Fishing in the first snow of the year on the Cape

I fished last Thursday morning with some friends in the freshwater at Cape Cod. It was cold, and we quit about noon in a blinding snow storm.
We caught a few trout and some delicious yellow perch which I took home. They are definitely my favorite fish to eat. I practice catch and release on all other species. Harry is pictured above hooked up with a feisty rainbow trout. As usual he outfished old Woo. That may be my last trip until the ice fishing season arrives. Stay tuned for the 2008 season. Merry Christmas to all.

Winter is here at the Cape

Old man winter arrived here early this year. Last year at this time I was doing quite a bit of fresh water fishing in the local ponds. I did manage to fish last Saturday at Big Cliff and got my first two trout of the winter season both on bait. They were small rainbows. My pursuit of stripers has ended for the year. I ended up with only 765 bass which was way down from my 1400+ fish in 2006. Very disappointing season for me. I will continue to fish the ponds all winter either on the ice or open water. I would love to find some nice fat yellow perch through the ice. Stay tuned.

Thanksgiving Day at the Cape

Thanksgiving day was a beautiful day at Cape Cod. Linda and I spent the afternoon riding Nauset Beach. We started on the north side and checked out Nauset Inlet. The surf was riled up and a picturesque site. A beautiful shade of blue. The inlet was calm and the gulls were feeding on bait. I fished a little, but had no luck. Linda spent her time gathering rocks while I was casting my lewy. Only a few people were on the beach. We had it pretty much to ourselves. Next we decided to check out the south side and see the new inlet. We only saw a couple of vehicle out there. We drove to the end and parked at #7. From there we walked out to the inlet. A strong SW wind made walking a little difficult, but the old people made it. The return trip was easier with the wind behind us. It was sad viewing the damaged camps, and there was nothing left of the one camp that was completely destroyed. I guess the broken pieces of that camp had been removed. It was shocking to see the bulkhead on the beach side where I used to fish was completely gone. Those other camps there sure are living on borrowed time since the dunes in most part have been leveled. Who knows what Mother Nature has in store for the beach this winter. All in all it was a very relaxing nice day on the beach.

Linda sadly checking out the damage. Only one beer left in the refrigerator.

I gave a pink lewy a try, but had no luck. The birds were working in the rip.

Woo's Bed and Breakfast.

We enjoyed a quick visit from Emmy, Quin, Charlie, and Sammy at the Cape on their way from Nantucket to Vermont to enjoy Thanksgiving with Fredbob and the family. I know the chef will have a great spread for all. We gave them a warm up with eggs Benedict this morning. Quin is pictured at the left doing booger patrol. Nice work dad.

Fishing Update

Well, the fall run has been nonexistent. I have not caught a fish since I got the one decent fish pictured below. We survived the hurricane here with no damage and did not even lose power which many people did on the Cape. We were however without TV and phone for a day or so. I plan to continue fishing the surf for a couple more weeks, but am not expecting much success. The picture at the left is a friend, Sini who caught this 44 pound 50 inch striper in the Canal on October 7, 2007. At least someone has taken a nice fish. Jealousy!!!!

Woo finally caught a decent fish

Last week's fishing continued to be very slow even though I finally caught a decent fish. This 39 inch striper must have been a loner since no other big fish were caught as far as I know. Lets hope the fall run generates some action in the next couple of weeks.

Gardening and Fishing update.

Today I picked the end of my grape crop. I have one vine which produced 2.5 spackle buckets full of grapes. That comes to close to 50 lbs of grapes. I think I got about 2.5 gallons of grape juice which was fabulous. The juice is so rich that it can be cut with water which makes it last longer. It takes time picking and cleaning the grapes, but it is well worth the effort. My tomato crop is now over 2700, and I still have some to pick. We are still enjoying them and Linda made some tomato soup today. I have also given away lots to friends and neighbors. Fishing remains very slow especially in the ocean. The only concentration of fish I have found in the last couple of weeks was in Pleasant Bay where there was tons of bait. I tried the Canal yesterday. I caught no fish and ended up calling 911 when I felt faint due to over heating when I walked a long way and was overdressed. I guess I am getting too old for late night solo trips. My thanks to the Bourne Fire and Rescue squad who checked me out and gave me a ride back to my vehicle. I have taken most of my Hibiscus to winter over in the barn. Hopefully most of them will still be alive come spring. All the geraniums are hang upside down dry root in the barn. They were fine this spring when I did this last year. That's it for now from Loon's Landing.

Grape crop is in.

The single grape vine that is growing on my outside shower is loaded with grapes. I picked a whole spackle bucket full and decided to make some grape juice. It was a little time consuming picking and washing the grapes, but was worth the effort. I mashed the grapes and boiled them at a low simmer for about 10 minutes. Then I tried using a tomato deseeder to remove the pits and skin. That did not work well and was very messy. I ended up just straining the juice out which took time, but produced a nice tasty clean grape juice. I will definitely do it again and there are plenty more grapes on the vine. Maybe I will try some wine next year even though I am not a wine drinker. I guess grape jelly is another option. Cheers!

Back to Fishing at Nauset Beach

Yesterday Lad Price and I fished Pleasant Bay and Nauset Inlet. Action continues to be slow, but at least we were not skunked, and it was a beautiful day to be on the water. I had a 30 inch striper and Lad the bluefish pictured below. The other picture shows Nauset Inlet at a very low moon tide. Hopefully we will try again today.

Labor Day Weekend

We ended the summer season with lots of family visiting. It was a great weekend even though we never got to the beach or do any fishing. My one attempt to go fishing was thwarted by my truck 4 wheel drive failure. We ate lots of tomatoes which helped use up my crops. So far my tomato crop count is at 1405. To date I have frozen 26 quarts of spaghetti sauce. I plan to do another 12 quarts then I will start giving tomatoes away to the neighbors. I am hoping the fishing will pick up this fall and the mung will leave the beaches.

Load of Spaghetti Sauce cooking

This is the first load of spaghetti meat sauce for 2007. This batch made 12 quarts. this will feed the old people for the next year. I plan to make at least 1 more batch. So far I have picked 955 tomatoes, and there are lots more on the vines.

Beginning of tomato Crops are in.

My tomato crop so far has been good. I have 98 plants, but some were planted very late and may not produce. Picture shows tomatoes rippening on a table in the garage. I pick them partially green to avoid the slugs and animals. So far I have picked over 600. I am only counting them because I am curious to see how many tomatoes my 98 plants can produce. I have enough ripe now that I must start peeling them and cooking to make spaghetti sauce. This is a long process which stinks and messes up the kitchen much to the chagrin of the boss.

It's not a striper, but I guess a bluefin is ok.

Capt. Andrew Cumming took Jimmy tuna fishing. I guess they knew what they were doing. They quickly nailed this nice tuna. It is nice having a friend who is a guide.

French Drain project almost done.

I worked all day yesterday on the French Drain project. I finish digging everything and got the pipe buried. I didn't even cut the gas line, but had to make the line going across the driveway shallow since I hit the gas line warning tape. Today I will finish filling the sump hole and install the plastic edging. Moving the extra stone may have to wait for another day. My back is getting tired. I just hope it holds up today. Well, I am off to work. I must get done so I can get back to fishing. Thanks for visiting my blog.

I finally got some fish after not fishing for 20 days.

On Wed 8/15/07 I started fishing again after 20 days off. I am hoping the action has improved. Now all the beaches are open to oversand vehicles. Goodbye to the plovers. May the natives in Central American enjoy their food which we protect so dearly. Started the day fishing Pleasant bay at day break. I got six bass fishing by the new inlet. Not great but at least I got some action fishing the outgoing tide. Lots of eel grass made the fishing a little tough. That night I went to Nauset inlet. I was so happy to see the beach was open even though there was some mung to hamper my efforts. I picked up 4 bass there including one keeper 29 inches. It is a sad situation when a 29 inch fish is a big deal. Will the big fish ever return to the beach or is the bass population really in trouble as I believe. I plan to start fishing more frequently as the fall approaches, but I must finish my french drain project.

Starting a new project

Yesterday I started a new project to stop erosion of the lawn by the barn. I am installing a french drain which will hopefully do the job. All diggers are welcome. Jim was the first to pitch in.

Water line installation to the barn

Fishing has been so lousy this week Michael and I installed a water line to the barn. We used the pictured Ditch Witch to do the digging. The rented machine worked great and sure saved us lots of time. It will be nice having a handy water supply for my green house. More pictures can be seen at my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/woofish

First Ripe Tomatoes for 2007

Should I be proud of this crop? I hope I do better in the future. I will keep you all posted on my progress. Click X to see picture.

Gardening magic

My son tells me if I use Scott's Starter fertilizer most of my gardening problems will end. Will it keep the rabbits away? What about the catepillars that are eating my broccoli? Will it stop my zucs from dying. Time will tell. He sure was right about using it on my hybiscus plants. They are green and healthy with lots of flowers.

Definition of "Woo"

DEFINITION OF "WOO"
0. Old geezer, fishing and gardening nut, computer nut (picture at left)
1. to seek the favor, affection, or love of, esp. with a view to marriage.
2. to seek to win: to woo fame.
3. to invite (consequences, whether good or bad) by one's own action; court: to woo one's own destruction.
4. to seek to persuade (a person, group, etc.), as to do something; solicit; importune. –verb (used without object)
5. to make love to a woman; court: He went wooing.
6. to solicit favor or approval; entreat: Further attempts to woo proved useless.

Gardening Insanity

My wife is sure I lost my mind. Recently I counted the tomato plants I have scattered around my house in various gardens. I came up with 98 plants. Wow, that is a lot of tomatoes. I could easily have a crop of over 1000 tomatoes. That is one hell of a lot of tomato sauce. Maybe I will sell them on the Internet with my shallots. So far these plants are doing well and are loaded with green tomatoes. I guess old age is getting to me.

July Gardening Problems and Successes

Not all problems. Tomatoes are growing well and peppers are doing better. I have harvested some string beans, but some critters have been eating them. Zucs continue to be a mystery. Two hills have produced some nice ones, but new fruit is yellowing off and dying before it develops. Plants seem to be OK. Another hill in a different location is huge with lots of flowers, but no zucs are developing. I had same problem last year. Could it be the lack of bees? Broccoli never produced any big heads though I did get some good side shoots for eating. Caterpillars were a bad problem which I just did not keep after. They ended up destroying the plants. They also have been eating my turnips, but most of them are doing OK. Onions were great. Lots of scallions early, and I am harvesting mature onions now. I have been planting tomatoes where I pulled up the onions. I have back up tomato plants in my green house. I did this last year and even though I planted the tomatoes very late they still produced some fruit. My Shallots seem to be doing OK, and I will start harvesting them very soon. My asparagus garden is doing well, and I should be able to start picking them next year. They are the best veggie. They just keep coming up every year. Only problem is it takes a couple of years for the original plantings to mature so you can harvest. I am looking forward to my first ripe tomato. This is my most important crop since I make loads of spaghetti sauce every year. Let me know how you are doing and any advice concerning my problems. Click pictures at bottom of the page to see videos related to gardening. Go back to the top of page after clicking to view the video.

Woo's Fishing at Cape Cod

I have not been fishing too much lately since they closed Nauset beach due to the Piping Plovers. Also we have had company at the house. I went out this morning to Pleasant Bay and got 2 stripers. Both fish were about 25 inches - not too bad for this year. One bass came completely out of the water and landed on my Lewy hooking himself in the eye. It was a spectacular hook up since he hit right in front of me. Not a great morning, but enjoyable. I fished from 6:00 am to 7:40 am.

Rabbits in the garden

I am growing many veggies in my garden, but old Peter Rabbit is giving me a problem. Does anyone have a solution other than a 22. I solved my chipmunk problem with a small have-a-heart trap. They don't swim underwater too well. I found that chipmunks will eat baby pepper plants.

Shad Fishing results for 2007 - Please Comment

Just Starting Woo's Blog

I am just starting my blog. Your participation will be appreciated. Please visit my websites at www.woofish.com.