8/17/09 Fluke fishing trip

Last Monday I went on an all day Fluke fishng trip on the Helen H out of Hyannis. I was accompanied by my friends Harry, Pete, and Pete's son, Josh. What a fabulous day we had. Weather was beautiful, boat was not too crowded and we did catch some big fluke. I am not a meat fisherman, but boy is that fluke tasty. I look forward to a repeat of that trip next year. Josh caught the largest fluke weighing over 6 lbs.

8/15/09 Fishing Trip

Woo had a great day fishing with Jim and Sue on Otis out of Pamet harbor. Weather was perfect, and we got into some very large bluefish in P-town harbor. As usual Sue was high hook.

Fishing update

I have been very busy gardening this spring and participating in the Orleans Farmers' Market. The fishing off the beach has continued to be poor as it was last year with many seals and few fish. The plovers have forced closure of the beaches to vehicles much earlier than in the past and a spring NE storm has done lots of damage to the beach. More of the camps on the southern portion of Nauset have been destroyed. I have managed to take a few decent fish from Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod Bay, and Town Cove. On the gardening front I have had less problem with critters so far this year, but the very wet spring slowed up the sun loving plants like the tomatoes. With the recent nice sunny days they are now growing nicely. I have over 100 tomatoes planted and am looking for a large crop to stock up spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato soup for the winter. What I have left over will be given away or sold at the Orleans Farmers' Market.

Here are a couple of pictures showing some of my ice fishing catches. All bass are released, but those big fat perch were a delicious meal. I am just sorry the ice fishing season is over.

Cold Winter at Cape Cod

Ever since I made my last post showing the large salmon being stocked in Big Cliff Pond in Brewster, MA, mother nature has blasted us with a very cold winter with more snow than normal. The only upside to the weather has been my ability to do some ice fishing which I have not done since I moved to the Cape in 2005. I found a couple of small ponds with enough ice to fish and have managed to catch a few of my favorite eating fish, Yellow Perch. What great eating! I have fried them and made Poor Man's shrimp with the fillets. For those of you unfamiliar with Poor Man's Shrimp it is made by cutting up some perch fillets and putting them in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Take them out, strain, and rinse with cold water. Then put in the refrigerator to chill them down. They tend to toughen up as they cool and can be eaten like shrimp with seafood red sauce or any sauce you like. They make great hor d'oeuvres and keep well under refrigeration. In my search for perch I caught a few LM Bass and Pickerel. I looks like the weather is warming which will make the ice unsafe, so I guess my ice fishing is done for the season. I am ready for spring so bring it on.