Species Hunting in the Azores - September 12-20, 2018

* European Barracuda - Sphyraena sphyraena

Recently returned from a vacation on Sao Miguel Island in the Azores.  We stayed at a B&B called Casa Maria De Deus located just northeast of Povoacao.  Spent time with Cynthia and her father, Wally, taking in the scenery and culture. However I still found some time to do a little fishing.

Maia, Sao Miguel Island

On the second full day I went on a four hour fishing excursion in a boat operated by Northshore SeaTours in Maia.  I arrived at the small fishing port before sunrise. 

Fishing Port in Maia

Captain Pedro took me and two other passengers just outside the harbor where we began trolling using swimming plugs.  Soon after we started I caught a European Barracuda, which was a new species for me.  I’ve caught Barracuda before in the Caribbean but it was a different species.  One of the the other guys caught and lost a small Bluefish. After a while we anchored and started jigging.  Jigging wasn’t productive so we switched to bottom fishing using shrimp for bait.  I caught five Two Banded Seabream and three Blacktail Comber.  

Two Banded Seabream - Diplomas Vulgaris

Blacktail Comber - Serranus atricauda

I also hooked but lost a large fish that Pedro guessed to be a Guelly Jack. We spent the last hour trolling close to shore. I caught one Grey Triggerfish, another new species.  The other guys caught a Triggerfish and a few Lizardfish.  It was a fun trip and Captain Pedro did a great job finding the fish and pointing out interesting sites along the shore. 

* Grey Triggerfish - Batistes capriscus

Last year in May 2016 I had some success catching freshwater fish on the island.  I had no trouble finding and catching European Perch and a Northern Pike. This time I returned to Lagoa Verde but had no luck.  The water was warmer so I assume the larger fish were out beyond casting distance.  Time constraints also limited when and how long I could fish.  Would have preferred to be there at dawn or dusk instead of in the middle of a hot sunny day.  The only freshwater fish I caught on the island was a very small Largemouth Bass at Lagoa De Sao Bras.    

I did manage to catch a nice variety of species one evening while fishing off the dock  in Povoacao.  Caught seven different kinds of fish, five of which were new species.  I used a Sabiki rig baited with small chunks of fish. 

* Bastard Grunt - Pomadasys incises

* Dusky Grouper - Epinephelus marginatus

* Gilt head Seabream - Sparus aureate

* Black Scorpionfish - Scorpaena porous

White Seabream - Diplodus sargus

* Guinean Puffer - Spheroids marmoratus

Axillary Seabream - Pagellus arcane

* Indicates a new species

We’re planning another trip to the Azores in June 2019.  Freshwater fishing might be better in June and I would like to rent kayaks this time.  I would go out with Northshore again.  I enjoyed using a variety of methods for targeting different species. Might even book a longer trip.  

Fish Species Hunting In North Carolina - May 12-19, 2017

Earlier in May, Cynthia and I enjoyed a week’s vacation at Carolina Beach on the North Carolina coast.  We stayed in a cottage owned by the Beacon House Inn Bed & Breakfast. Between sightseeing, dining, hiking, kayaking and just relaxing I still managed to find time to hunt down a few fish species not found in the local waters of Cape Cod.

Trolling aboard the SS Fish Witch

I was hoping to go on a 10 hour Gulf Stream party boat trip with a shot at catching multiple species of Snapper, Groupers, Jacks and more.  This trip was cancelled due to the weather forecast.  The boat is on a Spring schedule with only one trip per week.  Other party boats in North Carolina were too far away.  Instead we ended up splitting a charter on the SS Fish Witch to target King Mackerel.  Captain Shane took us ten miles offshore where we trolled with artificial lures and dead Cigar Minnows.  Once the fish starting hitting the action was pretty fast.  Four of us took turns reeling in fish.  Cynthia caught six King Mackerel.  I caught five King Mackerel and a False Albacore.  The other two passengers caught a mix of King Mackerel and Spanish Mackerel.  The Kings ranged in size from 24 inches to 32 inches.  

Cynthia reeling one in

Cynthia with a King Mackerel

The king mackerel were a new addition to my species life list.  The False Albacore was on my 2017 wish list.  False Albacore are found in Cape Cod waters for a few weeks each year, usually during late summer or early fall.  They can be frustratingly difficult to hook so I considered this one to be a lucky addition to the 2017 Species List 

My False Albacore

The next morning I woke up early, walked the dog, and then went down the road a little ways to a small public dock used for launching kayaks and canoes.  One other guy was already there but he said he wouldn’t mind sharing the dock.  He had just caught a small Atlantic Croaker.  I decided to try some micro-fishing using a Sabiki Rig cut down to thee hooks baited with squid tentacles and a 1/2 ounce sinker.  In less than an hour I added two more species to my Life List.  Altogether I caught six Atlantic Croaker and five colorful Pinfish. 

Atlantic Croaker

Pinfish

 Later that same day Cynthia and I set off to visit the Croatan National Forest.  I wet a line in a one of the creeks.  One spot was narrow with fast-flowing freshwater the other spot was wide and tidal.  Nothing was biting.  We stopped at the Cedar Point Recreational Area for a picnic lunch and a walk on a nature trail through the salt marsh.   Later on we traveled down a dirt road through the interior to explore the forest.  I decided to stop at a swampy spot beside the road and check it out for fish.  Tossed out an earthworm on a bobber and immediately got a hit.  Pretty soon I had caught two more Life List Species, Blue Spotted Sunfish and Flier (a small relative of the Crappie).  

Flier

Blue Spotted Sunfish

My next attempt at fishing was with a kayak on the Cape Fear River.  We rented the kayaks at Carolina Beach State Park.  We enjoyed the kayaking experience, though the fishing wasn’t what I had hoped for.  Only caught one Pinfish.

Time flies when you’re having fun and that’s especially true when it comes to vacations.  The guy who checked in our kayaks at the end of the day tipped me off on a good saltwater shore fishing spot.  Also a there was long fishing pier just up the road from where we were staying.  Just didn’t have enough time to try out these opportunities.  

Other highlights of the vacation included sightseeing and dining.  The historic Poplar Grove Plantation has an excellent interpretive program with a highly skilled staff.  As for dining our two favorites were the Seawitch Tiki Bar and Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn.

I hope to return again to Carolina Beach and this time make it on to a Gulf Stream party boat trip. 

Early Spring Multi-Species Freshwater-Fishing

Early Spring is that short period of time that falls between the ice fishing, with trips to the west and north, and the start of Cape Cod’s long and glorious saltwater fishing season. It’s also a great time of year to focus on local freshwater fishing. 

White Perch

The numerous ponds on Cape Cod were wide open in the beginning of March.  Although trout stocking began on March 6th, cold, wet, and windy weather during this month made fishing unpleasant.  The fish also seemed sluggish.  A string of warm days in mid April brought a huge improvement to the local freshwater fishing scene.  

Besides bringing a few trout home for the table, my main goal during the month of April was to catch as many fresh water species as possible before the saltwater season kicks in.  The result was a satisfying species count of twelve freshwater species all caught on Cape Cod.  The list includes two species that were on the 2017 Species Wish List,  Brown Bullhead & Tiger Trout.

A Brown Bullhead caught after sunset.

Tiger Trout

Live shiners and killifish were used to catch the Freshwater Bass, Yellow Perch, and Pickerel.  Nightcrawlers and worms were used to catch the other species.  Some trout were caught on a small silver & orange Fiord Spoon.

I did find some saltwater fishing action during the last few days of April.  Caught my first Striped Bass of the year in Poponesset Bay, three schoolies that were just 12 inches long.  On April 30th I went out on a Captain John Party Boat out of Plymouth, MA.  The fishing was phenomenal.         Caught my limit of tasty Haddock.

First Striped Bass of 2017 caught on a small Kastmaster

Freshwater Species Caught in April 2017

1. Rainbow Trout

2. Brown Trout

3. Brook Trout

4. Tiger Trout

5. Chain Pickerel

6. Brown Bullhead

7. Bluegill

8. Pumpkinseed

9. LM Bass

10. SM Bass

11. White Perch

12. Yellow Perch

A 5.36 pound Largemouth Bass

A 22 inch Chain Pickerel from Santuit Pond

Spring Trout Stocking Has Begun

According to the Trout Stocking Report, several local ponds in Falmouth were stocked on March 7th with Brook Trout.  Friday morning on March 10th I decided to try my luck at one of those ponds.  The weather forecast predicted very cold temperatures over the weekend that might cause a new layer of ice to form on the smaller ponds.  It was snowing pretty hard so I decided to fish at Grew’s Pond in Goodwill Park.  This park has very good public access.  

Made a few casts with a gold Little Cleo spoon.  Spoons are a good choice when trying for recently stocked trout.  Next I used half of a night crawler below a weighted sliding bobber.  Also a good method for new stockies.  Didn’t catch the Brook Trout I was hoping for, but before too long I landed two nice plump Rainbow Trout.  Not a bad way to start the Spring open freshwater fishing season.

Sheomet Lake Warwick, MA March 6, 2017

Pumpkinseed Sunfish

On The Water Magazine’s weekly forecast suggested that Sheomet Lake might be one of the few ponds in Central Massachusetts to still have good ice conditions. So I decided make Sheomet my destination for one of the last ice fishing trips of the season.  I was also attracted to this lake because of the fish populations reported to be there by the state Division of Fish & Game.  The report mentions holdover Brook Trout, plus high numbers of Brown Bullhead and Suckers.  Catching some nice size Brookies would be a nice way to end the season.  Bullhead and White Sucker would be good additions to this year’s species list.

I left the house at 7am.  Didn’t encounter too much commuter traffic which was good.  What wasn’t good is that I didn’t see any decent ice conditions on the ponds that I passed by.  Despite the extremely cold temperatures over the weekend it was mostly open water and skim ice.

Once I started down the backroads it was obvious that the elevation was increasing.  There was more snow still on the ground.  I reached the state forest and noticed a hard thick layer of ice covering the roads.  I was encouraged at seeing what appeared to be a good cover of ice on the pond.  A quick auger drill revealed a three inch crust of refrozen slush over twelve inches of dark ice. 

The pond is surrounded by a state forest and has an undeveloped shoreline.  There’s a handful of small islands.  A stream flows in at one end and there’s an outlet with a dam at the other end.  The pond is small and shallow, with 33 acres and a maximum depth of 13 ft.  I would assume that a good flow of water is what makes it suitable trout habitat.

I fished from 11am to 6 pm using worms and nightcrawlers on four tip ups and a Mummichog on one.  Kept getting flags on the worms, but the fish were finicky and would drop the bait.  There was one other person fishing on the other side of the pond. Using shiners, he caught only one small pickerel and a few small yellow perch.  He also had a lot of flags caused by finicky feeders.  By the end of the day I had caught one Pumpkinseed Sunfish and a small Yellow Perch.

Fuzzy Photo Of The Bald Eagle

The highlight of the day was seeing a Bald Eagle that that stayed around for about 30 minutes.  I would return to this site.  Next time I would try to fish closer to the islands and nearer to the stream inlet.  

Oliver Lodge In Meredith New Hampshire February 20-21, 2017

Cynthia and I made reservations at the lodge in order to spend two days ice fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee.  The Oliver Lodge is located on the shore, a few miles east of downtown Meredith.  I thought that we would be staying in a small cabin.   I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that we would be staying in the main lodge.  

Being the only guests staying in the main section of the lodge we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Our amenities included a bedroom with a lake view, a large modern kitchen, an even larger dinning room and a truly enormous gameroom/sunroom overlooking the lake.  Large stone fireplaces, antiques, plus mounted fish and game animals gave the place an authentic outdoorsy look.  The accommodations alone are enough to lure us back for another stay next year.  The fishing wasn’t too bad either.

We started our fishing at about noon on the first day.  It was slow which is typical of most days when fishing on the large two tip up lakes in New Hampshire that are managed for Lake Trout and Salmon.  A little bit before sundown we started to get some flags and pretty soon caught our first fish, a 19 inch Lake Trout.   A few minutes later we caught another same size Laker. 

Day two was less successful.  I think this spot has potential.  Oliver Lodge is a great place to stay and at least it’s a spot where we can find Lake Trout in the Winter.

Dunn Pond Revisited

Last month in January I went to Dunn Pond for some ice fishing only to realize when I got there that I forgot to bring the earthworms.  This oversight greatly diminished my chance of catching a Rainbow Trout.  I did catch one Black Crappie, a species on my 2017 wish list.  So the day wasn’t a total loss.  This week I returned on two consecutive days, with my son, Nate on Tuesday and my daughter, Alyssa on Wednesday.  

Alyssa with one of her Rainbow Trout.

Day One - Tuesday February 14, 2017

Nate and I arrived at Dunn Pond State Park at 10:30am.   The ice was quite thick, about 9 inches. The slushy snow on the surface made walking very difficult. 

YUCK!

The weather was sunny, with very little wind, and the air temperature was very comfortable.  We set out 10 tip-ups.  Five baited with Mummichogs* of various sizes and five baited with a nightcrawler/salmon egg combo.   

Got one flag right away.  We waited at least an hour before the next flag popped up.  It was a small 12 inch Rainbow Trout that fell for a nightcrawler/salmon egg bait.  The action continued to be slow with only three more flags and one more 12 inch Rainbow. We didn’t get a single hit on the Mummichogs  but least we didn’t get skunked.

 
                                                                                           Nate tried some jigging.

Day Two - Wednesday February 15, 2017 

Returned the following day, this time with Alyssa.  It was cloudy with almost no wind.  The surface of the pond was a little less slushy than the previous day. We started drilling holes at around 9:30am.  We set up seven tip-ups and then it got busy.  By 11pm we had our limit of three Rainbow Trout per person!  All were caught on the crawler/salmon egg combo.  It was too early to go home so we switched the bait to live Mummichogs to try for Bass and Black Crappie.  After an hour and a half without a flag we decided to call it a day.  I’ll have plenty of smoked trout to snack on while fishing at Lake Winnipesaukee next week!

* Mummichogs are a species of brackish water killifish.  In Massachusetts they're called chubs.  In Maine and New Hampshire they're known as Tommycod.