First Bite in Weeks

Check and share here for the latest fishing reports.
Post Reply
User avatar
Detritus
Posts: 538
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:50 pm
Species: Anything we can catch
Location: Vergennes

First Bite in Weeks

Post by Detritus »

Yeah, like a single bite.

We started the morning out at our favorite launch, Redgate, about 6:45. Crew was Brody, Liam, and myself. I don't remember air temperature, but, no frost on the windshield, with some frost on the bow. Must have been hovering around freezing.

Boat started and ran great, with Liam waking up the big Merc 2 stroke, and Brody pulling over our little Honda workhorse.

On the way out of the river, I had to snap a picture of the conditions.


IMAG1594.jpg
IMAG1594.jpg (50.98 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


It didn't come out so great, but trust me, it was a beautiful morning.

We ran north to meet up with Reelax, and set up in their aquatic footprints so to speak, hoping to turn our luck around after a tough few weeks of fishing, but not catching.

We set out our big planer boards, stick baits, a couple little spoons, running a split shot in front of the stick baits about 6 feet. Except the leadcore rods of course. Those just had our stuff tied on. Did use a couple riggers less than 10' down.

We trolled north close to the shoreline, clotheslining more moorings with our planer board line than wrestlers at a WWE Smackdown.

Talked to the guys a while on the radio, sipping coffee, hot chocolate, and having a few Entimans donut holes. Not much else to do besides reel in lures without fish on them, and put new ones back out.

At one point along our 28.8 mile GPS track today we had our first release since I think January. And boy it was an exciting one. Leadcore jointed rapala 1.5 colors down plus a 50' flouro leader back off of a planer board. Liam was up, and I could have taken the net from Brody, but after a report from Reelax that they had just caught a laker, I figured I'd let him net it. The best way to learn is to do stuff, right? After some yelling and a couple missed attempts, I left the helm to see what was going on.

I'd bet our trolling motor that was a 7 lb salmon thrashing around right behind the boat. "Gimme that!" I grabbed the net, but, it was too late. Fish spit the hook before I could get the net in the water, and swam off.

Big heartbreak right there, especially for Liam. That one hurt. But like I told the boys, it wasn't so bad. Fish didn't swim off with the lure stuck in his mouth, he wasn't blinded in one eye or something since we were only running a tail hook on the lure, and we weren't going to keep it anyway. Only thing we missed out on was a picture, and another master angler salmon entry for Liam. He's already got a salmon this year anyway.

After another couple passes, we decided to part ways with the reelax crew, and test out some new waters. Got a picture before we left.

imagejpeg_0_2.jpg
imagejpeg_0_2.jpg (86.5 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


So for those of you that don't know, the best way to drown your sorrow after a missed chance like that, is to fire up the grill, and cook up some nice Yummy Boneless Wyngz. Hot buffalo style.



IMAG1595.jpg
IMAG1595.jpg (92.78 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


Yes, you read that right, wyngz, haha. Brody and I went out last night for snacks sans Mama, so I got to pick out what we brought out on the water.

I had Liam cook them up to get his mind off of the loss earlier, and the Wyngz really did take the edge off.

In this case, it wasn't the nice hot and spicy taste of chicken that helped our spirits, it was the weirdness of it. Check out these Wyngz.


IMAG1599.jpg
IMAG1599.jpg (128.64 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


At our house all the kids start eating buffalo wings right alongside rice cereal, and whipped carrots in their high chair. Not quite, but the kids like them. We call the two kinds 1 bones and 2 bones. Like you see above.

Well these Wyngz are boneless, somehow molded into 1 bone and two bone shapes. Liam and I were laughing as we ate them. There's just something not right about holding a drumstick by the small end, and just biting the thing in half. The taste however, was excellent.

He cooked up some nice kielbasa next.


IMAG1600.jpg
IMAG1600.jpg (77.71 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


We stopped along the way to check out the waterfall at the Palisades as well.


IMAG1596.jpg
IMAG1596.jpg (146.67 KiB) Viewed 1452 times
IMAG1598.jpg
IMAG1598.jpg (84.62 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


Another little curiosity for you to check out here, I was trolling along at one point, close to 5 hours into our fairly quiet fishing journey, and I thought I heard something bump the boat. I asked the boys, "You hear that?" ""No". "Was that ice?"


IMAG1601.jpg
IMAG1601.jpg (75.76 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


So if you look at that sonar graph, check out the vertical line from the surface to the bottom. That's what a mostly submerged 30" mooring ball looks like on sonar, when you directly run it right over.

Oops.

No harm done to either party though, just kept chugging along.

We didn't get to hook up with Dilly Worm, although we were on the water for an hour or so at the same time. Saw a bunch of other boats as we were heading in, including a Bass Boat.

Liam did a good job landing the boat in a really stiff sideways current today too. Tough one for anybody. He got it on the second try.


IMAG1602.jpg
IMAG1602.jpg (82.62 KiB) Viewed 1452 times


Liam's big salmon didn't cooperate today, but, you just really can't beat being out on the water doing what we were doing this time of the year.

Thanks for the tips Matt, and Reelax crew.
"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
The River Rat
Posts: 245
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2017 1:57 pm
Species: Anything that swims
Location: South Eastern VT

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by The River Rat »

Well worth the effort I'd say. Keep on em
A White
User avatar
Dilly Worm
Posts: 276
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:22 pm
Species: target salmon & catch togue

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by Dilly Worm »

Great read and photos ! That's a great write-up for a slow day of fishing !

I got a kick out of those boneless Wyngs, will have to try some when the wife is not there to see what I'm feeding the kids :P
I do not exaggerate when I talk about fishing - I underestimate, like I say "just one more cast honey, then I'll come home" !
Keep Calm and... Fish On !
Image
tmcaul
Posts: 219
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:26 am
Species: salmonids
Location: Charlotte

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by tmcaul »

Great report. Really wonderful that your boys are with you on these adventures.

I may still have some good years ahead of me, but the best fishing years I've had to date were those when I fished with my son. (He's moved to Newport, so he fishes Memphremagog now. With his wife, which is a good thing.)
Tom
"Tyee, Too"
18' Lund
User avatar
Reelax
Site Admin
Posts: 5730
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:27 pm
Species: Salmon, steelhead, brown trout
Location: Fletcher, Vt

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by Reelax »

Jack Liam and Brody. I hope you are planning to fish the Rotary and LCI this year... that salmon will give you another chance and you deserve to to put him on a winner board. Great fishing next to you today and sorry to hear the story on the radio when it swam away...

Here is a shot of you guys before you ran south...
Attachments
8F9827D4-FCDB-4753-A4EB-0F96A0B830DF.jpeg
8F9827D4-FCDB-4753-A4EB-0F96A0B830DF.jpeg (128.32 KiB) Viewed 1250 times
Matt B
User avatar
fishy1
Posts: 3970
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:21 pm
Species: many species

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by fishy1 »

great report and patience. if you were wondering who was beeping the horn from the road it was me. i was shore casting just above you it was cold and breezy but i lasted over an hour. salmon busting water there this morning before the rain.
User avatar
Detritus
Posts: 538
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:50 pm
Species: Anything we can catch
Location: Vergennes

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by Detritus »

fishy1 wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 3:53 pm great report and patience. if you were wondering who was beeping the horn from the road it was me. i was shore casting just above you it was cold and breezy but i lasted over an hour. salmon busting water there this morning before the rain.
Haha, we were. I figured it was somebody who knew Matt. I even said something to the boys. If I knew it was you, we would have beached the boat to say hi. We didn't think there was people in NY that would recognize us.
Reelax wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:14 pm Jack Liam and Brody. I hope you are planning to fish the Rotary and LCI this year... that salmon will give you another chance and you deserve to to put him on a winner board. Great fishing next to you today and sorry to hear the story on the radio when it swam away...

Here is a shot of you guys before you ran south...
Thats a good picture of the boat. Liam kind of took a 1-2 punch that morning, with losing the fish, and eating Wyngz instead of bacon wrapped bbq pineapple duck. Kidding aside though, he still had a great time. It's all part of it, and he loves it all.

I felt bad for him for a while there though. Still do. I mean, I know we could have boated that fish if I had micromanaged everything, and didn't let them net fish, and all that. But those guys are young, and there will be a lot of fish for them. It's hard to let them fail and make mistakes, but, I feel like its the best way for them to learn and improve. It's not always all about the picture holding up the fish. At least that's what I keep telling myself, haha.

Definitely the LCI, maybe the rotary. The LCI is going to be split between cold and warm water fishing for us this year on Strike Three and the Country Angler. We've got livescope on that thing now, to try to catch a truck tire of a sheephead.

We're still hoping to do something with the DYP, but, the covid thing kind of remains to be seen for us for that. The kids won't be vaccinated, but I might be, and so will potential partners. Then there's the numbers and age thing, there's three of us, and you're supposed to have teams of 2, right? The boys might not be so keen on being split up, and a potential partner might not be so keen on drawing an 11 year old, haha. Maybe we can come to the weigh in to say hi.
"Country Angler" - '93 Trophy 2002 - Cold water boat
"Strike Three" - '04 Triton SF21 - Warm water boat
"The Dumpster" - '90 Starcraft SF14 - Camping Boat

Jack
Gecha (Gerry)
Posts: 4447
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:26 pm
Species: whatever crazy enough to bite

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by Gecha (Gerry) »

Nice report from the Country Angler captain. You have a great crew.
The Wyngz look tasty.
Gecha (Gerry North of the Border)
User avatar
riddlervt
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:00 am
Species: Fins and Scales
Location: Milton

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by riddlervt »

That is a great write up! Thanks for sharing. You are blessed to be able to take your kids fishing. They will hold those memories forever! I dream more about the ones that got away than the ones I have landed, especially the ones that make it to the back of the boat for a look. Good luck on your
adventures with the kids!
Riddler
User avatar
fishy1
Posts: 3970
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:21 pm
Species: many species

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by fishy1 »

jack i recognized the boat from the lcu pic. i also know almost every boat that fishes in that area im there alot even though you dont see me . ha ha. yesterday morning i fished just below where i blew the horn the day i blew the horn i was above you on a private spot. keep on chasing with your kids fish on.
troutcrazy
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:21 pm
Species: crappie, trout, salmon, perch

Re: First Bite in Weeks

Post by troutcrazy »

Memories of the one that got away are good ones too! And hopefully they're channeled into motivation to get back out there :)
These days I don't mind so much if I lose a fish right at the boat, unless I'm really eager to eat it. "Automatic release!!"
But I do remember the heartbreak from childhood when a dog tried to get my first pickerel and I lost the fish as a result. Ooh I hate that dog :lol:
Post Reply