By Lisa Moriguchi
Posted Wednesday, September 7, 2005
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Going forward during the fishing season, you’re apt to see very little in the way of fishing pressure on both the freshwater and saltwater scenes. Back to school kids and the start of several hunting seasons always thin out the ranks of anglers. But people that stick with it know the joys that autumn fishing can bring.
Chris Henson at Kittery Trading Post’s fishing department is one angler that does stick with hit, even though he’s also an avid hunter. “The tranquility of the surroundings doesn’t often match the aggressiveness of the fish, especially trout, salmon and bass. These fish all go into the colder times of the year with a couple things in mind. For trout and salmon, it is to put on plenty of weight and fat for their spawning efforts and survival afterwards. For bass, which spawn in the spring, it’s a matter of piling on the body weight with survival the goal.”
“Fish are cold blooded animals, which means that their body temperatures reflect the temperatures of the surrounding water. When the water heats up to their preferred range, they feed with abandon. When it gets too high or too low, they go into a state of laziness and don’t eat very much. In cold water, this means that they are using up their body fat to stay alive, even though their metabolism has slowed, but they don’t ingest enough food to prevent weight loss.”
“In the fall, water temperatures somewhere in the water column are going to be ideal for most predator fish like trout, salmon and bass, so they will be on a feeding binge. Couple this with the sunny days and fall foliage, and you have a fisherman’s heaven on earth!”
“A nice thing to know for a person who wants to enjoy a ‘cast-and-blast’ day that includes both hunting and fishing is that it’s often best hunting early in the morning. But in a lot of ponds, lakes and streams, the ideal fishing temperatures often happen mid-day as the water warms to that ideal temperature after a cool night. If you love to hunt and haven’t had your share of fishing during the summer months, take it from me, pack a rod and gear and take a few hours off during the mid-day hunting doldrums and enjoy some of the best fishing the year has to offer,” Chris enthused.
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