The End

It doesn't feel right to be putting away hardwater gear in February, but here we are. For all the ice we built up in January, it withered away rather abruptly over the last two weeks. Not realizing it was my final trip of the season at the time, I have since found solace that it happened on a lake I hadn't fished in three years, spent with a classic crew catching quality fish. 

The entire day was overcast and never fell below freezing. After a slow start, there were spurts of flags throughout the morning and afternoon. The best wave of action came just before 11:00 a.m., when we had a number of nice fish come topside within a span of a few minutes. By days end we caught and released some hefty smallies and took home a pile of fat yellow perch for the skillet. A steady rain chased us off a little earlier than we would have liked, but it was a hell of a trip and a great way to close out the ice season.

A big reason why I love ice fishing is the unknown. I know that I'll be able to fish my favorite streams and beaches come spring, summer and fall, but it's far from a guarantee that I'll walk on water each winter at my favorite lakes and ponds. This ice season started out cold enough that I thought it could go until April and now I'm dusting off the fly gear. You play the hand you're dealt...

Gray Day, Big Lake

This past Saturday was one of the most fun days I've had on the ice in a quite a while. Above all, it was the first time in six years that I ice fished with the man that got me hooked on hardwater, my Uncle Derrick. Good friends rounded out the rest of the crew, and comfortable temps and a decent bass and perch bite put the icing on the cake. With the up and down weather lately, who knows what the rest of the winter holds, but I'll savor this trip for some time. 

Chasing Esox

Tip-up fishing for northern pike can be summed up as hours of waiting for a few brief moments of chaos. While there wasn't much ice to fish on this past winter, we made the most of what we had. Here is our 2016-2017 hardwater season boiled down to five minutes. All Esox lucius in this video were caught and released in Connecticut waters.

Bobber Down

Fall can be a phenomenal time of year for many different kinds of fishing here in the Northeast. One of my favorites is slip float fishing for trout and walleye. The slip bobber is an effective yet under-utilized tool in our neck of the woods, mostly, I think, because anglers don't know all that much about them. I have an article in this month's On The Water magazine that sheds a little light on the technique while taking readers through my evolution of float fishing from childhood to today. The fine folks at OTW made it their cover story and chose what I think is a great shot my friend Aaron snapped a couple falls ago. Please pick up a copy at your local bait and tackle shop if you see it.

Reservoir R&R

Saltwater fishing is over and done with for me and ice fishing is still another cold spell away. So while waiting for hardwater, friends and I have been logging hours at a local reservoir with our sights set on trophy trout and walleye. The big fish have eluded us so far, but as the saying goes, if it was just about catching we would have stopped going long ago...