January is a tough month for many New Englanders. We are a long ways away from summer vacation, the days are short, the nights are long, and unless you’re a fan of skiing or snowboarding there isn’t a whole heck of a lot to do. Or is there?
Among other things, this month’s issue has three solid options for local fishermen to wet a line and scratch the fishing itch. We’ve got a look at jigging for trout through the ice, hunting big pike through the ice and targeting trout on the many kettle ponds of Cape Cod. Aside from hopping on a headboat for cod off Block Island or hitting your local tidal river for holdover striped bass, these three options are about as good of a bet as we have in the first month of the new year. Well, I guess you could fly south for a fishing trip or two but that’s not going to happen for me this year so you’ll just have to rub it in if you’re lucky enough to head to warmer weather to wet a line.
In all reality you’ll probably find me trying all of these options this month (again, aside from flying south) at one time or another. I plan to at least try to keep my striper-a-month streak going this year but that too died off for me last January so we’ll see how that works out. Last year I was unable to get out on the ice thanks to what can only be considered an odd winter, weather-wise, but I have high hopes of this year being different. Hopefully by the time you’re reading this I will have already taken advantage of the great fishing of Block Island in the winter, too. While you’re not terribly likely to jig up a 50-pound cod like they used to get some 30 years ago, there are plenty of market-sized fish out there willing to chomp on an iron clam or real deal.
And then once the end of the month rolls around, we run headlong into what I refer to as show season. It’s the three-month-long gauntlet of fishing and boating trade shows across the region where stir-crazy anglers and boaters get a chance to ogle the latest and greatest from their favorite brands.
We are doing the usual slate of shows as years past, but we’ve also added a couple new ones to our schedule for 2017 and we look forward to seeing you at these great shows. Below is a look at where and when you can find The Fisherman across the Northeast this winter; see you there!
January 14: Striper Day 2017 at the Sondra and David Mack Student Center at Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY.
January 25 – 29: The New York Boat Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, NY.
January 27 – 29: The New England Fishing & Outdoor Expo at the Holiday Inn, Boxboro, MA.
February 9 – 12: The CMTA Hartford Boat Show at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT.
February 11 – 19: The Progressive New England Boat Show at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston, MA.
February 24 – 26: The Springfield Sportsmen’s Show at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA.
March 2 – 5: The World Fishing & Outdoor Expo at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY.
March 10 – 12: The New England Saltwater Fishing Show at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI.
March 31 – April 2: The Northeast Fishing & Hunting Show at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, CT.
