By Jim Gildea
Northeastern Staff Writer
July 7, 2010
They say you learn something every time you go fishing. What they don't say is what you actually learn. We all assume that what we learn is strictly about fishing, but sometimes you learn something you don't expect.
Boston has a relatively short season, so everything gets compressed into about six months: sports, fishing, warm weather. It’s not always easy to fit fishing into everything else that's going on with the family. So when I saw that the Northeast Bass Association had scheduled a tournament on the Charles River for May, I decided to fish it with my son. I fish a charity tournament on the river every year and have a pretty sure-fire pattern for that time of the year. Even better, not many trails fish the river since it is entirely no wake. This makes for a short fishing day, as the river is ten miles long in this section.
My ten year old son, Sam, jumped at the chance to fish with me. When I asked him if he wanted to do it, he said, “Sure - easy money." The river fishes tough, and a limit of fish will put you in contention. Plus, this trail has a separate price money pool for Adult/Youth teams, so you have a separate payout.
Very few tournaments are held on this river for good reason. The many crew races and canoes and kayaks turn the river into an obstacle course. You can't go on plane, and the bite is tough. Many bass guys don't want to idle for an hour before they start fishing. Plus, the Harvard and MIT crew teams are not exactly "bass-boat friendly". Most of them are bigger than us, too!
During practice I confirmed what I already (or so I thought) knew – I could just idle down eight miles and fish the one shallow section in downtown
When Sam drew boat number one, I figured this day would be special. We idled out and an hour later we were on our spot. We started fishing but I quickly realized something was wrong. The bite was much slower than expected, and the few fish we did catch weren't even keepers.
Sam got the first fish, and then the second. I got a third fish, but that was it. Sam mumbled something like, "Well, maybe no one is catching them," but as tough as it was, I knew a four pound limit was not going to do anything, no matter how tough the bite was.
The fish we did catch came on a four-inch Green Pumpkin Senko on 6 lb test. Our pattern was just to throw to the edge of the rip-rap and get a bite on the drop. From mid-May to mid-June this is a pretty sure-fire pattern. The river does not get much fishing pressure, so you can count on getting fish steadily throughout the day on this pattern.
Eventually I got a fourth fish but we had to think about getting back. I decided to hit three to four spots on the way back to try to get a few more fish. That produced a few shorts but nothing we could keep.
Despite the outcome being much less than expected, we worked hard all day. Sam plugged away in the heat, and kept his spirits up.
This is where the learning started. It dawned on me that the BEST outcome of this day might be a poor showing. I had figured I could easily catch a limit and finish in the top of the field. My friends actually laughed the minute I told them the location and date of the tournament - knowing that I had experience on the river at that time of the year.
As we bobbed around waiting to weigh-in, everyone complained about the tough bite: "I only have six fish", and "We couldn't get that eighth keeper." Sam and I knew our four little squeakers were not going to do much for us - especially when another Adult/Youth team told us they had six fish.
Easy money, indeed.
We weighed our fish, took some pictures, and congratulated the guys who did well. All through this, Sam was a bit disappointed, but no more than I was. He was already talking about fishing the next one when we looked at the board. Turns out, you could only get one check and the Adult/Youth team ahead of us had gotten a high enough finish to get a "real" check. Sam and I wound up winning the Adult/Youth category after all and received a $50 check.
The winners blew it away. They locked out into Boston Harbor and up into another river where they sacked 18 lbs for an eight fish team limit. That's two hours travel time each way, but they crushed the rest of the field. They put the time in, learned something new, and taught everyone something.
I taught myself something, too, and hopefully created a teachable moment for my son:
- There is no easy money.
- Preparation, hard work and not relying on past success is the key.
- Sometimes the sure thing isn't so sure.
So there you have it. You learn something every time you go fishing.
