Coming Attractions

They should be here within a couple of weeks!

 A new season is almost here.  Within a couple of weeks migrating stripers will hit the oceanfront and that will commence the spring runs.

Here is a timetable of what I think will happen based over 50 years of keeping fishing logs.

Middle of April- First stripers of the season, these fish that will have sea lice on them and will be caught along the oceanfront.  I tend to go by April 15th, give or take a few days.  Oftentimes, a warm southwest blow will be the mover that will push schools of fish onto the shore. Jigs, bucktails, paddletails and flukes on jigheads will be your top producers.

Late April/Early May- Stripers will start to be caught in Narragansett Bay by boaters and shore fishermen. Shallow locations where the water warms up quickly will be your best bets.  Jigs still work but the fish will quickly start to hit topwater plugs as the waters warm.  You might even see some big fish as the first pogy (menhaden) schools enter the Bay. These should attract some over slot fish.

Early May- Bluefish will arrive in the beginning of May especially if we hit a warm spell.  The last few years have delivered some big blues in the early going. It could happen along the oceanfront or in the Bay, but my bet is that I'll get the first blue over 10 lbs. from the Bay.  They, too, will be on the tails of migrating menhaden.

Really Enjoying this Winter!

 

Here's a big pickerel I jigged up
through the ice a few weeks ago.
It's been the best ice fishing year in
over a decade!

I'm sure many of you are sick of winter at this point and looking forward to spring.  But, I just love winter and the snowier and colder the better. 

I have really enjoyed this winter.  I did a lot of skiing.  It's not over yet and I plan to go till April.  I've logged in over 50 days on the slopes thusfar and I'm hoping to go at least another 15 days.  I've been able to do this with friends, my sons and my two oldest grandkids. I also got to go ice fishing many times this winter, maybe more than the last five winters combined. The last time I went (last week) I was cutting through 12 inches of ice with my brand new electric auger. The ice fishing has been super productive for multiple species of fish. I've only been jigging, but that has been real good. I've also been able to do this with all my sons and even some of the grandkids.

So, while I am also looking forward to spring around the corner and getting back to salt and freshwater open water fishing, I will savor those last few weeks of winter. It has been a winter to remember!

I'm at the top of Wachusett mountain skiing
with my grandson Troy and my granddaughter Hailey.
It's been a great winter for skiing!

Next Big show- Springfield Sportsmen's Show

 The next big show where I will be doing carp and striper fishing seminars is the Springfield Sportsmen's Show. This big outdoor show will be held at the Big E in Springfield from Friday, Feb., 21 to Sunday, Feb. 23. This show has everything for the outdoor enthusiast.  It has freshwater fishing, saltwater fishing, hunting, outfitters, tackle shops., boats and kayaks and more. It is held in a massive venue and draws big numbers of people.

I will be doing my two new seminars for this year titled Seasonal Strategies for Carp and Seasonal Strategies for Stripers.  Most likely I will be doing these on Saturday, Feb. 22.  As of right now, the exact schedule has not been posted yet.  The website should have the schedule up this week.

Hope to see many of my followers at the show.

Update: My striper fishing seminar will take place on Saturday at 1:00 in Seminar room A.

Red Hot Ice Fishing Continues

Ben Pickering holds a good size 
largemouth that was landed on a small
Kastmaster with an artificial maggot
attached.

We are on a roll with the ice fishing as my sons and I have been
jigging multiple ponds in both MA and RI and catching. And, the results have been the same with big numbers of crappie, yellow perch, bass and pickerel. We've also had some real braggin' size fish. All these fish are falling for small gold Kastmasters spiced with a real meal worm or an artificial plastic maggot. The plastic maggots seem to be just as effective as the real meal worms.

With the cold weather forecast to continue we just might have the ice till the end of the month.  This weekend we hit multiple places that had anywhere from 8 to 10 inches of ice. So far, I have done more ice fishing in 2025 than the last 5 years combined!

I landed this good size pickerel while jigging this weekend.
The ice fishing has been red hot.

On the Ice with the Kids

Here's a real prize that Jon jigged up.

 I fished this weekend with my two youngest sons, Ben and Jon. We went jigging through the ice, something we used to do a lot when they were young. Back then we would hit the local ponds after school before supper.  They loved doing it then and still like to do it. As you know, we have had very little ice the last few years, but we have it this year, so we decided to rekindle memories.

Ben landed this pickerel along 
with many perch and bluegills.

I went out with Jon in the morning hitting a pond near his home, and I later joined up with Ben to fish right in front of his house (lakefront property).  In both cases we found tons of fish. We landed good size largemouth bass, pickerel, huge crappie, yellow perch and bluegills.  We were jigging small Kastmasters with a meal worm attached.  The meal worm is the key to catching.

In all the places we fished there was anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of ice which is pretty thick for this
time of year. Interestingly, we saw very few other ice fishermen around on a beautiful day.

The next adventure is to get the grandchildren out there! 

We also landed some huge crappie.  They just 
don't get much bigger than this!

Seminar Schedule for NE Fishing Expo this Coming Weekend!

 

I will be at the New England Fishing Expo this weekend (Feb. 1 and Feb. 2) doing a striper fishing seminar and a carp fishing seminar.  This big outdoor fishing show will take place at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center which is right off Rt. 495 in Marlborough, MA. It is one of the largest fishing shows in New England and features a lot of both freshwater and saltwater fishing along with some top notch seminars. You can see the complete seminar schedule at www.nefishingexpo.com 

Here is my seminar schedule:

Sat., Feb. 1- 2:00- Seasonal Strategies for Stripers

Sun., Feb. 2- 11:00- Seasonal Strategies for Carp

Hope to see many of my blog readers at the show!

First BIG SHOW- New England Fishing Expo

 My winter seminar adventures start at the New England Fishing Expo on the weekend of Jan. 31 to Feb. 2.  This big show will be held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Trade Center in Marlborough, MA which is right off Rt. 495.

I've been doing this popular winter show for many years now.  It is one of the best "pure fishing shows" around. It's a mix of saltwater fishing and freshwater fishing.  The show is loaded with vendors and has an all star line-up of seminars.

This year I will be running two all new seminars, one on freshwater carp fishing and one on striper fishing.  The titles of my seminars are "Seasonal Strategies for Striper Fishing" and "Seasonal Strategies for Carp Fishing".  These digital slide shows feature lots of information and have loads of photos and videos all shot in the past year.

The final seminar schedule is not out yet, so keep your eye on the website, www.nefishingexpo.com,  as it should come out prior to the show. I expect to be there on both Saturday and Sunday.  Hope to see many of my followers there.