Today, I drove to Pelham Lake in Rowe, hoping to make up for the lousy fishing about a month and a half ago.
I arrived around 11:30 AM and left about 5:30 PM.
The weather was remarkably consistent all day - - sunny, blue skies, temps in the mid 20's, and windy.
Snow cover varied considerably. In some places on the shore, the ground was bare, and in others there were 8" drifts.
On the pond itself, bare spots alternated with 3" drifts, over 18" of ice.
There were two other guys (from the Greenfield area) with a red shanty set up about 100 yards out from the main road, and about 300 yards to the right of the parking lot.
They said they arrived around 8 AM, and reported lots of flags, including one 4.5 pound bass, before leaving around 1:30 PM.
I set up a couple hundred yards off the park beach.
After an hour plus of vigorous exercise chopping my holes in a row back toward the main road, I set up four tip ups, with one hole off to the side for my dead stick. Later on, I swapped out one of my tip ups to jig the hole closest to the road.
While cooking my lunch, I had my first strike - - and landed a 20" pickerel on my dead stick.
Lunch was a pork chop fried in olive oil, red wine and hot sauce, a side of kim chi, and a sauce pan of amritsar cholle masala, washed down with a Smithwick's Red Ale, and followed by an apple, with a pot of hot coffee and two Entemman's devil's food cakes for dessert.
Later on, I took a turn on my cross-country skiis, first going a short distance on one of the trails, and then doubling back to ski a loop around the Pond itself.
Over the next few hours, I caught four more (14" to 18") pickerel (including one on my jigging rod) and a small (8") perch (on a tip up).
While not all that I had hoped for (i.e., a big bass or a monster pickerel), today's fishing was certainly better than the last time I visited.
I was also surprised how much ice was left, and relieved that it was not covered in ankle deep slush (like it was the last time).
