Last week, 13-year old Logan Middlebrook of Pittsfield had a fishing day that he and others probably will never forget. Accompanied by his dad, Bill Middlebrook, he was fishing on Pontoosuc Lake with Smelly Jelly, (a commercial stink bait). He was fishing for bullhead with the hopes of catching one large enough to be awarded a bonze pin from MassWildlife. All of a sudden, he hooked into a really big fish – a carp.
According to Bill, when Logan hooked the fish, it immediately raced for deep waters making a prolonged “zzzz” sound from the reel and it didn’t stop until it reached the end of his line which fortunately was well attached to the reel. It almost pulled the rod out of Logan’s hands.
Some 15 or so people were present there watching the event. One guy shouted “You are out of line!”, while another told Bill that “He ain’t never going to get that fish in, that’s a big fish!” It swam almost out to the island near Narraganset Avenue.
Get this, Logan was using a kid’s fishing outfit with a 4-foot telescope rod and a push button reel (Probably a Zebco reel). Earlier, Bill offered to buy him a real “big boy” fishing pole, but Logan refused, preferring to fish with this cheap little rod. He felt that little rod brought him good luck.
It took 28 minutes with no reel drag and no extra line to get the fish somewhat back near the shore and once he got it there, he had to walk across 2 house lots, a couple of bridges and over people’s docks fighting the fish all the way. Although he got it close to shore, it was a distance from where he hooked it. He reeled more, fought it more, and wound up at another property. And then it fought some more.
At one point Logan had to stop because his hand was cramped up. “It won’t work, won’t even move”, he said. Nevertheless, he refused to let anyone touch the rod. According to Bill, every person there said that with no drag and no line, it was crazy that he got it to come back from half way out in the middle of the lake. Bill said everyone was “breathtaken”. “Look at his pole”, one observer commented, “its bent completely in half. How is the pole holding together? I don’t know how he’s doing it”.
Meanwhile, some guys were saying that, just because he got it back to shore, that doesn’t mean he is going to land it. “It can snap that line at any time”, they said. But Logan “just kept wearing it out and wearing it out”. One person told Bill that one needs strong one-piece poles, 10 to 12 feet long, with 15 to 20-pound test line to catch these things. Another observer stated that he has snapped $80 – $100 poles trying to land a 10 or 12- pound carp. How can a little kid’s telescopic fishing pole that’s only 3 ½ feet long hold up?
The battle continued onto another guy’s yard whom they didn’t even know. When that guy saw the battle and Bill with a net waiting to net it for Logan, he said, “That’s a trout net. Here I’ll give you mine, I got an ocean net”. And when this fish finally came in, Bill said, “Holy Mackerel.” He couldn’t believe the size of it. It appeared to be as big as Logan.
The following day, they brought it over to the Onota Boat Livery for certified weigh-in. It weighed in at 13.3 lbs. and was over 30 inches long. The day before, Bill’s scale weighed it as being 15 lbs, but due to evaporation, it lost at least a pound overnight, which is not uncommon. Onota Boat Livery Co-owner Caryn Wendling (along with her husband Rick) said that no adults have weighed in any carp like that this year.
While at the Boat Livery, they checked the MassWildlife Freshwater Angling Awards page. In the Youth Catch & Keep category, any carp caught over 10 lbs. will result in a bronze pin being awarded. Incidentally, so far this year no carp that size has been reported statewide. If no one gets a larger one by year-end, Logan will receive a gold pin and a trophy.
Logan just started fishing last fall and he enjoyed it. Earlier this spring at Laurel Lake he caught a 3 lbs. rainbow trout and that really got him hooked. This came as a pleasant surprise to Bill because he used to like to fish in his younger years but hasn’t fished in the last 30 or so years. Now that Logan has latched onto the sport, it gives them something to do together. Bill now has a fishing partner and they go out a couple of times a week. “Now, I get to do something that I used to enjoy again.” said Bill.
Within a week after catching that large carp, Logan caught a 5 lbs., bronze pin shad from the Connecticut River in Holyoke and 1 ½ lbs. bronze pin rock bass from Onota Lake. He wants to catch as many fish as he can in each category and get a pin for each one. He has a bucket hat now and he is going to put all his pins on it.
One other tidbit of information as relayed to me by Bill. Logan’s mother (Ashleigh) got him a shirt that says “Here fishy, fishy, fishy”. When she gave it to him, he said he wasn’t going to wear it. (After all, he is 13 now). Ashleigh told him to just wear it, he needed to wear a tee shirt. Logan relented and wore it on the day he caught the big
carp. Now, he won’t wear any other shirt fishing, and he considers it his lucky shirt.
I wonder if he will let Ashleigh wash that shirt, lest she might wash the good luck out of it. Be careful treading there, mom.
Berkshire Natural Fish Hatchery Youth Fishing Derby
The Friends of the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery in conjunction with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will be sponsoring a free fishing derby on June 11 at the lower pond of the Berkshire National Fish Hatchery, 240 Hatchery Road, New Marlborough from 9:00 am to 10:30 am for children 13 and under. They must be accompanied by an adult.
Mill Street Riverway pedestrian walkway plan review
James McGrath, Park, Open Space, and Natural Resource Program Manager, City of Pittsfield has the following message for us:
“While the world was hunkering down during a global pandemic in the spring of 2020, the City of Pittsfield was knee deep in the complex project to remove the Mill Street dam. Despite all of the challenges that working in an active river (and COVID) posed, the dam was successfully removed – along with over 8,000 tons of contaminated sediments – and the river banks were restored.
Fast forward two plus years, and we’re still focused on that site. Though, this time around we’re planning for something a bit less tricky and a lot more user-friendly: a walkway along the restored river system.
Working with engineers and landscape architects from SLR and the MA Div. of Ecological Restoration, the City has been working to develop design concepts for a new stretch of pedestrian walkway along this stretch of the West Branch of the Housatonic River. The idea behind the walkway is to afford visitors an opportunity to experience the river in a new way while learning about the dam removal and how this river contributed to the growth and development of Pittsfield.
We welcome you to join our webinar next Tuesday evening, June 7 at 7:00 pm to learn about the project! Register in advance for this webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_biIk5-RmRcCfGrNwim-RMw
Hoosic River Clean-up
Next Saturday, June 11 from 9:00 am to noon, the Taconic Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Hoosic River Watershed Association (HooRWA) and the Hoosic River Revival (HRR) are joining forces to conduct a Hoosic River clean-up. Volunteers will meet at the Alcombright Ball Fields.
The clean-up will take place from the ball fields to Protection Avenue. Bags, gloves and tools will be on hand, but if you can bring your own, it’s always helpful. And, oh yes, bring your waders.
Sign-up not required.