Look Closely

My friend Chris and I fished a few days ago in the waters off of southern Rhode Island.  We hadn't fished together in a while so it would be a fun trip no matter what the results.  Morning light was just peaking over the horizon as we steamed east towards a couple local reefs that hold fish all summer, an area where we have had some fantastic mornings catching striped bass on fly rods.

As soon as we arrived at our usual first spot to look around, several small bluefish showed themselves along a ripline. We decided to have a little fun and stretch our lines on a few of them. We rigged up shock tippets with old flies and hooked fish on just about every cast for maybe 20 minutes before we decided to check for some stripers at a few other regular haunts.

Bluefish Double

Bluefish littered the surface everywhere we looked.  They can often plague a striper fishing trip, out-competing bass and destroying flies, but on this day they proved a necessary ally to our success with linesides.  When we finally found the bass we were looking for, the seemingly endless bluefish schools in the area drew most of the other boats to them, leaving the bass all to us!

The schools of blues were more obvious than the bass.  They ravaged baitfish at the surface while flocks of terns and gulls bombed from above. The striper feed was much more subtle, they glided slowly across the surface exposing their dorsal fins and the tops of their tails. They were holding tight to one corner of the reef, on most drifts you only had a couple shots at the fish and then it was over. The birds, being occupied with the bluefish leftovers, didn't bother to follow the stripers so you really had to look for them. 

Myself and Chris with a couple of the average fish from the morning.

The stripers we caught averaged 28-30 inches in length, a great size fish for a fly rod. Only a couple were under the legal size of 28 inches. As a bonus I landed the lunker of the day, a 36 inch fish, weighing somewhere in the mid to high teens (my biggest striper on fly to date!) The bite was finicky at best  and the preferred flies were small and flashy to match the peanut bunker they were feasting on.

The 36" bass took me well into the backing of my 10 weight set-up

It was a fun morning as always with one of my oldest fishing buddies, Can't wait to do it again!

Tuna Tales

Had the opportunity to join a few friends on a "light tackle" tuna trip off the coast of cape cod this morning.  We left the dock around 4:45am and were soon greeted by a stunning sunrise.

We made it to the fishing grounds soon after and were immediately surrounded by breaching humpback whales.  The still mornings silence was interrupted by spouting blow holes and tail slaps from all around us.  We marked tuna on the sonar and started making casts with large spinning gear rigged with near-surface plugs.  We had several tuna follow our baits, but no takers right away.  

The number of whales in the area was nothing short of incredible, at any point throughout the morning we had one or several pods in eyesight.  Some as close as 50 feet from the boat.

Finally we got a tuna to play ball! Capt. Dom hooked it on a jig below the boat and the battle began.  He passed the rod to George who dealt with several blistering runs and got the fish below the boat before he threw in the towel and handed the rod off to Tom.  They say these fish will test your tackle, One run under the boat by the fish while the rod was at just too high of an angle and it exploded, as if landing a 100+lb fish wasn't hard enough!

Tom's arms couldn't handle it anymore and he passed the rod to Jim, who brought the fish home, short rod and all!

The bluefin tuna was just legal size to keep, Tuna between 60" and I believe 72" need to be released, Ours was just under the 60" mark and Capt. Dom estimated it to weigh around 130-150 lbs. A truly impressive creature (and a delicious one at that) Tuna sashimi on the gunwale of the boat during a lull in the action. Soy sauce and wasabi are kept aboard for such reasons.

In addition to the tuna we caught and released several striped bass in the 20-40lb range. All caught incidentally on the same plugs we fished for tuna.  According to regulations the bass can't be kept farther than 3 miles from shore and aren't to be removed from the water more so than necessary to safely remove the hooks.  Tom and Capt. Dom unhooking a bass in that weight range.

With good reason, several whale watch boats out of cape cod were using the same area.  Here are some customers getting what they paid for!

It was a great day on the water.  Lots of great sights and a cooler full of tuna! Thanks Capt. Dom, Jim, George and Tom for making it a fun day on the water!


The End

Slacking!

It's true. I have been slacking in the writing blogs department, although I do have plenty to write about.  I have fished 19 times since my last post just under a month ago in both fresh and saltwater.  Here's a few highlights and photos.

May 1st - 7th I fly fished RI's south shore salt ponds every day in the well known cinder worm hatches.  I found lots of worms from the beginning which seemed to diminish by the 4th or 5th.   There were fish to be found every day, but the number and size increased substantially between the beginning of the week and just a few days in.  By the end of the week it seemed like it was all over and the fish had left town.

 A cinder worm. Candy to a striped bass.

The surface of the water littered with cinder worms and few swirling stripers.

A nice fly caught schoolie, unhooked and free to leave

My brother doing battle with his first RI striper of the year

A squid, foul hooked, but calamari none the less

I fished a couple times for the following week, picking off a few stripers here and there at various coastal spots.  On the weekend of 5/13-5/15 I fished freshwater all weekend with my brother in CT.  We did well on both smallmouth and largemouth bass and while my brother schooled me (pun intended!) on numbers of smallies, I took the cake with a slammer largemouth on my third cast Friday evening.  Since I rarely fish freshwater it was nice to take such a big bass. I have only landed one largemouth larger in my life and it was when I fished freshwater on a near daily basis. 

Broke out the 5 wt on Saturday off the dock. Mega smallmouth. 

A little later that day from my kayak with the same 5 weight.  My biggest fly rod largemouth to date.

Last week was a wet one, windy too! The rain didn't want to let up making fishing possible yet uncomfortable....  I stayed in most days.  I did get out a few times, for a couple scattered stripers on fly.  Hoping this next week proves fishy, I have a new 7wt to try out on schoolies, custom built by my friend John. 

Easter Weekend Bass

Saturday of easter weekend was almost a wash.  I woke up to rain and wind and fishing didn't seem like an option.  I made some coffee and sat down at the vise to tie some flies I have had in my head.  I tied a half dozen "mushmouths", a pattern by Dave Skok, a well known New England fly tier, fly fisherman and photographer. I added a couple clouser minnows to the done pile and took a ride to bass pro shops in Foxboro to kill time and restock on thread. 

I drove back to CT for the evening and got back with just enough time for my brother and I to fish a local lake for the last hour or so of light. We went old school and fished from a canoe with not much besides two spinning rods and a few lures.  Bill had all the success, landing 3 smallmouth bass, all on a small crankbait.

By 5 am this morning we were hitched up to our friend Chris's boat and heading south along the river to Old Saybrook.  We launched in a dense fog that never lifted and headed to a few early season schoolie haunts after hearing reports that they were here.  The water was high, filled with debris, and a chocolaty brown color.  It was a slow ride south and without a compass and gps, we might still be out there! Spot number one yielded no results, we didn't even see fish spook off the shallow flats like we normally would when they arive.  Spot two brought a quick bite for Bill, a striper about 22" long (this would be our only fish of the morning). We fished a while longer and called it a morning. I think the water needs to drop and clear up a bit, as well as probably warm up a few degrees before the bite turns on.

Bill with a pound and a half smallmouth

 

A foggy steam out.

Bill's striper 

Time to Fish

I was able to fish a couple times this week, a little less than I like, but it's only the beginning!  Both times I fished solo from my kayak. I started last weekend on a small freshwater pond in my hometown.  It's generally a good bet for an early spring bite for a variety of species.  Fishing was a little slower than usual, and the water was still cold, but  I managed to catch several pickeral and two small largemouth bass, all fell for a small black and gold floating rapala plug.

Thursday I fly fished for holdover stripers in RI.  It was a calm warm day and it was too nice not to go out.  I stuck with one fly, a 6" olive over white mega mushy (the small version).  I have found that fishing these larger flies produces a lot of strikes, but a lower hook-up ratio than most smaller patterns.  I missed quite a few takes, but was able to land two stripers, the first was right around keeper size (28") and the second was about 20".  Not long after sunset the bite stopped completely and I called it a night. 

Some photos from the week.

 Not the most desirable species, but my first fish of the year!

A small largemouth

First striper of the year

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Posting has been slow lately for good reason, there isn't much to do! The weather has still been on the cold side, with plenty of rain and even a little snow in the mix too.  Spring is definitely close to being in full swing, but a hint of winter is still in the air.

Soon striped bass will begin to flood into the rivers, salt ponds, and other estuaries and thus keep me occupied for the months to follow. Fly fishing for stripers has become an obsession of mine over the years and each year the itch gets worse.

Besides these migratory bass, small populations of resident or "holdover" stripers exist in a few places around CT and RI and offer an earlier option to catch fish each year.  Colder water and air temperatures can make it more difficult, but it can be rewarding.  I tagged along with a couple friends earlier this week to chase a few of these resident bass. It was a nice afternoon to be on the water, but only one fish cooperated and ate John's olive over white deceiver.

I tried to match the meal of choice for the bass, a herring, with an appropriate fly.  I matched the fly with my beer of choice while taking a break from the fishing.

Mist Netting - Common Eiders

Out of all the waterfowl species in North America, the least is known about sea ducks.  Research is difficult because the birds spend much of their lives on the ocean and breed in hard to reach, arctic regions.  Efforts are increasing every year though, and biologists are learning more.

Rhode Island is the winter home to several sea duck species. Common eider, surf, black, and white-wing scoter, oldsquaw, and harlequin ducks are all winter regulars along the coast of new england. Last year we began attempting to catch a few.  Our most successful method was using a large "mist" net, spanned across a stretch of water, surrounded by decoys to lure the birds in close. The birds see the decoys, attempt to land with them, then hit and get tangled in the net.  There was certainly a learning curve involved with setting the nets and getting the birds to play ball, but a year or so of experience is certainly showing. 

With black duck trapping about done for the season, we decided to take advantage of some fair weather this week and go on a couple trips for fun.  We split up and scoured the coast for sea ducks, Josh came back with the best report: 1500-2000 eider in a shallow rocky area right near shore and short run from a boat ramp. Perfect! 

Day one (Tuesday) went well. Everything went smooth and we were able to trap 8 common eider, 2 of which were previously banded. A complete lack of wind and bright sun made the nets stand out and the birds became quickly wary. 

Day two (Thursday) went amazing! Setting the net using two rock piles as a funnel and a little more breeze to hide the net and help direct the birds helped us catch 35 eider.  Again 2 of the birds were previously banded.  

Our target for this week - Common Eider

Success! Our first bird on day one was previously banded in Nova Scotia in 2004.

A hen makes her approach and hits the net.

A drake trapped in the net. 

Sunrise - 3/17/11

Some eiders that made it over the net.

mug shot

Gotta love when the anchor hooks a cluster of blue mussels. I wonder why the eiders are there!

Before

and after!