Great End to a Long Day

Date: June 8, 2008
Location: Salt Marsh Pond, Kayak
Bait: Blue Fox Vibrax #3 - Silver and Gold Pattern
Conditions: Almost no wind, Sunny after fresh rain, high 80s
Time of Day: Evening
Friends: Just Me
Experience: 8 out of 10

Today was a long day. It started at 4:50 AM when I woke up to get to church on time. DaNae and I serve on our tech team (she's a technical director and I'm a sound guy). We need to be at church by 6:45 which means we leave the house by 5:30 AM which means we wake up before 4. After church, we had a great dinner with my mom and then struggled to stay awake as we drove home. We made it back just after a spot rain shower and it just seemed like a great time to go fishing. I grabbed my rods, kayak, and gear and headed out. I tried to convince my father-in-law to go but he had work to do.

When I arrived at the pond, it was like glass with little rings of ripples scattered across the surface as trout rose to sip flies. I tried tempting them with my fly rod with no luck (turns out they were sipping winged ants). I started pitching a spinner and caught an 11ish inch brookie within 10 casts. I had a dry spell so I did a lap around the pond trolling a spinner (no luck) and tried fishing off the bottom with PowerBait (no luck). I switched back to the spinner and started casting on my way in. I thought, "I'll make 20 casts and then go home." At cast #12, WHAM! THis guy hit it and fought all the way in - a nice fat 14 inch rainbow (what up with the magic length of 14 inches???). At that point, I was more than satisfied and called it a day. (Note the headlamp - I hate getting off the water...).

A Wacky Combination

Date: June 6, 2008
Location: Lamprey River (Epping), Canoe
Bait: Blue Fox Vibrax #3 - Rainbow Pattern
Conditions: Light Wind, Overcast/light rain, Low 60s
Time of Day: Afternoon
Friends: Eric Roberson
Experience: 6 out of 10

Ok - So we were rained out today. We were supposed to install a roof vent but the day never dried up enough for us to do so. We replaced some trim and then salvaged the afternoon by fishing on the Lamprey in a pond in between Epping and Raymond. It felt like warm water so I was fishing it like it was with no luck. I switched to the Vibrax spinner and caught a yellow perch right away. They are cool looking fish - yellow belly, red fins. A few casts later, I caught this 14 inch rainbow trout - had to keep him for supper. A few casts after that, Eric caught what we think may have been a carp. A few casts after that, I caught a 17 inch pickerel. I can't imagine a pickerel and a rainbow sharing the same space but they were.

One cool part of the day - when we wre looking for a place to put the boat in, we saw a possibility from the main road, however, when we drove up to it, there was a private property sign (Bummer). At the bottom of the sign, the owners added (in small print) "but you may use it as long as you pick up your trash and take it with you." Thanks to the small print, we made it on the river.

Searching for Access

Date: June 5, 2008
Location: Canobie Lake, Canoe
Bait: Wave Worm Tiki Stick, Sweet Potato Pie
Conditions: Light Wind, Overcast, Low 60s
Time of Day: Afternoon
Friends: Eric Roberson
Experience: 5 out of 10

Eric an I were doing a tile job. We finished the floor and had to wait for the adhesive to dry so, obviously we ahd to find a place to fish. After all, that's why Eric keeps his canoe on his truck. We traveled to three different ponds/lakes before we found a one with a place we could put the canoe in. We only had an hour or so to fish but still managed to catch a small smallmouth and a 17ish inch pickerel, both on the sweet potato pie. Gotta love the pie.

There's a New Skipper in Town

Date: May 26, 2008
Location: Squam Lake, Dad’s Boat
Bait: Wave Worm Tiki Stick, Sweet Potato Pie, Leech, Beetle Spin
Conditions: Light Wind, Sunny, high 60s/low 70s
Time of Day: Morning
Friends: Dad and Kevin
Experience: 7 out of 10


I think Kevin was the most excited about fishing today. After all, he put in 8 grueling hours of torture by lecture to get his boat license. He was behind the wheel of the boat as soon as it hit the water. We fished a quiet little bay in Squam Lake and were coming up empty until we moved into a new shallow cove.



I started the morning by pulling in a little Smallmouth Bass (about 14 inches). Kevin followed up with a nice Pickerel somewhere in the 18-20 inch range. I tried to follow suit but the next one cut my line. As I was tying another hook on, I looked up and saw this monster Pickerel still sitting where he sliced my line. This was the point where I started my career as a guide. I pointed it out to Dad who cast right over. The monster spun around and focused on Dad’s leech. A second later, he grabbed it and Dad hooked a beautiful 22 inch Pickerel. We landed two more fish (another pickerel for Kevin and a Smallmouth for me) and then headed home.

The Secret Spot

Date:May 24, 2008
Location: Somewhere in Gilford NH, shore
Bait: Worms
Conditions:Medium Wind, Sunny, high 60s/low 70s
Time of Day: Afternoon
Friends:Caleb and Papa
Experience: 10 out of 10

I wasn't even a part of this trip. Caleb's Papa thought it would be a good day to prospect a stream down the road so off they went with a bunch of worms and their poles in hand. I was working on the Seacoast. When I called home to say I was on my way, Caleb was so excited, he could hardly stop to speak to me. He's decided this is his secret fishing spot and won't even tell me where it is.

Bass and Bluejays

Date:May 7, 2008
Location: Taylor River, kayak
Bait: Wave Worm Tiki Sticks
Conditions:Medium Wind, Sunny, high 60s/low 70s
Time of Day: Afternoon
Friends:Al Neller
Experience: 9 out of 10

What a cool day to fish. I was insulating with a friend on the Seacoast and we finished early. It was sunny, warm, and I just had studying left on my agenda for the day so, obviously, I thought to go fishing. I called a few friends but they were all working (go figure) so I grabbed a buddy's kayak, paddle, and vest and headed to the river.

I was out for about 15 minutes when a friend of mine, Al Neller, showed up. you'd think Al was trolling with a net for all the fish he pulls into his boat. On days where I'm struggling, he's pulling in fish to his boat like an assembly line. He had already caught two pickerel within 5 minutes of launching his boat. We decided to fish down by the highway, and boy, am I glad we did. Al went his way and I went mine and started prospecting for bites.

It took a little bit to figure out what the fish wanted. I started with a green/white Senko with no luck. I switched to a red Wave Worm with a Chartreuse tip and caught a 16" pickerel but nothing else. Then, I switched to my fall back, the hallowed Sweet Potato Pie Wave Worm Tiki Stick. I love this bait! As soon as I put one on, I had a pickerel hit so hard it rolled the surface and ran off with my worm and hook. Once I tied another on, I had another hard strike on my first cast. This one was an awesome fighter and made it to the boat; he was a nice fat 18" pickerel.



About 25 minutes later, I caught my next species - a 10" Crappie. I was fishing along the shore as I drifted and threw my worm just off shore by some submerged brush. He grabbed it right away. I had never caught one of these before. Man, they are beautiful fish. I love the speckled pattern on their body.




Shortly after that, I drifted into a stumpy bay that I rarely fish, manly because the water level is normally too low. This day was another story. Water level was up and it was a perfect place for sunning bass. I had several pickerel strikes drifting in (and lost a few more worms as their teeth cut the line). Just at the end of the bay, I caught three fish on three successive casts. The first was a pickerel, the second was another crappie, and the third was a 16" bass sitting in shallow water by a downed tree. I was able to work my way up the other side of the bay and hooked into two more as I left.

All throughout the day while fishing, I'd watch the birds on the shore. It must be Blue Jay nesting season because they were busy! They'd flit from tree to tree looking for little branches and twigs. They'd grab them with their beak, snap them right off the tree, and fly off with a 10" branch to there nest somewhere else. I knew they were brutes at bird feeders but this gave me new respect for their strength.

Paddling back, I stopped in my favorite cove to see if I could scare up a few more bass. I saw what I thought to be a bass rolling the top of the water and let myself drift to casting range. On the third cast, I hooked him - it wasn't the bass that I thought. Instead, it was a decent sized sunfish. Normally, I hate catching sunfish but this guy was beautiful. I ended the day with 6 pickerel, 3 largemouth bass, 2 crappie, and 1 sunfish. I saw more Blue Jays than I could count, an osprey, 2 muskrats, and these cool little plover type birds running along the shore. I ran into a friend who also pulled in his share of fish. The only drawback was that the kayak didn't fit my feet really well and my heels went numb. When I got out of the boat, I almost collapsed in a heap (They stayed numb until the next day). It was a price worth paying for a great day.

Fishin with the Boys

Date:Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Location: Exeter Reservoir, shore
Bait: Old Fashioned Worms, Blue Fox Vibrax Spinner
Conditions: high 60's, Sunny, moderate Wind
Time of Day: Mid-Afternoon
Friends:Caleb and Aedan
Experience: 7 out of 10

As we were driving through Stratham, I gave the boys a choice. We can go to the library or go fishing. Before I could spit out the word, FISHING was shouted in stereo from the back seat. After three stops to find worms, we finally made it to the water.

It was a mad dash to get lines in the water. I wish I could clone myself in instances like that. "Daddy, I can do it myself. "Daddy, I need help with finding a worm? Do you think I need a bobber? Where should I fish? Hey look - a salamander. I need to catch him first. I caught one. I can take it off the hook. How come I'm not fishing yet? I need your help getting him off the hook?" All these questions came at me in the first 60 seconds of fishing.

All that to say, we had a blast. Caleb caught at least 10 fish. He was very diligent in keeping track of their length. He had bluegill and sunfish ranging fron 4 inches to 7 inches. He was definitely our volume winner for the day.

Aedan won the largest fish caught by someone under 18 with two 7" sunfish. This was his first time using his new Blue fishing pole to catch fish. He liked watching his bobber move because it gave him the chance to rip the fish's lips off - boy, did he try!

I even had a chance to get a few casts in. There was a rise happening off shore that neither boy seemed interested in going after. I tied on a Blue Fox Vibrax Rainbow Trout Spinner and cast it over his hole. He followed it in the first time, nipping at it all the way. On the second cast, he wasn't going to let it get by him and grabbeded the lure - a beautiful 10" brook trout - the first appetizer of the season. He was an awesome fighter for a little guy.

I have to say I count it a blessing to have two boys that love to fish almost as much as I do! It's worth every bit of stress and ever persistent questions to spend an afternoon with my boys having fun - watching them catch fish and salamanders, casting lines and munching on donuts. These are my fishing buddies.