virtually little to no wind. Went back to the same stand that I spent the morning in hoping that the deer will be roaming around and tried once again with the rattling and doe bleating. The area that this stand location is in, there are so many red squirrels there and it is amazing how much noise these little creatures can produce. It was always sounding as if a deer was coming and then the tell tale chirping sound put a stop to that thinking. My other locations have some red squirrels but this place is rediculous with them. As the evening progressed on and countless times of rattling to entice a buck, nothing appeared and once again made for a long evening sit.

Checking cameras on Sunday morning revealed once again that the deer are definitely in all locations but their movements are staying nocturnal. The Does are moving consistently after 6:30 PM and all Buck activity starts at 10:30 PM. Getting repeat pictures of a few bucks and definitely are some shooter deer. Not sure when this nocturnal pattern is going to break, if it even breaks, but with gun season only a week away, will be hoping that this long weekend coming up, they decide to come out into the daylight hours.

November 17 AM Hunt

Back to the woods in search of Whitetail Deer once again, cooler temps in the mid 20's, no wind at all and clear skies once the sun rose. With last Sunday's venture of seeing so many deer, set up a new stand location that looked promising as it is deeper into the woods and inbetween a couple of ridges. Plan is that the deer will travel between these ridges and hopefully I can rattle one in as well. Took a bit to find the stand because it is fairly thick and you could almost walk past it if you didn't see it. Guess that is good as maybe the deer won't see it as well. Was situated in the stand as the skies brightened in hopes that they would be walking around. Started doing some rattling and also added some fawn bleats in there to try and entice a buck to show itself. As I was looking behind I noticed some movement through the brush and as the animal got closer, it was a coyote. It didn't know I was there and got to within 40 yards of me but never offered a shot at it. It was just far enough away that I couldn't tell if it had mange or not as the coat looked a little odd. Sat in this location for 5 hours and between the rattling and calling, was not able to bring anything into this location. Not getting a good feeling this year as I have been out every weekend and the deer that are in the area, are staying to their nocturnal travels and are just not moving during the day.

November 10 PM Hunt

After taking a couple of hours off for lunch, headed back into the woods and decided to sit in the more active camera stand once again. Air temps were around 50, light breeze and sunny clear skies. Never knowing what the deer are going to be doing, especially this year, was in the stand earlier than usual. We are approaching the rut season so working between rattling and doing some grunting and fawn bleating, wanted to see if I could get some attention from the local bucks. But once again after a long sit, there was nothing going to show itself and a fellow hunter that I talked with upon leaving the woods, he was having the same issues. Plenty of sign but the deer are nocturnal and making for this hunting season very tough to say the least.

Update Sunday:

Sunday mornings, being in MA we are not allowed to hunt, I generally run my cameras to see what the week shows for deer activity. Upon nearing my first location, there was a fresh scrape near this stand and was not there the night previous as I walked past there and it was not there. So upon seeing that I decided to take a walk through the woods to see what was going on if anything. By the time I got to where I wanted to walk, I had counted 12 fresh scrapes, seen 12 deer while checking all cameras and decided to put another stand up in a totally different location. Sunday was the most productive day that I have seen for the whole season so far. So it is looking like the rut is kicking into gear and this coming weekend, hopefully, will produce seeing some deer. I have a new stand location and plan on spending the whole day sitting there and time will tell if this pans off.

November 10 AM Hunt

Another weekend has come and time to hit the woods once again in hopes of finding that trophy Whitetail deer. The week coming up to this day has been much cooler than the whole fall season has been and hopefully once and for all this will get the deer moving during the daylight hours. Morning came with little breeze and a crisp mid 30's. Picked a stand that generally has good morning traffic as it is a funnel area that they travel on their way to their bedding areas. As usual there are always fresh tracks around while walking to the stand. Once again met with an onslaught of squirrels that make every little noise that sounds like a deer walking towards my tree. A few times there really sounded like finally a deer would make an appearance for all of the time that has been spent in the tree. But after sitting for 5 hours and not one showing itself, made for another day without sighting a deer once again. Was really disappointing as I really thought that it was finally time that they were going to start traveling during daylight hours but was mistaken. Other hunters that I talked with on the way out were having the same thing of not seeing any deer, one of these days it will change and the season will finally get started.

November 3 PM Hunt

Today turned out as a great day weather wise as the temps were mild, wind was moderately strong and the sun was shining. Decided to sit at the most active camera in hopes once again that maybe tonight would be the night that something finally happened. The woods were fairly quiet once again and little movement of any creatures as well. With the coming rut, I have been doing some rattling to see if I could peak any interest in anything that may be around this location but to no avail. I have no idea as to what is going on and can't seem to figure anything out this year. There are 3 other hunters in the area that I am hunting and they all are saying the same thing. I know the deer are there as there are always fresh tracks and the cameras are taking pictures as well. Still thinking that the warm fall weather has these animals a little messed up and hopefully this week coming with the very much cooler weather changes things up a little bit. Guess it can't get much worse than it is right now anyway.

November 2 PM Hunt

Is this season ever going to get going as we are continuing exactly where we left off from the last hunt. Weather was consistent with a light breeze, cloudy conditions, a bit cooler temps and the last 45 minutes before dark was rain. Was hoping that since the storm had been gone for a few days now, the animals would be getting back to normal feeding. There was a fair amount of squirrel activity and I generally use that as a guide to other animals moving around. A couple of times there was the sound that there was breaking twigs thinking that a deer was coming, but to no avail nothing came through. Made for a long sit especially when the rain came and just made it miserable sitting there. Hopefully with the cooler weather coming things will start turning around.

Hunting PM October 27

The day continued on similar to what the morning hunt has entailed. Storm still approaching and animals other than deer very active searching and storing food. Weather was still clear skies, little wind but still fairly warm temps for this time of year. Decided to sit in the stand with the most buck activity in hopes that tonight they would start moving around before the sun sets and darkness takes over the landscape. Unfortunately, it was the same as all of the other sits that I have done so far this season. Starting to question my locations but then when I make my rounds of checking the cameras, they are always showing that these animals are here, but traveling totally at night. Hopefully with this cooler weather coming in this coming weekend, we can only hope that this will kick that magical time of year, the RUT, into gear.

Hunting October 27 AM

Hurricane still approaching and animals should be gearing up and feeding heavily before it hits. Conditions were perfect for an early morning sit and sat in a previous active morning stand from the previous season. Sun rose to clear skies, little to no wind and cooler but moderate temperatures. Really felt that this morning was going to be the morning that there would be some very active deer in the area. Every animal in the woods was busily seeking food but the deer just were not going to show themselves once again today. Squirrels were busily working and had a couple come face to face with me trying to figure out what I was sitting in their trees. Really felt that I would see something this morning but once again, that was not the case so the saga continues of the warm fall weather still not getting the deer into their patterns for the fall and other hunters are telling me the same thing as well in different locations.

Hunting October 26

With the approaching hurricane Sandy, thought that would get the animals into the feeding mode as they can sense when conditions are going to change and they will adapt accordingly. Day was setting up nicely weather wise with little wind, sunny skies and moderate temperatures. Picked a stand that is deeper in the woods that I haven't been to yet this season in hopes of intercepting deer moving through the area. This location is ending the same as the other areas with stands and a big contributor to that is the weather. Been talking with a number of other hunters and they are telling the same stories that animals are not moving much if any during the daylight hours. Every week when I go to check the trail cameras, there are always bucks and does on there and they are showing that movement doesn't start until after 7 PM. Hopefully the cooler weather will come and stay for the rest of the year as that is what is needed to get things moving in the right direction.

Hunting Blog October 22

Another beautiful day here in New England and what a way to end the day but to sit in a tree stand waiting for a whitetail deer to come along. Today's conditions were sunny skies, temps around low 60's, steady barometer and winds up to 20 mph. One thing that I have noticed over our hunting is that when the winds are blowing fairly good, the deer just don't seem to want to move. That was the case once again and even sitting in a stand that I haven't been in yet, seems to be the trend of lately. The warming weather is not contributing at all to the cause as that is another factor that is coming forward is that if the temps are on the warm side, the animals just aren't moving. It was feeling like it was going to be a good hunting day setting up as the birds and squirrels were very active but the bigger game was not. Cameras are still showing plenty of deer activity but that usually doesn't start until after 7 PM. Hopefully as the weather cools and stays more consistent, that will get the deer moving more during the daylight hours. One thing that I can't wait to try is that I have not been in a stand in the morning hours and cant wait for that to happen. A little rain is forecasted this week again and hopefully cooler weather as well.

Hunting Blog October 20

We have been having quite the fall this year with the way the weather has been playing games with us, cold, rain, hot, wind and seems every day is something of a great variety. Was not able to get out for a AM hunt as the rains were coming down very hard and heavy. But then as the day progressed, humidity and hot temps set in for a very warm hunt in the afternoon. Things we have noticed over time pertaining to weather is that when it is vary warm out the deer just don't seem to move much at all. Today was another chapter in that book as we took the stand at our most active camera in hopes that something would come through. The woods are getting very scarce of leaves now and most of the underbrush is basically leaf free and the trees are dropping them very quickly with the winds. Today's hunt was sunny clear skies, noticable winds and very warm temperatures reaching almost 70 degrees. As mentioned before, with the warm temperatures there was little activity of any animals at all, with one lone squirrel as the sun was setting. While sitting on stand I did take the binoculars and scanned the area and did notice that the bucks are very active here and have recently been making numerous rubs on the trees all around this whole area. Since the action was non-existent, decided to try a little rattling just to see if I could peek the curiosity of any local bucks in the area but none had showed themselves.

Hunting Blog October 17

A beautiful night was setting up nicely with clear sunny skies, light to no winds, rising barometer and comfortable 60 degree temps. My first location once again was occupied by another hunter so I opted to walk into my stand where the most active camera is located. I wanted to wait another couple of weeks before starting to use this stand as I feel that this location could harbor some nice bucks come the rutting season. Was a fairly quiet night until the hundreds of starlings perch over my head and created such a ruckus that nothing could be heard. After a while they finally flew off and then to my left I could hear a deer breathing and coming my way. To my left there is a line of pine trees and this deer didn't make its way through there and either lay done in the thicket or went a different direction. As the sun was setting, straight out in front of me it looked as if a doe was waking up from a day's nap. I could just make out her head and see her ears twitching as she laid there but as it gotten dark she never stood up. I snuck out of there and didn't hear her getting up so hopefully I didn't spook her and she will be comfortable with the area going forward.

Hunting Blog October 16

The season has opened on Monday October 15 with a typical rain that we have been having lately. Unfortunately, our time is limited as to days that we are able to get into the field so we were not able to get out on opening day. October 16: Was able to get out for an evening sit in one of our stands. The stand location that we wanted to concentrate on had been occupied by another hunter and to not disturb him, we chose a different location. We had clear sunny skies, rising barometer and very gusty winds. With the high winds the woods were loud and any movement from any animals was not able to hear at all. Sat until the sun set and the woods got to dark to see, but didn't have any deer movement on this evenings sit.

Fishing March 24 2012

Finally the open water season is underway even though we never had an ice season this past winter. Conditions were cloudy; moderate winds with an air temperature around 48 degrees. We have a lake that we frequent quite often and my son likes to fish with shiners from shore and since he never seen the ice this winter, he has been very anxious to wet a line. Once again this lake didn’t disappoint my boy and we fished in a back cove that had been warmed from the previous week’s temperatures that were in the 80’s. Not knowing the water temperature, this was a good area to look for fish as the cove is shallow and should be a little warmer than the main lake which should draw the fish into it. It didn’t take long and the fish were biting fairly regularly and he had a great time for the couple of hours that we were out there. In the end he ended up with 5 largemouth bass and 5 pickerel with the bass being fairly small but a couple of the pickerel were very nice. He had a great time and is ready to go back and try again and hopefully the next trip we will get out in the boat and search for some early season largemouth bass.

Fishing Report September 17 2011

Fall is definitely in the air these days as I headed to the lake the air temperature was a balmy 42 degrees. There was no wind to speak of and at this time of year the boat landing was very quiet with only one trailer there at 7:30 in the morning.

After launching the boat I checked the water temperature and current readings are in the mid to upper 60’s all ready. The temps are dropping fast as it wasn’t long ago that we were in the upper 70’s, but fall is definitely in the air and here and this will start to trigger the fish into their fall feeding frenzy.

This particular lake I always start out in the middle as there is an underwater island that has a sharp break off the opposite side. Fished all over the deeper break side with a jig and Carolina rigged plastics bait and couldn’t find or get a bite what so ever.

Since the wind still hadn’t started up yet, decided to go and fish the way that the lake seems to produce some fish on a regular basis, topwater frog action. There is a good portion of the lake that has numerous lily pad fields along its shorelines. Didn’t take long and the waters were exploding around my frog but they were missing the bait and I was missing them. A couple of them were some very decent looking sized fish.

As I progressed to a back corner, I finally connected with a 14 inch largemouth bass and it gave up a good fight. At this point the winds were starting to pick up a little and it was enough that any bite that I had going, virtually disappeared. Went around a good portion of the lake and could only muster up one more explosion and missed that one as well.

Switched gears on baits at this point and started throwing a spinnerbait, 4 inch plastic worm and a jig into shoreline grass and wood. Wasn’t able to entice any bites that way either. Decided before heading home to go back to the middle of the lake and fish the deep break side of the sunken island with a dropshot.

Milled around the area for quite some time and watching the electronics very closely and seen fish on the screen but either they were panfish or non-aggressive bass. Even though there wasn’t much for fish caught, is was a beautiful September morning to be out on the lake and look forward to the next few outings as the fishing will start to pick up as the nights get cooler.

Fishing September 2-5 2011

Labor Day weekend for some means that summer is over and with school starting, summer activities are done and fall things are on one’s mind. But for the angler, fall brings new life for fishing as the fish are going to start feeding for the long winter ahead.

Being this was a camping weekend, wasn’t able to bring the boat along and fishing was contained to fishing out of the kayaks. Conditions this weekend weren’t too bad for kayak fishing as we had fairly calm winds but considerable heat and humidity. Waters are definitely starting to cool down but retained some heat for the majority of this weekend.

Since fishing out of kayaks limits you to what you can bring along, I generally fish the jig/pig through different types of cover. The weather was so nice that the main lake was very busy so fishing out of a kayak is kind of hazardous to say the least. So this contained me to the cove that the campground is on.

So the majority of this cove is roughly 8 feet deep and there are patches of weeds with clear areas around them. By working the jig through and around these weeds, I am putting the bait in front of the fish and this seems to work very well in a couple of particular areas.

Seems like the last few times out there, I am catching fish always in the same general areas so whatever they are attracted to there, it is consistently holding fish. I lost more fish than was caught but the ones caught were in the 2 pound range. Didn’t find any monsters but for the short time out there, was a productive trip.

Fishing Report August 27 2011

With the big news of Hurricane Irene going to hit New England later this weekend, I made a run up to New Hampshire to do a little pre storm fishing. Weather was beautiful, the calm before the storm, no wind, very hot and humid conditions.

There were a number of anglers out on the water but one nice thing was that the pleasure boaters were in the process of pulling their boats so the anglers had the lake to themselves. The morning started very nicely as my son and I was fishing and he was catching sunfish and my jig pattern was picking up right where it left off.

After a while of fishing he wanted to go do something else so dropped him off at the dock and I headed out to deeper water. There was panfish surfacing all over the lake and the fishing was getting better as the morning was going along.

Seemed that no matter where I stopped to fish, the fish were there and ready to bite and they were hitting basically anything that you threw out there. I was only able to fish a few areas as the fish that were there kept me there wanting to catch more.

They were biting on crankbaits, jigs, Carolina rigged plastics and small plastic worms. Did try some topwater but couldn’t seem to get any fish to go after that so didn’t pursue that too long. Had one location that was producing numbers of fish before I had to leave. This was a main lake point and was fishing in 15-20 feet of water and there was some good weed growth there as well.

Went out for a little while in the afternoon and the wind was starting to pick up a little but the fishing definitely was dying off as well. Did catch the largest fish of the day just before leaving and was fishing a jig in the weeds in 10 feet of water out in the middle of a cove. This was one of those days that you wish that you could stay out there and capitalize on, but with a major storm brewing, it was time to head home.

Fishing Report August 24 2011

I usually never get out fishing during the week but a fellow coworker has been fishing a local pond and been catching some nice fish so we made a plan to hit the water after work. Upon arriving at the lake, the water quality is very apparent as it is crystal clear and clean looking.

This is an either paddle or electric motor only lake and makes for a body of water that doesn’t receive high pressure as easy accessed lakes do. There was only one boat out this afternoon but the winds were blowing very hard so hugging the shorelines and back coves was the plan for not getting blown all over the lake.

We went right for the first island and worked our way around it and wasn’t 10 minutes I felt the tap on the jig I was fishing and the first fish of the trip was on. This 3.5 pound largemouth gave a great fight and was caught away from the island in 4-5 feet of water. Now that our excitement had been peaked, we were pumped for the rest of our trip.

As we were going along we were fishing different looking shorelines and I was switching between the jig and a plastic worm. We went over a submerged tree and I could see a huge bass lying underneath it in the clear water but when the corner of the boat came to close it disappeared. I was able to get an average sized bass out of the weeds on the plastic worm.

We get to the back corner of this cove and it was a perfect scenario, timber, pads, weeds and shade and you couldn’t find a better looking place. My partner said that this spot usually gives up a good fish and on that cast I had set into a bass almost as big as my first fish. Two good fish and now I am really pumped and want more.

The wind is starting to blow a lot harder and it is swirling all around no matter where you are fishing and boat control was a little tough. We worked our way all the way to the end of the lake and I picked up another small fish off of a log sticking out of the water on the plastic worm.

We wanted to go to the other side of the lake but when we tried the wind had another story for us so we turned back from where we came from and worked everything again. So on this trip back through the same areas, my plan was to fish the jig but instead of fishing the shoreline I made all of my casts out into deeper water and see if I could find any cruising deep water fish.

This had paid off as I was able to pick up two more fish with another that was a little less than 2 pounds. As the evening was winding down, my partner had a rough outing as he wasn’t able to connect with any fish but we definitely had a great time out there. I am already looking forward to making another trip out there soon and see if we can find some bigger fish.

There are a number of these town ponds that they allow you to put cartop boats into and the fish that swim in these waters are generally unpressured and grow to some very nice sizes. So if you have some of the waters around you, if the town allows it, try fishing them and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Fishing Report August 21 2011

This summer it has been tough finding time to get out fishing and this will have to definitely change once the ice season comes this winter. Went to a lake that I fish regularly and this was the first time out there this year. Normally numbers are not the catch but there is usually always a good fish or two in the fish caught for the day.

The lake has been getting a lot of pressure this summer from a number of bass clubs fishing their tournaments out there. This weekend for a change didn’t have any and the lake was fairly quiet when I had arrived. Calm conditions, cloudy with breaks of sun, cool when the sun wasn’t out but hot when it did come out. Water temps were in the mid 70’s and water color is pea green at the present time.

Normally I like fishing the milfoil patches but looks like there is a more stringy grass growing in the lake this year. I started in a creek mouth that has a large flat out in front and after working around from the weed edge to up on top, only was able to catch a very small lagermouth bass.

I went to another cove and fan casted the crankbait around in some deeper water but wasn’t able to locate any fish there either. I did pull a decent largemouth, biggest of the day, off of a point in the weeds on a Carolina rig. I moved to a back shallow cove with lily pads and fan casted a topwater frog and the waters there looked very good but came up empty handed.

The wind was picking up at this point and I had followed a shoreline casting a crankbait only to catch a couple of small bass. At this point I was seeing that the shallow bite was not going to come around and found a deep sunken island in the middle of the lake but got the same results.

At this point I figured that I might as well call it a day and headed off the lake by noon time. It was very nice to get out on the lake once again and wet a line after so long. Was hoping to get into a couple of decent fish but just couldn’t locate them on this trip. Wednesday I will be heading out onto a local reservoir with a fellow from work that has been catching some very nice largemouth this summer. Weekend coming will be heading to New Hampshire for a day or so and hopefully the coming hurricane allows for a full day of fishing.

Fishing Report July 20 2011

Summer time brings on vacation time and BWS and family headed west for the first time for most of the family. Renting a home in the Rocky Mountains near the town of Canon City, put us in some gorgeous scenery as well as close enough to fish a well known trout river, the Arkansas River.

The Arkansas River is primarily a brown trout fishery but there are some rainbow trout mixed in certain locations and when caught is a nice bonus. Since spring time we had been watching the water flows for this river as CO had a high snowfall this past winter and that is dumping a lot of water this late into the season into the river. By now the water flow should be at summer rate but it was still flowing at almost spring rate yet.

The conditions are getting better as each day passes but another week or two and that would have setup for a prime time to be fishing this river. As with any family vacation, fishing will come second hand to the sightseeing and family activities that are planned. Went out one night in Canon City and tried a few locations but was unable to find any slack or slow water compared to the ripping flow. These trout hang where fast water meets slow water, seam area, but in Canon City there wasn't any of these seam areas.

My son wanted to try his hand at trout fishing, as he has never fished for them before, so I had decided to take a drive and go on the other side of the Royal Gorge. We found a boat landing area that had an island in the middle of the river and the main flow was on the backside and there was a small shoot on the near side that created exactly what we were looking for.

Didn't take long casting the Egger's Spinners at this seam area and I had caught a 19 inch Brown Trout that was a real fighter and didn't want to come in. I lost a couple of smaller Brown Trout as they took to the air and threw the lure right after getting a good look at them. My son yelled that he had a fish on and after his battle he had caught a nice 15 inch Rainbow Trout and his excitement was unbelievable. He had lost 1 or 2 other Brown Trout as well and for the short time we were there, it was a very fun trip.

I had driven back to this location one other night and lost 2 small Brown Trout to their acrobatics after setting the hook. All in all it was a productive trip out West, just wished the flows were lower and that would have offered a much better scenario for this fishing trip but it was great to be back in the state of CO and definitely going to have to make the trip back once again.

July 2 2011 Report

Holidays are a great time of year as this gives you that extra time to enjoy fishing and camping at the same time. We spent the long weekend in New Hampshire and even without the big boat, brought the kayaks along to be able to get out on the water.

I started the day searching for some of the smallmouth that live in these waters and fished deep points as well as shallow rock shoals. I tried one deeper point that had numerous large boulders but just couldn’t seem to find the smallmouth. So change of gears was made and started fishing shallower water looking for largemouth instead.

I fished a main back cove that has a lot of different types of structure from rocks, mud, sand, gravel to weeds as well. As the morning went along more and more pleasure boaters were coming out and fishing off of the main lake was getting very difficult. So a move was made back to the arm that the campground is located in as this area is a no wake zone so the waters aren’t so rough.

The water depths in this area are all about the same from 5-8 feet deep and have a fairly dense weed base as well. Decided to stick with a jig and pig and work this bait through the weeds in search of fish. Didn’t take long and the first fish was hooked and was a nice 2 pound largemouth. Continued to move around and fan cast and work the jig through the weeds and all in all had a pretty good success doing that.

The technique was making long casts and slowly work the jig back through the weeds and if it got hung up in there, give the rod a quick and fast jerk to break it free. By doing this I was able to catch 6 largemouth throughout this area with the biggest pushing 3 pounds. Never had a lot of confidence in the jig/pig but by forcing myself to fish with it, I will be throwing this bait a lot more in the future.

Fishing Report June 19 2011

Father’s day is meant for fishing and that is where you found us, exploring our favorite lake in New Hampshire. Haven’t been up there fishing yet this year and always look forward to the time that is spent searching these waters for large and smallmouth bass.

Arrived early and the lake was fairly quiet with little wind, high sunny skies and a number of boats already out fishing. Went to the back lake to start the day and fished the main flat with a Carolina rigged plastic bait. Second cast yielded the nicest bass of the day working the bait through the weedbeds that frequent this area.

It didn’t take long and the winds really kicked up and made fishing very tough on this lake as they were coming straight down the lake with nowhere to get out of it. With the winds so strong this didn’t allow fishing specific targets and areas and I had to do more of a junk fishing type day. By junk fishing I mean that being you can’t sit on a spot, you just go with the wind and fish fast with fast baits that cover areas quickly.

Went along a variety of shorelines and cover and mainly fished a crankbait, weedless frog, and when you would get out of the wind a little throw the Carolina rig. There was a handful of fish caught this way but the sizes were on the smaller side as opposed to being able to work specific targets or area for the larger fish.

Water temps are starting to rise as a majority of the lake was at the 69-70 degree range which at this time of year is still way behind. Three different baits were used that caught fish and they were a medium diving crankbait, the Carolina rigged plastic bait and also a fish imitating swimbait caught a fish.

After being pounded on the water for most of the morning, I was out of there around noon time with 5 largemouth bass caught. Not a bad outing but feel that if the winds weren’t so high that targeting certain areas a little more thoroughly, more fish and bigger fish could have been caught.

May 22 2011 Report

This has to be one of the coldest, wettest and slowest starts to a spring in a long time and making for some tough fishing as well. The fish should be into the spawning mode by now and they are definitely quite a ways behind the times.

Lakes are still fairly quiet as anglers are still waiting for the warmer weather to come along and make their experience a little more enjoyable. This makes it a little easier for us getting onto the landings and of course this day was not anything different with cool 48 degree air temps and 15 mph winds blowing.

Water temps have actually dropped a little from the last trip out with 55 degrees being the average from what we were finding. Not knowing what the fish’s mood was going to be, we started out with casting crankbaits to cover water and look for the aggressive fish. That bite never really materialized and a game plan change had to take effect.

Figuring now that the fish were sluggish, changed up to fishing a jig and cruise the shoreline looking for any fish that may be getting ready to spawn. Didn’t take long and a fish took the jig right along the shoreline and after a few reels of the handle came unbuttoned. This was a good sign showing that slowing down was what they were looking for as well and they are utilizing shallow water even if it is still cool.

Moved out of that cove and went to a point and there is a dock coming right off of the point and the end is in about 4-5 feet of water. One hop of the jig and a fish picked it up and felt good as the fight ensued; with the help of my netting partner we were able to get the 3 pound largemouth into the boat. It was nice to finally get that first fish out of the way for the beginning of a new open water season.

We moved around the point and down the back side without finding another bite. Out off of this point there is a gravel underwater hump that comes to 2 feet deep on top with weeds around the outer edge. I through the jig up on top and the second cast a 1 pound bass nailed the jig and felt like there is a pattern coming together at this point.

My son was fishing the hump with a small crankbait and he was having good luck as well as he had caught a small pickerel and a crappie. We worked all around this island and wasn’t able to find anymore bites. We wanted to try one more location before calling it a day.

He wanted to go to the area that we fished during the ice season and see if we could muster up a fish. Unfortunately this area was being blasted by the winds and the water was a little cooler in this location and we were not able to find any fish. The wind and cold temps had taken its toll on us and we decided to head in.

It was nice to finally get him out on the open water once again and after watching him fishing today, he is going to be having a great season. With the holiday weekend coming up, never know what our fishing adventures are going to bring us and really looking forward to it.

Fishing May 1 2011

It was nice to be able to get out onto the open water once again and cast a full sized fishing rod as opposed to fishing the short stick. Lakes are fairly quiet these days yet as with the cool temperatures the pleasure boaters and lakeshore owners have not come out to play yet.

Water temps were in the mid 50’s the morning started very calm but didn’t take long as the winds picked up making for a cold day on the water. Since it is early spring decided to fish with a suspending jerkbait, and hopefully find some largemouth bass.

Fished primarily some back coves on the north to northwest side of the lake and first thing in the morning seemed to be the most productive. Once the winds started blowing quite a bit any bite that was had would totally disappear for the rest of the day.

Casting primarily to the shallow shoreline the pickerel were fairly active as they were the primary fish that were willing to show themselves. After the first hour the winds picked up and after trying many different places on the lake without a bite, decided to call it a day.

Was nice to be able to get out on the open water once again and enjoy some spring fishing again.

Fishing February 12 2011

We fished primarily before noon until the sunset with temps in the low 30’s with a fairly stiff breeze blowing most of the time. This particular lake had a number of anglers grouped up in different areas that allowed everyone to have room on the ice to themselves.

After all of the snow storms that we have been experiencing was pleasantly surprised to find the walking conditions very favorable. There is a good layer of compacted snow with 2 separate layers of slush pockets underneath until you hit the 6-8 inches of clean ice. Power augers are the way to go as the anglers that were hand drilling were having a tough time with the slush pockets.

Have fished this lake numerous times during the open water seasons but have never ventured out onto the ice. This lake has a variety of fish species as that is what we were looking for as we weren’t to concerned about which ones but as long as one of them was going to bite, that was going to make our day.

The primary area that we fished was a point that came out with shallow coves that went back behind on each side. The front of the point would drop off into deep water fairly fast and we were working all the different aspects of the shallow areas into the deeper waters.

The shallower waters would have small pickerel on that were caught on tipups and for jigging there were only small perch caught. For the deep water areas we were fishing out to 20 feet deep and the tipups weren’t doing anything but jigging produced many crappies and sunfish.

Working the deeper waters with electronics proved very successful and allowed you to see if you were fishing a productive hole or not as many holes had no activity in them. The jigs of choice were T.H.E. Jig from CKOutdoors and also the “Slug Bug” from Northland Tackles “Bro’s Bug Collection”.

All in all it was a good day to be out on the ice and enjoying some time with my son again as he has been coming a long ways year after year. With the warming trends coming shortly, trips need to be made to the ice as our ice season doesn’t last long once the sun starts getting much warmer.

Hard Water Coming

Seasons are changing quickly and many have done or are putting their summer fishing items away and getting ready for winter. Don't be unprepared when that hard water season finally comes and start getting your gear ready now. Reels should be lubed and new line put on; rods need to have their eyelets inspected for imperfections. Augers need to have their blades sharpened and also motors ran and tuned up. Batteries all need to be charged and ready so that first trip to the ice will be a fun and productive one.

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Fishing August 21 2010

We had picked up a couple of single person kayaks to replace a tandem kayak that we had and decided to take them out and try them and do a little fishing. We went to a small pond that has motor restrictions so is great for taking canoes and kayaks out without having to worry about bigger boats.

The afternoon started warm and bright sunshine but as the day wore on it turned cool, fairly windy and the clouds came in thick. There were a few folks out there trying their hand at fishing and we picked our first location and paddled over to that area to give it a try.

My son enjoys panfishing and today was going to be a day of letting him do this type and enjoy the experience of catching fish. We were fishing the shoreline areas and using T.H.E. Jig about a foot underneath a float. We were finding out very quickly that the smaller fish were closer to shore while the bigger sunfish were out in deeper water.

With the breeze blowing into the area that we were fishing, we let the kayaks blow onto the shoreline and then casting out toward the depths really was paying off. After catching numerous fish, the action seemed to die down a little so we moved down the shore and the action picked up again.

The wind was blowing quite a bit so we moved to the other side of the lake to get into a little more protected areas and the fish in the first couple of places were fairly slow in biting. We decided to try one more spot and there was a rock sticking out of the water so that allowed us to sort of anchor ourselves in one spot.

Didn't take long and he was reeling in one fish after another and as long as he was casting towards deeper water, the bigger fish would be biting. He was very excited as we had hit the mother lode of fish and he would count one after another. The afternoon went on and on but as the weather turned towards the bad side, the fishing slowed and we wanted to get off the lake if anything was going to happen.

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Fishing August 15 2010

Heat, which is all I can say about this summer and it, definitely is having an affect on the fish as well as they are not as predictable as they normally are. Went to a northern MA lake and the water level is fairly low compared to other years and the waters are starting to cool a little as most temps were a little over 75 degrees.

This particular lake when the heat is on like it is the algae bloom is in full force with a tint of green to the water. There is milfoil in this lake as well but this year it is much thicker and there are more areas that have it then previous years.

I arrived at the lake to little wind but that changed as the morning went on to a stiff wind across the main lake. Started fishing a creek mouth that generally has a good number of large fish in the area and target the clumps of weeds that have gravel open areas around them. Worked the area a few different directions and only was able to locate a couple smaller largemouth bass.

Moved over to a point that leads out into the open lake and there weren’t any biters in this area as well. Decided to move to the wind blown shoreline and run this with a crankbait just to try and locate some aggressive fish. Only was able to catch one small fish down this whole stretch.

All in all it was kind of a disappointing day on the water as only a few fish were caught in the few hours that I was out there. Was watching others fishing the same general areas and it didn’t look like they were having much action as well. As the temps start to fall, this will trigger a feeding binge for the fish to get into their fall feeding. Times are going to get better as we move towards the ice season and this is the time of year that many hang it up. Take advantage of these coming months as the fishing is only going to get better.

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Fishing report for August 8 2010

Been a while since been out on the lake fishing in the boat and had an opportunity to fish a new lake in New Hampshire. This particular lake is a fairly good sized and deep clear water lake that supports a good trout population as well as some very nice smallmouth.

I arrived early at the lake with calm sunny conditions with a number of boats trolling the deep water in search of trout. Air temps were mid to upper 70's with high 80's to come later and the water temps were a surprising 73 degrees but because of the deep water here, 60 plus feet, which keeps the lake a little cooler from the hot summer we have been having.

The water here is gin clear and without any wind figured that the shallow dock bite might not be a good place to start searching for smallmouth bass. Opposite side of the lake there was a rock shoal that I worked with a few different baits that consisted of a carolina rig, crankbait out on the deeper edge and also a weightless senko style bait. There didn't seem to be anything searching the rock cropping for a meal.

Moved off of this shoal and there was a fairly good sized flat going out into the lake. Fan cast this area with a crankbait as well as worked it over with the carolina rig with a couple of different style plastic baits. In the 15 foot range there was a little vegetation that grew off of the bottom up to 6 inches in height and was hoping that the fish were cruising looking for a meal.

The far end of the lake is more of a shallower flat as the deep water is on the north end through the middle of the lake. Moved down to the far end of the lake and was hoping to find more weed flats and see if maybe I could find a largemouth bass since the smallmouth were a little allusive.

Concentrated on water depths of 13-20 feet of water and was figuring that with the hot summer and clear water these fish may be in deeper water. Fished mainly the carolina rig and kept switching the plastic baits trying to find one that maybe these fish wanted. Was fishing a french fry type plastic in 15 feet of water and felt a good bite.

Set the hook and the fight was on and wasn't quite sure if this was a bass or a trout as the feeling wasn't quite what I was use to. I had hooked this fish on a long cast and it surfaced right away but couldn't tell what it was. Finally as the battle was coming to an end, I could see that it was a nice smallmouth and boat a chunky 2 pound fish. Worked over this area for quite some time in hopes of finding a school there but that wasn't going to happen.

Not sure if I will get back to this lake anytime soon but wouldn't mind going back when fall gets here and the fish start feeding for the winter season. This lake does get busy after the noon hour and the landing is one of the best ones that I have been to in New Hampshire so far.

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Fishing July 17 2010

It was time to head back to New Hampshire and fish one of our favorite bass lakes. Weather wise the summer is continuing on with its heat and abundance sunshine, light winds and the waters are warming very rapidly and are reading in the low 80's at this point.

Was able to get out early and my son wanted to go along as well and he had multi-species on his mind as we set out onto the lake. After launching the boat and heading out onto the lake, we went around the corner and stopped at our first place of the morning.

This is a back cove that has a rock shoal that comes almost to the surface if you don't watch for it as it isn't marked. Stayed out in the 10-12 foot range and was fishing with a crankbait and only a couple of casts and the first smallmouth was coming to the boat. Was fan casting this area and seemed to be loaded with fish and a number of largemouth were caught as well but they were all mostly small fish.

My son was fishing for sunfish and they were surfacing all around us and he was having a great time catching one after another. We were in search of bigger fish so we left that area and went to the other end of the lake as there is a big flat there and looking for fish that may stay in the area after spawning.

Worked the deeper waters as well as the shallower flats and was fishing with a carolina rig and just couldn't get anything to bite. Left there and went to a small cove off the main lake and at time there are some nice fish in the weeds and rocks of this area but had the same results as the previous location.

We only had a certain amount of time that we could be out there and wanted to try one more location. This location is a flat in the main lake with water depths around 8 feet deep and there is a ridge that comes off of this out into the main body of the lake. Years past this area yields some of our biggest fish but lately has been dead. Always like to see areas come back to life and hopefully this one will.

There is one location here that is a small rock pile in the weedbed and if you can locate that, the bigger fish of the area usually congregate there. Was fan casting a carolina rig looking for this spot and the line went tight and went to set the hook and broke the first fish off. Felt like a big fish and through out a buoy marker while I retie. Cast back into that area again and another good bite came on and boated a decent 2 pound largemouth.

Kept working around that area and had a numerous bites and they were all feeling good but between the break offs and loosing fish on the way back to the boat, made it very frustrating. It was getting that time that we needed to get off the lake and even though we missed a number of fish, we felt it was a very productive day for the middle of July.

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Fish those Docks

The summer is here and will be for a while yet, as this is warming our lakes quite a bit. Fish are seeking cooler waters these days to get away from this heat and many go deep but there are also some that stay shallow. These shallow fish are looking for areas to get out of the sun and a great place for this is boat docks. Fish congregate underneath these docks in the cool shadowy areas and wait for prey to seek out cooler waters as well. Fishing these docks can be very rewarding and by casting your baits up underneath these, you will be very well rewarded. Give them a try next time you are fishing especially if the sun is shining.

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Fishing MN July 10-13 2010

Being from the Midwest it is always nice to go back home and we never get to go that often. But this was the year that we make the trip back to Minnesota and always look forward to the fishing that we will get into.

I am fortunate that my parents live on a lake in northern MN and this makes it very easy to get on the lake any time of the day. The last time that we were there, we had come across a location on the lake that gave us a number of large bass and I couldn’t wait to get out there and try it again.

The location is an underwater hump between a point and an island and tops out at around 8 feet of water. I generally position the boat on top of the hump and then cast out into the deeper water bringing the lures back to the weed edge that is growing on this hump.

There was one general area that if you hit it, there was some of the best bass that I have caught in this lake. There is a corner on this hump that has an indentation and these bigger fish are schooled up in this area. Had 3-4 cast in a row that produced a 3 pound plus largemouth on each of those casts.

The morning bite was generally the better time at getting these fish but the second day there was a major cold front that came through. This front really shut down the bigger fish and this hump seemed to be void of fish at that time. We started working other areas and finding that the better fish were in deeper water and a few small fish were in the lily pads.

The last day of the trip our best location started producing better but wasn’t to the point as the first morning flurry that we had. I had a good friend come up for a couple of days along with his teenage son and between those two, my son and wife; we really had a great few days of fishing together.

Always enjoy getting back to MN and to have time to fish the waters there. One day would really like to drive out there and bring the boat along and fish a number of the old favorite lakes that I use to frequent so often. Plans are in the works for making a trip back this winter to do a number of day’s ice fishing.

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Fishing report for June 27 2010

Luckily I have a few ponds nearby that I can fish if I only have a few hours to get out and there is one small 100 pond close that works very well for this. Usually fish here a few times throughout the summer and seems lately that there are more anglers fishing here as well.

Arrived early and there were already a number of boats in the water. Sunny skies with no wind at all and air temps around 75 and water temps were reading between 74 and 77 degrees. This pond has very dark water and the weedline only goes out 4-5 feet. Most of the pond is developed and one end has a heavy lily pad field as the rest of the pond is a few docks and clean shorelines.

In the middle of the pond there is a gravel hump that comes to within 1 foot of the surface and the northern end of it has a finger that goes halfway across the bay that is 6 feet on top and drops off into the deepest part of the lake on the west side. I generally start working that ledge to see if I can find some of the large bass that live here and worked this area for quite some time but couldn't find a bite.

Went over to where a creek comes into the lake that has a big lily pad field in front of it and usually fish this area with a weightless frog. Fan casted all around and in the past this area has given up some big fish but today only a small pickerel was going to hit.

Left there and went to the other end of the lake and started fishing a dock that had a couple of boats as well as a pontoon tied to it. Casted a senko type bait around these objects and pulled 4 small bass of these. Generally this ends has a good sized area with milfoil and working a weightless worm around finds you some fish but I was unable to find any of the milfoil and have a feeling that they may have treated this area.

Following the shoreline around fishing with the senko looking bait, picked up another couple here and there but just couldn't find any size. Worked a few more docks and boats but wasn't getting the results that I was looking for. Moved back out to the gravel hump and was working this area with a carolina rig and felt like the sinker had wedged itself in between a couple of rocks. Lifted it again and and the line was moving and set the hook, the line screamed to the surface as a nice 3-4 pound largemouth went airborne, so did my bait.

Very frustrating when you lose a large fish but that is why it is called fishing and not catching. Worked all around the area to see if I could find any other fish and wasn't able to get any bites. It was getting more boat traffic out there so decided to head out and get a few other things done. Fish right now seem to be scattered around with the smaller fish shallow and bigger fish deep.

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Summer is Here, Fish Going Deep

Summer has come in fairly quickly lately and with that the fish have finished their spring ritual and getting setup for summer. Smaller fish can still be found swimming the shorelines but if you are looking for those bigger fish, head for deep water. Water temps are rising and the shallows are getting very warm, the fish head deep to get away from these warming waters and head for the cooler water in their deeper summer haunts. Weedlines, humps or anything that is different out in deep water will attract and hold these fish and using your electronics to find these areas is important at this time of year. Go explore the water away from the shore and you may be surprised at what you find.

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Fishing report for June 19 2010

Generally we fish the same lakes throughout the year and you get to a point that you want to see and try something different for a change. So that was on the agenda and after scouring over New Hampshire lake maps, we ended up on a small lake in the Raymond, NH area.

Never been to this lake before comes with it the excitement of seeing and trying to figure out where and what the fish are looking for to bite. Conditions today were sunny skies, no wind, air temp was around 80 with the water temp in the 69-71 degree range. Water is a tanic color as many lakes in the region are but the weed growth does get out there into the 8-10 foot range.

Since there were no winds decided to start working the emergent weed growth along the shorelines and was working a BearPaw load toad over the top. This bait is a weightless frog imitation and as you bring it back towards you the legs act as if they were kicking in the water. Worked this along a good stretch and caught a couple of small pickerel with no bass showing themselves.

Switched between that bait, carolina rig and a crankbait and the shallow water just wasn't producing for what we were looking for. Did see numerous small perch that would follow the bait back to the boat so that shows that there is a good forage base for the predator fish in this lake.

Since the shallow longer shorelines weren't producing moved to a part of the lake near the dam area that there was a deep water near and along the shoreline. Typically this type of area I like casting deep diving crankbaits to the shore and bringing it back. Wasn't long and a good fish hit the crank and after battling this fish swung a nice chunky largemouth bass into the boat. This is what we were looking for as well as there are suppose to be smallmouth here as well.

Worked this deep water shoreline for quite a while and couldn't find another bite there. Moved to a shallower cove and worked a variety of baits with no results as well. Moved back to the deep shoreline and worked this in the opposite direction and nothing happening. Went back to the frog and had a few small blowups that looked like pickerel but no bass. As we were approaching the noon hour the water skiers were starting to come out and fishing, what there was, dropped way off and decided to pull the plug.

There wasn't many fish caught this day but still had fun learning and seeing a new body of water. This may be something that we try more numerously this summer and get away some from fishing the same old lakes and see some new water. Summer is definitely here now and fish are or have transitioned to their summer haunts so get out there and enjoy a summer day catching some fish.

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Fishing report for June 12 2010

Since the previous trip was a very wet one and my son wanted to try that body of water again, we went back to a small local pond and see if he could do a little better. Conditions were fairly close to the previous trip with little wind, air temps around 70 and a threat of rain.

We started where the previous trip, many fish were caught but they really didn't seem to be hanging around that location at all. Moved over to where he did well the week before and was getting a few bites but nothing to speak of in getting fish to the hook.

This is a town water reservoir and we fish mainly on the dam side of it and below where the water comes out of the reservoir, there is a creek with some backwaters. We went down there and started in a bigger pool and caught a few small sunfish. Of course by this time the rain was starting to lightly fall and was making it another cool and miserable trip.

We moved over to where there was more flowing water and there was definitely more fish in this location and you just had to deal with the trees that were around you. Just about anywhere that you would cast in this pool you would get bit and the fish were a little better sized.

We were fishing with a variety of different color patterns of T.H.E. Jig, (Totally Hot Everyday Jig), and seemed to come to the conclusion that anything with white in it was the best combination. We went back to the reservoir area and tried a few other locations in the rain but they weren't cooperating. Headed out and being this is only 5 minutes down the road makes it a great place to go for a short trip no matter what the weather is.

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Fishing report for June 6 2010

Being my son is involved in Cub Scouts, they have their annual fishing derby at a local pond and the scouts look forward to this every year. Weather wasn't going to cooperate very well for the scouts but they were troopers none the less. It was to be held Saturday morning but with lightning in the air, it was rescheduled to Sunday morning.

Sunday morning came and there were overcast skies, with rain following suit not to much later. It rained most of the morning while the fishing went on but these guys were not going to let that get into their ways. Their minds were set to catch fish and every single one of them worked as hard as they could at doing that.

Everyone had to fish using the same basic equipment with no lures being allowed and livebait in the form of worms were the bait of the day. So everyone was targeting sunfish and hoping that a bass or trout would swim by to give them that edge for a bigger fish. Didn't take long and the first fish was caught and all of the boys were fired up and hard at work trying to catch their fish.

My son started fishing at a spot and within minutes already had a few sunfish registered and was on his way. There were 4 categories with a trophy for each that they all were fishing for with smallest fish, biggest fish, first fish and most fish. My son was holding his ground and was in the lead for most of the morning with most fish caught.

Unfortunately his spot starting drying up as well and kids were accumulating there and catching the fish as well. He decided to pickup and start moving around but wasn't able to find any more fish by doing that. I mentioned to him to go back to where he started and he caught a couple more but there was another boy that was slowly catching up to him and passed him in the final moments.

The rains were getting heavier and the fish were biting less and less so there was a mutual agreement to call it a day and award the trophies to the winning kids. All in all they all had a great time and will be looking forward to next year’s event. Only thing caught were numbers of sunfish and no one had caught that one big fish.

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Fishing May 23 2010

Weather in New England is finally starting to come around to where it needs to be. The weather today was sunny skies, light breeze, air temps in the low 70’s and the water temps were in the range of 67-69 degrees.

We were fishing in New Hampshire and this lake the weed growth is underway very nicely. Since it is spring figured to look for warm water to see if we could find some active fish. Our search was going to be looking for bass.

Started fishing on a shallow flat shelf that had pockets of weeds around the sand and rock. Tried plastic baits, spinnerbaits and rattle trap style baits with plastic being the only one that the fish seemed to want. But, the fish were not inhaling the bait and would have the tail end of it and came to the surface of the water only to throw the bait back at me.

After working around this flat with little success moved down the lake to a deep cove that has a rock shelf. Fished around and over this shelf with plastics and crankbaits and had only a perch to show for this area. Kept following around a small island and had the same thing happen on plastic bait again with them holding onto the tail and throwing the bait as the came to the surface.

This was getting frustrating and moved further down the lake to the dam and usually there is always a fish ort two there. With the flowing water fish generally park themselves there waiting for food to float by. Fished around this area and couldn’t get a bite there. Only had a couple of hours today to figure out what the fish wanted and where they were.

Started getting somewhat of a pattern going as they wanted something that moved a little slower as opposed to chasing down a faster bait. With the water temps higher than I had expected, these fish should either be in spawn or possibly coming out of spawn already.

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Fishing May 16 2010

Fishing is a little slow at this time of year yet but as the days get warmer and the waters start to warm, it won’t be long and the action will take off. Arrived at the lake at 645 am and there were a few boats already out on the water.

Skies were sunny with a stiff northerly wind blowing down the length of the lake and the water temps are still a brisk 57-58 degrees. Weed growth looks to be coming in very nicely and hasn’t gotten to the surface yet but has the lush green colors that we anglers look for.

Since we are in the pre-spawn phase, I decided to start in the front face of a mouth creek that has depths of water from 3-6 feet deep. Working plastic bait around the clumps of weeds was searching to finding some of the bigger fish. Many anglers were running the shorelines searching for those fish to yank on their lines.

Had a few solid bites but these fish seemed to be nipping at the bait and not committing themselves to it. Moved around and left in search of other areas. Went to a productive deep shoreline and decided to go with the wind and work a crankbait covering lots of water here.

Was using a deeper diving crank and casting towards shore and bring it out into deeper water while dragging the bottom. Wasn’t long and had a solid hit and a fat little 1.5 pound largemouth came swimming to the surface. That felt good and wanted more but worked all the way to the other end of the lake and didn’t get another fish.

Moved back up the lake and started the same crank bait along this shoreline and then swung the boat out into deeper water between the two points. Right as I got to where the water drops off into the main lake another largemouth took my crankbait. Wasn’t much size to this one but a fish is a fish.

Went back to the creek mouth and worked this area over again with plastics and missed another couple of fish. Moved to a wind blown point shoreline with the crankbait and couldn’t find anything there either. All in all it was a fun day, windy, would have liked more fish but as the waters warm they will be coming.

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Fish are Shallow

The ice season is gone in New England and in fact the open water has been here for quite sometime. With the nice sunny warming days as of late, the local ponds are warming quite nicely. With the warming waters about us, this will bring the fish into the shallows for their spring ritual. This time of year is a perfect time to get your kids out there fishing as the action could be non-stop. Panfish and bass are invading the shorelines and can be caught with and in a variety of ways. Enjoy a nice warm summery afternoon sitting along a pond shoreline and see for yourself. In most cases it shouldn't take to much work for getting kids into some action and watching them catch these fish is something that you will take with you for years to come.

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Fishing April 11 2010

The ice is gone and has been for quite some time and lately the rains have left and the sun has found its way to New England. With the darker waters of our local ponds this is allowing the suns rays to warm these waters much earlier this spring compared to most.

In turn, this will bring this spring spawn season weeks in advance and now is the time to get out there and enjoy some good fishing. We headed to a local pond as we only had an hour or two and my young son wanted to get his open water season underway.

With excitement in the air, fishing rod in our hands, and rigged and ready to catch fish we went to a local pond for a little shore fishing. There is an area that I like to fish here from shore that is a corner of the pond that has access to deep water, has a weed flat near shore and usually a good area for early spring fishing.

Today’s bait choice was going to be fishing T.H.E. Jig, (Totally Hot Everyday Jig) underneath a float. Color choices that were productive were the purple/green and chartreuse/white combinations. No live bait is needed when fishing these baits as these are small hair jigs that dance in the water representing insects and emerging larva.

It didn’t take long and fish were being located and caught and our first crappie of the open water season was in hand. No real big ones were caught as the general size was around 8 inches long but they were very black and won’t be long and they will be spawning.

The trick to catching fish in this area was to cast out as far as you could and had the float set at 18-24 inches in depth. We worked this area as well as a little further down the shoreline and in the short time that we were there caught 10 fish for our efforts. 4 crappies, 3 sunfish, 2 bass and a 1 perch, quite a variety of fish species as they were caught only on these two jigs.

Wanted to stay longer and see if the bigger crappies came in as the sun got lower, but my young son had other plans on his mind. All in all was a very good day out for our first open water trip and now we are pumped and ready to bring on the open water season. Next trip hopefully will be in the boat in search of largemouth bass.

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Open Water is Near

Ice season in New England is a memory as of late and the open water season is coming onto the horizon. Many anglers are getting excited with the coming fishing season and for those that don't fish on the ice, it has been a long time coming. Boats are starting to appear more on the roads and bait shops are starting to hop once again. Spring is a wonderful time here in New England and I know that we can't wait to get onto the open water. Panfish are going to be hungry as well as the bass will be roaming and searching for an easy meal. Get your equipment ready and spool on some new line as a new fishing season is upon us.

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Ice is Fading

The ice season here in New England is coming to an abrupt end. Warming winds and rain have taken the ice to unsafe conditions and many shorelines are open water these days. This is a sure sign that spring is around the corner but also a time to make sure our young anglers are not putting themselves into danger. The ice is looking inviting to the unknown angler but what is forgotten is that the ice is very thin and will not support the weight of an angler. Keeping our young anglers away from the waters edge at this time is very important as we want them to enjoy the coming open water season. Take some precautions and keep a sharp eye out so that we all can enjoy another day on the lake.

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Fishing February 20

Weekends sure seem to take a long time to get here and once they are here you blink your eyes and they are gone again. We should have two day work weeks and 5 day weekends and then I couldn't be more happier.

Plans were to head to New Hampshire and fish our favorite bass lake and unfortunately we haven't been able to get up there this season compared to weekly last year. Traveling on the ice is fairly easy at this point as the snow has melted again leaving bare ice. Winds were blowing as every day it seems this winter but the temps were near 50 and made for a decent day on the ice.

We were fishing an area that comes out of a channel between to lakes and as you enter this part of the lake, there is an underwater deep point. We had holes drilled in ranges from 10 feet out to 16 feet of water. Was marking fish in most holes but a lot of lookers versus being biters.

My son was going to be the one that tried to catch most fish today and it took him a number of failed hook sets before he finally started getting his groove together. These fish were not inhaling the baits as they were more or less nipping at the tails.

Over the course of the day I think he said that we had caught 12 in total with 1 perch, 1 smallmouth, 1 pickerel and 9 largemouth bass to show for our efforts. All in all it was a good day and we have seen better on this particular lake but as long as the two of us are enjoying our time on the ice, in my mind that is all that matters.

We are counting the days already for our next adventure and may have to switch gears and head to our favorite crappie hole. Seems that we haven't seen to much ice time this season but hopefully the next few weeks we can pick up the pace as late ice is coming and this is the prime time of our ice fishing season.

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