Failing for fallfish

None of these yet this year

    When trying to catch as many species as you can in a year you’re bound to have really cool unexpected catches as well as frustrating experiences. This is what makes the challenge fun. Even frustrating days turn into good memories once a challenge has been conquered.

   Until recently, the most frustrating fish that I’ve targeted was brown trout. I drove to Plymouth and the Cape three or four times this spring, fishing ponds they were in only to come up empty handed until the fourth time. Once I caught the first one I nailed another dozen in the next hour. Memories

   Over the course of the spring and early summer I’ve taken a few trips to target fallfish. Fallfish go by many names including chub and dace. They are the largest native shiner to the area. Last year, two places I fished were absolutely infested with them. It was almost impossible to catch carp because they would attack the method ball of oatmeal and bread like piranhas. There were so many around that when I was figuring out what species would be easy or hard to catch, I had them in the column with sunfish, rainbow trout and largemouth bass.

   Not so for me this year. I’ve gone to both of those locations on two different occasions; both times I’ve come up empty.  I also tried a spot in Woonsocket my friend Todd told me about. It is a river right below a dam and waterfall. Again, no luck. Then on Thursday night after I caught the green sunfish, I went to one of the spots that was loaded with fallfish last year. I fished for almost two hours without catching one.

 I probably don’t need to catch a fallfish to reach thirty species, but since it was one of the fish I thought would be a sure bet, I do hope to catch one.