Canoes and Rubber Worms

    Recently I picked up a 15 foot Old Town square end canoe.  I got it at a Dick's Sporting Goods on a really great sale.  I figured it would be great for fishing small lakes for Large Mouth Bass and other fish that inhabit these places.  I also figured it would be a great puddle duck hunting vehicle since it is in OD green.  The canoe has a forward and aft seat with a bench in the middle.  The bench has a sealed hatch for your stuff and a box of ammo  and what not.  then it has 3 cup holders for beverages. The square end is reinforced with wood and can take up to a 4.5 hp engine.  One day i will get a 3.5 for it but not anytime soon.
    Today was the canoes Maiden Voyage.  My buddy Tony and I grabbed a few rods, a cooler with ice, and threw the canoe on the roof of the jeep.  We chose to hit a Bass Management Lake about 45 minutes away.  Paddling the canoe requires a little more effort due to the extra beam and keel, but is manageable.  We each caught a bunch of bass on 4.5 inch purple rubber worms.  Other than that we spent the afternoon paddling around and having a bunch of laughs.  In all we got about 15 bass.  I did notice the lake was full of nice sized sunfish.  I will have to take the 4wt out next time for these guys. I am overall very happy adding a canoe to the line up.  I prefer it better than the yak since i can add and engine, take dog, load it with decoys, and a second person.

On the Ice

   Well, here we are, at the end of winter.  What have I been doing since duck season closed?  Ice Fishing.  We got another treat of really cold weather this year, and Ice conditions are amazing.  Every body of water is locked up nice and tight, and I won't have a problem getting on the lakes into March.  I have been lucky enough to get out once a week or so with my friends and that makes a miserably cold winter go by fast.  To be honest, I really look forward to ice fishing, and I am bummed out when we get a mild winter.  Here are some of our highlights from the ice. 

   Spring is right around the corner and even though it will take weeks to melt the snow and ice off I have begun tying some trout flies.  Like everyone else I am looking forward to spring and open water fishing.  

I Have Good Friends

 

America!

 The calendar year is just about over.  People are preparing for parties and making resolutions they will never keep.  My friends and I, on the other hand, are busy making fishing and hunting plans to keep us busy all winter long.  This morning I got a call from a friend who wanted to do a combo duck hunt clamming adventure.  How could anyone pass a day like that up.

     Long story short.  Tons of sea ducks.  We tried a new spot and we were off the"X" and only shot two birds.  Clamming was hot and heavy, because they don't move around.  Happy New Year!

Well, That Escalated Quickly

 

The other day I had a  few hours to hunt in the morning.  I got up and out of bed.  As i went through my normal morning rutine of making coffee and brushing my teeth my hunting buddy sent me a text.  He was not able to make it.  I thought for a second about going back to bed and how good that would feel.  But as I looked out the window i could see the flag hanging stright down like it was in a picture.  The high temps for the day were going to be around 50, so i could not pass the day up, and besides, the boat was all ready hooked up to the Jeep.  I got going and had no problem getting the boat in.  On the ride out i was debating weather or not I should go over to my honey hole or try something new.  I decided to try a new spot that I have always seen birds frequent.

   The tide was almost all the way out when I got to the spot.  I was glad to see that, as black ducks and brant like t frequent the uncovered rocks at low tide to feed on the exposed vegetation or what ever else they can find.  It made the task of setting out the decoys a little tricky, but i got it.  I decided to run 15 Old Squaw decoys mixed with 6 of the foam Herters decoys that I painted to look like Old Squaw on 2 long lines.  Now I could tell the weather was nice and the surface of the Sound looked like a mirror.  I know when it is really calm the Buffleheads come out of the harbors and zip around the open water.  I threw in 4 Bufflehead decoys as well to pull a few of them in.  I anchored the boat 10 yards from the decoys and got the blind up.
      It seemed to take forever for the first bird to come in.  I just got done loading the gun and 3 were already landing in the decoys.  The first shot folded up the Drake and the hen next to him.  The second shot killed the other hen.  I was about 3 minutes into the hunt and i just downed 3 Old Squaw with 2 shots.  I would have let the third hen go  but its hard now that I no longer have a pump gun.  Running a semi-auto is cool.    Here in CT we can Kill 5 sea ducks no more than 4 can be Scoter and no more than 4 can be Old Squaw.  I had several more flights come in but I just didn't want to end my hunt in 10 minutes.  As the sun got a little higher I could see birds flying around all over.  My day dreams were filled with images of a golden eye, scoter, scaup, bufflehead, or merganser coming in, but all the birds flying were old squaw.  It was like someone shook a bee hive.  Finally, I had a nice drake come into the decoys and I shot him down.
    Sea Ducks are a separate limit from ducks and geese so I decided to stay out.  I didn't have to wear gloves and the jacket came off.  I did notice a pair of black ducks land about 100 yards away in the rocks.  I was hopeful they would paddle up to my boat so i could jump shoot one but they went the other way.  Some brant flew by but not with in range.  At 830am  i packed it in.  What a great day it was.