Whats everyones ''general'' plan for this season? For me it will be as follows: May-worm hatch in Charlestown pond. June-I'm gonna take Fish-Eyes advice and concentrate on the mouth of Narrow river with live herring and maybe Brenton reef. July and August I will have a slip at my freinds house near the Pawcatuck river so it will be the reefs between Fishers Island and Watch Hill. This is my first year with a real boat so if anyone has any helpful hints-lets hear them. This site has really helped me outfit my new boat(and saved me a few $$$) and I am greatful for those who have steered me in the right direction-Thanks to all!

...Hopefully my boat will be operable this year and I can enter an entirely new domain.....

...I'll be slipped in my local river, maybe 25 minutes to Newport or the Sakonnet opening. I will probably give up alot of surf time ..in order to learn the kinks about her......she a 1972.....:eek:

...hopefully she'll cooperate, and I can get her to do a doulble or triple date with some of you experienced boat guys.....

Bloo - Just give her a lot of respect, and sacrafice a good brew to the sea gods and you should be OK ;)....


Charts, chart, charts, do not sell yourself short on charts when learning an area you've never fished before... Hmmm, mouth of the Narrow River, eh?

Scotch I will be fishing Cuttyhunk,Nashawena,and Naushon islands most of the summer. Also a little known spot near the Westport River that has been good to me in the past and that a few here on the site did well at last year;) John said it all Charts,Charts,and more Charts! This year I will be giving live eels a try on some great looking humps and bumps in Buzzards Bay and will keep you all up to date as to which ones pay off.:happy: I took the boat to Don's this morning and should have it back by Sat. After that any good day will be a reason to give it a try!!!

One if by land, two if by sea!

It sounds like you guys will be closing in on me from both fronts!!!

If you see a red flag with a white stripe, give me a little breathing room ;) .

Mike

Welcome back how was the trip? Any new footage????? Lets see what week of June troll around Cuttyhunk and look for diver down flag thats where the fish are;) Mark it on the old gps and check it out (after mike is done):)

S-B One way to save $$$ is to get your own bait. In the spring I will do a trip just for bait for the frezer. Also you don't have to go far fish close to home spots you know. Like John says Chart's charts charts know where you are all the time on the chart. I spend hours looking at my charts. looking for rocks and humps that may hold fish. If you know where the rocks are you won't hit them we hope. Go slow don't be in a rush getting there is part of the fun.

And yes I have talked to the sea gods one or two times:eek:
one time was on the way back from the bank one hour out 2 1/2 back in :bounce:

Good Luck SB have fun think safe.
str1

Game plan 2002:
1. This week pray for good weather Friday and go cod fishing
2. Hope the engine gods are on my side as my 75hp evinrude is now old enough to vote.
3. Buy Flares so I'm legal
Then work on the Boat
4. Re-wire the boat
5. Remove the front to back seats, it's only 17ft, so I need more space.
6. Install two more flush mount rod holders, angled out for a better spread when trolling.
7. Build a live well. I like the article in the current On the Water but I'd use a barrel not a cooler.

Odds are I'll get to #3 on my list and then convince myself I should go fishing.

Yikes:eek: ! Quite a lightning show going on right now, so the power will be on its way out next. Good night.

-Jim

Good point on the charts. I have been studying my areas of intrest. A good tip from Charlie Soares- I took my large paper charts to the print shop and had them copy the areas I will be fishing onto 11x9 sheets of paper and then had them laminate them. This way I can keep the chart clipped to my windshield while I'm fishing the reef,etc.

I run a 15-foot Wahoo out of Salt Pond, and had it for first full season last year. Its small, but on good days (or nights) I range from Deep Hole, Green Hill, Nebraska Shoal, and Point Judith. Then there's Salt Pond which has lots of nice little nooks and crannies. One thing I definitely learned last year is that I am a SURFCASTER with a boat. Kicked myself more than once last fall for heading out to find poor conditions or no fish, when I shoulda put on the waders and hit the suds! Anyways, heres my game plan:
April: fish the pond for possible holdovers?
May to early June: Worm hatches in the pond; Plan to hook my 7 year old daughter up again this year.
June: night trips to Deep Hole w/ Eels, or the Pond
June/July/August: Flukin' off Matunuck
September: Chasin Albies & Bonito around Deep Hole & Harbor of Refuge; Lookin for schools of bass or blues off beaches; fish the Pond
October/November: Bass or blues off beaches, or the Pond, but plan to concentrate on shore fishing, as this is my favorite time of year.

On my wish list: First squeteague! Any tips?
Bill

hey Matoonoc

looks like we fish the same area ,I fish out of a 17" sundance,

love that pond, good luck this year and hope to meet you on the water

Hey Denis, how does that flat bottom do off the south shore. My first year with a flat bottom boat. I bought my boat(21 ft Carolina Skiff) for the stability and price tag. I just don't want to get in over my head out there.

March: Freshwater bass, pickeral & crappie fishing
April: More of the above, but mid april I waht to hit the Thames again in the hopes some large will have mixed in with the holdovers and will be chasing some herring around.
May: South side of the Cape, I want to hook with with friends FW/BC again for some fun wade fishing for blues. Maybe by then I wll have built a stick that will throw some jigs and might like to try the canal a few times.
June: Back to Scituate and hopefully a better slug of fish than last year, otherwise I'm going to be trailering to parts unknown to learn some new waters. I'm hoping to hook up with GB and give Cuttyhunk a try before the fling and I'd like to fish with Slip and BM on the cape some night. Also want to watch for the mackeral and get a bunch in the freezer for later.
July: More of the same, but concentrating on some large early on with live macks and hope for some good results.
Aug: Ditto and also getting ready for my annual smallie trips to Maine in late August and early September.
Sept: Last fall really was a disappointment after the previous year, so if this fall starts out the same, I'm going south early and follow the fish. I'm not going to get stuck in the same rut this year.
Oct: I want to hit the Thames early this year, but will gauge that move based on what's going on locally.
Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March: Thames.

Fish-On, Tight lines, Large for everyone this year :).

Scotch Bonnet

my 17-sundance has a modified v-hull, but you should be ok with 21skiff.

Scotch,
I am out of Charlestown and I can give you some tips on fishing the area by boat. I think you said you have a 17' skiff which should be perfect for the ponds and out front. Your best bet for this general area would be the Watch Hill reef. Trolling a tube setup between Fresh Pond rocks and Quonny would aslo be good. Let me know if I can help.

179, any help would be apreciated. Watch Hill reefs will be my main focus after the worm hatch. Maybe we can get out on the reefs one night. Also if you want to get in on the worm hatch there is plenty of room on my boat. Mike over at BOATS is putting on the 50 hp Suzuki 4stroke this week. I have a 21 ft Carolina Skiff with the wide beam(8ft). Its rated for up to 16 people:D .This boat is a barge. Cant wait to get it on the water.

Hey GS,
If you're really up for parts unknown, give me a pm and I'll bring you up to my "old reliable" spot in Rockport. I didn't get skunked up there one day last year; excxcept for the day the boat almost sank.
Your Pal,
Rick:af:

Scotch,
I haven't had alot of luck in the Charlestown area via boat fishing. But I know there are some good fish coming in and out of the breachways. The wormhatch in you boat sounds like a good plan, to get to meet you.

I'd also like to try the WH Reefs a bit more this season. I did troll a tune-n-wom there a few times and picked up some small keepers but nothing large. From what I hear live and chunk bait is the ticket there. I spent most of last season off of BI and PJ where fishing was fantastic.

Mike is a good guy @ Boats he will treat you right, and your going to love the Suzuki.

I'll be getting my boat in the water tomorrow night, I'm down at Billington Cove in Wakefield, hopefully I'll get a chance to grab a few schoolies off of the W.Wall. I think we will be seeing some large fish moving into the area in the next week. The water temps are above 50^ along the coastline, and approaching 53 in the ponds....

179, I'll give you a shout when the worm hatch starts to heat up. I'm on vacation around the full moon in May, things should be hoppin by then. I have some experience fishing the Watch Hill reefs with my brother-in-law when he had his 42' Viking(way too much boat for that spot, but fun anyway). We had good luck on the ebb when it was around dusk/dawn. Fish would just feed aggressively on one reef and it was one after another. When the fish weren't showing on top things were tough. I'm gonna put some time in around PJ this year also. A friend of my is a charter Capt and he uses live shad in the boulders off PJ when fishing for fun. Theres no shortage of shad around this area. My boat should be in the water this weekend - gotta break in the new Suzuki.

Sounds good Scotch I'll be on the water this weekend also, might shoot down to the West Wall tonight. I heard the guys were doing well with the schoolies in the breachway yesterday morning. So the fish are here. Give me a shout on VHF I usually stay on 71, and go by 179. Good Luck! Don