Any of you guys going after Rhode Island holdover bass?? If so, are you looking in natural places besides power plants??? salt ponds, bays, etc???

I'm not looking for spots, just wondering if I'm the only one whos planning this for Jan, Feb, march.

Its natural :huh: - sorta.... Then there is "The Rose of New England" ....

Well natural, yes. Having to carry my 45 in my waders isn't:laughs:

Hey Eben. I saw a bass last week in Point Judith Pond. It was a a school fish swimming just below the surface. From the looks of it, the fish looked like it was in bad shape--fin rot, and covered in white blotches. Don't think this one is going to make it.

Yuck... I saw the same thing about a month ago up in upper pond of the narrow river while kayak fishing. It got me thinking as to why they had finrot, and then I was wondering if the sick fish are the ones that decide to stay behind and not spawn... kind of like survival of the fittest. I caught one bass wth absolutely no fin material on his tail it was like a little stump.

poor guy:(

I have no idea. The little bridge by Kenport Marine, Succotash Marsh, I've seen many school fish with this disease hanging underneath the lights. Next fish you catch with the disease, you should run it up to the pathology building at East Farm, URI, I'II do the same. In the name of science.

That little bridge is soooo much fun ;) light tackle cinderworm flies:D

If you look on the Point Judith Pond NOAA chart, find Potter's Pond and look North. there's a huge hole 18-20' deep--I've often wondered about big fish holding over here. Never tried it, only thought about it. White Perch too???????????????

throw a little gasoline on it and it will burn real good :af:

My bag. I'm learning about this site, slowly. My mouth from here on is closed. Spot talk for PM's only????????????

Goosefish, thats the best way to do it (PMs or in person). No need to discuss specific spots on the board. You may think you're posting to a few others in the thread, but it could be viewed by hundreds more. There have been many, many discussions on the boards of the negative impacts that can happen by posting specific info on locations. ;) :D

Salt pond holdovers are always in bad shape.....
Providence River fishing is like playing "smash my windows roulette."
It takes a special kind of person to fish the salt in the winter - I don't enjoy it.....
At any rate, besides Route 2, I would not worry too much about crowds anywhere this time year.
During the winter, I'd rather hike along the shore rather than fish, you can find a lot great places to fish for next season and you keep warm to boot.

Originally posted by Joe
During the winter, I'd rather hike along the shore rather than fish, you can find a lot great places to fish for next season and you keep warm to boot.

I hear ya.. lately, I've been taking a few half days at work, then driving down to the "other" side of south county to scope out some spots that I haven't fished before, like FPR for example. I started this winter with great fishing plans, but the wind is slowly leaving my sails... I'll probably get out at least 4 or 5 times before spring if I'm lucky.

Joe, I've been snooping around the articles section of your website and am learning tons of great stuff.. :D Thanks for having yoru articles out and in teh open for us to read at will.

Goose fish.. I've fished that hole in my kayak... theres better spots out there:D Also, I've been a little loose lipped before and didnt realize what I was doing. A couple of days later I noticed that the place I usually fish was more crowded than usual and everyone was usng the same rubber as I was:confused: Then I realized what was going on...:smash:

Thanks.
Thanks for the PM toonoc. At first I didn't like that little devil face staring at me, and i wanted to drop you a line, saying meet me at the state pier in Galilee, tonight, after the game. But then i thought what am I crazy: one thousand members all reading and breaking out their charts!!!!!!!!!!
Your Pm made me feel much better. And Joe thanks for the back-up.

Get a map, look for points and drop-offs, and hoof it. In the end you’ll be the better fisherman.
Look for spots that have fishy names on the map – most of those places were named for a reason. Spots that are close to deep water are good too. There are at least hundreds of good-excellent surfcasting spots. But if you go to any of the most popular DEM spots you’ll find that 90% of the pressure is within a ¼ mile of the parking lot – people are really hung up on the “fall-out-my-truck-and-fish-spots.” People are lazy by nature – but good surfcasters are not, and that’s why you never see them.
A good tip I’ve found is to go at low tide on a winter day with southwest wind – that way you’ll have a better understanding of the strucure and how the water makes up during the summer. (In the winter, the prevailing winds are out of the northwest, which is counter to how it will be in the summer – you really want to see how the water makes up at an area under conditions that are more prevalent during the fishing season.)
Rhody's rocky shore lends itself well to winter exploration, I don't bother exploring sandy beaches in the winter because sand shifts from season to season.
Exploring the shoreline is a passion of mine – if you are still interested in going after the holidays, I’ll go with you.

Dead low water. I bring a pen and a pad of paper. The spots that i fish i have sketches of. The good standing rocks are usually covered with water at high tide. I've got rocks that are high water rocks and mid tide rocks. During the season I'II put a buoy or stick on the shore, then I know that my 'stander' is out fifty feet or whatever. We all know how a spot can look different at night, and at different tidal levels. Also I get in the water with a mask, find the ledges and soft spots next to boulders--a place where a chunk will not snag up. But i can't stress the pen and paper enough: it might sound "hard core" but it pays off.

Originally posted by Joe

Exploring the shoreline is a passion of mine – if you are still interested in going after the holidays, I’ll go with you.

Moi? or goosfish? If me, I'd love to:D

Goosefish.. you know about terraserver?

Eben, never heard of it?

better fishing through technology:D

I'll send you a PM with a link

Sorry for the evil eye Goosefish :wave: I wasn't worried about any crowds tommorrow, just no need to point out anyplace in particular.

Sheesh Eben, I won't jump on ya if you post a link to terraserver, nothing wrong with people finding maps and using them. Just don't post a picture with a red arrow on it saying FISH HERE :laughs: Maptech has orthophotos/topo/noaa charts you can switch back and forth from, and URI also has a decent digital orthophoto GIS site of the whole state, but I forget the link

Now back to general holdover fish talk.... :D

Regarding skanky fish, I saw several caught off the beach near an outlet just before thanksgiving which had white crud on them, sores, and some fin rot. Surprised me because I usually haven't seen this at this time of year and in open water. Figured maybe they just left the pond, but even still would have thought they'd be healthier :confused:

I would like to get out and try for some pond fish this winter, but have not really targeted them before. I imagine they would be in deeper water holding bottom, maybe jigs/rubber deep and slow, but this is speculation. I'm also not sure if it would be better to try late afternoon after the sun warms them up a little, or if early morning/night hours are still best. I dunno, only one way to find out I guess :tm:

Toonoc.. you got a kayak and a death wish??:D
I do:laughs:

Thats not fair, you have an Aquaskinz! I'd sink like a frozen rock :err:

Seriously though, if you were to kayak in the winter, what would you need to not make it foolishly dangerous? Neoprene waders, belt, and GOOD pfd enough? An Aquaskinz would be nice too. The place I'm thinking I'd never be all that far from shore, and I think you'd want to go with another person in case of an emergency. My kayak is a Loon 16T, 16-foot tandem, which is more like a canoe, very stable and I've never tipped it.

Toonoc, I'd shy away from the waders if I was in open water, but for kayaking in flat water, I'd wear them... You dont want to go swiming in waders. The secret to winter kayaking are kayaking mittens called pogies. They're waterproof, and pretty warm. I dont use them because I'm always fishing, so I just use wetsuit gloves. You can also make a winter paddle that has foam pipe insulation handles to insulate yoru hands. The key is to bundle up with many layers and to keep dry.. thats basically it... Going with a buddy is very important, as well as having a PFD of some kind with you.
My rig is a 18ft chesapeke lightcraft that I built myself. Its the most stable kayak out there and feel very confident winter fishing even in wavy conditions.. The only problem is that i have a leak somewhere and I cant find it:smash: My secret plans for the july slump is to mount a fishfinder on it:D Oh and fix the leak..

Your kayak sounds awesome for winterfishing, with all that storage