Early this morning I hopped into the car and headed off in the rain to pick up a cheap cup of coffee at the convenience store about a mile away. While I pulled in to park, right in front of me, a man with a sharp looking chapeau and a large dog stood there, staring at me. I got out of the car, came up to him, and said “Good morning,” hoping to find out what his problem was.

“Hey,” he said, “you got a couple of lures or something on your roof there.”

I turned around, and, sure enough, I did. I had put them up there late last night, assuming that by doing, I couldn’t help but remember to throw them in the car on my way out the next morning.

“I think you’re fishing in the wrong spot, but good luck,” he said, and walked off.

I may have caught a couple of ignorant trout last week, but that doesn’t make me a fisherman all of a sudden.

Socked in with fog big time. All boats at the dock, Falmouth Harbor. No squid. No humans, even. Can hear the sound of a Martha’s Vineyard ferry. No squid on that one either, I suspect.

It is spring, and, as we all know, in spring a young man’s thoughts turn to business ventures, among other things. Here are two such ventures.

Up in North Falmouth, Tim Folan and Kevin Malone have opened a brand new bait and tackle shop, Mad Fish Outfitters. What I like about their approach is that they are starting with a good name and logo, and they are selling more than just gear and bait and all that. They are selling a brand. That is smart.

Hogy Lures is not a new business, but they are moving into new digs in downtown Falmouth. Mike Hogan has been making some unique soft plastic lures that been giving some very impressive results (or so I hear - since last year I have kept my three Hogys safe and dry in their original package). Yesterday Mike was setting up shop, knee deep in Hogys, and obviously enjoying himself.

A sincere good luck to you gentlemen. When you all get big and fancy, remember that the big time publicity from this blog was what really got you going, and then send me some free stuff. Shirt size is XL, hats are, well, I guess one size fits all. And if I can catch a fish on any of your products, you know you have a winner.

Yes, squid. Why would one want to do that? First, because there is a market for squid, and second, when the squid show up around here, larger fish are close behind them (very close). This camera-phone picture shows a small commercial boat all hepped up to gun for squid.

As you can see, he is tied up at the dock in Falmouth Harbor at the moment, together with a half-dozen of his fellow piscators. As of two days ago, there was nothing for these guys but nets full of seaweed, kicked up by a monster storm (even the pros get skunked sometimes). As one captain said, “I am going financially backward pretty fast right about now.”

Today, though, I overheard one guy in his boat hollering at another guy over a cell phone, walkie-talkie style, saying “What? Twenty-eight squid you got? And you didn’t call me till now? What? Two squid yesterday? Hey, am I your buddy or what? You gotta let me know.” And so on. I’d say that dragging up two or even twenty-eight squid is not significantly better than catching no squid, but these guys are pretty excited, like this is a sign or something. I guess they are right.

Last spring, I went out gunning for squid myself once, right off the dock here, and I have to say it met all my expectations, which are quite low. But, wait, I see there is one lone squidder heading off to the east in Vineyard Sound, and the mighty squid are out there somewhere. There may be one with my name on it, but I doubt it.

I’ve already caught more of these particular fish than I did all of last year, but I can’t get too excited. These are stocked fish, fat, dumb, and hungry. That explains a lot.

FYI, this is a lovely tiger trout, caught in Grew’s Pond, Falmouth, Massachusetts. A tiger is a cross between a male brown trout and a female brook trout, from the Sandwich Fish Hatchery, in this case, the oldest in the country. They do a bang-up job, as you can see.

Now below you see a guy who looks like he has caught a fish before. That’s because he has, plenty of them. I have noticed that Capt. Bob Belekewicz (lemkeanncharters.com) always seems to catch a lot of fish, at least when I am around. That is a mighty fine rainbow trout he has here.

Photos courtesy of Andy Nabreski of On The Water magazine, who also seems to catch a ton of fish. How do these guys do it?