Slow Memorial Day Weekend

I wish I would have had a lot more time on the water, but it just didn't play out the way I though it would. I did managed a few mornings, but the wind limited where I could fish. So, I was forced into some "top secret" locations to get out of the wind and managed several small fish (mid teens) but nothing over 15-18". The trollers were out in full force at the usual locations with only a few fish being caught. I still think the May worms are in full force which is making the bite difficult.

Top Water

Didn't have much luck until it got close to sunset tonight. Talked to a friend who hasn't seen worms in his fish, but I have read reports of other fish being stuffed with them. I guess it just depends where your fishing and I think I must be fishing in worm infested waters. All the signs remained the same tonight, marked a lot of nice fish and also had a ton of "blue marks" (worms). I did find some moving water along a point of land that did produce some small fish. Nothing to brag about but at least it was some pullage after a tough day with the long rod.

Getting Better

Just another night with 15+..I can't seem to string together two calm days. I did have a decent night with several fish in the 20-24" range. It's tough this time of year, but I had some of the most consistent marks I've seen so far. The better marks were a bit deep for the fly rod, but I also has some in 20' of water. In one stretch I literally had to go 5 knots to avoid all of the debris...it was everywhere. I'm not 100% sure, but when I saw fish suspended last year (same timeframe) and I get a lot of "blue marks" on the finder it meant the worms were out in full force. With that being said, I only had one fish tonight that seemed to be on worms (pure luck I actually caught it).

Good Marks

I decided to head north tonight to check out some spots that I found from early June of last year. I went from mark to mark and didn't find much at first, but I ended up finding some really good marks. Not exactly where I had them last year, but checking out similar contours. They were in 20-25' of water close to drop offs. The spring is the time to check points and drop offs, especially when they are close to deeper water. Ended up picking up two fish, both were 20" (at best). It was a great night to be out and only two other boats all night.

Ghost Town

My timing wasn't great today and the tides were about 45 minutes off (at least where I was), so it made for some tough fishing. I checked out some lumps and drop offs but nobody was home.,,,got skunked. Only fished for 2-3 hours before calling it quits, but I didn't even mark any fish today. I made a mistake by staying closer to home rather than running where some nice fish have been caught recently. It was like a ghost town out there.... I only saw maybe 3-4 other boats fishing.

First Bird Sighting

Braved the wind (again) in search of some action tonight. After a week of being out of town, I didn't care if was windy or not..I was going out. It didn't take me too long to find some action. Nothing big, actually mostly dinks, but at least I had some pullage for 30 minutes or so. I was just lucky that I spotted the birds because they were flying high in search of bait. I drifted under them until the meter lit up... game on!! Looks like the water cleared up a bit, but not much. Fishing in 20-25 feet of water along drop offs have been the ticket.

Shoreline Structure

Fished around some structure this evening for about an hour. Nothing big, but caught about a dozen fish. The largest was only 18-20" and most were 15". I'm surprised I caught anything with the water quality being so bad.

Great Day..at least with the weather

Was on the water by 6:00 and tossing flies to some local shallow water spots before I picked up my buddy at the dock. Found a few fish breaking the surface but didn't get any takers. After picking up R&R, we headed to our first spot and managed a nice mid-20"er but nothing more. Our next stop brought plenty of bait on a steep drop off, but the wind made our drift difficult so we moved on to another location. Picked up a few more 20"er, but then it go slow as the tide turned. The last stop produced about the same before we called it a day. So, we did manage some "fat" footballs, but overall it was slow. The weather was fantastic..finally!!

New Spots

Tried a few new spots with a friend today. We had some really good marks, found plenty of bait and caught some fish, but is wasn't fast and furious. Didn't find any big girls, but had several fish in the mid 20" class. Overall, we had a lot of fun finding some new spots that definitely seem to hold good fish. As usual, the wind picked up to 15-20 and we called it a day. We also saw a beautifully restored boat..not sure if it was a schooner or not. I'll be back at it early tomorrow.

Always be Prepared

I learned a big lesson tonight and I'm sure it won't be the last thing I learn this year. You would think I would be prepared for any condition I might encounter with 1,000 flies lying around...but most of them are at HOME!!! Well, I got out tonight and did manage a few fish in the first 30 minutes of fishing, but most were 12-15", so I tried a few more spots. Nada, nothing so I decided to call it quits and head home. On the way in I noticed a few birds that caught my attention so I decided to investigate. Granted the wind was still blowing 15-20, but it was worth a look around. As soon as I got close to the birds, I swore I saw splashing but it was tough to tell because of the waves pounding. Yep, they were fish and they were everywhere. I tried just about everything I had with me including some BKDs, but nothing..not even a nibble. Then I notice 20-30 baitfish leaping out of the water and I knew exactly why I wasn't catching anything. They were on small bait and I only had larger baitfish patterns with me. I did manage to find the smallest popper I had and started to land several fish (the largest one was maybe 20-22"), but I missed the hot action because I didn't have my other fly box with me. Never again, I'll have small, medium, large, extra large.....every size with me in the future. These fish were in really shallow water, so it pays to always look in all directions not just where you think the fish should be this time of year.