Still fishing a little (my summer season)...

[Trooper Bri]

Figured it was time to check in and see who's alive still. Please pardon the report mods.
Haven't gotten out a whole lot since ice-out unfortunately, but am getting out on the CT river maybe once a month.

Hit White Oaks with Kapt this past Sunday between thunderstorms looking for crappie. Once we found the magic depth, they kept us busy. No dinks either like we found a month ago. The slabs were out and biting! They were hitting like real fish too. No ninja crappie. We were just using ultralight rigs with small jigheads and live shiners. Cast 'em out, let 'em sink a bit, and reel 'em in slowly. Sunday it was good for a bunch of largies as well, but that tactic has produced a pile of channel cats up to 10lbs and a couple pike over 40".

If you haven't been in that cove in a few weeks, beware! The familiar channel in has shifted once you get past the entrance, and the river is getting low. We both had to get out of the boat and walk to find a navigable cut.

Not many pics taken, but here's the fat crapper o' the day. A bit under 15". And all fish tossed back to fight another day.
Hope everyone is getting out and catching and doing well otherwise. Only 2 more months until the days start cooling off !!!!

[GrizlyGarou]

That's a sweet crappie man!  They don't come that big very often.

[hawk01]

Still alive here, That's a real nice Calico, sounds like you hit them well.

[metalfish]

Congrats Bri.

[Trooper Bri]

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before, we hit Crystal Lake on Sunday.

It's less than 10 minutes away from me but I never fish it since it's a zoo usually. Not knowing about the quiet time, we launched at 11:30 to a rather empty lake. Maybe 6 boats scattered arround the lake. We figured out why the lake was so quiet a few days later. There was rain in the area, but it held off.

We anchored up in deeper water and tried for trout with different live bait. In a few hours we boated at least 30 rainbows and browns. All in the slot, no keepers. Plenty fun on the ultralight rigs though. My best numbers trip on the rare occasion I target them.
Not sure where we'll be next. Maybe back up there this Sunday. Who knows.

We're over the hump and headed into shorter days! Won't be long before the NW winds prevail!

[WILLYTROUT]

i dont know about you guys i love my fly rod and trout streams. but is anyone else missing the crisp dark mornings on th ice.

wt

[hawk01]

My Son and I got out with our sponsor Blaine from CT Outfitters on 6/23/10 and had a great Day. He puts on a great Charter and gave my son and I a day we wont forget. For those who have not gone out with him, you are missing out. We will be going out at least one more time with him this summer.

Thanks for a great day Blaine.
Hawk




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOajYmy8MTk&feature=player_embedded#!

[icefisher-45]

Looks like a great day

[Trooper Bri]

Nice haul Hawk! That guy knows how to find the big girls.
I remember when Blaine used to unvoluntarily wear a tie. Doing one of those Manitoba trips is on my bucket list.

Gonna try something new this weekend. Doing a night trip for bait with Ron. I want some tasty treats for Winchester, and will need a crash course on freezing bait (hint: chime in please ) We were going to do it last weekend, but the weather and scheduling got funky.

It looks like a helluva weekend for New England weatherwise. Hope everone has a happy and safe 4'th of July!

[Trooper Bri]

So I tried something new last night weekend. Night fishing for alewifes.

Kapt and I took a ride out into the hills for this adventure. Ron has done this a couple times, but I'm new to it. We got out on the water by 7PM to do some daylight fishing since the weather was unreal. We used the same tactics as Crystal, nightcrawlers on jigheads, using ultralight rigs. The browns kept us busy, and they were bigger than our trip to Crystal too. We could have whacked them all night.

We finally stopped fishing at dusk, dropped down a couple lights, and waited for the magic to happen while we had some dinner. Having never diddled with underwater lighting before, it was neat having the water around you glow. We achieved tiny critters, some smaller fish/shiners doing their circular patern around the lights, but the big bait never showed. But we were trying a new location, so that played into our results.

And to keep this related to ice fishing, we used jigging rods for the bait show that never happened. I've never seen a live alewife, but I suppose the jigging rod is perfect for it. We'll be out there again soon. Likely where Ron has caught bait before. And with better lights. 4 homemade LED submergables.

[Trooper Bri]

Round 2 for alewifes came on Saturday night, and at a different lake. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. What looked like incoming weather turned into 5 hours of amazing lightning shows inside thunderheads! We couldn't believe how slowly these walls of clouds were moving.

We got on the water by 8PM, and were anchored up, had eaten some chow, and set down a combo of white and green underwater lights by 9PM. An hour later the bait started showing up, followed by the alewifes. By 11PM we were into them good. Lots of schools circling the boat and lights. Ron had to be up for the morning, so we were off the water by 2AM. Otherwise, we had enough food and beer on board to survive the whole night (and would have). 

We didn't keep a ton, especially since they're tough to freeze properly. I just want some pike candy for the winter, not mush.

I'm hoping to get out more, but it's looking like I wont be on the water for for 5 or 6 weeks maybe. We've lost 25 minutes of daylight and headed for mild weather before long!

[pikeking]

Chat's a nice looking crappei you got there. We killed them through the ice last winter and only got a few in open water. Can't wait for ice...

[Trooper Bri]

This is a cove on the CT river pikeking. It's one of our favorite spots for big crappie. No way I'd keep fish that live in the river though.
If you have any good coves on the river up there, drive east and give it a shot this winter. They hold all variety of fish. Including big pike (yeah, I know Mass has pike in every lake ). My buddy landed a 42" on his ultralight when we were fishing for crappie, and I've gotten a couple 10lb channel cats the same way.

This cove is unique as the land surrounding it is privately owned. The only legal way to fish the place is to get in from the river. Which makes it virtually impossible to ice fish unless you have permission to access the land, or you launch a boat.

I actually haven't been fishing in 2 months since Ron and I did our night trip for alewifes, so my summer season sucked. Looks like I may be getting out next weekend though. Kapt and I are going to do a softwater trip on Winchester. He's never done it, and we want to scout out some new territory for ice season. Next scheduled trip is the CTF pike outing in November. That's always a good time.

[Trooper Bri]

How you been John? Long time no hear!

We had a bucket of ice/brine to freeze them when we got them off the hook, so hopefully it worked. We're pretty new with alewifes, so all advice is appreciated. Are we supposed to salt them when they get bagged for the freezer?
 

[elevatorman]

nice crappie bri way to go.

[hawk01]

Still hitting the soft water, My daughter scored this 8.33 lb 28" Atlantic last week. Tail walked right next to the canoe about 6 feet from her, She had big eyes and a huge smile. Oh ya, Dad got skunked
Hawk

[WILLYTROUT]

hey hawk beautiful fish. just as much fun when the kids catch em isin't it.
is that crystal? lot of salmon coming outta there right now. hope there's some left for the hardwater.
got two thru the ice there last year. gotta a new secret i found last year by accident. can't wait to find out if it was a fluke(ha)

wt

[hawk01]

hey hawk beautiful fish. just as much fun when the kids catch em isin't it.
is that crystal? lot of salmon coming outta there right now. hope there's some left for the hardwater.
got two thru the ice there last year. gotta a new secret i found last year by accident. can't wait to find out if it was a fluke(ha)

wt

Yup Crystal, and It is more fun for me when the kids catch them, I always hand them the rod, the day will come too soon when they won't have time to go with me. See you there when it freezes.
Hawk

[lives2fish]

My Son and I got out with our sponsor Blaine from CT Outfitters on 6/23/10 and had a great Day. He puts on a great Charter and gave my son and I a day we wont forget. For those who have not gone out with him, you are missing out. We will be going out at least one more time with him this summer.

Thanks for a great day Blaine.
Hawk




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOajYmy8MTk&feature=player_embedded#!

Great fish hawk... I have two boys of my own and nothing is more fun than to watch them hook up!!! The determination and excitment is overwhelming to the three of us. But isnt that what it is all about??

[hawk01]

Great fish hawk... I have two boys of my own and nothing is more fun than to watch them hook up!!! The determination and excitment is overwhelming to the three of us. But isnt that what it is all about??

Absolutely lives2fish, I wouldent mind if the kids caught all the fish, for me it is about seeing they have a great time and it really is more fun for me to watch them land a fish than to land one myself. I always seem to have better luck when there with me too, its like someone upstairs is helping when the kids are along.

Hawk