Ultra light fishing
Massachusetts
It has been a solid fifteen years since I fished freshwater. Given the zoo that the canal has become, my motivation to fish it has diminished greatly. So I went out and bought an ultralight setup, powerwashed the canoe and hit the local pond tonight. I don't remember the last time I had so much fun fishing, and all I basically caught were blue gills and calicos. A bass slammed my two inch rubber worm but got away. No worries, I grabbed my 35 year old bait casting set up and tossed out a spinner bait. Boom... nice little 2 1/2 pounder. Special night in that canoe. It is the same one my grandfather, my dad and I used to use when I was a kid. My grandpa was definitely smiling on me tonight :) Pete
Sounds like a great night in the canoe, Peter. That's pretty amazing you get to fish out of the same canoe you made so many great memories in as a kid. And I'm always amazed how light and whippy my freshwater rods feel after a couple months of only using my surfcasting gear, everything feels ultralight at that point.
We used to fish the same, blue gills etc.,with little poppers and fly rods. Absolute blast.
Sounds like a blast Peter - to get to use that same canoe is beyond cool!
Proline, I still do that. There's a little park here about 10' from home with a nice walking path around the pond. The pond is full of little bass, blue gills, perch and about 200 million crappies. Ill pop over there at the end of the day some times and just walk around the pond tossing poppers or other flies and catch fish after fish. Nice relaxing way to end the day.
if you were home...was this Rocky?
I think I went from when I was 15 (1983) until 2010 when we bought the lake house in NH, where I never wet a line. now...every time up the lake I can't wait to get in the kayak and cast. we got some lunker largemouth up there and decent sized chain pickerel...plenty of Crappie, yellow perch and blue gills too.
Bowsite summer party at Hicksticks :)!
Will....I may be having some folks up in july for my 50th. lol
I grew up trout fishing creeks, streams and rivers in northern California. I'd use a light rod with a Mitchell 300 reel, 4 lb test with 4 lb leader... no weights... just thread a worm on the hook and drift it through the pools. I'd love to do the same here, but the kind of water I like to fish is all in western Mass. Not only that, when I took a look at the regulations, they have the streams and rivers carved up into sections of fly only, catch and release, etc. I don't really know the lay of the land out there, so I wouldn't be sure I was legal when drifting worms. Here's a photo of a 5 lb rainbow I caught in the middle fork of the Feather River back in 2008 or 2009.
Jimbo - head out there. There are a few CR / fly only rivers our here, and further west... But there are tons of rivers and streams which are open for what you describe. They may be a little smaller, but the exploration would be great fun for you. Simplest strategy: note the states CR / Fly only rivers, and skip them. fish any other river and you are good to go :)
I was actually struck by how few special-regulations areas there are. One mechanism I wish they used in MA is delayed-harvest. Don’t think they have that here. In PA they have a bunch of these streams where you can only keep fish after a certain date (mid-June?). This keeps fish around for awhile in some marginal streams where they won’t make it through July/August.
Jeb - funny you mention that. I really like the special reg's sections they have. There are a few wild trout streams that haven't been stocked, ever, yet support a lot of fish. I really wish some of those would go to some sort of special regs. Those are special and sensitive populations.
Even with that... There are MANY great rivers with no regs. Jimbo, this all made me think of a river report on the BlogFlyFish site... link above.
That's a fun river for the style of light fishing you described, and just plain an awesome spot to visit!
Has anyone ever trolled with a canoe or kayak (paddling, no motors) for trout in ponds using a flyrod with sinking lines? I was thinking of trying it out. I have a 5wt rod, but think my 10wt would be more effective. I have some leadcore saltwater gear as well. Thought of taking the reel off the saltwater rod and putting it on a medium casting rod, then troll with the canoe. Lure of choice: maybe a mooslook wobbler with a streamer as a trailer. Bad idea?
I have trolled for trout o/o a canoe and kayak paddling lakes and rivers. Some places that's all you can use. (Walden or Whites ponds) I used a 6wt or 3wt. fly rods with fly's or streamers, and spinning rods with spoons, spinners or Rapala's. Lots of fun and productive.
Will that’s a great write-up! Hope to get out that way at some point. Agree about surprising lack of special regs on sensitive streams. Unbelievably, there are a few wild-trout populations here in eastern MA—totally unprotected. I have no objection to keeping fish where appropriate, for sure, but in these cases I’m talking about, these streams could easily be decimated. I asked the fish commission guy about this. He was really nice, but really didn’t have an answer.
when I was a kid, there was a local man made swimming hole they MFW used to stock with trout. we used to be able to to catch little trout fry in the outlet creek a mile from the hole. over the years access to the pond was blocked (an abutted landowner to the pond was caught dumping transmission fluid in the ground nearby.)...and it eventually silted up and is now basically a creek itself. sad. spent so much time there in my youth fishing, catching frogs, making mischief in the summer, and playing pond hockey in the winter.
anyway...it was so much fun trying to catch the fry by hand in those creeks. now there nothing in that creek.
up in NH we've got lg mouth, pickerel, yellow perch, crappie, blue gills, bullhead pout, I even caught a 12 in Shiner that must have been dumped in from ice fishing and survived....we also have painted and snapping turtles (saw one 2 weeks ago with a head the size of a 2 liter bottle), northern water snakes, beaver, otter, heron, geese, all manner of ducks...an occasional cormorant, and a nesting pair of Osprey that have had successful hatches each of the last 4 years. love being surrounded by nature up there.
Will, I might have to hire you as a guide for a few trips.
Jimbo - free, or you can buy the apple cinnamon pancakes :) at Quabbin Woods Restaurant...
That said, this is the toughest time of year on there. There are fish, but without a little more flow it can be dicey. Once you hit July, it's really tough until we get some flow. So for highest odds, You may want to hold out till the spring. Or get out there ASAP.
Further west, there are a lot of rivers that hold fish longer. The challenge on the EB Swift is that there are a few ponds with top spill dams. They have been there over 100 years, probably 150-200... Maybe more. But that means the further down stream you go, the warmer it gets as the summer goes on.
Let me know if you decide to go. Happy to help out.
Peter, not in years, but yes... That's very effective. There was a guy on the New England Fly Tyers, when I used to go to their tying nights all winter, he did a lot of that and caught a lot of fish that way.
I think he often used straight mono vs leadcore. He'd add splitshot up line from the streamer or wet fly he was trolling. He fished Wallum in Douglas SF a lot... I used to do it from my belly boat on smaller ponds too when kicking from spot A to B or B to C etc.... That was just using a floating line and with a streamer/wet. Worked consistently.
Caught these guys today "drift" fishing in my kayak on the lake. Just casting out a kelly worm, let it sink and let the wind blow me across the lake. Both 3 pounders according to my cheap scale.
