By Guide Rick Buss:
This time of year is rough for the crowd that prefers to fish water that not frozen on the surface and holds easily accessible fish.
Some of my kayak brethren have put their yaks in storage until warmer weather prevails. Other hearty souls are targeting holdover line siders in some of the usual winter haunts, warm water discharges from power plants and mouths of the tidal sections of various New England rivers. Up north, the Merrimack always hosts some fish that have stayed behind. Closer to my home marsh, the Mystic and Charles Rivers have good numbers of fish that can be enticed into biting. Down south, the Housatonic is becoming almost legendary for winter striper fishing. The trick with these fish is to present soft plastics and shiny lures like Kastmasters or small jigs very slowly. A dead stick presentation will often provoke a lethargic fish into hitting. It seems like they’re saying, “Get out of my face.” Slow fished tube and worms can pick up these fish also, if you can find worms.
Ice fishing scratches the itch for some of us. I find the hardest part of kayak ice fishing is cutting a hole big enough to fit the yak. Kidding aside, some nice tasty yellow perch are coming through the ice. My friend, Matt St. Pierre, caught several of them in a North Shore pond recently. This is the time of year to hit the shows. I’ll be speaking at the Fishing & Hunting Expo in Salem, New Hampshire on January 12th www.RockinghamExpo.com.
MSBA is once again having its show. www.msba.com. RISAA will also be hosting its show in Providence, Rhode Island. Be sure to check the Events Section in the magazine for others as well. I received some gift certificates to the local tackle shops for my birthday this year. If you’re looking for something to give your favorite angler for the holidays; spend your money locally. Local shops need our support as much as we need them.
After putting a couple of logs in the wood stove, I looked out on Belle Isle Marsh through my binoculars. I spotted three great blue herons huddled in the lee of a stand of grass on the far side of the Marsh. They look like three old men in gray overcoats; shoulders hunched and hunkered down, waiting for a break in the weather. That’s exactly what this old man is going to do. Stay warm and hope for smelt. See you at the shows!
Guide Rick Buss, (617) 719-2036, www.belleislekayakadventures.com. Kayak specialist and fishing guide Rick Buss fishes, dives, and snorkels off his kayak. He runs his guide service out of Belle Isle in Winthrop but can deliver kayaks to your location.