First Shad of the Season

Last week I took a trip to PA to visit my son Michael and fish for shad in the Delaware River. I missed fishing there last year. The first day fishing I got my first shad of the year, a nice roe, above the bridge at Dingman's Ferry. I fished my old haunts on the river from New York all the way down to the Portland power plant. The fishing was very slow and I only got 7 shad in 6 days fishing. I also got a couple of smallies, a perch, and 2 chubs. I fished with a number of my old fishing buddies which was great fun even though the results were disappointing. The weather and river conditions were outstanding. Now I will have to concentrate my shad fishing in the New England area.

First Striper of the year

Just like last year I caught my first striper of the year on April 16th in Pleasant Bay. Not a big fish, but it does have stripes. I actually caught 2 fish that day. I also went trout fishing in Bakers Pond in Orleans and caught a nice tiger trout and lost a large fish. Today 2 days later I got 5 small strpers like the first one I caught. I hope the large fish show up soon. I am planning a trip to go to PA to fish for shad in the Delaware River next week. Hopefully there will be some shad to be had. The weather finally warmed up into the 60's today. About time! It was nice to be able to work in the yard without freezing.

The Cold spring is hanging on at the Cape

Well after about a week it finally got warm enough (low 40's) to do a little more work outside. I turned over some gardens and planted more onions and shallots. I continue to plant some flats of vegetable and my tomatoes have germinated as can be seen in the picture below. During all this cold weather my worms continue to eat garbage and produce valuable casting which I will use on my plants in the green house. The red wigglers are also involved in a little mating action as can be seen in the picture to the left. That means more baby worms to eat up all my garbage and produce casting. I am knee deep in orders for shad lures, so I am very busy making lures and processing the orders. Not all bad, but once fishing starts Woo's Lures will take the back seat. Will it ever get warm this spring? This cold weather must be a result of Al Gore's global warming. Maybe he should give his award back. Shad are in the rivers in the mid-atlantic states, but have not hit New England rivers as yet. I can't wait. Before too long the schoolie stripers should show up, and I will have to choose between Shad fishing or Striper fishing.

Gardening season begins at Cape Cod

Well, it has been and continues to be a cold wet spring at Cape Cod. I am late getting started, but I finally got a day warm enough to start planting some of my shallots. Picture shows large shallots before being covered up with dirt.Three flats of seeds for tomatoes, broccoli, basil, Brussels sprouts, and peppers are started for the green house. Linda's ceiling painting project continues and the living room is 50% done. We must get done! If it ever gets warm, there is lots of work outside to be done. Woo's Lures is very busy with the shad season warming up down south. I am constantly making lures and orders are backing up.

Woo's Vermicomposting Project

Ever since I was a little brat I liked worms. At 5 I had a pet imaginary worm named "Wormy". Now that I am in my 70's I am back at it. Last year I started vermicomposting with a pound of red wiggler worms which I purchased. This bunch of worms has eaten lots of garbage over the year and produced about 15 pounds of vermicompost or worm castings which is an excellent source of nutrients for plants. It will not burn like chemical fertilizer and can be used as is mixed into the soil or used as a liquid by adding 2 table spoons of compost to 1 quart of water. Since I use worms on occasion when fishing the local ponds, I decided to try growing some European Nightcrawlers which are larger than the red wigglers and better for fishing. They can be grown in boxes just like the red wigglers and they also eat garbage and product vermicompost. The two videos show the Europeon Nightcrawler worms when I first introduced them to the box and then about 10 minutes later after they were mostly buried into the bedding. The videos are about as exciting as watching grass grow. Stay tuned to see how the worms survive.

Local Fly Tying Class

A friend, Joe Oclair started s professional fly tying class at the Cultural Center in Yarmouth. Turned out to be a big success. If you know anyone who wants to tie flies have them contact THE CULTURAL CENTER of CAPE COD 508-394-7100. The classes are on Saturday mornings. He also has a website at http://www.flycatcherflies.com.

Striper netting video

A friend, GEK sent me a striper video from NC that was very disturbing. Click the link below to veiw the video. This is the reason years ago I stopped taking an annual trip to NC to catch big bluefish in early December. I personally saw bluefish taken this way which was very upsetting. Particularly when the fishing on the beach was very slow. The NC economy no longer gets the $1000/year I used to spend on my trips to the Outer Banks. How long will it take these states to realize the financial benefits they gain from the recreational fishing community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAbhE-tqNNc