It’s been over a week since I returned from New Jersey, the so called Armpit of America. Before I had visited Jersey I’d heard several stories about the filth and the smell, and I’m not just talking about the freakshows. I flew into Newark International, and at first glance Jersey lived up to the stories I had heard. After a week in Jersey, my opinion of the state changed greatly.
I worked all week, but as soon as the weekend arrived, I woke up early and took a 45 minute drive down highway, exiting at a small town name Hope. Ironically I was hoping to catch some muskie. I met up with a fellow Muskies Inc member name Cal, and after a quick introduction we headed out to Mountain Lake. When we arrived at the lake I was amazed how small it was. A lake this size I would usually refer to as a pond, but regardless of its size, Cal assured me that there muskies here that exceeded 50 inches.
One look at his Jeep and boat and I knew we’d get along just fine.
I finally had the chance to do some saltwater fishing here in Nova Scotia. I met up with my buddy Craig who lives out on Black Point in St Margaret’s Bay around noon on Sunday. I’ve been listening to Craig talk about the bucket fulls of mackerel he’s been catching this summer, so I figured I should check it out before it gets too cold. We launched from the shore of his uncles house and headed out toward deeper water. The map doesn’t really justify how massive the bay is, especially when you are sitting in a 14 foot aluminum boat.
Craig didn’t waste any time, catching a small mackerel on the first cast, which was released after a few photos. Its not uncommon to catch 3-4 mackerel at a time when you can find a big school of fish, but we really had a hard time finding them. We covered a lot of water drifting and then we headed out to fish around the small islands within the bay. We’d heard reports of mackerel being caught in the area yesterday, but as fate would have it, all the fish had moved on. It wasn’t until we were heading back to the launch that we came across some more fish. I thought I had snagged some sea weed, but it turned out to be three good size mackerel, at the same time, including the biggest of the day. Craig also caught a couple more fish before we motored back. It wasn’t the best day of fishing, but a great time was definitely had by all. I’ll definitely be heading out again as soon as I can.
I’m just getting settled back in after a great two weeks in Ontario. I wish I could say this was a fishing trip, but it was a trip to see the family and some old friends. We flew in to Toronto and spent a couple nights at may parents place before heading two hours west to London, Ontario to visit my sister who had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. I was hoping to take my son, niece and nephew out for some carp fishing on the Thames River but some pretty serious flood water put a stop to that. We decided a trip to the Toronto Zoo would have to make up for the lack of fishing!
Just about every animal was out and about (no doubt they wanted to see my new Fishing Fury hat), so we took well over a hundred photos at the zoo.
Well the first day of spring has come and gone. You’d never guess it though if you lived on the east coast of Canada as I do. We had several inches of snow last night and it feel more like January! Fortunately, tomorrow is April 1st, which means fishing season is open! I’ll be heading out for some trout during my lunch break, and if all goes well you’ll see some photos tomorrow. In the unlikely event that I get skunked, you can always check out our forums for other fishing reports around the globe…
Here are a couple photos from the latest spring fishing reports!
Mark and his son with some solid UK carp!
Bill with a nice brown trout and freshwater drum from Lake Ontario, Canada.
I’ve been back from Cuba for a couple weeks now and I have had time to think back on the trip and reflect. I’d like to say it was a fishing trip, but it was actually a late honeymoon. My fishing time was limited to my sons nap times, which are never more then two hours long. The weather was great, the drinks were strong, and the fishing…well, you’ll have to keep reading for that.
Since the first time I saw a barracuda I have spent hours chasing them. I have caught several small barracuda, but despite great efforts I have been unable to catch one that exceeds five feet in length. Big barracuda are few and far between on the island of Tortola, but in Anegada, located north east of Tortola, large cudas can often be seen while taking long walks on the beach. My girlfriend Gillian and I decided to spent four days in Anegada of Christmas this year in hopes of catching some barracuda.
