Dance the Tides

Just last week I had a couple of free hours in SE Mass and decided to hit a beach for some stripers. The fishing was good for fish from about 15 lbs down to micros. I was high sticking a small striper for release in the water when a seal came out of nowhere and grabbed it. I finished the evening with a six foot fly rod instead of a nine footer. Still caught more fish too!

Isn't the sale of herring for bait illegal in Mass?

I have a buddy with a house on Point Peninsula and have been fishing up there for many years. Chaumont Bay is a great warm water fishery, but it can be a bear at times. Lots of Smallies, a few LMB, Northern and lots and lots of perch. There is a weedy flat and then a drop off out in front of Shangri La which can hold all kinds of stuff, just be careful of the old piers just under the surface which may or may not be marked with buoys. The rest of the bay is an open book with tons of structure and miles of open water. The most challenging aspect is the open water fishing, which in my experience is where the big girls hang out. They are where you find them. Walleyes are mostly transient, but there is a limited local population. The transients are now moving back out towards the main lake, so if you want to give them a go, hang a right and try the structure at the mouth of the bay. It can be sporty out there. As for watering holes, Shangri La is it for the Peninsula. Beer, burgers and fries. Chaumont and Cape Vincent are next closest. One more thing – unless your boat runs on water, get your gas on the mainland. Enjoy Paul

I don't own a Lake O boat, but I fish Lake O at least once or twice a week often more, with regular fishing buddies. We come to an agreement every year as to what it takes. I own a (smaller)boat or three and I am aware of what goes into a fishing boat. I know that what I kick in is more than simply the cost of gas, but I have no issue with that. That new auto pilot? The new Berts tracks? And all off that other stuff that I benefit from without having to buy a sea worthy boat all costs money. If I do something stupid and lose a Dipsey, I replace it. When tourney time comes, we split equally, both costs and winnings. In a good year it all comes out in the wash and we may fish for free! Big Lake fishing is great fun, but it is not cheap. Paul

That's opening weekend of Walleye and Northern Pike, and the St. Lawrence is about as good as it gets. There are also brown trout over towards Black River bay mixed in with the Walleye. Nearly all of the boats up there will be keyed on Walleye and Pike. Just watch the boundary with Canada as there were some sporty times with Canadian Customs last year. Also, don't be tempted with the shallows around Fox and Grenadier Islands. The area is referred to as Hard Scrabble and it has been the graveyard of many a lower unit.

Chas, Its actually the first Saturday in May, I make that May 5th.

I saw that Navionics and Raymarine have come up with an IPhone/Ipad App for synching with Raymarine GPS units via Bluetooth. I have no idea what it costs.

Thanks Stan. Those are some beasts. In the part about the steelhead it says "the best part is that it is that it was a hatchery fish". Some of these guys don't know that you can usually keep hatchery fish, but that wild fish usually(sometimes must) be released. So that means they could keep the fish and get it mounted. Paul

Way to go Bob! I just made that last weekend!

Thanks for putting that up. I rarely watch the tube, but that was an entertaining and informative hour well spent.

If I saw it right, "Fish Tales" won it. Rod certainly gets around, even if he spells it different out there. Thanks for putting that up Stan. Paul

Thanks Muskybob for posting the leader boards. Humble as he is, Bob didn't mention that his team finished in the money in the open division both Saturday and Sunday. They at least fished for free. Good job guys. In fact, there were many LOU types in the top tiers. A special kudos for Glen and team From Spoonfed who came from way back to take the Am division. Cold Steel (several LOU members) pulled one out as well. Many of the Pro and Am team captains and members post and tweet here on a regular basis, and based on the tough fishing and the results, I am more impressed than ever in the knowledge and grit of the LOU community. Paul Team Horsin' Around.

You may be talking about the Scriba launch. It is only open to Scriba residents, sticker required.

Pretty good for fishing blind! Thanks.

I didn't feel it because I was out fishing! Right about that time we landed a a nice salmon. It was landed by a ten year old and it was a little over 20 lbs. He is getting his 15 minutes of fame, since he is on the LOC leaderboard for the moment.

The Hudson is fishing very well. The time is now as things are off to an early start this year. I put my first fish in the boat April 16. Paul

You are right Kevin. I substituted Stripers for Browns on Friday, but it doesn't get much better! Now off to Northeast Lake O for some walleye. Paul

That happens down on Cape Cod all the time too. There are so many Gray Seals around that you are lucky if can get a fish to the beach some days. Its REAL exciting in a kayak.

Has Been: Yes, we used two-handers for swing fishing. Single handed rods for indicator fishing. Tippets were 12 or 10 lb. Swing rigs were intermediate sink-tips with 4-5 foot total leaders in two sections, a heavier butt and the twelve pound tip. SB 41: 3-4 fish per person per day is considered a good day. The rivers are very big, with lots of places to hide, and the fish are always on the move. Its not like our rivers where they run to the hatchery or falls and build back down the river. Stan: Its funny, but I was thinking of you. I went to LA first on business and flew over the coastal mountains all the way up. The weather was clear and Shasta Lake was quite visible. Based on your pictures and descriptions, I recognized it immediately. I could even tell that the level was up! It looks like the only lake in the area. Lou: Glad you liked the story. I hope you make it out of 5th grade this year. Just kidding! Paul

I recently returned from the Pacific Northwest where I spent a few days chasing Steelhead. As a long-time Great Lakes Steelhead fisherman, I was very interested in making some comparisons between Great Lakes and Pac NW Steelhead. Specifically, we fished the Olympic Peninsula. I fished with my nephew, who moved out to Seattle a few years ago and has spent those years scoping out rivers. It was a do-it-yourself excursion that included bushwhacking, pontoon floats, walk-and-wade and a borrowed drift boat. We fished the Queets and Hoh Rivers, both of which are glacier fed rivers that run out of the Olympic National Park. The rivers were relatively low by Northwest standards, but big water compared to Great Lakes rivers. The glacier fed rivers are always off color. Bushwhacking through river-bottom forest is loads of fun! Some of our trip was done on pontoons. I don’t know why we don’t see them more in the Northeast. We averaged 3-4 fish per day. Most were wild fish, which are prettier, thicker, fight better and have all fins attached. Hatchery fish stack-up well with Great Lakes fish, but are skinnier and wimpier than wild fish and they have an adipose fin clip. When possible, we did two-rod fly fishing. One rod rigged for swinging large flies and one for indicator rigs. The local custom is to fish two flies. One fly is either a yarn fly(for indicators) or large marabou/bugger/leach fly(for swing fishing). The second “fly†is either a glow bug or a plastic bead. When I say yarn fly, I mean yarn+hook. We did substitute estatz flies for yarn flies at times. They all caught fish. I was able to make some conclusions with respect to the two fisheries. There is not much comparison between Great Lakes steelhead and wild NW steelhead. Ocean run, wild fish win the quality title, hands down. Hatchery fish from both places seem equivalent. The scale of the rivers is also entirely different. The issues regarding conservation are much different. While we in the Northeast are concerned with invasive species, pollution and wind farms, the biggest concerns among the NW river sport fishermen are Indian netting and logging. Some rivers get positively pillaged, while on other rivers, tribes and landowners seem to take long-term management seriously. Having said that, it does take some getting used to seeing jet sleds pulling in gill nets full of wild steelhead. On the last day of the trip, I managed to pull off a slow-mo belly flop into knee-deep water while moving from one spot to another. It’s been along time since I’ve done that, but I can say without reservation that a February face-plant in a Pac NW river is nowhere near as cold as a February face-plant in a Great Lakes tributary. If you are a Steelhead fisherman, a trip to the Pacific Northwest should be on your bucket-list. Paul

I went fishing for Bluefin from my kayak last year off of Cape Cod during September. I thought I was fishing for BBT (Baby Bluefin Tuna) of around 50 lb or so, and I cast to some surfacing tuna on three occasions. After the third attempt, one swam directly under the boat but it was no BBT it was a Giant about 6 feet long. I checked my casts after that. I actually hooked one three years ago on a fly rod and I got spooled and up on plane in about 60 seconds. I was fishing for bluefish at the time and so were the tuna. I am going to try again this year. In order to get a permit, I had to register my kayak as a motorized boat, since the permit is for the boat and you can't register a boat as paddle or peddle powered. There were a lot of tuna around last year. One guy caught a 160Lb one from a kayak at about the same time and ESPN2 just had a show, Spanish Fly that was filmed while I was there. They cheated though, they were motorized. Paul

Believer, The info you just got from ScottB, Larry and Shade took me 20 years to accumulate. It is all dead on target. Use it well and tell us how it works. Paul

Wow. Brings back memories. I was not in the Marines nor was I involved in Tet. But I know why Brian and his men are getting packages. I spent 18 months in combat zones in the early 1970’s, most of it outside the wire, walking. I got exactly one Care package of chocolate chip cookies and Tabasco sauce - from my sister. When I came back, the only greeters were demonstrators. I decided right then that I would do what I could to keep that from happening to anyone following. I wasn’t in position to do anything until 1991 after the first Gulf War, and it didn’t work. Since 2001 I have done what I can, sometimes getting school kids to send things, sometimes giving rides from the airport, sometimes sending things myself. I get info from the VFW, the Red Cross, other veterans groups, local press and word of mouth. Lip service is BS. Keep an ear out for the kid down the street who joined and do something. Send him or her a note, a package, anything. Just make sure it has chocolate chip cookies and hot sauce. Paul

Looks like it'll be awhile before you snag treetops again. Paul

Fishtails posted a video of Striper fishing in the video section. I believe he was using Grease Traps as an umbrella rig. It looks like he was fishing them off the riggers, but maybe(?) on a diver too. Perhaps Rod will chime in here. Paul