Reports (Mike H.): Fairmount Dam, PA

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Mike's report on the Schuylkill River (Fairmount Dam) - May 18th.

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Written by Mike Hsiao. - edited by Leo S.

Hey guys! After struggling at the Skuke for the past few trips, I finally had a decent day today. The first 2 pics are from last week when I caught a 1 lb Smallmouth and snagged a 20 inch American Shad.

I fished the Skuke yesterday, but ended getting skunked. However, I did hook into a huge 4+ lb Largemouth Bass at the lay down that snapped my line. I also hooked into something huge at the Dam (probably a Flathead) that got unhooked after a furious 20 second run.

Today, I caught 4 lm bass (all about a pound, the one pictured is 1 lb 5 oz) all on a Strike King Series 3 Crankbait. I also caught this huge 15 lb carp on a Rapala DT 10 Crankbait. Here's the kicker, though: the Carp ate the lure - I didn't snag him! You can tell by the picture that the belly hook on the Crankbait clearly hooked him in the mouth. This is the second carp caught on a lure; I've also caught a 25+ lb carp on a
Wacky Worm, but was unable to land that one. I didn't fish too hard for Stripers because the storm created a bunch of new snags. After losing 2 flukes on jigheads, I had decided to target Bass and not risk anymore lures.

Pictures are below:

1lb Smallmouth Bass

20 inch American Shad.


15lb Common Carp

From another angle

1lb 5oz Largemouth Bass

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Snag king strikes again! If it's not a Carp, it's a Shad... Tsk, tsk, tsk...shame on you, Mike! Haha. Just joking.

It's surprising how that Carp was caught with a Crankbait. The only possibility I can think of: the Carp was feeding and the Crankbait stopped for a short amount of time in front of his face. Confused, he decided to give it some suction. After all, differently than Bass and other Game Species, Carps are not recognized as a ram-suction type of fish.

The second picture of the Carp came out REALLY good! Congrats on the catch, Mike!

May is going away, and so are the Shad and the Stripers...(sadly!)

Best of luck for all of us!!!

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.