Newsletter

I spent a couple of hours this morning fishing on a small pond I had not fished in at least fifteen years. In the bow of the canoe was my soon to be graduate son. We took turns paddling the boat and casting flies to structure near shore. He caught a few largemouth bass to make it interesting. When he asked me about this pond that he thought was a secret known only to him and his buddies he was surprised to have me tell him not only that I knew the pond but had an easier way to get to it then they were using.

The season is off to a great start, this morning I fished for stripers. They have been around for a week or so but this was my first real chance to chase them. I headed up the Saint George to my regular spring striper spot and had a fish on my second cast. This spot is very close to the head of the tide and the river feels much more like a freshwater river than the tidal flow that it is. The water is dark brown and still like many of our ponds. The reason for the stripers being there is the spring run of alewives, a herring that is heading up the river to spawn.

It has been incredible to watch the leaves come out over the last few days. On Friday beech trees had only buds and by Saturday morning there were leaves about two inches long. Other species of trees are popping out just as quickly today. I suppose that this relatively warm dry spring makes all of the difference. In a couple of weeks we will have all of our leaves for summer. The tulips in the garden are in full bloom and the dandelions are starting to bloom in the hayfield across the street. It is hard to be sure but when I look back on last spring all I can remember is cold and rain.