Fishing in 2010

Boy was I a true fisherman in 2010. It was an awesome year for fishing. My brother and I got ourselves each a fly rod, giving us something new to try, and I was able to spend a lot of afternoons fishing after work. It was a great way to come back to earth, especially after a tough day at work. I fished in 3 states this summer, and with this entry, I wanted to reflect on some of my fishing highlights this year.

First Bass On Fly Rod
Crystal Lake in Haverhill, MA is a pond that doesn't get a whole lot fishing pressure. There are trails nearby, but none that connect all of the way around. There are a couple places to park, though. If you walk in from Crystal Street, you can take small trails toward the lake that offer a pretty quiet fishing experience, but the fishing here has never been anything to write home about. However, it was where I landed my first bass on a fly rod. I was fishing in a separate section of water from the bigger part of the lake. I wasn't really sure if I was going to catch anything, because I have maybe only caught a few small bass and some perch before. I sometimes take 3 rods with me when I go fishing, so in this spot, I had been trying out a jitter bug and different lures, and wasn't getting anything to move. The spot was really tricky for fly fishing, but I was eager to try anywhere. I must have gotten my fly stuck in the tree above several times, but I happened to capture my first bass on a fly on camera, while nearly falling into the pond, and I have no idea why I grab the fish on its side and not the mouth, but I couldn't believe it, I think I wanted to hold it sideways for the camera. I can't imagine how funny it would have been if I fell in while catching this fish??

Catching Squat
If there was something I did most of this summer, it was fishing. I cast a line in the brook next to my house, even tried the pond across the street. We used to catch eels and see a turtle that I swear was the biggest, but this summer, all I saw was some minnows, but I tried. There is this one place, I don't know what it is...Putnamville Reservoir on the Danvers/Wenham line is a drinking water supply pond that gets a good amount of people fishing in the summer, but its still pretty quiet, and you can take a walk in towards the middle of the pond, but its not really deep. Just about everyone that I have talked to there says there's fish in there. I have to say I probably fished here the most this summer, because it was so close to my house. I recall going for an hour a few times. I seriously caught squat here all summer, maybe a sunfish and a freaking perch maybe? I tried all along the wall, the middle, along the weeds, fly fishing from the grate on the other side, everything, and I never got any action all summer, kind of a weird pond if you ask me. I see people fishing all of the time here, but I also never see or hear the nearby people taking in a nice catch, but they certainly talk about them???? (Anyways, no fish, so theres no reason to have any pictures, sorry!!)

Catch of A Lifetime (so far)
In my post about filming and using my Olympus Camera, I posted my video of me catching the Arctic Char (Blueback Trout). It's a rare fish that's found in some of Maine's Lakes. This one was caught on Gardner Pond, where there is a confirmed population of the Blueback Trout. I take pride in this video and having caught the fish because of its rarity. Other people fishing in the area were anxious to know how we had caught two of them. We were taking our kayaks out of the water as the week-long campers staying by Deboullie asked of our success. I edited my video to inform the viewer of what I feel makes the difference, and ultimately catching the fish. Although it doesn't look huge, it was well over the limit of 6 inches. It was very exciting.





Fishing Up the Camp Was The Best in 2010
My family has a place and boat on Lake Winnisquam in NH. This year, I definitely got several great weekends of incredible fishing. The size of the bass in here are immense, and I know there are bigger. I love going out on Winnisquam at 6AM when the hounds have just been let loose for a fishing tournament. The boats are screaming through the no wake zone to get to a great spot. The tournaments usually don't allow worms or live bait, but I love when nearby boats get a glimpse of us pulling in some huge bass left and right with our nice juicy night crawlers. It's even funnier to me when we release them back! This has happened twice in the last couple of years out fishing early in the morning, but I suppose that's the reason no worms are allowed...so there are less fish taken. Anyways, I caught tons of huge bass this year on several different rods, including my niece's tiny princess rod (whatever it was). That was hilarious. I also had an awesome pickerel fight early in the year. This video shows me and my father fishing, catching several, in the early morning of June 20, 2010.





I just described 4 fishing experiences this year, and there was so much more. I caught fish in many waters all over the place, including the ponds in Harold Parker State Forest, several different sections of the Ipswich River, and other ponds throughout the North Shore of Massachusetts, including ponds in the cities of Peabody, Lynn, Lynnfield, Danvers, Middleton, Wenham, Boxford, North Andover, Salem (Greenlawn Cemetery), and likely more. I also fished in Tully Lake in Athol, MA. I still want to get out fly fishing in some rivers and get the art of it down much better, so hopefully I have some chances this summer, so hopefully in 2011 I am able to squeeze some fishing in with my hiking :)