Worms...

[RIBill]

I followed Rockfisherman's and Jayson Hurd's lead and joined R'man at Potter's for the festivities. I was late in arriving (8pm) and R'man was already enjoying the action. It was just the two yaks and two small powerboats. The gulls and stripers were enjoying the worms.

I spent the first 20 minutes regretting that I had an intermediate line on the rod, as there was plenty of eelgrass. I adjusted as best as I could by holding the rod tip up and keeping the flies as high in the water column as possible. It was tough to keep the speed of the retrieve as slow as I would have liked. Anyhow, I was rewarded with my first worm hook-up of the year: an 18"er with a Jackie Gleason belly. I managed one more in the next 20 mins, while Paul added a few more, plus a double.

Nothing huge, but still always a thrill. Water temps were 58*; moon was still in 1/4 phase. Gotta remember the floating line next time, and maybe a knotless leader.

Good luck this weekend!

[notime]

RIBill,

Thanks for the report. I tied a bunch of "worms" a few weeks ago in anticipation of the worm hatch. My guess is this weekend should be great, but I'll be stuck in Vermont. I may run down to Potter's tomorrow. Two questions for you. First, where do you launch? I have only launched at the marina near Captn Jacks but I know there is a public lot on Potters. How do you get to the lot from Route one? Second, how early in the day do you think the worms will show up? I'd prefer to hit the pond in the morning or afternoon, but have only caught the worm hatch at night.

Thanks.

[RIBill]

hey, Vermont is beautiful but this would be a dynamite weekend to be hanging round South County!!! access is very tough. I've launched at the marina on the other side, but don't do it if you expect to leave on the moon incoming. other than that behind the SeaGull is the easiest access but even that is far from perfect. nose around and good luck. as for time of day, in my experience things don't get cooking till 6pm or so and continue into the darkness. have a good weekend.

[notime]

Thanks Bill,

The tide is one of the reasons I wanted to start in Potter's. Its a bit much paddling against the current, especially at night. I've actually had a lot of luck fishing near the marina and the private docks along the shore going away from Potters. There is a public lot on the southern end of the pond as I've heard about it and seen people wading. If I figure it out I'll let you know. If your going tomorrow and see a guy in a red kayak say hello. I think I'm going down around 5 or 6.

[RIBill]

NT:
good luck Thurs pm. I'm on a 6-pak charter during the day tomorrow and then have a T-ball practive in the evening, so I won't be able to get out there. Looking forward to getting together, though, as we've discussed in the past. let me know if you can sneak out one week nite early next week. as I recall, you'd have to trek down from Mass. Sam Riley (our intrepid yak-moderator) may be doing the same commute (from Boston) to match the hatch. what kind of yak did you pick up? have you done much on Quonny yet?

Paul (Rockfisherman) got out again tonight and reports that the SW breeze chased him off Ninigret and back to Potter's where he once again found some action with big belly schoolies in the lee. as you know, the hardest part is getting onto the water there... once you're paddlin, you should have no problem finding a lee shore and some feeding fish. conditions on Thurs should be very good. looking forward to the report.
Bill

[notime]

RIBill,

Next week is probably out, but I may come down during the weekend. I'll let you know if I'm coming down.

Your memory is correct, I come from the Framingham, MA area. I still have the same kayak I had last year, a red Acadia Seirra.

I'll let you know how it goes tonight.

[rockfisherman]

notime,

The lot you are referring to is the East Matunuck State Beach lot. They start charging this weekend, and start locking it at night. It is a public lot, and fishermen need to take issue with the locking of the lot. If you have paid your beach sticker, you should be able to fish it at night.

Take Succotash Road, East Matunuck State Beach exit past Cap'n Jacks to the lot. Take a right in the lot and go to the right back corner. You can wade fish the big flats there all the way to the inlet. There is a little "stream" that on a higher tide can float your yak. Watch out for the poison ivy, tho, putting in.

Be aware that have been problems with break-ins at the lot. Don't leave a lot of valuable gear in the car.

If they start locking the lot at night, let's start phoning DEM and call them on this issue.

[notime]

Rockfisherman,

Thank you. You going tonight? I'll be there around 5:00-5:30. Say hello, I'll be in the red kayak with a dark colored baseball hat.

[rockfisherman]

No, I don't think so. I'd love to go, but I've got company coming tomorrow for the long weekend, and need to get ready.

If I do sneak out, look for a green yak.

Beautiful, cloudless warm day down here. unfortunately we have a 15 mph SSW wind. That's going to hurt you, especially in the yak.

[notime]

Left the office at 4:30 hoping to hit Potters by 5:30. Hit a lot of traffic in Providence and didn't get to the pond until close to 6:30. Checked out the beach parking lot, but too much poisen ivy. I drove back to the marina. Noone was there so I left $10 in the door with a note. What are the odds it ends up in someones pocket? I launched the kayak and took the ride with the tide thru the channel. By the time I got on Potters it was 7:00. Very windy so I hit the lee side and ended up in the northern section of the pond as it was protected from the wind and I figured the worms would be visiable. Sure enough, worms all over the place with many bass slurping them. I fished for about 1.5 hours with no success. One hit, no fish. Big skunk. I fished with my freshwater 5 wt using floating line and 6# flourocarbon tippet. The flies were varied, but mostly the cinder worms I tied last week. It seemed to me that my flys were too big (size 2/0) and the color was not accurate. When I saw the worms, I felt like I was fishing to trout feasting on size 24 midges and I all I had was a hopper. Anyway, I used a red EZ body and rabbit strip for the cinder worm patten per instructions, but the worms are really much more brown. The fly also sank, while I think it would be much better to have them float on top. I'm going to give it some thought this weekend, but my guess is a small reddish brown fly that somehow oscillates back and forth would be much more successful. Any thoughts are welcome.

The action essentially stopped after dark. I hung around until about 9:15 to give the tide enough time to switch so I didn't have to fight the current. Timing is everything.

[RIBill]

I've had the most success in Potter's on a little orange marabou. On a size 1 hook, tie one plume for the tail and then palmer plumes up the shank and trim them to 1/8-1/4" around the shank. finish with a peacock herl head. they aren't always pretty but marabou is alive in the water and it seems to work well despite not necessarily matching the color of the worms. In my experience the worms have a mix of colors: burgundy, creme, and olive to black head. the orange marabou may grab their eye more than match the real thing.
cheers, and tightlines.