The reason for the complication is it the public water supply for about 3 million people in Massachusetts. It is quite admirable that they allow access to the water at all. In Connecticut most of our drinking waters reservoirs are off limits period.
My kayak has the rudder installed as part of the design. The cables are wire cables so I doubt they will stretch. The control for left and right is a rotary control with a knob that can be tightened to hold position. The cable to the rudder to raise and lower it its vital. If they steering mechanism somehow broke, then you need to be able to get the rudder up out of the water so you don't go around in circles. This was a prime reason for not retrofitting a prior kayak with a rudder. I couldn't figure out to do this reliably.
Nice. Tough go like most of the Northeast, I can’t even get a nibble in CT. 43 degree water is tough. Warmer this week. Maybe some action. Great catch under adverse conditions.
It has been a tough year in southern New England. Water is still pretty cold for anything other than trout and perch and the lack of good sunny days to warm the surface and shallows doesn’t help. CT allows trout fishing year round now, but even the stockers have been tough. River flows are really high in many places which makes them physically harder to fish.
It was tough in March this year. Not to many sunny days and even the trout stayed low. Combine that with ridiculously high flow rates in the Farminton makes wading for me impossible. Got a couple of stocked ‘bows but that was about it. Hoping April is better….
Some of the best tackle shops on the coast are still open. The CT DEEP fishing webpages have a lot of great useful info. Also I find the New England edition of the The Fisherman magazine to be a great resource.
Incompetence or perhaps State officials on payola? Seriously living in the age of computers, I can renew my car, boat and trailer registrations online and and get an immediate PDF which I can print . Done deal in 1 minute. Same for my fishing licenses in New England. It’s a small area so in I need to buy 4 for the states I fish. Once I pay for it online the pdf is in mail box in a minute or two . And all of the New England states I buy licenses for you just need to show on your cell phone. No paper required.
Nice haul. I could eat at least half. About 7 fish over my bag limit near me. Good job and glad you ate them all.
Trout fishing near me is on rivers. Just being out there is a relief from the hectic pace of life. Just the sound of the river , the beauty is enough for me. Of course a fish or two adds to the experience. Much of where I fish is C&R, some of it barbless hooks, most of it is single hook . If you are in a place where you can actually keep a trout then simple small worms (what i call trout worms) work most of the time . The issue I have with live bait is trout are pretty voracious strikers . They will often gut hook live bait. If the trout is out of the slot limit you now have a dilemma . Keep an illegal fish or release it where it probably won’t survive . It is called fishing not catching
For trout (and salmonoid, but trout is my primary) I try to make the line as invisible as possible. Particularly in heavy fished areas. As for trolling for lake fish, I probably wouldn't go for bright orange but that is not based on ant evidence what so ever. I do use yellow in salt water for visibility but there is a leader on that. In direct tie I usually "feel" green or subdue colors are better. Again more what makes me feel is right than any kind of evidence otherwise.
Ditto. It just a gets me out in peace beauty and away from life’s otherwise very stressful life of modern day life .
Your best resource should be your states Dept of Fish and Game, Natural Resources , etc . In my state they have detailed lists of every lake pond river etc . With access points, fish species and special regulations if applicable
Cast with my strong arm (aka right arm) reel with my left in either bait caster or spinning. Salt water I will reverse that. Left arm holds the rod. Right does the pull and reel.