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