Over-Under Prepared

This is my first post to my first blog, my fiance Laura suggested I should begin a blog because she knows I enjoy writing and I thought it was a good idea. 

5:00a.m. my alarm rang and I grabbed my phone on the night stand to hit snooze.  Two minutes later it registered in my head that the alarm was for a day of fishing and I saw the notification light on my phone was going off.  My friend Evan who was meeting me at 5:30 had sent an, "Are you awake?" message as a friendly reminder to get up! 
The night before I had stopped at a bait shop and purchased a dozen and a half live eels for bait and some terminal tackle (swivels, hooks, sinkers, etc.) to replace items I had lost from earlier in the season.  I had done some reorganization and condensing of my tackle box because I knew I'd be fishing on a small boat (14' Boston Whaler) with two other guys.  This decision is not an easy one considering what to take, prioitizing lures and rods never has made any sense to me, because what if I need that thing sitting my house.  So, I rigged my lines, leaders, everything set up so that if that magical moment on the water erupted I could respond to it in under a minutes time.
5:30 I see Evan's truck at dunkin donuts and he's buying.  As I pull in and shut off my truck, Evan is texting our friend Jon asking what he wants for breakfast, as he steps out of his truck and says, "Jon just got up."  My immediate reaction was "let's get some coffee."  So we went in and ordered and I quietly thought to myself, I really do not have any expectations for today other than I hope we catch some fish.  Despite the fact that we were going out on Jon's boat and he lives over an hour away from where we were launching and had to get the boat and truck from his mom's house, I wasn't going to let it bother me, as I everyone has overslept.  Evan and I drove to a commuter lot where I put my gear in his truck and we headed for the launch.  I told Evan, there is water there we can fish until Jon shows up.
6:15 CT DEP niantic river launch is a nice facility on the niatic river just north of I-95 in waterford, it has a large ramp for multiple trucks/boats to be launching or loading at the same time.  It is also next door to Hillyer's Bait and Tackle.  To maintain my over-under prepared theme, I want to stress the importance of something Evan and I both did not do.  We walking into a bait and tackle shop, instantly started looking around and got lost in the glory of all the bright colors and cool gear, instead of asking a simple question.  "What are the fish feeding on?"  This one question can change your day from heading out "In the dark" to being informed and bettering your chances at catching fish.  I do not know why I didn't ask, it might have been because I had already purchased bait, because I prepped the night before, because I had the lures I have always produced on and didn't want to buy another one.  Always ask that question, the people who have these shops are open for a reason.
7:00 CT DEP niantic river launch moves a lot of boats quite efficiently, which I noticed while waiting for Jon.  Jon's boat is new to him, he purchased it from his uncle about a month ago, but it doesn't have a fish/depth finder.  Knowing the depth in the ocean is paramount in locating areas that hold fish, such as drop offs, boulders, vegetation, water temp, etc.  It is one of the things on his wish list, and if you would like to contribute I'll send you his info.
7:40 CT DEP niantic river launch got brighter as Jon pulled in and we loaded up without busting on him too hard.  Within a few minutes we were on our way to fishing.
8:00 warm water discharge at Millstone Nuclear power plant.  Millstone's discharge outflows produce excellent currents that protrude a few hundred yards out into Long Island sound, and due to the temperatures of the warmer water tend to hold baitfish well into the fall months as the water cools.  There were plenty of bait in the water when we got there, but no diving birds or fish chasing them. At least nothing we could see.  We made casts in and around the discharge flows with no luck for about half an hour, as did other anglers around us.  Finally I saw a bait ball hitting the surface and I made a cast to the rear portion of the group and a small blue fish grabbed my surface popper.  I landed him, removed the hooks and returned to casting again with no luck.
9:00 to 2:00 pm Bartlet's Reef, southeast of Niantic river.  At low tide, large rocks protrude from the sound in a wall formation adorned by lobster pots marked by their bouys in different colors.  As we approached we could see the "parking lot" of boats which is typical of most productive reefs.  Terns and gulls were working the water from above as stripers and blues worked from below making quite the pleasant sight to incoming fishermen.  For five hours, the three of us slung lures, reeled in, slung again, reeled in slung again, reeled in, changed lures, slung lures, reeled in, changed again, slung lures, reeled in, and repeated until absolute frustration.  The bait in the water, which was everywhere were fish no longer than an inch in size and not one of us had a bait under three inches.  All I could think about was that plastic box full of small jigs at home that would have probably made me rich on the water, because we did not witness any boats catching fish.  Not fly-rodders in a guide boat, not guys jigging, not the boat with three women anglers, not the guy with his family in the small tin boat, not the guy in the 27' center consol.  Evan caught three porgy on the reef, but they were not the fish we were after.
2:10 Jon caught a fish at the warm water discharge on our way back in so he wasn't "skunked" for the day, and we called it quits.

The lesson I learned is that even if you prepare and think you have everything, the one thing you leave behind you will most likely need.  Also, that when you go into a tackle shop ask what the fish are feeding on.