Photo of the Day- "A Sure Sign of Spring"

 

The weather is warming and the holdover stripers have become 
more active.  I landed this one today on a Zoom Fluke.
We are about two to three weeks away from seeing the migrating stripers!

First Impression....Old Town Sportsman PDL 106 Kayak....."WOW"

 

My Old Town Sportsman PDL 106
is a pedal drive kayak. This kayak
is in high demand and gets rave
reviews.  It was built for fishing!

The wait was over for me this week as I had my Old Town Sportsman kayak on pre order for months  and it finally came in.  I made the drive up to Kittery Trading Post in Maine yesterday to pick it up. My first impression was "wow". This thing is built like a tank, and looks like it will be a fishing machine. My son Jon called it a "BEAST"  We'll find out in the coming months just what the beast can do.  I have big plans for this baby!

The Old Town Sportsman PDL is arguably the best pedal kayak on the market today for the price. If you don't believe me, check out any reviews.  They are just stellar.  In addition, this kayak comes with a lifetime warranty on the hull and a five year warranty on the pedal drive.  Those are unmatched warranties for a kayak.

I bought the smallest of the Sportsman models.  Measuring 10 ft., 6 inches and weighing 76 lbs. (hull weight without drive) this was about the limit I could handle at 70 years old. It is also  just the right size to fit in the bed of my Toyota Tacoma Truck. I bought a Malone Wide Track Kayak Cart to assist me in moving it when I'm not real close to the water. But, don't think this boat is small.  It is a whopping 36 inches wide and has a boat capacity at 450 lbs.

As for its fishing attributes, it offers hands free paddling, so you can cast, troll, do whatever as both hands are generally free. In addition, the pedal drive which powers the kayak moves in forward and reverse, a big bonus when fishing from a kayak. It also comes with 3 built in rod holders. And the seat looks like it came out of my living room. It's padded and looks very comfortable. It also has floor pads for standing while fishing.  Yes, I plan to stand and cast when in calm water. It also has two hatches for storage as well as rubberized compartments to hold small stuff. Finally, it comes with two built  tracks for mounting accessories such as a fish finder, an additional rod holder and/or camera mounts.

If you think you can go out and buy one of these, think again.  They are being scooped up as soon as they hit the stores, even before! In most cases, you would have to preorder one of these to be assured of getting one, and even at that you might wait months.  They are that much in demand. Some Old Town dealers nearby include Kittery Trading Post in Maine, The Kayak Center in RI, and Black Hall Outfitters in CT to name a few.

Just Nothing to Report

 I have nothing to report on the holdover striper fishing front.  While I have been skiing just about every day, my son Jon as well as friends have been trying for holdover stripers. It's been a lot of time and effort for very few fish. Just not good yet this March compared to recent years. I've always maintained that winter holdover striper fishing is very inconsistent and that is proving true this year.

Last year my fishing for holdovers began in late Feb. and continued right though the spring. I could average a couple of fish an outing, but there were also some blanks in there. I was also catching some white perch along with the holdovers.  But, last year was much warmer than this year. I think we need an extended period of warm weather to perk the fishing up.

With all this cool weather in March, I have to wonder how this will affect the migration. We'll see, but I am still betting on a big influx of fish in mid April along the oceanfront.

No Stripers, No Problem

 

Yesterday's fish was a beauty and put up quite
a fight.  While holdover striper fishing is slow
right now in RI, the carp are on the feed!

It's been slow going for holdover stripers.  My son, Jon, has put in a good amount of time and effort and is scoring a few, but I have come up empty. I tried last weekend and blanked.  So, in the last couple of days I have set my sights on carp fishing instead, and that has lit up in this warm spring weather.

Yesterday I skied in the morning/afternoon and carp fished in the evening. Only in new England!   I came away with a real good size common carp that was at least in the high teens.  Today I went out and landed 4 more fish from 6 to 10 lbs. Yes, the carp have come to life in this beautiful weather, and just might be a better bet (at least for me) than holdover striper fishing right now.

Carp will go on the feed as soon as ice out arrives.  That is happening in many places right now in RI, CT and MA freshwaters.

Happenings Now and Coming Soon.....

 

Expect jigs to catch most of the early season 
stripers.  This April schoolie, caught last year, hit
a chartreuse tail Cocahoe threaded onto a half
ounce jighead.

We are currently playing out the preseason in saltwater striper fishing here in RI.  There is a limited inconsistent holdover season in play right now in a few select places in the state. My son Jon has been out fishing for stripers a number of times in the last week, and he has gotten a few fish. His highlight has been a big 35 inch holdover that he landed last week. Holdovers tend to be on the small side, generally 20 to 25 inches so this was quite a catch.

We are still a month away from what I call the regular season.  At that time, migrating stripers will head northward.  They should hit the south shore oceanfront about the middle of April, give or take a week depending on the weather.  Last year I landed my first "ocean" striper on April 15.  The year before I got my first ones on April 16.  Could they show earlier, say in late March?  Unlikely.  If I look at the past three decades, there was only one year in which good numbers hit the south shore in late March and that was an unusually warm winter.

When it happens, it should be lots of fish, big time.  I expect we will see increased numbers of slot limit keeper, those fish from 28 to less than 35 inches.  There should also be big time numbers of hefty schoolies in the 24 to 28 inch range.  Those fish were around in huge numbers last year and I see no reason why we won't see a lot of them this spring.

If you want to pack the surf bag early, stock a lot of jig type lures. Lures like bucktail jigs with plastic curly tails, plastic flukes on jigheads and Cocahoes on jigheads will be the hot lures in the early going. Small swimmers and metal will be a distant second in terms of effectiveness.  Leave the poppers home until May.