Reports (Mike H.): Multiple Lakes...(PA, MD)

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There are fishes around us! Follow my Statistical Chart for 2012 for my catches during this year:
http://extremephillyfishing.blogspot.com/2012/01/statistical-fishing-chart-for-2012.html
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Mike H.'s report on different locations - May 30th - June 6th.

For previous reports from Mike H.'s:
http://extremephillyfishing.blogspot.com/2012/06/roports-mike-h-haddon-lake-nj.html

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Written by Mike H. - edited by Leo S.
May 30th - Hit up the Skuke, right off the bat I nailed a 1 lb 10 oz Smallie using a Twin Tailed Grub on a jighead. I also landed a dink Smallmouth. The best fight came from a 30lb+ Carp that I snagged; it spooled over half of my line. After fighting the Beast for 20 minutes, he came unhooked. The shocking catch came when I hooked something over 100lbs in the river! I threw my Twin Tailed Grub at the corner of the wall: I felt a thump, set the hook, and felt like I got snagged. I pulled out my lure retriever, and when I slid the 1 lb lead weight down my line, my line suddenly started moving! I unhooked the lure retriever as fast as possible and fought the unknown monster. It moved extremely slow and took line at a rate of about 1 inch per second, and eventually, I got to see what the river monster was. A 100lb+ Snapping Turtle that had a diameter of 3.5 feet in its shell and a head bigger than a football! Obviously, there was no way for me to get that beast up. I had to cut the line.

May 31th - Fished at Haddon Lake from about 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.. I started off well - caught a nice 1 lb 12 oz Largemouth swimming a jig around the pads. I then lost a 3 lb bass burning a spinnerbait around the grass. After those hits, the fishing slowed down, until I managed to catch a huge 7 lb 12 oz Channel cat (sorry for the poor picture quality) when I threw a swim jig on its bed, and let it sit for 20 seconds while I was sending a text message (lol). At first, I thought I had a monster Bass or Snakehead, and I was a bit disappointed to see the Cat, but I did enjoy the great fight. I grabbed the Catfish like I do with the Bass and it tore up my hand - that's the last time I lip a Cat...

June 2nd - I hit up Lake Elkhorn in MD with my buddy Lawrence. When I first got there, I met a nice kid named Jesse, who's a regular that fishes the lake 5 times a week. He told me his PB at that lake was a 9.5 lb monster Largemouth caught last year. The water was extremely muddy from the storm and the fishing was tough. Regardless, I managed to catch a 1 lb Largemouth Bass on a Chatterbait, a 1.5lb Catfish on a jig, and a dink Largemouth on a drop shot. My buddy Lawrence landed 1 dink, and Jesse landed 3 dinks. I'll definitely be fishing lake Elkhorn again when I come back to MD to hunt for that lunker.

June 3rd - I fished at Columbia lake (the Crappie lake where Leo and I fished in 20 degree weather over the winter) with Jesse today. I arrived at 10 a.m., and Jesse had already been there for an hour (he landed a 5 lb Largemouth Bass skipping a tube under the docks). Once I got there, we struggled to find active fish, and it took an hour until Jesse landed a dink on a Crankbait. I then hooked into a real solid 4-5lbs Largemouth Bass on a Rattletrap, but it got itself unhooked after about 6 seconds of fight. Another half hour passed until I got my next bite. I was flipping a jig into some brush and I felt a solid thump. I set the hook and saw a 4-5lbs Largemouth Bass jump completely out of the water while throwing the hook out. I ended up getting skunked, but it was nice to see some real lunkers lurking in that lake, as my previous PB for that lake was only 3 lbs. According to Jesse, a fisherman managed to catch a 10lb Bass from that lake during the spawning season at the shallow end, where the water comes in.

June 4th - I hit FDR park two days ago - around dusk - with Vince, for an hour. I struggled to get any bites while Vince was getting some good hits on a Popping Frog, but couldn't connect with his hooksets. 5 minutes before I was about to leave, I decided to hit the bridge with a tube. On the first cast, I nailed this 3 lb bass (sorry for the bad picture quality, my flash didn't go off).

June 6th - I went back to FDR park and only managed one fish. However, this fish was a solid 2 lb 14 oz Bass that was caught on a shallow Crankbait on a weedline. I also managed to snag this turtle by accident on the same crankbait at the docks (lol).

Pictures are below:





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Now...let me thow some informal comments here because I loved these reports.

Comment 1: Hahaha...Lipping a 5lb+ Catfish is quite suicide, Mike! Their teeth are like sandpaper!
Comment 2: Talk about even "controlling" that turtle...he was probably dragging you around! Wise choice to cut that line... Once I got a huge Snapping Turtle at FDR, and I didn't think twice: cut the line! (better than having my finger chopped off)
Comment 3: Snagging king comes back! This time, he performs this miracle of snagging a turtle! Hahaha...Mike, you are the best! Your art is sacred, man...

Well...Mike's having a blast, and so am I. I hope everyone else is having a blast as well!

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.