Northeast Outdoor Newsletter: April 2024

It’s finally starting to feel like Spring! I drove home from work today and the two golf courses I passed were very green and ready for use.  I’m sure golfers are ready for the season begin, just as us outdoorsmen and women are ready for warmer temperatures and lower flows on our trout streams.  Fingers crossed, there’s only one day in the next week and a half that has rain forecasted, about time!

The Woods North crew has had successful outings in the last couple of weeks, most notably with a stellar weekend of chasing steelhead in Western New York, as well as a once in a lifetime experience on the deck of my boat on April 8th, as Sprague and I took in the total solar eclipse under clear skies. The fishing wasn't fantastic that afternoon, given the cold water temperature and a broken trolling motor, but before the moon blocked out the sun for three and a half minutes, I put a plump pre-spawn largemouth on the deck. There was no skunk to be had that day.

Lately I’ve focused most of my time on bull pout, or bullhead catfish as the dictionary defines.  This is one of the simplest forms of fishing, requiring nothing more than some cheap beater-rods and a few cans of worms.  It definitely helps to have a case of beer, and a bonfire and a few buddies as well.  I’ve now tried for bull pout three times in 2024, but most of the creeks I usually visit are high and cold.  Any day now they should show up in droves, and the bite will be on.  These are some of my favorite fish to catch, and by far my favorite fish out of Lake Champlain to eat.  

I generally think most people are hesitant to mess around with eating bull pout because of the environment they dwell in as well as their rather unappealing appearance.  These slimy little dudes feel around in the muck and mud in the dark looking for something to eat, and their aesthetics don’t hold a candle to other fish like smallmouth bass, brook trout or even pumpkinseeds.  However, when prepared and handled correctly, pout taste better than every aforementioned species hands-down.  I’ve found the trick to attaining the best flavor is to keep your pout alive overnight in a very clean bucket of stream or lake water.  This allows them to purge all of the muck and silt out of their gills, and I’ve found it can significantly affect the flavor.  Once you’ve done that, they’re ready to be fileted and dropped in some screamin’ hot oil.  Enjoy.  

In just a couple weeks, May 1st will get here on a Wednesday, and with it will bring opening day of Spring Turkey Season here in Vermont.  Last year I shot a beautiful 15-pound jake on the second day of the season, and I am really hoping for continued success in 2024.  Sprague and I are making a concerted effort this Spring to get the best shots possible with our camera gear, even if that means one of us leaves a shotgun in the truck.

Pretty soon, trout season and catch-and-release bass season will be roaring, just in time for ramps to peak and fiddleheads to nudge their way out of the silt.  I have a ton of content on the Woods North YouTube channel from last spring.  If you’d like to be as excited as I am for warmer weather, head on over there and binge away.  Cheers to greener grass and bluer skies my friends, good luck out there!