Fishing 2023

[JimG.]

4/14/23-East Branch Reservoir

Since the weather was like summer I figured it would be nice to take a row. It was sunny and hot but also breezy and dry so it was very pleasant. Did a bunch of trolling and Rich G. threw a ton of casts. I did not expect to catch anything so I was not surprised we didn't even get a bite. What did surprise me is that the reservoir was full to the brim. That's a good sign but we really need some moisture. Great way to spend a few hours on a Friday afternoon.

 

[ThatGuy]

I like that hat, great design

 

[BodeMiller1]

I had decent luck yesterday. Caught 3 or 4 brookies on worms. I'm looking forward to maybe getting a license this year.

 

[JimG.]

I like that hat, great design

Purchased during a camping trip to Lake George over 25 years ago.

 

[JimG.]

4/21-Rye Lake

Steve called and suggested an early season day at Rye Lake. Usually, we don't bother going there until mid-May. I suggested we meet at 11am and fish midday. Some spring days are spent in the boat catching nothing and I often think it's because we go at the same time, late afternoon to evening. So we switched things up and fished 11-4.

And we learned a good lesson by doing so. It turned out to be a great early season day. Consistent action from 12-3 and then after 3 the fishing died. We each boated a half dozen smallmouths in the 14-16" class. The fish were aggressive and hitting our plugs hard. I do enjoy plug fishing over worms because you get the full force of the hit when the fish bites. Great fun!

First fish of the season:



Me and Captain Steve:

 

[JimG.]

4/28-Rye Lake

Got out with Steve and Rich N. Cloudy, chilly, windy, and drizzly. Not great weather to be out in but OK with rain gear. Only gear I wish I had with me was gloves. Hands got cold! Put those into my gear bag when I got home.

The fishing was pretty good. More smallmouths in the 14-16" class, Still biting at the same array of plugs. Snapped a good pic of Rich N and then the weather just got too nasty to bother with the phone.



More good early bass action.

 

[JimG.]

5/9-Rye Lake

Back out with Steve today. We arrived at 1pm, hit the water, and both caught decent bass right off the bat...and then caught nothing for the next hour or so. Eventually we boated a few smaller bass and then at about 2:30 the action really turned on. We each boated 6 nice smallmouths like the one in the first pic and also a few smaller ones each. We each caught a few decent largemouths as well. The fish of the day belonged to Steve with a very nice pikerel. These are similar to pike and have a mouthful of sharp teeth. We've hooked these before and often lose them when they bite the line. But this time Steve managed to hook the fish right in the corner of the mouth and it couldn't bite the line. It did however struggle mightily after it was in the boat and it managed to slime up the entire front section as Steve struggled to unhook it. In the end it was released unharmed. Strikingly beautiful color pattern.



Off to a good start this season. I'm heading up to Pepacton reservoir this weekend to do some wading at Arena. Hoping to catch more smallmouths but also going to fish for trout.

 

[ThatGuy]

Thats a beautiful pickerel

 

[JimG.]

Yes there are quite a few nice ones in Rye Lake. We don't often hook them and usually lose them when we do. Steve was thrilled because it's the first one he was able to boat.

 

[JimG.]

5/16-Pepacton reservoir


Drove up solo late morning and arrived at Arena just before 1pm. Wadered up and walked down to Mill Creek. The res was full to the brim, verifying the online DEP report of 99.6% full. Unless the fish are biting fishing can be frustrating when the water is this high. The reservoir was backing up into Mill Creek which I have never seen before. And not surprisingly I caught nothing at the mouth of the creek which is usually good for 2 trout even on a bad day. Not encouraging.

There is only 1 spot at Arena that is fishable during high water. So, I made the hike of about 3/4 mile and started fishing at about 1:30. The first hour was not great. Nothing for the first 45 minutes. But the weather, which was sunny and very windy to start, started to cloud up and the wind, while still gusty, calmed a bit and the whitecaps diminished.

At about 2:30 I caught 2 smallmouth bass and decided it was time to switch lures. I put on a tiny brown trout colored sinking Rapala swimmer. My first cast with it landed me my best smallmouth of the day. Until 4:00 it turned from fishing into catching. The lure made a big difference. Numerous smallmouths, 7 good sized ones like the pic. And almost endless numbers of decent sized yellow perch, some weighing about a pound. Had a couple of 5 fish on consecutive casts periods in there. By 4:30 the action began to die down. I waited for about 20 minutes then landed 2 more smallmouths before calling it a day.

Rye Lake tomorrow.

 

[ThatGuy]

Got a few native browns and a brookie by Schroon Lake. Then hit the backyard creek and my dad pulled a monster brown.

 

[JimG.]

Nice Brown!

My buddy Steve's family has owned a vacation home on Loon Lake for decades. Such a great area. I have fished the Schroon River, mostly for rainbows using egg sacs.

 

[ThatGuy]

Loon lake is great, lots of little trout ponds from the Northway to the VT border in that area. Paradox Lake has good fishing as well.

 

[BodeMiller1]

^^^
Nice brook trout, butt to catch the chain pickerel is a fighter.

Interesting how your lure looks much like the trout, the red specks stand out. Some guy told me to use green flys at dusk. It worked.

 

[JimG.]

I have lures that mimic rainbow trout, yellow perch, shad, crayfish, and a variety of shiners. Anything that resembles native forage fish works for catching bass depending on the time of year.

 

[ThatGuy]

They were hitting today at the Battenkill

 

[BodeMiller1]

On the Turkey River Now, Concord N. H.
St. Paul's School stocks the headwaters. Then Big Turkey Pond, then another. Then the Turkey River, runs into The Merrimack at Bow Junction.
Everything is in there, good to very good trout...

 

[ThatGuy]

Hook got caught in one so it made a nice snack…personally hate killing fish but sometimes you have to

 

[JimG.]

5/19-Rye Lake



A windy day on Rye Lake. Wind from the south at 16 gusting to 26 mph. Marginal conditions for a rowboat. A rare day where we shared the rowing time.

But well worth it. Once we got to the southern shoreline our wind exposure diminished and we were able to cast effectively. Another good smallmouth day. Steve hooked another pikerel; hooked it close to the corner of the mouth, but the line got near those sharp teeth and the fish broke off. Steve was not happy to lose his lure nor that the lure was in the fish's mouth.

I caught a dozen smallmouths, most of them like the one in the pic. I caught a few small browns as well. Good day!

Next day out this coming Tuesday. Heading out from Clinton, CT for stripers.

 

[JimG.]

5/23-Long Island Sound off Clinton, CT

Chartered a boat with my fishing buddies from childhood. Went out for stripers but they were not biting. Wound up catching many sea bass (I caught at least 30). I also boated a random bluefish that I snagged right between the eyes. Hooked it right down to the brain, fish came aboard DOA. Pretty funny. As always a great trip that ended with a fine seafood dinner at "Rocky's Aqua" with good friends.