My friend Rob Z. went fishing this past weekend in North Scranton, PA. He caught a really nice LMB (His new PB), and wanted to share his report with us! So, enjoy it!
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Written by Rob Z. - edited by Leo S.
I was up in north of Scranton, Pennsylvania, for this past weekend, staying at my buddies for a good and solid weekend of partying (with some fishing mixed in). Although the weather was great for the most part, rain did move in Saturday afternoon.
So, I woke up just after 7 a.m. on Friday morning (04/20) - my first vacation day of the year. I was a bit foggy, but I had already gotten my rods tied up and was ready to go. I drank some Gatorade, grabbed some water, and headed for the lake.
I started throwing a top water as soon as I reached the water's edge, but no hits whatsoever. There were some sunnies swimming around. I moved about halfway around the lake, and finally decided to put some things down. I set up a catfish rod, trying for one of the big channel cats in there..
Then, I kept walking, and I cast into the far corner of the lake with my skitterpop. After a pause, I started doing a pretty steady splashy and poppy retrieve. Then, I saw the huge commotion/swirl, and realized a big fish just missed my lure. I popped it again, and again, wham!!! I set the hook, and the beast was on.
I had 6 lb test on a light action rod. I didn't want to have too much pressure on the fish, not to mention that a big flop or run could snap the line. After letting him swim back and forth for a bit, I knew I was going to have to get into the lake to land him, since there was some algae slime on the surface, in front of me, and I couldn't afford that extra weight on my line. I put my right foot down, and felt the cool water seep to my toes. I reached down and lipped him, and at that moment, the line snapped! But I had a good grip, and I pulled him out, and I had my new PB: 4.34 LMB, over 20 inches long, caught on a brown frog colored Rapala Skitterpop. You can barely see the lure in one of the pics, as it was almost completely taken in by the fish.
I didn't catch any more big bass - only 1 more dink bass, and some nice sunnies. But that one fish was all that I needed.
I never made it to the Susquehanna though...Maybe next time.
Hopefully, in a year, this fish will be 5 lbs!
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Thank you very much for your contribution, Rob! Thanks for the report!
If anyone else wants to send me a well written report with photos, feel free to shoot an e-mail!
Best of luck for all of us,
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.