Fishing Was Easy at Brickyard Pond, Catching Was Hard

A ritual of spring was re-enacted Saturday morning at Brickyard Pond in Barrington -- and at more than 100 ponds and streams across Rhode Island.

The 2011 trout and general freshwater fishing season dawned. Eager anglers weathered foggy conditions and cool temperatures – not to mention early wake-up calls – and flocked to favorite fishing spots to test their skills and patience in a time-honored pastime.

In Barrington, those on hand in Veterans Memorial Park reveled in a sport they cherish, even if the fish were not cooperating. Three hours after the 6 am start to the season, four fishermen were enjoying each other’s company if not an abundance of good fortune.

“Between the four of us, we’ve only caught one fish so far, a perch,” said Mike Deltatto of Bristol. “But we’re still having a good time.”

Adhering to the time-worn adage that “a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work,” Deltatto, Alex Dubovyk of Pawtucket, Garrett Evans of Barrington and Bob Evans of Cumberland cast their lines into the placid waters of Brickyard Pond in hopes of landing “a big one.” Nibbles were few and far between, but no one seemed to mind.

“I’ve been here since 5:50 am,” Dubovyk said. “I just like to fish. It’s something I’ve been doing for most of my life.”

Armed with rods, reels, bait, tackle, buckets and coolers, many anglers fished from the shoreline, while others took to small boats and traversed different spots in the pond seeking an ideal location. By 9 am, weather conditions had vastly improved and uncomfortable early-morning conditions had given way to sunshine and warming temperatures

“When we arrived this morning, the fog was so thick on the pond that we couldn’t see the small island over there,” Bob Evans said. “It’s much nicer now.”

Garrett Evans appeared to derive inordinate pleasure from Saturday’s endeavors. He was recently discharged from the Marine Corps after serving a stint in Afghanistan. A Rhode Island native, he returned to Rhode Island after being based at Fort Pendleton in California.

“I now live across the street from here,” he said. “From local fishermen, I’ve heard this is a good place to fish, so we decided to come here.”

About 40 yards away, Marshall Evans (Garrett’s brother) of Cumberland and Dylan Lemaistre of Attleboro, Mass., enjoyed better luck.

“I already caught one trout today,” Marshall said proudly. “It was about a pound in size.”

Not far away, Bill Ralph of Riverside was similarly successful and showed off a trout he caught of approximately 14 inches in length and 1.25 pounds in size.

“I was here for the 6 o’clock start and caught this fish,” Ralph said. “Later, my line broke and I had to go home, but I came back as soon as I could. The fishing is always good in this pond.”

In preparation for Saturday’s season-opening, the DEM recently stocked ponds and streams from Burrillville to Little Compton and from Westerly to Woonsocket with approximately 80,000 hatchery-raised brook trout, brown trout and rainbow trout. The average fish weighed 1.5 pounds, according to the DEM website 

Most of the fish appeared to be cleverly eluding anglers in the mid-morning hours, but spirits were not dampened.

“The fishing is easy,” Deltatto said with a laugh. “It’s the catching that’s hard.”