Mushmouth's Saltwater Log 2009 (SLog)

[mushmouth]

Under water schoolie shots from 5-17-09

Mr. Linesides




Nice fly...

[mushmouth]

Had Friday off to begin the Memorial Day weekend so headed out to PBP for another all day fishathon.

Trip 13: May 22, 2009
Location: PBP
WT: ehhh...
AT: High 70s low 80s
Tide: 2/3 high to dead low
Time: 5:30am - 4:00pm
Wind: SW 5-8kts in the morning, picking up after 2pm to 10-12kts.

It appears the masses of active surface menhaden left the area. Saw the occasional flipping bait, but nothing like two weeks prior. I was hoping the bait and warmer weather brought more fish to the area...and they did.

For the day hooked and release 5 bass and 1 bluefish. The presence of the blue was a positive sign only because it means the water is set up for longer term residence.

All the landed fish were under 28", but of course there was the one that got away (there's 9 seconds of blackness to start also can be seen in HD if clicked):

This is just another example of massive user error. The fish was easily the largest I've hooked this spring. The weight of its quick turn on the fly caught me off guard and I had way too much pressure on the line. I also think the tippet snapped at casting knot , but who knows.

It wasn't all bad though. Hooked fish in spurts through the first half of the outgoing tide. Some shots of the day:

Memorial Day air traffic:


That's right...run away...


Strike One!


Rockfish:


You stay over there...


Nom nom nom


Part 2 from Rhody coming soon...

[likwid]

BOOFISH!

[mushmouth]

BOOFISH!

With a fly rod, I'd take a 26" blue over a 26" bass any day...providing i landed one striper already...

[mushmouth]

Trip 14, see Maria thread for WH: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...=156538&page=4

Trip 15: June 6, 2009 (Hush Charter)
Location: Barn Island, CT / Watch Hill, RI / Fisher's Island, NY
Time: 9am - 5:30pm
Wind: Not much, but mainly from the NE

Mid-February i was given the gift of a full day charter for my birthday from my very generous wife. After looking at a variety of guides with different specialties and personalities, I chose to go with Ryan Sansoucy from Hush Fly Fishing (http://www.hushfishing.com/).

Ryan has an atypical persona for fly fishing, but I liked his style and approach to fishing and he is an excellent guide and fun to hang out with for a long day. fully recommend him if you get a chance. His forte is site fishing for stripers on flats using a skiff and poling stand. I had never done this type of fishing before, but thought it would connect the dots between fishing/hunting as best as possible.

The forecast for the day was iffy at best. Rain in the morning with chances of rain all day. We got lucky in that there was not much wind, making the site fishing a viable option.

The day started out with the breakfast of champions:


Going down Route 1 from Wickford to n. CT, I run into my ride for the day:


Launch site:


And we're off:


It had been awhile since i've been in a fast boat and the forced induction of salt air through my nose burned like a mfer.

We started at Watch Hill were I landed a few schoolies to get into the groove of the morning. After we had a few little ones under my belt we headed to Fisher's Island.

I guarantee the person who lives in this house does not appreciate living within casting distance of one of the best little fisheries for big bass I've ever seen:


It took awhile to get the hang of Ryan's directions. "There! There! There!" does not always translate well to the guy with the rod

Actually, he did an excellent job pointing me in the right direction and although I didn't always know my 9 oclock from my 11, at least I was on the right side of the boat.

The size of the fish on the flats was surprising. Here's the clip I posted in the Maria thread about why I wasn't about to whip out a 6wt:


Here's what a 30-40lb fish look like cruising away from my cast in 2-3 feet of water:


My first hookup was eye opening. I was warned that bass run harder on the flats because they can't go down and there's nowhere to hide, but I still wasn't prepared:


I thought I was doing ok until i realized the toe of my sandal was on a loop of line...pop....gone. (sandals came right off after that)


...cont...

[likwid]

I thought I was doing ok until i realized the toe of my sandal was on a loop of line...pop....gone. (sandals came right off after that)

pssst: hip shooter with boat bottom.
nuff said.

[mushmouth]

pssst: hip shooter.

God I hope they sell them for free...because I am sick of my orvis carton, i mean basket.

[likwid]

God I hope they sell them for free...because I am sick of my orvis carton, i mean basket.

I REALLY hate hard baskets when it starts getting chilly and hands get beaten.
Banging your hand on the side of a stripping basket sucks when your fingers are frozen.

[mushmouth]

Trip 15 cont...

After missing casts/breaking off/spooking/ more fish than i thought I'd see on the day and ultimately striking out at Fisher's Island we headed back to the flats around Stonington/Barn Island.


I'll never question why guides wear those face masks again...

The first flat we poled across here was pretty much empty. It was at this point I started to think it just wasn't going to happen today and that I had my only shot at a big fish from the flats and blew it. We headed around t othe other side of the sandy island which is where i cut the above clip. There were fish everywhere and some big ones.

After a few more missed casts, I finally got another shot:



This was another big fish, but the initial take was so subtle it was misleading. At first I thought I had it under control, but it put it in another gear:


...and was gone.


It's funny how the pain of losing one like that sets in slowly. At first I joked, then had a moment to think about it...


With about an hour left of good light, I was able to hook up again, but this one took it easy on me.


We were both surprised it didn't run like a maniac, but it could have been their way of saying, "We know you tried hard, so here's a token for you...be happy."

The fish was decent, but thin and came to the boat with a couple of bigger fish in tow which wouldn't take Ryan's fly for a double header (cast from Maria...).

Cheese:


After this we anchored and tried to coax a few more hits from fish coming out of the deep onto the flats, but no one was interested.

This was a memorable day fishing in a style I've never done to a species which continues to surprise me. Site fishing for stripers in shallow water is a game of patience requiring more fly fishing skill than I brought to the table, teamwork and communication and the ability to control your actions when your heartbeat jumps from near resting to sprint before you even move a muscle.

Knowing I had shots at several potential fly rod fish of a lifetime will get me back on Ryan's boat. I hope he sticks around for awhile because I need a lot of practice.

[mushmouth]

Trip 16: Block Island, RI

Like the charter, I'd been looking forward to this trip for months. For our anniversary we rented a place on Block Island for 8 days. The weather was mediocre, but we had fun as a family and I did get in a significant amount of fishing in the early mornings and during w/b naps.

Arriving in New Harbor:


East side of the island, facing south, in front of the Spring House:


Near Black Rock:


Casting in Grace's Cove:


More Grace's Cove:


Despite wearing Korkers, some of the rocks were covered in seaweed which was too thick for spikes and hid how small the tip of the rocks actually were:


With a young toddler and another on the way, I switched from waders to a wetsuit bottom and a drytop. I learned it doesn't take much to find yourself in an awkward and potentially dangerous situation among the rocks where waders would only make matters worse:


Back to Black Rock...not my day:


Pretty, but not a fish around:


Where's that damn rock?!


(cont.)

[mushmouth]

Working the surf continued...

Hey, that looks like a good rock!


For me to fall off...


After spending the first couple of days flailing around in the surf, I figured it was just a little too early and the water was a little too cold for bait to hang around the inshore rocks so I decided to focus on the channel to New Harbor.

Some island scenery first. this was the view off the side of our deck:


Island locals are a funky bunch and keep some interesting animals:


Welcome to Block Island, the most beautiful island in all of Egypt:


The island has two main tackle shops. This one sells lobsters:


I'm sure this one would too if if only had an inch to spare:


The march of sail boats starts early...$$$ for the islands bars:


I wasn't the only one fishing the channel:


I loved seeing the smaller ones learning from the adults.

What's on the menu?


And lots of it:



(cont...)

[mushmouth]

After a few month of lugging this thing around I'm finally getting the hang of working with my co-pilot:


Working the northern part of the channel:


With a little bit of success:


Finally a decent fish:


As mentioned in the Maria thread, there was a channel dredger working all day long to keep the channel wide and deep. At first I thought its presence would scare off the fish, but it actually churned out a ton of bait and makes the channel a great spot to feed.

It's not great though when you're in the backing and this thing is waiting for you...literally...he came on the speakers and asked if I could speed it up because he couldn't hold it there all day...


Actually, the guys on board were fishing themselves and were happy to let me know the could see schools of fish on the other side of the boat:


In the morning, when the dredger wasn't around the channel was a very peaceful place to fish:


C'mere...i'll take it out:


Last day, pretty channel sunrise:


We'll be back next year with a second little one in tow

[2nd mate]

STOKE^^^^^^

[likwid]

Still using the dishpan....

If you want I can leave my hip shooter down in Wakefield at a buddy's shop before you're in RI the next time for you to play with for the weekend.

[mushmouth]

Still using the dishpan....

Same trip...give a guy a little time!

But yeah, wading out above the hip really was a PITA with it...

If you want I can leave my hip shooter down in Wakefield at a buddy's shop before you're in RI the next time for you to play with for the weekend.

Thanks for that, but I think I'm going to just go ahead and get one. Why the eff not...right? I'm hoping to be back in RI for the 4th, but I don't think i'll be fishing...that just hurts to say.

[Sagamoron]

Nice work, looks like a good time for sure.

[mushmouth]

It was a great trip. I hoped that it would satisfy me for a few weeks, but all it did was make me want it more.

Tomorrow's goal...a striper from NY shore and RI shore.

edit...I just realized I'll be in CT too...so NY, CT and RI shores...I'm betting I strike out in NY and CT tho.

[likwid]

I'll be in CT tomorrow (Cabela's and Fisherman's World trip)

Miiiiight pack the 1266 for the ride back North after.

[DEVO]

Hey Mush, really enjoying your posts! Keep it up, it great stuff.

[Sagamoron]

Is Hush the dude with "DRUG FREE" inked across his neck?

[likwid]

Is Hush the dude with "DRUG FREE" inked across his neck?

Yep, he's the sXe dude.

[Sagamoron]

Yep, he's the sXe dude.

gotcha, he was actually a nice guy, I spoke with him at the Bears Den show interesting ink to say the least....

[likwid]

gotcha, he was actually a nice guy, I spoke with him at the Bears Den show interesting ink to say the least....

Bit on the 'intense' side.

Good fisherman though.

[mushmouth]

Bit on the 'intense' side.

Good fisherman though.

...aaand that's exactly what I was hoping for. If I didn't have (ok, want) to go back and see the little one before she went to sleep, I think he would have stayed out and fished for another few hours at no extra charge...he just wanted a big fish in the boat.

[mushmouth]

Trip 17:
As mentioned above, the goal was to catch from the NY, CT and RI shores in one day. Failure was projected and failure was achieved.

Day began as usual with a pre-dawn drive down the FDR, over the RFK bridge, up the Deegan and off towards Orchard Beach.

Just before the entrance to the parking lot I saw a coyote sauntering down the middle of the road. I was able to drive pretty close. Not close enough to make me think he was rabid, but close enough to distinguish it from a dog. From now on I'm doing these drives with the camera ready.

The park doesn't open until 7:30am and a cop guards the entrance until then. The cop however is behind a set of cones and a bar which are staggered enough for a car to make wide turns around before going past. Luckily they have responded positively both times I went around the gate, pulled up at 5:30am and said I was just going fishing.

One of these times i'll get some photos of the bike out to the island. It's an oasis only 20 minutes from mid-town, guarded by a grass marsh and is typically a very peaceful place to fish the early morning, but I've never fished it before this year so I was totally unaware of the bugs that infest the area once the temps rise.

Oh...my...god


Once off the bike the swarm of mosquitoes on my hands, legs, face, toes, ears, mouth, etc...was crazy. With 17 days of rain in the first 20 days of June the grass marsh turned into a massive mosquito and gnat hatchery and I brought nothing. If they didn't bite, I wouldn't care, but all these fuckers were biting...aaack! just thinking of it is making me cringe...Fcking miserable morning, but I was awake and had no place else to go.

To make matters worse, there wasn't a breath of a breeze...but it was a pretty morning:


After that I didn't bother to try and keep the camera going. Pausing to do anything but fish seemed like a pointless opportunity to go insane. The only protectio nI had was my rain jacket cinched down over my face and hands...great fun.

I was able to hook up and turn the camera on for a couple of minutes. To get a sense of time passed before hooking up, the mostly submerged rock in the back ground is what I was standing on in the photo above:


But the bugs were so awful I didn't care focus enough and land it:


I couldn't take much more and was outta there by 7am...good riddance.

With the goal crushed, I figured the stop in Rowayton, CT on the way to RI would be a pain to try and find a place to access decent fishing so I decided to hang out with my wife and her friends which was the point of the stop in the first place.

Turns out they live in a beach association section of the town which not only has less than a block access to the water, but the coast is prime for fishing...fack. To make matters worse, as they're showing us the beach, a dude with a fly rod walks by with his kids and he mentions that the rocks and jetty RIGHT THERE have been on fire...thanks dude.

Next stop back in Wickford, RI. I hit the dock and landed a couple of schoolies before a big steak and a few glasses of wine, etc, etc. A nice end to another looong day.

Casting off the dock in Wickford:


Next up...Saturday morning I'm going to hit Pelham again with a large amount of bug spray, then head up the Taconic and hopefully get a larry in the evening...anything will be better than last Saturday.

Belated happy father's day to all you Dads!