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| Bugs and Bass 2012 http://vaturkey.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7627 |
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| Author: | Coalman [ Mon May 28, 2012 1:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Bugs and Bass 2012 |
Welcome to Bugs and Bass 2012. It began yesterday 05-26-12 with the launching of the USS Coalman. I took her on a sea trial to Adam's Point where I drowned a couple eels. Everything passed. Today I put a couple months worth of alewives in the freezer for lobster bait. Now I need to get my gear in shape. I'm shooting for 06-10-12 to have all my pots sunk. It was good to get back out in the Great Bay. 
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| Author: | caddis [ Tue May 29, 2012 8:13 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bugs and Bass 2012 |
Coalman....looking forward to your reports plus those pictures...have a safe and a good season..... |
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| Author: | Vic [ Tue May 29, 2012 8:16 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bugs and Bass 2012 |
Glad to hear you are back on the water. How's the transom holding up? It looked like you all did a great job on the rebuild. Vic |
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| Author: | Coalman [ Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Waterman |
Great Bay is an inland sea. I grew up on the banks of Wheelwright Creek a tributary of the Squamscott River. My hometown is where the fresh water of the Exeter River meet the Squamscott River, a tidal river feeding Great Bay. Clemson Fabrics operated a textile mill where the freshwater met the saltwater. As a kid growing up you could tell what color fabric the mill was producing by the color of the river. It was never hard to figure out when it was low tide. It smelled like a sewer. The Clean Water Act changed everything. A waste water treatment plant treatment was built at the mill. Exeter had to construct a sewer treatment plant. Of course on the banks of the Squamscott River. As a teenager the river started looking and smelling fresher. The eel grass, an important vegetation for juvenile fish made a great comeback. The rainbow smelts returned in record numbers. To this day with good solid ice the Squamscott River and the four other fingers of the hand of the feeder rivers of Great Bay support an impressive rainbow smelt fishery. Shanty towns popped up each winter in the coastal towns. There were no smart phones and IPads then. Neighborhood kids competed to see who could build the biggest but lightest smelt shacks. Those were good days. I remember the last of the commercial smelt bow netters. Even after the legends had past the bow net stands decorated the salt marsh. Sadly today there is no sign of them ever existing. But I still see them. Great Bay is my summer play land. It has been since I was 15 years old and dragged my 10 wooden row boat, with a 5 hp outboard engine I rebuilt in mechanic shop, to the banks of Wheelwright Creek and went on plane with the outgoing tide to Great Bay. I will always remember passing under the railroad trestle on that trip and hitting a steady NW wind. The sides of the rowboat were battered and shaken by the rolling white caps. I hastily retreated to the safety of the river. But I knew I would be back. That was 37 years ago Fishing Great Bay for striped bass came early since a kindly neighbor took us after school bass when I was 12 years old. The water was erupting with striped bass. After landing a 24" I was hooked for life. A waterman is in my upbringing. The bounties of the Great Bay are delicious. My appetite waters for shellfish. Soft shell clams and oysters are native to her waters. And so are American Lobsters. I've been recreational lobsterman for the the past 16 years and have been documenting Bugs and Bass since 2008. There is a lot of history in those years. From pulling full pots to blanks. Many a peck of clams and bushels of oysters have been harvested over the years. The USS Coalman is ready for her first serious outing on Great Bay tomorrow at sunrise. Our quarry won't fly but rather swim. The salt has returned to my veins. It fills the time till bird season. 
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| Author: | Coalman [ Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | First Striped one of 2012 |
06-09-12 We were at the dock as the sun peeked out behind the flagpole.  We pulled the eel car and stocked up on bait.  It was poor planning on my part this morning. Sunrise coincided with a plus high tide. When we got to the railroad trestle we could not get underneath. Neither of us seemed to care as we hadn't seen each other in quite some time so we used the hour wait to catch up on life. We ran the gill net a couple times at the trestle hoping to entangle some of the alewives we could see jumping but to no avail. So we headed out across the Bay to test our slime bait. I was first to hook up. Even though it wasn't a keeper it was my first striped bass of 2012. There is always something special about your first bass of the year. It proves your sea legs are back in balance.  Not to be outdone my first mate soon added his first of 2012.  A lobsterman came over to talk to us. He said there was a sailboat sunk in the mooring field. We had a phone and dialed 911. It must have been an old report because the Port Authority patrol boat showed up and showed no interest. I know this vessel. It has been on anchor here for many, many summers. The last couple years it has had a for sale sign on the side. Coincidence?? We will never know.  Thank you Dick for sharing the deck of my boat. We will flip the captain rolls when you launch the Memory Maker. |
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| Author: | caddis [ Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bugs and Bass 2012 |
Coalman...looks like a good start for you and your first mate...good deal...did ya yelp, purr,cluck,do a flydown...hahah..just kiddin...way to go.. |
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| Author: | Coalman [ Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:04 am ] |
| Post subject: | Firewood and lobster trapping |
Firewood and lobster trapping I’ve come to the conclusion that lobster trapping and firewood have a lot in common. It is a known fact that from cutting down a tree to having a good supply of cut and split pieces in the woodshed heats the body many times over. The same goes for lobster trapping. First sorting and trap maintenance in the barn………  To arriving dock side  Wheeling the traps down to the dock…..  To stacking the deck.  It is a good thing it is all a labor of love. 06-23-12 Update…. Set five traps last Thursday and sunk another seven yesterday. Those first five traps produced four keeper lobsters. In keeping with tradition those four bugs became Saturdays’ lunch with fresh corn on the cob and potato salad. It was a great meal shared with my wife and mother. The Bayman is back. |
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| Author: | Coalman [ Wed Jul 04, 2012 10:58 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bugs and Bass 2012 |
Last night was Captain Danny and Coalman's sixth 4th of July striped bass fishing trip. We have done this annual eel drowning dating back to 2007. It was my first nighttime bass hunting trip this season. The wind was gusting from the southeast as the full moon rose to cast moonbeams against the water and sky.  Captain Dan got the show on the road with this 32" 'er.  As the tide rose to the top the wind quit and gave us a much better drift. Next Coalman added this 22 pounder.  The bite was slow so we hunted harder. It paid off with this 26 pound striper.  They say fish stories always end with the big ones that got away. Tonight was no different. At slack high tide while trolling an eel Coalman hooked into a nice fish. It pulled the boat like we were water skiers. I felt slack, tight, slack, tight, like the fish had the line wrapped around it. And then just like that the line broke. I had to lift my chin off the deck of the boat.  Captain Dan blamed it on a sharp gill plate. Needing his own hard luck story, Captain Dan hooked a mighty fish. This striper proceeded to show us its tarpon genes by jumping clear out of the water and throwing the hook.No striped bass were harmed in the creation of this post.  Thank you very much Captain Dan for allowing me the bow of the tin boat. Good friends equal good fishing. 
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| Author: | Coalman [ Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:00 am ] |
| Post subject: | Full tide moons |
07-07-12 Frozen seas impede crab fisherman. My ice is eel grass and seaweed. The full moon tides flooded the estuaries. There are grass islands moving with the tide engulfing our lobster buoys. Here today, gone tomorrow. Logs and trees are among the debris. No lobster line is immune. This happens yearly with each monthly full moon tides. Before the new moon tides the Bay will flush itself we will rescue our gear. Low tide is the best time to look. There are a trio of traps missing from my line. Got a visit from the game warden. We saw a 14' tin boat headed our way. The color of his uniform was a dead give away. The warden was courteous and polite. Standard procedure was to check for legal lobsters, make sure the traps were up to code and for the first time since I've set traps my license was checked. Our lobsters and gear were given a clean bill of health and we parted ways. The boat was docked and clean by 11AM. Fresh bugs are on the menu. We commented many times while checking the lines how nice a day it was on the Bay. Joe said it smelled like alewives. We move a lot of small bait while motoring over the shallow flats. We spotted striped bass occasionally harassing the prey. Got a call in the early afternoon by my morning trapping partner. Asked if I wanted to fish. It was a hard choice, TV and air conditioning or casting to fish that make your arms hurt. I am glad we have an empty nest. My better half is in full understanding of the call to be on the water. We fish for striped bass in our inland ocean like you fish for brook trout in a river or stream. We use a hook and a live eel. I like to think of the eel as a big night crawler. The Bay is full of rips and rapids. Points that sweep tidal flows from shallow to deeper water are favored. Live eels were the choice bait today. We boated seven in a mid day sun. The bite turned off at top of the tide. Just like pursuing wild fowl if you want to continue to hunt you have to find new places. We saved exploring for another day. We boated seven fish of which three were of keeper status. One came home for supper.  This keeper was shot at with an empty barrel and released.  Low tide is at noon tomorrow. My youngest son and I are going to try and duplicate the bite in the same time zone. I think the yellow dog is going for a boat ride. 
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| Author: | Coalman [ Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | The Tail of Two Deer and Two Rivers |
It should be the tale but this is a story about the tails of two deer and two rivers. Yesterday morning 07-15-12 we left the dock on the Squamscott River at dead low tide. When we got out to where the Squamscott and Lamprey Rivers run parallel we thought we saw two seals swimming up the Lamprey River. That is until both “seals” stood up we realized it was two deer. That is Moody’s Point in the background. The flat water between us and the deer are really exposed mud flats that separate both rivers at low tide. As we headed out into Great Bay the two deer crossed the flats and headed for Shackford Point. We have heard of whitetails swimming Great Bay but this was a first for both of us.  
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| Author: | Coalman [ Thu Jul 19, 2012 3:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Pot Hauler Problem |
07-14-12 After a nasty bout with eel grass, seaweed and big tides I have recovered all my gear. As the rope pulled tight to the hauler on the last trap I pushed the foot pedal to engage and got a......click. Thankfully the trap wasn't very deep and I reverted to my roots and pulled the trap by hand. This is the first hiccup I have ever had with the pot hauler. I took the hauler home, hooked it up to my 12 volt battery charger and it turned. Strike out what could have been a costly repair. Knowing now it must be in the wiring, thinking of the repair wasn't far from my mind the rest of the weekend. Joe aka "Roccus" has always been very helpful to me when my mentally challenged mechanical or electrical skills were called to task. I explained all of the system's to him Monday in an email. An email was received back with a check list of possible repairs. It started with "check your ground wires". Tuesday evening I was prepared with a volt meter and a tool box. I started at the battery and worked my way to the hauler. The solenoid the air switch operates was working. I could feel it engaging. Knowing there was power it was out of the cuddy and up to the hauler. While taking the hot side wire off hauler I felt something loose. The diagnostic was not visual. I found the problem by feel. Under the shrink tape the hot wire was broken clean off.   Thanks Joe! Dinner is on me. |
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| Author: | Coalman [ Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:12 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bugs and Bass 2012 |
On the Edge 07-25-12 Reports of pogies entering the Bay is encouraging news. I need some lobster bait. I have a netters permit. The last time the pogies came into the Bay they brought 30 pound striped bass with them. Joe saw the pogies last night. Tonight we were in the same spot but an hour later to catch the flood tide. Striped bass bite best at night. The Bay's are not very populated so the shoreline is dark. The full moon is coming and it co-insides with a midnight high tide. Tonight we searched for pogies. Instead we found squid. The raft of boats behind us is jigging up squid.  The next drift in the same hole Joe hooked this 34" football.  Tonight we fished the edge of darkness. We haven't night fished in Great Bay in a couple years. The striper bite turned on at dusk. Bring on the full moon. |
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| Author: | Coalman [ Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Pot Hauler Update |
Friday night I took all the marine fix it goodies Roccus let me borrow and headed down to the boat to do surgery on the pot hauler. The pot hauler wasn't long in the recovery room. I'm glad to report she has a clean bill of health.  Thanks Joe! 
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| Author: | Coalman [ Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:30 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Squid |
07-26-12 The talk of the salt this summer is the amount of squid offshore, in the river and the Bay's. The other night while on the pogie patrol a lobster man stopped and showed us his mystery catch.  Last summer I caught the same thing in my lobster trap. An email to the marine division of NH F&G solved the mystery. They are squid eggs. A tip from a good friend yesterday told me where he had caught some squid Wednesday night. Curiosity got the best of me. I've never been squid fishing before. I had to try it out. A quick stop at KTP for a jig and it was off the river. I didn't fill a pail but I didn't get the skunk either. My buddy ate his. Mine are going to be striper candy for this weekend.  There is an adventure around every corner in the seacoast area of southern NH.
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| Author: | TScottW99 [ Sat Jul 28, 2012 5:17 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bugs and Bass 2012 |
yummy! I love fresh squid. |
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