Take Kids Fishing!

 
   Most of my fishing started in a small river down the street from where i grew up in Stamford, CT.  The river had a deep pool that housed Sunnies, Bass, Turtles, and eels.  My passion for fishing was born on this little no name river, and not in an exotic location with giant fish.

Early Morning Fun

        Last night my mother threw together a nice dinner of cold cuts, fresh garden vegetables, and all kinds of salad.  The theme was a dinner that did not require her to turn the stove on.  My Wife, her friend, and I drove over with some ice cream for desert.  After eating and drinking Savage Ed said "I want to go fishing tomorrow".  I said, "see you at 5".  We were both half in the bag, and i didn't know if i was going to make it, or if he would make it.

Heat Wave 2011

  

    The weather out side is frightful.  Yesterday it hit 102 and today it is in the upper 90's.  Needless to say i have been sitting in my nice AC a lot tying a bunch of EP Flies.  New York City which is only  a 40 minute train ride away has issued several air quality alerts and people are crowding  into grand central to escape.   I for one am very happy to have the two hottest days of the heat wave off.  Thank god i am not at work doing anything outside at the sewage treatment plant. 
   Despite the heat we have been catching fish.  Yesterday Jan and i took a beach fishing excursion.  Sometimes i just like to keep it simple and walk the beach.  On the way down to the beach 1010 Wins AM radio made it sound if you go outside you will die from the heat.  The bank's clock flashed 4:47am/76 degrees.  The short walk down to the beach was like the Baton Death march.  Thank God for breathable waders!  We were already sweating bullets by the time we hit the beach.  The bugs were out too, Nice.  The fish were not out.  We endured hot house conditions for 2 hours.  Jan caught 1 rat blue.  I had to get going anyway since i had a nail in my tire.  I wanted to plug it while it was not 100 degrees.  The tire plugging when very well.
    Today I launched the boat in darkness by myself and the air felt like forgiveness.  It was 72 degrees, but the atmosphere was not as thick and I even had a little breeze going.  I have noticed in my last few trip bait is abundant.  I have seen mummies, white bait, tiny bunker, and snapper blues.  I have tied flies that look like there baits.  During this morning's trip i had a Snapper Fly ready.  Even though the heat is terrible fishing is good.  I found a blitz of big blue early.  The blues were feeding heavily on their babies early.  At one point i saw thousands of snappers jumping out of the water.  Unfortunately, i could not hook anything.  Sometimes i find the big 10lb blues to be very selective.  I motored out of that spot with a feeling of defeat; however, that would change at location #2.  Blitz!  These were bass and bass eat anything.  I grabbed 3 fish before the action ended for the day.  It was only 830 and I could feel the heat already, so it was back to the barn for me.  I did feel good about catching some fish on my EP snapper fly.  Now to relax inside and watch some baseball. 

Clams!!!!

    It took a while, but today i was able to get out on the clam beds with my trusty $80 rake.  Between lots of spring rain, work, and life i have been unable to get a favorable tide to clam.  This morning the tide was dead low from the moon and the weather was calm.  After catching a few fish in a worm spawning event at the ramp i hit the throttle and pointed the bow at the clam beds.  Wow! the tide was low this morning.  I jumped out with my rake and basket and put the hammer down on a limit of clams. 

Birthday Luck

    Low Moon Tides, Rocks, Mud Flats, Bait, and a few Fish.  Could there be a better way to spend your birth day????   Well, JanD.  was able to spend his birthday among the Rocks, Mud Flats, and Fish.   My gift, Flies, the gift that keeps giving.   I presented him with three deceivers and a crab fly when i picked him up this morning.   We loaded up his gear and headed for the ramp.

Blue Plate Specail

  
  Summer is in full swing!  We just finished using up our fireworks stash from the forth, when Derek Jeter Hits number 3000,  We need more fireworks!  Oh, and the fishing is great too.  This morning Jan and I left the dock in hopes of slaying some porgies for dinner, however, we found a nasty bluefish attack!  Top water  Zoom Flukes and Jumping Minnows sealed the deal, and made for an unforgettable morning.  In total we landed 8 blues on light tackle in shallow water.  What a great day!

Rubbers

   
Sleep has been hard to come by the past several days for a number of reasons.  I figured the best way to cure "I'm tired" was to spend some time on the water.  Normally, after several hours on the water I am ready for bed.  I believe the sun drains a lot of energy out of you, much like the cold does when you are duck hunting or ice fishing.  Jan D. and i decided to go out Saturday morning for a few hours, so after a sleepless night i picked him up and headed for the ramp.  The tide was to be low at around 630am and it last of the moon tides.  Low tides in the morning are one of my favorite settings to fish.  When the tide bottoms out all the rocks and reefs are exposed, trapping bait.  Bass and blues set up patrols along the edges of the rocks waiting for a bait fish to make a mistake.  I grew up fishing the rocks at low tide from Jan's 16 ft Maritime Skiff, and the experience has served me well.  I can maneuver my little aluminum in tight quarters around the rocks, positioning for the perfect cast. 

       As the sun came up we were already setting up our own patrol among the rocks in search of fish.  It did not take long for Jan to lace into the first fish of the day just as the sun peaked over the horizon.  I am sure he was thrilled to see stripes on its side and not a nasty sea robin come to the boat. 
     Most of the time I have a fly rod in hand, however, today i just took out my 10lb spinning outfit, because it needed some exercise.  We stalked the mud flats and rocks with great precision, and were able to take a bunch of fish.  I would like to point out we had several fish follow our slug-go's to the boat with out taking it.  If we did catch most of those followers it would have been a banner day.  So for the morning we took a bunch of bass, 3 rat blues, and got eaten off by 2 bigger blues that were laid up on the edge of a mud flat.  all on Slug-Go's and Zoom flukes! 
    When i got home and washed the boat i was very tired and hit the rack for 6 hours.  If you find your self suffering from sleep deprivation just go fishing.  It really works.

This one goes out the wondering woods hippie

RUGER LCP!!!! HAPPY 4th OF JULY WEEKEND!!!!!!!

   
Today i felt the need to exercise my rights, so i took the Drive up to Hoffman's Gun Exchange in Newington CT.