Hardwater Pike

There is nothing like a string of bad ice fishing seasons to make a hardwater junkie more thirsty for the next. Well, this winter was a sneaky good one. What appeared at first to be a repeat of last year's poor excuse for an ice season, turned into a long, prosperous one that is still going on as I type this mid-March. Save for an amazing lake trout road trip and a couple attempts for walleye, it was a season spent pursuing northern pike. While Connecticut's trout lakes are in the shitter, it's pike program is so good it's drawing anglers from all over southern New England, us included. This winter our crew iced some impressive toothy critters up to 22-pounds, all of which were released in hopes to be captured again in the future. This video represents well over a dozen long days on the ice boiled down into three minutes. 

A Call For Action

Not often do I use this blog as a pulpit, but this is an important issue and something that could be avoided if enough anglers speak up. I fear that many Connecticut anglers don't realize what is at risk and by the time they find out, it could already be too late. So here is the skinny...

The Kensington State Fish Hatchery, one of only three CT DEEP hatcheries, will shut down due to budget cuts if we don't voice our opinions to the powers at be. The key is to make the State of Connecticut aware that this decision will ultimately cost us money instead of saving it by hurting fishing license sales and other spending by trout and salmon anglers. Every phone call, email and letter reiterating this message to members of the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee, specifically the Conservation & Development Subcommittee, will help our cause.

In the fine print of the proposed State budget, the eighth bullet down on page 194 recommends reducing the number of state-run hatcheries (read: Kensignton) to the tune of saving $149,910. I realize the State has a spending problem and cuts need to be made somewhere, but should we really be cutting things that generate more money than they cost to run? I would argue that getting rid of everything this hatchery brings to the table could cost us much more than $150K. An uniformed legislator may look at the overall production of our three hatcheries and easily write off Kensington because it's responsible for only 10% of the trout stocked in Connecticut waters. However, this facility is a prime example of quality over quantity and you have to look deeper to find out what freshwater anglers would really lose.

Kensington Hatchery is unique because it is responsible for all of Connecticut's Seeforellen brown trout, which are a German strain of trout that grow very large. The facility in question just so happens to have the only disease-free stock of Seeforellens left in the nation and closing it would mean tossing years of hard work right out the window. The hatchery produces approximately 50,000 catchable size trout and 700 surplus broodstock trout annually that are stocked in our most important trout waters. In addition, 250,000 of its trout fry and parr are used annually in programs to enhance sea run and wild trout populations. Simply put, Kensington fish live longer, grow larger, and are wilder in nature than trout coming from our other hatcheries.

Seeforellen brown trout thrive in Connecticut lakes thanks to Kensington Hatchery.

But this is not just about trout. Approximately 2,000 broodstock Atlantic salmon are produced at Kensington Hatchery and stocked annually into the Naugatuck and Shetucket Rivers, as well as a handful of lakes. The broodstock salmon fishery we have now is quite popular and attracts anglers from around the Northeast. In fact, it is estimated that Connecticut's Atlantic salmon fishery is responsible for 5,000 – 7,000 trips per year and those anglers spend a combined $500,000 doing so. If Kensington closes there will be no more broodstock salmon stocked in our waterways! Furthermore, the Salmon in the Classroom program, known as "Fish Friends," will no longer exist in the 90 Connecticut schools that now receive salmon eggs, and the last of the remaining salmon fry released in our rivers and streams, about 300,000 per year, will also go bye-bye if Kensington closes its doors. 

Chew on these numbers for a minute...

* 251,000 state residents take 5.4 million fishing trips and spend $198 million per year.
* 51,000 non-residents take 457,000 fishing trips and spend $45 million per year in CT.

* Recreational fishing supports over 4,400 jobs in CT. 

* Trout are the most sought after gamefish species in Connecticut attracting approximately 2.1 million fishing trips per year and generating ~$50 million per year in annual expenditures having a net economic impact of $67.5 million per year. 

* Approximately $2.8 million in annual license revenue is generated by trout anglers in Connecticut.

* Approximately 100 lakes and ponds and over 200 rivers and streams are stocked annually with trout.

* The overall benefit to cost ratio for Connecticut’s Trout Program is 25 to 1.

So what exactly is the rational again behind saving $149,910 by closing Kensington Hatchery?
 

Below is the contact information for Connecticut Senators and Representatives who have some say in the editing of the fish hatchery budget line item. Please take a few minutes and reach out. Keep in mind that phone calls have more of an impact than emails, but anything is better than nothing. Thank you!

Sen. Bob Duff (Co-Chair) Duff@senatedems.ct.gov; (860) 240-0414
Rep. Bryan Hurlburt (Co-Chair) Bryan.Hurlburt@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8585
Sen. Clark Chapin (Ranking Member) Clark.Chapin@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8816
Rep. Craig Miner (Ranking Member) Craig.Miner@housegop.ct.gov; (860) 240-8700
Sen. Beth Bye Email; (860) 240-0428
Rep. Ezequiel Santiago Ezequiel.Santiago@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8585
Rep. Charles D. Clemons Charles.D.Clemons@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8585
Rep. Peter Tercyak Peter.Tercyak@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8585
Rep. Patricia Dillon Patricia.Dillon@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8585
Rep. Mitch Bolinsky Mitch.Bolinsky@housegop.ct.gov; (860) 240-8700
Sen. Andrew Maynard Email; (860) 240-0591
Rep. Jay Case Jay.Case@housegop.ct.gov; (860) 240-8700
Rep. Patricia Billie Miller Patricia.Miller@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8585
Rep. Melissa Ziobron Melissa.Ziobron@housegop.ct.gov; (860) 240-8700
Rep. Kevin Ryan Kevin.Ryan@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-8585
Rep. Roberta Willis Roberta.Willis@cga.ct.gov; (860) 240-0271


Connecticut's broodstock Atlantic salmon fishery will be gone for good if Kensington closes.

The Waiting Game

The days start early; very early. Competition for prime real estate is fierce, as hardwater nomads travel long ways in the wee hours of the night to stake out their spots. Holes are drilled and spreads of tip-ups are set with freakishly large baits hanging just off bottom. The portable shelter goes up just as the winter sun pokes over the treeline and the waiting game begins. This is the version of ice fishing for northern pike I've come to know and love.

It's not an active type of ice fishing by any means, at least compared to something like jigging for trout or panfish. But what it lacks in action can make up for in size ten fold. Be forewarned that if you're going to devote your whole ice season, or at least a decent portion of it, to targeting trophy pike, one should have a good supply of mental toughness.There are many long, quiet hours of nothing that can make you question everything you think you know about how and where you're fishing. There are days and even whole weekends when you may not see a single flag. You can fish multiple 12-hour shifts straight without witnessing any pike, let alone a good one, getting pulled out of the lake. Thankfully, there is cooking, eating, drinking, and camaraderie to help pass the time...

In an instant, the deafening silence can be broken up by brief moments of craziness and glory. When you're fishing proven water with quality bait, every flag that pops could be 'the one.' It's all about putting your time in. Granted, I've seen anglers waltz onto bodies of water and ice pike they didn't necessarily earn (hell, I've been guilty of it too) and I've also witnessed dedicated guys go unrewarded for lengthy spells on lakes they know like the back of their hand. Yet, more often than not, it's the anglers who fish long and hard and do their homework that get their trophy in the end, and they deserve it. I was floored to watch by buddy Aaron do just that this season with a 22-pound behemoth. I'm still holding out hope for mine and she will come. It's a waiting game after all.





Photo credit: Aaron Swanson



Photo credit: Aaron Swanson





Photo credit: Will Sirotnak



Photo credit: Aaron Swanson



 

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson



Like Cordwood

Yesterday I took a ride to a Connecticut tidal river that pours into western Long Island Sound. The target species was fresh Atlantic herring that recently arrived here from offshore, as they do each winter. I can only imagine the challenges these silvery, foot-long fish encounter during their journeys at sea, only to come inshore and get pummeled by mergansers, seals and anglers like me.

Catching them can be fun and easy if your timing is right. The tide preferred by local herring sharpies is high outgoing, which happened to coincide with the warmest part of the day yesterday, though it was still bitter cold. Chemical hard-warmers helped keep me in the game, as did not touching the wet fish while shaking them off the hook. The mainstay method of catching herring on a rod and reel is with a Sabiki rig, which is basically a long leader with several little dropper hooks with glow beads and flash. At the bottom of the rig is usually tied a lead bank sinker that gives the desired casting distance and gets the offering down to the strike zone.

There were four of us on the rocks today, all strangers working in rhythm to fill our buckets. The process consisted of casting upstream on a current seam, letting the weight hit bottom and slowly reeling in. As the lead sinker bounced along the rocks and sand, the rig worked its magic in the current and herring latched on like it was their job. The fish tried like hell to dislodge the hooks from their paper-thin mouths by doing somersaults on their way in, but when one herring would pop off, another would grab hold. They were stacked like cordwood and we often caught multiple herring at a clip. I counted several doubles, a few triples and my eastern European neighbor had a lucky retrieve with four herring on at once!

I was a little unprepared today showing up with only one Sabiki rig. Not having a local tackle shop open near me due to the holidays, I decided to risk it and go anyway. Of course it didn't take long for my lone rig to get snagged in some riprap while pulling in a brace of herring. The line broke as I could still feel them trying to wiggle free. Thankfully a good Samaritan fishing next to me told me to grab a new rig out of his truck and I was soon back in line bailing fish. I owe him a hot cup of coffee for sure! I kept the good karma rolling by giving hand-warmers to one of the foursome that was going back and forth to his car to warm up. The small token was just enough to keep his fingers operable in the raw conditions.

The regular who spared an extra rig kept telling me the bite would slow down as the tide dropped, but it never happened. After a busy couple of hours, I bid my new jigging friends farewell and left the fish biting. I finished with a total of 54 morsels up to 13-inches long; by far my best day of that type of fishing. And while I won't be eating any of them, I never met a fish that didn't like herring! They will serve as fresh bait for a long time to come.  

Transition

Every year, after my last cast has been made in the surf and before ice forms on our lakes, there is a peaceful place I go to clear my head and try my luck. For me, late fall is a transition time from surf fishing to ice fishing, and I prefer to ease from one season to the next at a challenging and magical fishery in southwestern Connecticut.

On chilly November and December mornings and evenings, you can often find me along the shores of this man-made reservoir targeting walleye, trout and bass with live shiners and metal lures. It's not easy fishing and I think that is a big reason why other anglers aren't flocking there. To me, that just makes each catch that much more of an accomplishment. But if it was just about the fishing, I would've stopped going a long time ago.

One of these days, I am going to score that wall-hanger trout or walleye I've been after for years, but for now, just seeing an eagle, hearing a pileated woodpecker, and watching my slip-bobber go under the surface once in a while is enough for me...