week three and apparently weeks 4 &5

SO, I have been fishing hard and havn't had much time to write. But all the news is good In the past two weeks I have fished at least 5 ponds and caught over 100 fish. I also had an interesting realization. This year started on a saturday the day I caught fish 1 on avery pond but it counts as a week in 2011 and I caught a fish any way. I also caught fish the next day too so I got that week as well.
Last week I started on a cold day at patchaug with Seth and Sully. those guys can fish we caught lots of pan fish and some pickerel. It was a lot of work to get on and off of the ice because some spots were unsafe but we made it. I think I saw a shooting star while I was on the way to the spot.

as I drive on the frigid roads there is steam coming out of the sewers and not another soul is on the road.

After my trip to patchaug I returned to lake hayward for the yellow perch with Jake C. we got out early enough but struggled for the first few hours so we kept moving our traps until we started catching perch. We also caught bass, pickerel and bluegills.

We stayed till dark and after the trip I showed jake and his parents how I clean fish in their kitchen sink.

the next trip was also with Jake but this time we went to avery pond and caught only 2 bluegills all day the next day was supposed to be the first day of classes and school was cancelled because of an ice storm. At least it will level some of the deep snow and make the ice thicker. Jake got an awesome shelter for his birthday it is nice to be inside a structure when its so windy outside.

After fishing I took Jake to margaritas and we got beer. jake is 21 this year



Jake called me up and asked if i wanted to meet he and Tom on brandigee lake in New London on Saturday, short trip. One bass on a tipup and nothing on the jigs.

It is getting really cold with temps like 8 and 3.

Yesterday I went to lantern hill pond I was hoping for some crappy but couldnt find them. Instead i got 5 big bluegills a yellow perch the biggest I have ever jigged, and a beautiful rainbow trout. The trout was delicious roasted the perch was on the dry side the 5 bluegills ended up in fish tacos tonight along with an extra bluegill from tonight.



A solid two weeks of fish and I have started school so now I will have to budget time more carefully so I can catch a fish every week.

This time of year you can find me huddled on the ice around 4:00pm pushing the sunset later and later each evening. spring is on its way and the season of plenty will be here soon.

week 2 Mission accomplished

Mondays trip to Hayward lake was a success with pickerel, yellow perch and largemouth bass. I gave all the fish to Jake and his parents, they gave me some fruit which I took home to Krystal.


The following day I met Seth and Jerry on Patchaug pond for some pike fishing.Before any fish were caught I was videotaping when i fell in the snow. I stood up and joined the group. As i stood there waiting to see if there was a fish I flicked my hands to get the snow off. In my haste I flicked my wedding ring off into the snow. Some quick thinking and a tense 5 mins later we found the ring by throwing water on the fresh snow.
Some impressive fish came out of the holes including a bass with spots on it and some large pike. I returned two days later and fished with Seth. Some of the ice was very sketchy and we had to do our best to avoid falling through at some spots. I read someones post on ct fisherman about the snow affecting the ice I hope its not too detrimental because there has been quite a bit of snow. May try again for pike on Saturday.

After all the accolades and awards and parade I received for my mission accomplishment( a fish a month) I have decided to up the ante. If a fish a month is easy enough then its a fish a week that I need for a challenge. 2011 has begun with a good start. I caught fish on the the first day of the year although regretably I was not in Costa Rica. I did catch fish and it was easier than I thought it would be. I decided to set out and look at 5 ponds to check on the ice conditions. and at the fourth pond I saw people ice fishing. I quickly threw together my set up and after about an hour I had caught my first yellow perch of 2011!
I went back to the same pond today and caught 5 more fish. 2 pumpkin seeds, a bluegill and 2 yellow perch. So Im off to a good start for a fish a week in 2011.

PS here are some pics of my ice fishing setup that i built myself.