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Date: April 24, 2021 Body of Water: Peters Pond - Sandwich, Massachusetts Moon Phase: Full Moon minus two days; waxing gibbous Tides: N/A Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Stocked Trout Time: 7:30 AM - 1:30 PM Conditions: About 50 - 60 degrees; full sun; westerly winds (10-12 mph) swinging to the south with gusts well over 20 mph; water was clear, chalky green and 50 - 51 degrees F While migrating stripers might have used the day's strong wind and warm temperatures to arrive on the Cape's south side, I'd proven to my satisfaction the previous week that I should extend my trout season. I decided to try another local pond, knowing I could always fall back on Ashumet to complete my day if conditions were not to my liking. And they generally were! The ramp was suitable for amybaby22, the lake is not fully developed, bald eagles, loons and ducks were present, the water was clear, and the trout were biting pretty well. Peters Pond shined on my inaugural visit, and I'll likely return by choice. My initial spread included an S7 Rapala in black/gold, 80 feet back; and an S7 Rapala in blue/silver, 60 feet back. I picked up the shoreline to my left and quickly identified the break into deep water at about 8 feet. I attempted to slowly weave along this break as best able, and within ten minutes the black/gold bait (deep side of boat, perhaps ten feet of water) was eaten by a smallish brown trout. I was off to a good start and was re-establishing a productive pattern for the day. I rounded the bend and lost this favored lure to a hidden snag; fortunately, I had a replica in reserve and was soon back in action. I found nothing in the pond's southern reaches and so turned around and trolled into the eastern arm. My next action occurred on a 9-foot saddle midway down the arm, when both rods jumped. A brook trout ate blue, a rainbow ate gold; each was 14 or 15 inches long and fairly typical for the day. One of the reasons I'd chosen Peters Pond was the potential for variety; that had been realized quickly! The next ninety minutes offered a steady pick of trout on these same baits as I continued to troll as slowly as possible in 8 feet of water (plus/minus). It seemed as though my baits were swimming six or seven feet down, and hedging shallower (but without snagging bottom) seemed to be more productive than my couple of forays into deeper water. The trout of the day (so far) was a fat, 17-inch rainbow, but I'd also picked up another brown and brookie, each about 16 inches. By 10 AM, I'd landed ten trout and had already had a great day. I decided to probe deeper water (of which there is a lot in this pond). I replaced the gold/black S7 with my light-duty lead-core setup, swimming a small gold/black Stinger spoon on two colors of lead. Although I marked a fair amount of fish in the depths, I didn't have a bump for the hour I wandered about; and so by 11, I was re-orienting to the shallows. I chose to explore the northern arm. I also replaced the lead-core/spoon combination for a J9 Rapala in gold/black/orange. I fished this on a spinning rod, presenting the lure a cast "plus one rod sweep" of line back. Wouldn't you know, this imprecisely fished bait caught the only trout of this northern tour; a beautifully bright and spunky rainbow took this new lure in about seven feet of water. By Noon, I was setting up this same spread for a pass or two in the productive eastern arm before calling it a day. The first pass produced a nice rainbow and another brook trout. Of course I need to continue fishing! I ran upwind and past the tip of a prominent point. The wind was pounding into this bank, and I noticed both baits were occasionally ticking bottom as the boat was pushed into the windward shore. Trout 14 of the day hit hard, just as the baits crossed the shoal of a secondary sand/gravel point. I could tell right away this was a trout of a different class and played it carefully. It came to the boat fairly easily, but then bulldogged stubbornly, staying out of reach of the net with short runs against my drag. Soon enough, I scooped up my best Massachusetts trout yet. Beautifully marked and about 21 inches of trout; but what kind? Perhaps a brown, or perhaps a "tiger" (a hybrid of brook and brown trout, known to be stocked in this lake.) It didn't really matter; I'd achieved all of my goals for the day.
I continued to fish for a bit while I watched for an opening at the ramp. I caught three more trout, including a very cool, steel-blue and virtually unspotted brookie. This fish chose to eat the blue S7, like all his brethren this day. The final catch (17 trout including four brookies, two browns, the tiger (?) and ten rainbows) was just about evenly split among the three Rapalas I swam for the day. And, while I very much enjoy precisely replicating productive patterns, I do have to admit, the J9 just tossed behind the boat did as well as anything else... Brown trout or Tiger trout? The spots blending into vermiculations (especially towards the tail) gave me a Tiger vibe; but I could be wrong! Regardless, this fish completed my Cape Cod Trout Slam either as my fourth trout species of the day or as a qualifying, bonus "large" trout. Or perhaps, as both and therefore part of a Super Slam!?!?! I do love trolling Rapalas for trout! The J9 (bottom) took the biggest fish of the day, and Old Blue has caught so many fish there's hardly any blue left. But if I could have only one of these baits, it would be the black-and-gold S7. It works over a wide range of conditions, and Brown Trout seem to have an extra special affinity for it. What do I have to say about this? To have such a nice, productive day capped off by such a beautiful fish, and one of size, too, was simply a gift; a gift that I have happily and gratefully accepted! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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Date: April 19, 2021 Body of Water: Ashumet Pond - Falmouth/Mashpee, Massachusetts Moon Phase: Quarter Moon, waxing crescent Tides: N/A Boat: amybaby22 With: A! Target: Trout Time: 11 AM - 2 PM Conditions: About 60 degrees; clear and bright; calm, southerly winds developing to a southwest breeze; water was clear, green, 51 -53 degrees F A joined me on a pleasant Patriots Day excursion. We took things easy and achieved our goals of pleasant enjoyment, catching a fish, and catching multiple fish on top of our initial successes. The water was just a degree or two warmer than during my last visit, but I always get a bit nervous when chasing trout as temperatures edge into the 50s and towards 55. The fish can be anywhere, and the food sources can be more diverse. In fact, the apparent hatch of midges made me wonder if the trout might be overly selective or feeding elsewhere. Still, I set my spread of two S7 Rapalas (one black and gold, the other silver and blue, both set 70 - 80 feet behind the boat) and trolled down my favorite shoreline. Hugging the weed and bottom break at about 8 feet, the rod with the black-and-gold bait jumped and bounced hard in the first couple of hundred yards of trolling. While I missed the fish, this was a good sign! Yet, two more passes through this very productive stretch resulted in nothing. I expanded my trolling area, and across the pond, in about 10 or 11 feet, this same bait was hit hard. The drag slipped, and I was surprised to find that such a small trout had provided that much excitement! And, the skunk was gone for the day! I continued with this program for a while longer, but clearly it was not producing at the expected/required rate. I decided to trade out the blue S7 for a small, Michigan Stinger spoon, also in gold-and-black; served off two colors of lead core. I expected this bait to run 8 or 12 feet deep, and I adjusted my trolling path to cover more than 15 feet of water. For the first time all day, I marked a pile of fish in about 20 feet of water; I paused the boat's trolling momentum and allowed the baits to sink a bit. When I resumed my forward progress, the light rod with the lead-core-presented spoon doubled over. The trout didn't present much of a fight, but it represented success with a new tactic for me on this water, so I was happy enough. I ran upwind a bit to set up my next pass. Before I could deploy the lead, the Rapala was slammed by a nicer rainbow over 18 feet. I was onto something! Each presentation produced another fish in the next half hour, all in this same general area and all in about 20 feet (+/-) of water. What do I have to say about this? A bonus and trouble-free session on the water with my best friend; beautifully pleasant conditions; a 5-for-6 day on my targeted species, involving broadened techniques and experiences; this was a good day! While the individual trout were small (no more than 15 inches, this day), the benefit of this day off was large. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: April 18, 2021 Body of Water: Waquoit Bay - Falmouth, Massachusetts Moon Phase: New Moon plus 6 days; waxing crescent Tides: Low Tide at about 10:30 AM; rising throughout Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 11:15 AM - 3:30 PM Conditions: About 52 - 55 degrees; mixed sun and clouds; northerly winds swinging to a stiff southwest breeze; water was clear and 48 - 52 degrees F I endured this self-imposed skunk in order to try to find my earliest-ever saltwater striper. At the opportunity cost of Ashumet Pond trout, I chose to fish the salt for the first time this year. I thought I was likely too early in my Cape Cod waters of choice, but I also thought there was at least a chance that I'd surprise and prove myself wrong. At the Childs River boat ramp, I was pleased to find 52-degree water. I've heard that 50 degrees is some sort of magic mark for striper activity. While the ocean waters outside the bay were clearly colder (and likely a barrier to the arrival of migrating stripers), perhaps any resident holdovers would be awakened and on the prowl for a good meal. I motored downriver to my favored starting point. My timing was off with respect to tide; I arrived just after slack low, and any incoming water would likely cool off the water here. Still, it maintained a 50-degree surface temperature. Unfortunately, my graph showed that my fishing hole was vacant; and my small swim-bait and Crippled Herring spoons remained untouched. Other than jellyfish, this area was seemingly devoid of life. My next stop was at the top of Waquoit, near the Waquoit Bay Yacht Club and along Caleb Pond's outlet. Here, a sand shelf drops into locally deep water. Water temperatures here were slightly below 50 degrees. Some idle birds (cormorants and gulls) indicated that bait was a possibility, but I saw no sign of such. Ospreys were locally abundant too, but more interested in territories and building nests than fishing. I ran down Waquoit and up Great River. After a few casts along favored sod banks, I entered and explored Jehu Pond. The "deep" water here was my next -best guess as to where stripers could over-winter. Jehu, too, was devoid of fish activity. An extraordinary abundance of ospreys were setting up their homes, though, so I expect that fish will soon arrive. And, while I didn't do too well with stripers inside Jehu last fall, I certainly observed a lot of bait there. Next I returned to my starting spot, if only to keep it honest; still no sign of fish. Before calling it quits, I decided to catch the last of the strong incoming tide at the small outlet at Menauhant. The water here was cooler (48 degrees) and too filled with mung to effectively fish. I scouted instead with my sonar. While I marked no fish of interest, I found some water of surprising depth; this might hold better fish than I've given credit in the past. I thought about pushing as far up Childs River as possible to find the warmest possible water and to continue my quest for a holdover; but by this time, I was pretty cold, myself. I knew I had the next day to explore, too; I called it quits, thereby securing my first Falmouth Skunk with amybaby22, ever. It was bound to happen, especially as I push the boundaries of my experience. What do I have to say about this? You don't really know what you don't know; until you know it! And while I still don't fully know the holdover potential here, I've started to flesh out my understanding. At least I know I am not missing out on something easy and productive! The opportunity cost was relatively small, and I'm glad I invested my day in this endeavor. Plus, I'd not a single real problem for the day! Finally, as I type this, it's an unseasonably warm 75 degrees outside and the wind is howling out of the southwest. Westerlies look to continue all week; maybe the stripers will sail with the wind up the coast and find my estuarine haunts before my next trip! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: April 10, 2021 Body of Water: Ashumet Pond - Mashpee/Falmouth, Massachusetts Moon Phase: Waning crescent; New - two days Tides: N/A Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM Conditions: About 45 - 55 degrees; fog and overcast, clearing at about 10 AM to mostly sunny; calm to SW winds at 10 mph; clear green water; 50 - 52 degrees Why not return to Ashumet? Convenient to the boat, mild weather keeping water temperatures preferable to trout, and no realistic prospects for finding the first striper of the year; Ashumet was the wise choice for the day. With foggy and overcast conditions, I switched to a gold/black S7 Rapala on one rod and rotated through a variety of Rapala sticks on the other as I trolled as slowly as possible along the pond's break into 10 or more feet of water. Each rod jumped a couple of times in the fog, but I was a full 90 minutes into the session before I finally hooked up. This nice rainbow had eaten the gold/black classic bait presented 80 feet back in about 8 feet of water, and along my preferred stretch of bank. A stocky 16-incher, this fish had even pulled a bit of drag and had fought vigorously in the slightly warmer waters of the day. Skies were just clearing at this point and a southwesterly wind was stirring. Fifteen minutes later, as I landed my fourth rainbow of the day along this same productive stretch, I noticed that the fog was totally gone and the sky was substantially cleared. Two additional rainbows had eaten the gold and black sinker, while the other had smashed an F9 Rapala in blue and silver, 100 feet back. But given the preference for the S7, I substituted an S7 in blue/silver (remember, the skies were now substantially cleared), set 70 feet behind the rod tip. The remainder of the day was a slow pick of fish and misses. Eight feet of water (+/-) seemed to be most productive; to be honest, 6 feet produced bites, but also caused weed/algal fouling issues. There were more drive-by/swings-and-misses than I'd like, and I lost a couple of jumping fish, as well a couple of seemingly heavy fish. Other than to relax and enjoy myself, my sequential goals for the day had been to catch a trout; to catch three trout (my virtual "limit" and a satisfactorily productive day by reasonably conventional standards); and then to catch double-digit trout (a good day day by any reasonable standard). At 12:55 PM, I was stuck at nine trout (and a bonus, small largemouth bass); I had given myself until 1 PM to reach 10. Boom! Number 10 turned out to be a spunky brown trout and magically bought me another hour of fishing, especially since the ramp appeared to be a mess at this time. The slow pick continued. Trout 11 was perhaps the biggest of the day (approaching 18 inches and fat) and ate the blue/silver S7. Trout 12, pictured below, chose the reliable gold/black S7, set 70 back while I trolled two baits of the same size and design. Despite the increasingly bright conditions, this "dark" lure produced 10 of the day's 12 trout and the single bass. It clearly shined for the day; I was surprised that the trouts' preference remained with this lure as the day wore on. What do I have to say about this? Other than the trailer's winch strap snapping on the short drive from the lake to storage, the day was problem-free and enjoyable. The trout were feistier, and larger on average; at least half of the trout landed were 16 inches or better, with several between 17 and 18 inches and with excellent body condition. It was fun to hear and feel a little bit of drag slippage. Ashumet has provided a bit of a pleasant and productive refuge for me this season while I continue to wait out both COVID and the arrival of warmer water temperatures and stripers. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: April 8, 2021 Body of Water: White Pond - Concord, Massachusetts Moon Phase: New Moon minus 4 days; waning crescent Tides: N/A Boat: none, wading from shore With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 4 PM - 6:30 PM Conditions: About 55 degrees; clear; calm winds from northeast; clear water; woods were quiet It's always good to steal an evening and chase some fish! Add a couple of eagles, loons and a variety of ducks, comfortable weather, and a few hundred yards of shoreline without other fishermen, and it should be a really good night. And it was; all that was missing was any fish action of any type. Perhaps the easterly wind or the pleasant conditions had the trout shut down. Or perhaps the recently stocked fish hadn't quite made it down to the opposite end of the pond. Regardless, my fresh, floating crawler, S7 blue Rapala and small green/silver Cleo were universally ignored. What do I have to say about this? It was a pleasant way to enjoy one of the nicest Spring days of 2021 so far. Other than our Cape Cod telecommuting staycation, it was only the second time (or so) I've been able to finagle an afterwork fishing session. And, now I don't have to wonder too much about the current state of trout fishing at White Pond! It might be better, next time. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
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