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Author Topic: Olney Pond 4-20-2013  (Read 6042 times)

Jay Fat City

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Olney Pond 4-20-2013
« on: Apr 22, 2013, 10:17 AM »
In my quest to catch a fish in all 50 states, Saturday brought me down to Rhode Island. Because of the terrorist manhunt, I was not able to print out my license at work on Friday (we were shut down), so I was hoping to get a license from one of the listed vendors on the state site. Ehhh … not so much.

According to Blackstone Valley Outfitters’s website, they open at 6 on Saturdays. Lo and behold, when I got to their front door at 6:45 am, the sign on the door read open at 8:00. Strike one. I pulled up the vendor list on my phone and saw that the Providence Walmart was close and opened at 7:00. When I pulled up, the sporting goods section was unmanned (but did have a good deal on fillet knives) and when I asked if I could get some assistance getting a fishing license, the manager said no one would be there to do so until 8:00. Strike two. The Benny’s down the street was also on the vendor list, but when I got there, they too were closed. Then I just started randomly cold calling bait shops in the area and the fine folks at Continental Bait were more than willing to take my dough. After a short drive back to Lincoln, I slapped on the waders and hit Olney Pond.

At just after 8:00 there were already a few boats on the water and a few guys bait fishing on the shore. I tied on my trustiest spoon and started chucking off the beach with a slow retrieve. I was dredging up some weeds with every retrieve, but on my sixth cast, I landed a pretty little rainbow. With a Rhode Island fish in the books, I kept working the shore with different lures. I was definitely spoiled with a catch so early in the day!

After about two hours, and with the full force of the wind still not realized, I walked back to my car and busted out my float tube. I felt like I could handle the wind, and for the most part, I did. Putting in at the western most point of the pond, I let the wind take me for a ride, pushing me further of course and out toward the island in the middle of the pond. The wind began blowing a bit harder, and I thought I would be able to effectively drift to the boat ramp. But when my lures began snagging on submerged trees and I began kicking them with my feet, I became worried I’d pop my float tube in the middle of the pond. I kicked back to the road and stored the tube back in my car.
All day you could see swallows grabbing bugs off the surface and the occasional rise. Being out in the tube, I could see the larvae rising to the surface and hatching. Pretty cool. Too bad I could entice any bites while out there. Another cool site: after an osprey grabbed a nice sized trout from the water, from out of nowhere, a big redtailed hawk flew in, talons up, forcing the osprey to drop its prey back in the drink. The hawk then chased it away.

I figured I’d give the day another hour or two before heading back up to Boston, so I tied on a few lures that had been collecting dust in my tackle box: smaller spinners, odd lures I picked up in West Virginia, etc. It was tough casting them through the teeth of the wind, so I switched to the biggest lure in the box. Tossing it out where I had seen a few rising fish earlier in the day, it got whacked about 10 casts in. I thought it was a large bass or a pickerel, as it pulled out a bit of drag, but as I wrestled it to the net, I saw that it was a fat 15.5 inch bow. It was hooked a bit deep so I decided to keep it. As I was putting in on the stringer, a MONSTER fish porpoised about 40 yards off shore. I’m not sure if they stock Olney with broodstock salmon, but it was about the right size.

All in all it was a fun day out on the water. Olney Pond and Lincoln Woods State Park are kept super clean by the park rangers and I was psyched to see that they had bathrooms. Being out in the cold water in a float tube hits you right in the bladder! The water did seem to be warming up, so if you’re looking for trout, I’d head out soon.

First Fish: http://instagram.com/p/YU50U1Q7oJ/
Second Fish: http://instagram.com/p/YVfZNlw7nq/
Massachusetts * New Hampshire * Vermont * Connecticut * Florida * Washington * Oregon * California * New York * New Jersey * Utah * Arizona * Nevada * Wyoming * Montana * Idaho * Maryland * West Virginia * Virginia * Maine * Rhode Island * Colorado * New Mexico * Alaska

pascoag icefisher

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Re: Olney Pond 4-20-2013
« Reply #1 on: Apr 22, 2013, 07:36 PM »
that great! Good luck catching fish in every state!  :clapping:

DanO2013

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Re: Olney Pond 4-20-2013
« Reply #2 on: Apr 22, 2013, 07:41 PM »
where abouts are you located - and how long has this quest of 50 in 50 been goin on - sounds like a GREAT idea!

Jay Fat City

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Re: Olney Pond 4-20-2013
« Reply #3 on: Apr 23, 2013, 09:25 AM »
DanO,

I'm located just north of Boston on the Medford/Somerville line. The quest started in earnest in 2007, I'd say. I always fished when I was a kid, as my dad was president of the Georgetown Fish & Game, where I grew up in Massachusetts. When I entered college, I still fished a little bit with my dad, but got heavily involved in music journalism and photography. When my dad turned 50, I took him down to Lake Toho in Florida and it just kind of took off from there. I took a three day trip out to Utah that fall, followed by a run through Wyoming, Montana and Idaho the next year. I've slowed a bit down over the last year, as my girlfriend is mad I'm using all of my vacation time to do stuff without her. I'm secretly trying to get her hooked, but she's having a tough time graduating from fishing with a bobber.

This fall, I'm hoping to get Colorado and New Mexico under my belt. I wanted to do Delaware and Pennsylvania this weekend, but it didn't work out. The hardest state so far was California. Spent most of the day trying to fish a wadeable stretch of the Sacramento River in Redding, CA, but had no luck. Drove to Lake Shasta and just pounded the water, finally hooking into a trout as the sun was setting. Ended up finally getting to my campground in Oregon around 11:00 PM.

It's fun, but tough sometimes. Being the third car through the mountains of West Virginia during the Halloween snowstorm two years ago was a trip.

Jay
Massachusetts * New Hampshire * Vermont * Connecticut * Florida * Washington * Oregon * California * New York * New Jersey * Utah * Arizona * Nevada * Wyoming * Montana * Idaho * Maryland * West Virginia * Virginia * Maine * Rhode Island * Colorado * New Mexico * Alaska

DanO2013

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Re: Olney Pond 4-20-2013
« Reply #4 on: Apr 23, 2013, 10:06 AM »
i know exactly what ya mean on tryin to get them to graduate from fishing with a bobber, tried that last night with my gf and her son and they had fish on left and right (tiny fish) but werent setting the hook - so i to am wokring on i guess gettin them to use it correctly before movin on to anything else - although my gf did get a bass on a lure last year but hasnt used one since - anyways - it sounds like a great plan for sure 50 in 50 - keep postin - i would like to see you get there

Themandjv

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Re: Olney Pond 4-20-2013
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2013, 10:22 PM »
First off good luck in your quest for a fish in 50 states. Most will never have the opportunity and in August I'm going to Alaska on a cruise and fishing excursion ..anywho fun for thought how much would it cost in fishing licenses to fish in all 50 states???

 



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