Back from Boston.....

[MIKE*A 0]

In my family, we classify our vacations as either a relaxation vacation or an adventure vacation. This past trip fell somewhere in between. I unfortunately didn't get to do any striper fishing, but i did get some good scouting trips in for future trips out there. I did get some fresh water fishing in on Lake Stetson in Pembroke where my brother lives. The kids and i jumped in the canoe one morning and located a bunch of big (6-8") gills still on their beds. my son worked his spinning rod from the front of the canoe, my daughter a glass cane pole in the middle and me with my fly rod at the rear. we lost track of how many we caught/released, but had takes on about every cast. Later in the week, my son and i went back out in the evening and i tied on an olive bunny leech and made the mistake of letting my son troll with it as we worked our way back across the lake to our "spot". He had so much fun, I never got the rod back......he started out with some small bass, then a couple big gills........followed by more small bass, then he started hitting some yellow perch (6-8"), a white perch, then his big catches of the evening were a 14" chain pickerel and a 14" crappie which was one of the biggest, fattest crappie I have seen in a while! My biggest regret that evening was not having a camera with me.......my son was in heaven. As it started to get dark, we paddled back across to the house and as my son ran up to the house to tell everyone about his evening of fishing, i thought i would try a couple casts off my brothers beach. On my first cast, i caught a small bass I saw swirling next to some lily pads. A couple casts later, I made a cast to the end of the neighbors pier and caught a 3-4 pound largemouth which turned out to be the biggest fish of the trip for me.

 

Other higlights of the trip:

-Catching a cape cod league baseball game- Wareham Gatemen vs. Chatham A's.

-Taking my son to Fenway (at scalper prices......but worth it!)

-Taking the kids into Boston and hiking the "Freedom Trail"- This was perfect timing for my 11 year old son as this past school year, they studied the Revolutionary War.

-Having some nice lunches/dinners in the North End

-Having whole clams and fresh lobster

-Finally making it to LL Beans.(I got my first fly tying kit from them...mail order 30 years ago).

-going to Cooperstown

-Taking the kids to Niagara Falls for their first time.

-Taking the family back to Chicopee Mass. where i grew up and finding my old house and some of the other spots I used to go. I hadn't been back there since my family left thirty years ago.

-a great bike ride along the coast to Woods Hole

 

A couple disappointments:

-Not getting to go Striper/Blue fishing

-LL Beans Fly shop.....I hope i don't offend anyone, but it was too sterile for me, just not quite what i expected......Atleast in Bass Pro shops White River Fly shop, Theres a table where you can sit down and tie.......not at Beans though......oh well

 

All in all, my family and i agreed it was one of our most enjoyable vacations......

 

Mike

[Guest]

Sounds like a wonderful time Mike, I hope to share some times like that with my boy when he gets a little older. I hope I have the same success with my trip with the family to Florida next week.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Very cool post sounds like ya had a great time

[Guest]

Sounds like a great family vacation.

Some of my best memories were with my father fishing in a canoe.

I'm sure he will remember that trip for a long time.

[J Desjardins 0]

Sounds like a great trip. I know what you mean about Beans FF department, no musty smell of formaldehyde and/or mothballs.

[Fly1 0]

I'll be heading down next month to my brother-in-laws place on the Cape. Can't wait for all that sea food. I like the fact you don't need a fishing licence if your ocean fishing. On my last trip I stopped in at the Flyfishing Museum and the original Orvis store in Manchester Vermont which were pretty intersting as well.

 

Ken

[MIKE*A 0]

Thanx guys,

I can't wait to go back...........with my brother back up there for the next several years, I have a home base to work from.......so much to see, so little time.