The long report: We knew the weather was going to be great, but it was even better than we could have anticipated. The Misfit crew were hitting the bass right into the New Year: On New Years Day Alan was taunting us with pictures of bass he was still catching in numbers down in NJ.
Pete and I hadn't been to the Housatonic yet this year. In past years, we'd have three trips in by now. Say what you will about a labor shortage and what it means for our economy. What it means for four die-hard kayak fishermen who like to earn money... is less time on the water.
When you're working so much that you can't fish, you also usually don't have the time to install and test all the cool stuff you bought. Such was the case with Pete's new electronics. Thankfully, he left the original wiring intact so he could use the old unit as a backup. When you're traveling to another state to go fishing, everything needs to work - especially when fishing for holdovers on the Housatonic. There are no surface indicators and very few tidal ones that will point you to where the fish are. The fish and bait are packed into tightly defined layers with well-defined edges. I look for places, usually eddies, where the water will slow and ideally where the sun is shining. Less effort and warmer currents are always appealing to a striper. That's a good starting point, and I was glad that Pete's Plan B worked, but as we were gearing up he said plainly, "If my fishfinder doesn't work, dude, I'm just following you."
When we first launched there were only two other fishermen on the water with us. I avoided the skunk pretty quickly, within 15 minutes, so I was happy. Then, as often happens... nothing happened. Pete avoided the skunk about 90 minutes after that, but for about two hours they just didn't bite. We kept working.
I hoped our chances would get better as the tide dropped and the sunny afternoon breeze warmed the now-shallower river. Pete and several boaters and kayakers moved downstream hoping to improve their luck. Downstream waters would be warmer too... but it was about that time - two hours into the outgoing - that I had another fish. This one, like the first, was about 24 inches.They seem a lot bigger when you've been waiting two hours for a bite. I marked the spot, but I made a mistake.
I hadn't changed the icon on my GPS waypoint marker, so it kind of blended in with all of last year's points and for about 20 minutes I couldn't find that body of fish again. I marked it (different icon) and continued to mark out its perimeter on my GPS. For the next hour I made it look easy. I had eight bass from that same hundred-foot by fifty foot stretch of river. Only one bass, an eight inch specimen with a big appetite, was under 22 inches, and he was half (technically 1/4) of a double-header that paired him with a 24-incher. I was certain, as I reeled that in, that I finally had a big bass on. I'm calling it "32 inches of bass" when I get back to LI.
I broke a cable on my drive going back to the launch, but that was a very short distance and downstream. And I carry a spare.
We always end the day with ice-cold beverages and the best steak sandwiches money can buy at the Hook, Line and Sinker in Shelton, CT. The portions are huge and the prices are great. A lot of kayakfishermen found the sport because we're not made of money, but we are willing to work up an appetite. Everyone on the team is doing well financially (knock on wood), but our values haven't changed. The owner always comes out from the kitchen to be sure everything was good... because your reputation comes from the work you put in, and whether that work you put in succeeds depends on your willingness to prepare properly and to learn - from success, from failure, and from others.
One local sharpie, a gentleman about twenty years our senior, landed more than twice as many bass as Pete and me put together. Been there twice as long. Put in twice the work.? Great reputation. A recipe for success.
