Bass Fishing from Striped Bass to Largemouths and Smallmouths
Monday, March 7, 2016
Well, the ice is off almost all the water around here. That hasn't kept me from fishing, but I need to get a 2016 fishing license before my line hits the water.
The winter has been so warm that it has been pretty dangerous for ice fishing to even venture out on most of the rivers, ponds, and lakes because of the thin ice. Just last weekend I saw a family fishing on their farm's little pond. The temperatures have been warm and it looked like that pond only had a skim of ice over it. I was just hoping that it wasn't very deep.
I'm getting my fishing gear ready to go. Check out http://good4metoo.com/ for some good deals.
Let's see how soon I can catch something good to eat!
Friday, February 13, 2015
It has been a while since I blogged. I have always loved to go surfcasting for stripers. Back when I was little, I used to go fishing with my father. Sometimes my uncle would come along. With my father and uncle, we would fish mostly from beaches that we accessible by regular cars, not dune buggies.
My most memorable times were when we went with my uncle's neighbor in his dune buggy. We would pile all of our gear into the jeep and head out over to either Herring Cove or Race Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod to get onto the sand. Then we would follow the gulls and the fish down the beach.
Sometimes we fished during the day or all night long. I think it depended on the the moon most when we fished at night, now that I look back at it.
Most of the time we used sea worms. Even then I would put them on my own hooks. Even though I was scared of their pinchers, I still did it.
I have been out fishing from a charter boat just a few times. I really don't know why I haven't been going out to do more fishing that way. Maybe it is because many of my friends either don't like deep sea fishing or don't like to go out on boats at all. Thinking about it, I should never have listened to them, and I should have just gone on my own any way. Well, I know this charter boat captain, Captain Tom Miloleski. He and I have put together some great information for you. The two of us have a chat where he reveals some of his secrets for fishing for stripers. Some of his tips will work whether you are surf casting or fishing from a boat. It is loaded with some great information. He also has some recent up-to-date there as well. You can check out our chat by going to:
Did you ever take your kids or friends fishing while bragging that you know the BEST place to catch the big ones? Then live to eat your words because that day there didn't seem to be anything around other than the bait fish. The picture above was one of those days.
I more or less have been side-lined lately from fishing. Right at the moment I do most of my fishing from shore because I tore a ligament in my finger-wrist area. I have a bit of a hard time casting and reeling in my catch. This also limits me to land because I can't paddle my kayak; at least, I don't want to get stranded out in the water or on the other side of the river or lake.
After that, I started to read up on fish finders. This week I am ordering one. Since I am 'landlocked', I think it will be one of the Humminbird models. I can practice using it casting lefty to see how well it works. I know a few who have them and like them if you use them correctly. A couple of other folks complain about the ones they had, but after listening to them, I figured out that they never read the instructions; why doesn't that surprise me.
Over the winter I am going to fit my kayak with a fish finder too. It will be a Garmin Echo Color 300c Dual-Beam Fishfinder. The winter will give me the time to properly install it without me getting the urge to put the kayak in prematurely and not allowing enough time for the sealants to cure. I know that I would want to pop the kayak in water the moment I get the fish finder on the kayak.
One way or another, I am going to figure out where those big ones are hiding, and hook them (and most likely release them too). I can find the otters and beavers and swans and much more wildlife, but it is the fish that I want.
I tend to revisit the same fishing spots all the time. It is a habit. I am comfortable with these places. Last year I tried a couple different places, but they didn't pan out. I am pretty happy with trout, bass, perch, even hornpout/catfish. Most of the places I go to are along rivers or streams. A few are on ponds or lakes.
Now I have on my list a few new areas to test. I am not sure whether they will be good in the summer's heat or in the cooler weather of fall. I figure I will try them now in the hot summer. If they don't work out, I will go back in the fall and see if I get any bites.
I know if I see repeat bass fishermen along certain places, I might have a better chance there to hook a big bass. I know some spots that are great for fly fishing that I haven't gone to yet.
I know that I will be hitting some of these sweet fishing holes after the sun goes down. Now with so many cases of mosquitoes testing positive for West Nile Virus and EEE, I will have to load up on bug spray. I also have to watch out for those nasty ticks; in the spring I got one on me and came down with Lyme disease. That set me back a bit. I get a bit nervous going outdoors to go fishing because that is where I think I picked up that tick. Remember to put on the bug goop.
Let's see if I can catch a bass or trout or anything for that matter.
OK. This bass may not seem big to you BUT it was HUGE to my granddaughter. It was one of the first fish she ever caught. It is great for all of us to get out and go fishing. I think sometimes it is even more important to show the youth in the up-coming generation what fishing is all about:
Fun
Skill
Comradeship
Patience
Relaxation
So go out and show someone younger than you what fishing means to you before the end of this year's great fishing season...I want to go ice fishing, but that is a little cold for most kids unless they have really fished before.
One of the most valuable things that I have done is to keep a fishing journal.Here I write down when and where I went fishing and what the weather was like i.e. 4-6 am, 72°,raining heavily, Nashua River at Pepperell Pond or 7:45-9 pm, 96°, humid, very cloudy, on the Squannacook downstream from the grist mill in Townsend Harbor. Then I jot down what I caught and what bait were used to catch it; also list what lures were not successful.
If the body of water you fish has significantly different water levels over the course of the year, record those as well. This can have a major impact on the water temperature, flow, and oxygenation of the water. The temperature of the water is another major factor because certain fish prefer different temperatures. Trout like cold water with lots of oxygen and bass like warmer water, but not so warm that there is no enough dissolved oxygen for them.
Later if you are going to a certain location, you can go back and see what you successfully used for lures or bait and what time of day was good. Speaking of the time you may want to take into consideration how close to sunrise or sunset you were there. This is because the time alone can throw things off. If you decided to go to a certain place where you had been at 8pm in the middle of the summer, but now it was the autumn; it would be pitch dark in the fall. Think reasonably.
In your journal you may find that brightly colored lures are great towards the evening hours and on cloudy days dark colors attract more fish.
Keeping your journal for your local areas pays off big time in the long run. Whenever you are thinking about fishing in a certain spot where you have taken notes before, you can go to your journal and see what worked best. This way you cut down on your time experimenting with various baits and lures. Try these first before you cast out any others to test the water with.
Here's some folks fishing on the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzard's Bay down my the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
As you can see they have a few of those ponchos that you can keep in your tackle box that are about 4"x6". This way if all of a sudden the skies open up and start pouring down on you, you have a bit of protection for the day.
I know that it may be difficult to fold these up again to stuff back into that little envelope. First let the poncho dry out really well. On a hard, smooth surface make a few folds, then smooth out the plastic while you push out any air. Sometimes rolling the plastic up before folding it up more helps.
Remember do NOT stand out there in a thunder and lightning storm! Your fishing pole makes a great lightening rod. You do not want to be out there holding it when lightening strikes. Be safe.
