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Date: March 28, 2020 Body of Water: Spot Pond, Lower Mystic Lake and Mystic River below Amelia Earhart Dam Moon Phase: New Moon + 3 days Boat: None, Shore fishing With: Alone Target: Stocked Trout, Striped Bass or Whatever Time: 9 AM - 1:30 PM Conditions: 35 - 55 degrees F; Clear and bright but becoming cloudy; mild southerly winds; rain expected the next day Needing to avoid crowds and yet, not wanting to travel, I decided to try Spot Pond for the first time. This reservoir is scenic and was recently stocked with rainbow trout. While I don't want to chase the hatchery trucks, with the cold water conditions and my limited local knowledge and experience, trout still seem to be the best local option (despite my run of bad luck with respect to getting any bites.) By 9 AM, I was set up behind the water plant on the eastern shore of Spot Pond. Working along the rip rap dam, I was hopeful that a trout would crystalize in the clear depths before me. But an hour of floating shiners, throwing spoons, and presenting crawlers along the bottom resulted in no contact with any fish. I relocated to Straw Point at the pond's north end, and this too, seemed trouty. Another pleasant hour of effort here resulted in more of the same; nothing. From here, I went to Lower Mystic Lake, below the dam. Here, I did have an actual fish bite, on a Carolina-rigged crawler floated off bottom with half of a small marshmallow. The light rod was bucking pretty good, but when I wound down on the fish, my weight was rocked up; and the fish came off before I could extricate my rig from the bottom. I confidently cast my last shiner to this same area, but with a bit too much enthusiasm. I cast it off, and it sailed away before I had a chance to swim it. I knew the tide was likely not favorable, but my last stop was on the Mystic, in the salty water below the Amelia Earhart Dam. I've heard rumors of some herring moving, and this is a known striper holdover spot, too. I caught the last half of the rising tide here (I think it will fish better on a falling tide), and in an hour of casting a small swim-bait, once again, nothing happened. Well, with this exception; I did see a couple of small groups of herring in the clear water. So, I'll declare it to be at least possible to fool a striper here, now. Unlikely; but possible. What do I have to say about this? The COVID-19 situation continues to worsen and prudent Social Distancing measures are gradually becoming more extreme. This was a pleasant way to spend a few hours while not threatening public health. But, I'm not too sure how much longer a session such as this will be possible; several states have prohibited fishing, and neighboring Rhode Island just escalated their stay-at-home measures to everything but bare essentials. But, Spring is finally (marginally) here (even though Winter was extraordinarily mild.) Forsithias are in bloom; Pinkletinks are singing on Martha's Vineyard; and at least one local Magnolia tree is festooned with its flowers. The eagles are still at the Mystic Lake dam, and there's at least half a dozen herring waiting to run upstream! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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Date: March 22, 2020 Body of Water: Horn and Walker Ponds - Woburn, Massachusetts Moon Phase: New Moon minus 2 days Boat: None, Shore fishing With: Alone Target: Stocked Trout and Chain Pickerel Time: Noon - 4 PM Conditions: Sunny and clear, with light winds; 32 - 38 degrees F; approaching Nor'easter The high skies and cold night did not bode well for fishing success, but I hoped that the warmth in the afternoon shallows might get something going. And, fishing quietly by oneself is a Social Distance-approved past-time during these times of COVID-19. With almost a dozen lively minnows in the garage and a variety of other baits ready to go, why not give it a shot? I set up on the eastern side of Horn Pond, at what I will call Dead Baby Memorial Point. In addition to some parking and access here, the former lock system touches the shoreline here, and I thought the structure and deeper water might funnel some fish right by me. I was smart to bring my waders; this let me bypass a 30-foot strip of too-shallow water right along shore. Standing up to me knees in the water, I could see the dredged hole and adjacent stone wall of the locks; this provided a nice target to work over with my baits. In a couple hours of effort, I had several tentative pull-downs and periods of harassment with shiners. No other baits were disturbed. Unfortunately, none of the fish committed to eating the shiners, and so I chose to look for more fertile and warmer water at nearby Walker Pond. I'd run across Walker Pond during some errands earlier in the week, and it certainly reminded me of my childhood haunts. Small and distressed, but perhaps overlooked; and it seemed to be shallow, dark-bottomed, and likely further along towards Spring than Horn Pond. I'd be trading my pursuit of trout for chasing pickerel; but equipped with shiners, I was okay with that. The access to this pond is a little less than scenic, but I noticed right away that some pads were reaching for the surface (already!), and green, filamentous algal growth had started on the dark, soft bottom. I had to adjust my floats to keep my shiners out of this muck, but once I did, they worked hard for me. At least three were harassed and/or hit by fish (small bass? pickerel?), but once again, none of these predators committed to actually eating the bait. After an hour of this, I returned to Horn Pond, hoping to catch the last of the day's "warmth". I tried a different spot, over by the Water Works ramp. Relying mostly on shiners and spoons (but still offering worms, Gulp! and waxies, too), I continued my string of skunks. A small boat trolling with an electric motor caught a nice rainbow a hundred yards from me as he returned to the ramp to pick up a buddy. He excitedly reported "Silver spoons!" as he picked up his friend and turned back to the small cove to the west. There, he reportedly had a group of "900 brookies" located. So, the fish are there for the taking; just not from my selected spots. What do I have to say about this? There are much worse problems at the moment than not catching fish. This was a pretty pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Walker Pond will "weed up" by early Spring, but probably has some potential for bluegills, Senkos and topwaters, and maybe even for ice fishing. I saw and heard of a couple of folks catching some trout on Horn, so that's certainly possible. The addition of my waders made my trip more comfortable and productive, and I've been able to maintain the shiners with aeration in the garage. So, Hey! It's still March!, but I'm already prepared for the next trip! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: March 8, 2020 Body of Water: Horn Pond and Lower Mystic Lake Moon Phase: Full Moon minus one day Boat: None, Shore fishing With: Alone Target: Rainbow Trout Time: 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM Conditions: Mostly cloudy; 40 50 degrees F, but with a persistent NW wind in excess of 10 mph that provided a substantial chill. Much windier, cloudier and cooler then predicted. My heart may have been chasing Lake Trout through the last of the season's ice on Newfound Lake in New Hampshire, but my brain convinced me to stay local. The ice, access and bait situations were all a bit unclear for the weekend, and it was going to be difficult to be in place in New Hampshire at the right time, regardless, with the change to Daylight Savings Time. Plus, Horn Pond had just been stocked, courtesy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (see www.mass.gov/service-details/trout-stocking-report ). I decided to grab some bait and start there. I was in place, armed with medium-sized shiners, small crawlers, wax-worms, marshmallows and various Powerbaits by 9:30 AM. The wind was coming down the length the pond, and so I nixed my plans to fish right by the dam or by the famous flagpole beach. Instead, I crept west and settled in at the small boat ramp area adjacent to the Woburn Water Department facility. The wind was still directly in my face, but reduced due to the decreased fetch. With four rods rigged and ready to go, I was able to deliver all of the above-mentioned baits either under slip floats (3 to 5 feet below the surface) or on a "Carolina" rig setup. I also fired a few casts with a small Kastmaster, but the bite was so slow that I decided to stick with bait, almost exclusively. In the first hour, I did have two "pull downs" on shiners suspended a few feet below the surface. Both took place as if in slow motion, and neither fish moved with the bait; everything still seems to be very lethargic. I almost couldn't believe my eyes with the first float down; when I tightened up, I retrieved nothing but a scaled (de-scaled?) shiner. The second take was a bit more aggressive, but I felt my hook tear through the shiner as I came tight. The hook never found the fish. These bites kept me planted for perhaps too long, but I also tried a couple of other spots (the causeway and the small cove adjacent to the water plant) on Horn Pond to no avail. After perhaps three hours of effort here, I decided to go to Arlington Reservoir; I'd heard it was good for pickerel. But the water level seemed to be down 6 or 8 feet and I didn't' see a place to fish that looked either enjoyable or productive; and so I continued over to Lower Mystic Lake. Fishing below the dam, I had another slo-mo pull down on a float with suspended shiner. Once again, I retrieved a dazed, scaled shiner, but never touched the fish with my hook. What do I have to say about this? This was a bit of a frustrating day, but Hey! It's March! While human fishers seemed to all strike out (as I retrieved many reports from fellow Horn Pond fishermen), the raptors seemed to be doing pretty well. The eagles are still hanging around Mystic Lakes (as are all the birders), and I saw an osprey eating a freshly caught trout at Horn Pond. As Spring progresses, I suspect things will get better for us humans. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
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