Extreme Philly Fishing: About the FishAThon and our 24-Hour Fishing Session

Hello, guys!

It's been a while, huh? Certainly has. College has started, and classes are killing me already. However, I'll always find a little bit of time to bring you updates. I'm apologizing in advance if updates are delayed, but I'm guaranteeing the fact that they will be here.

OKAY. Now, let's talk about the FishAThon, and a little bit about the Blog (among other things)! For those who are not familiar yet with this event, feel free to click here to read more about the wonderful organization that put everything together, or feel free to click here or here to read more about this event on the Blog.

Team Extreme Philly Fishing rocked on the Schuylkill Banks during this past weekend (7p.m., Friday to Saturday - 24 hours), getting more than 500 fishes on the site. Isn't that amazing?! 500 fishes in 24 hours? Personally, I find that incredible! When I think about it, it's been quite a while since I started fishing in Philadelphia. The Schuylkill River, particularly, is certainly a treasure in the middle of our city.

I remember the first time I ever thought of fishing on the Schuylkill River: I passed by Spring Garden on my way to work, and found a gentleman throwing a whole live nightcrawler into the River, kind of practicing a cast and retrieve style. As I watched him fish, I remembered all the wonderful times I had spent fishing in Brazil with my father - all the wonderful weekends that we spent outside. Those were wonderful times, people...wonderful times! At that precise moment, while I was wondering about the past, a fish jumped, creating a huge splash on top of the water. That was when my eyes shone and a smile came by. The first question that came to my mind was: "What kind of monstrous fish was that?" At that moment, I realized that my passion for fishing was still hidden deep inside my mind.

After that, it was all fun! I bought some light gear (I started with small cheap rods, 6-10lb monofilament, and nightcrawlers) and tried the River. I caught my first Channel Catfish, my first Bluegill, my first White Perch, and so on. With time, my dedication for fishing increased - I started reading books and magazines about fishing in Philadelphia, and came to realize that there were so many wonderful Species that I had never seen in my life, so many exciting places that I could fish at! I used Septa to explore the city, and I was never afraid of dropping a line inside a puddle of water to test my luck and my skills. Urban fishing, people - that's a fishing style.

I found numerous new locations for fishing, made new fishing friends, and, of course, I learned a lot about the sport and the environment (many thanks to my old environmental conservation Professor: C. Murphy.). I started a small fishing community to exchange ideas and socialize (Nadir has been with me ever since), a fishing blog to promote the sport (that's how I met Mike H, Rob Z, and Jay D.), and recently started a page on Facebook. Unexpectedly, I suddenly had a fishing Team, and I was registered for the 24-hour FishAThon.

Little by little, I improved. And, the beautiful truth is: I'm still improving. We are all improving. Such is the beauty of ongoing processes in life: living, learning, teaching, and so on. If you downloaded my video, you can definitely associate this paragraph with some quotes on it.

Time passes fast, isn't it, guys? Close your eyes for a moment, and think about your past - when was the last time you smiled with extreme joy? Heh. Well...And as time passes, we move on with the World... (As Stephen King would say.)

Anyways...500+ fishes is a big deal, people! Our goal for the FishAThon was to catch 400 fishes in 24 hours, and our results were beyond our expectations - we finished the competition with 507 fishes. Who would ever think that the Schuylkill River, once referred as the city's "sewer," located at the heart of the city of Philadelphia - PA, could have so much fish? Even Jay said in his interview for the FishAThon that he drove there his entire life, and never thought there were fish present in the River. And the sad fact is: nowadays, there is still a huge portion of Philadelphians that are ignorant about the fact that the Schuylkill River is a good fishery, if not the best in THE CITY!

White Perch, Channel Catfish, Spot Croakers, Bluegills, Pumpkin Seeds, American Eels, Striped Bass, Brown Bullhead, American Shad, Yellow Perch, and even a rare adult Rock Bass - all those were among the Species we caught during 24 hours! Isn't that impressive? I've mentioned in a post before that the Schuylkill River holds more than 50 Species of fish. Well...I wasn't lying! Haha. That's 11 Species of fish right there, caught all on nightcrawlers at a same portion of the River (between Walnut and Locust). Are you convinced yet that the Schuylkill River is a mighty fishery? The Schuylkill River is famous in so many different areas (i.e. Rowing); therefore, why is it not famous yet for its fish diversity?

Imagine if this knowledge spreads out more and more. Would we have more fishermen, more people willing to join us in our good and healthy sport; people with good etiquette and a positive sense and love for nature? I believe that the answer is yes! And if that happened in different places around the globe, would the World be a better place to live? I also believe that the answer is yes. After all, fishing is certainly not just about catching a fish, is it? Going back to the old cliché - "That's why fishing is not called catching." Just as Harry Middleton said one day: "Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it."

Fishing has taught me many things in life, and these lessons are not bounded to fishing alone. I learned to respect wildlife and nature; to be punctual and respectful towards fellow anglers; to be organized towards my own belongings; etc. With these same aspects, I have learned to respect people's feelings and wishes, despite their ethnicity and cultures; I have learned to be punctual and organized when it comes to meetings and important events in life; I have enhanced my hopes for a better society! Fishing definitely enhanced my physical skills, but it gave me an extra boost when it comes to my mind!

You may be wondering why am I mentioning all these, and the answer is quite simple: I truly believe that people can positively change their attitudes and behaviors towards something that they love, that they can improve if they have motivation towards certain goals in life! Wouldn't it be wonderful if more kids started to practice this sport? I think so...

And, of course, I have been putting these out because they are all good reasons for our participation in the FishAThon. The competition was a blast, without a doubt! However, let's not forget that the FishAThon is not just about catching fish. This event is about something else; it's about changing the World. It's about creating a better environment for us, for our fishes, and a better future for mother nature and future generations to come. As you know, Team Extreme Philly Fishing has been doing some extreme fundraising for the city of Philadelphia, and for the country as well!

So far, the Team Extreme Philly Fishing has raised more than $2000 dollars for a good cause. Let me emphasize once again that every single cent of it will go for a good cause, which is a cause that is certainly related to you indirectly (unless you don't consume water! That would be alienwise).

Teeg Stouffer, Executive Director and Founder of the Recycled Fish non-profit Organization, will be using 50% of our donations for their national projects on Stewardship. They are big on saving our aquatic environment, which is fundamental for a healthy and sustainable World. After all, what would be of us if we didn't have anymore potable water to drink? Hmmm...good point, huh? For more information on it, you can access their website here.

The other 50% of donations will go to a local project of our choice. Team Extreme Philly Fishing decided to join forces with the SRDC (Schuylkill River Development Corporation), which is the same non-profit organization that takes care of the Schuylkill River from the Grays Ferry to the Fairmount Dam portion. We are currently working on a plan to develop "signs" at certain portions of the River with information on fish Species, and fish contamination and consumption.

The fundraising is opened until September 14th; therefore, you still have a chance to donate to our Team for a good cause! If you wish to, you can click here. Also, don't forget to check out the prizes and drawings we are giving away to the good citizens that are donating for our noble cause.

Now you know our reasons for participating in the FishAThon and doing our fund-raising; as well as a little bit about the Schuylkill River and our fishing results. So, I'm going to give you guys a brief summary of our 24-hour fishing session on the Schuylkill!

Team Extreme Philly Fishing - West: Robert Zito, North: James Daly, East: Michael Hsiao, South: Leo Sheng

This picture was taken Friday, right at the heart of the Schuylkill River - Center City, Philadelphia - PA, after 14 hours fishing straight. Haha.

- Our average for the competition was 1 fish every 11 minutes per person for the entire competition.

- Nightcrawlers were used the entire time: we went quantity over quality for 3 main reasons: we created our plan by analyzing the score grid for the FishAThon; we wanted to test the River - we challenged ourselves to see how many fish we could get in 24 hours; and some people promised to donate 10 cents for every fish we caught. Hehe
- None of us slept. Jay and Rob had some coffee, and all 4 of us endured 24 hours.
- Our trash is attached to Jay's chair. As you may know, the Schuylkill Banks is very clean, since it's managed by the non-profit who will receive 50% of our funds. I think I mentioned that above. So, that's basically our own trash (we always bring a plastic bag) + all the trash we snagged up from the River.

Okay...now, let me give you guys a summary of our fishing session by hour:*

*Note that sometimes we saved the fish in aerated buckets for picture sessions. Therefore, the hourly catches are recorded by the amount of pictures we took, and not exactly the amount of fish we caught in that hour. In other words, they are APPROXIMATIONS that will sum to the total of 507.

7-8 p.m.

We started slow. We organized ourselves, unpacked our stuff, and went over the rules for the FishAThon before we started. Mike started with active fishing, trying to get some unusual fish for our cameras. The original plan was to make Mike the "star" - let him catch something gigantic or rare for a nice "Hero Shot," which is basically a photo of the angler holding the fish. Rob, Jay, and I did most of the catching in this first hour. We were blessed with a nice Striped Bass, 2 Bluegill, and 2 White Perch. That's a total of 5 fishes in the first hour, and we were quite down with the slow start! High tide was just over, and we had hopes for good fishing to come.

8-9 p.m.

A lot happened during the second hour! Fishing got better as the tide started to move out, and our variety increased as well. Rob tried some float fishing without success, and we tried different approaches and patterns for different fishes. Jay managed to catch a small Brown Bullhead; Mike managed to catch a Channel Catfish; and I managed to catch my first Spot Croaker of the year. Fishing was still slow, but we also caught a couple White Perch in the process. It was still a little bit boring! We finished with the count of 7 White Perch, 1 Striped Bass, 2 Bluegill, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, and 1 Spot Croaker: 14 fishes by 9 o'clock, 9 fishes caught in an hour. Our hopes were still up for great fishing to come!

9-10 p.m.

Fishing was once again very slow from 9 to 9:30 p.m. We were so bored at a certain point that I started taking pictures of the team for fun. Haha. However, the American Eel started to bite around 9:30, which made us all very happy (at least me!)! Jay and Rob weren't very happy with the Eels because of their slime coat - they get really messy if the person is not experienced in taking them off the hook, but they were happy enough because they were worth 150 points per fish on the FishAThon scoring grid (which is actually VERY NICE). Mike was performing very poorly with his "Still-fishing" skills, and the Team got a little worried. As for 10 p.m., we finished on the count of 9 White Perch, 1 Striped Bass, 2 Bluegills, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 1 Spot Croaker, and 9 American Eels: 25 fishes total, 11 fishes caught in an hour. Although the fishing was slow, I was mentally happy for our catches because the catching ratio was increasing with time. I'm a mathematician...what can I say? Haha.

10-11 p.m.

The White Perch slowed down, and American Eels picked up! We were getting constant bites on the bottom, but we missed a lot of them. I figured right away from the biting style that they were Eels, and they can certainly be very tricky to get hooked. Jay decided to change his set up, putting a float on his line. It was around 11 p.m. that Jay got the RAREST fish among our final count of 507 - an adult Rock Bass on a float! It measured 8.5 inches on the FishAThon measuring board, and it was ABSOLUTELY a beauty! In my entire fishing experience here in urban Philadelphia, I had never seen a Rock Bass as big as this one. At 11 p.m., we finished on the count of 10 White Perch, 1 Striped Bass, 2 Bluegills, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 1 Spot Croaker, 24 American Eels, and 1 Rock Bass: a total of 42 fishes, 17 fishes caught in an hour. The catching ratio was still increasing! And...Mike was still doing poorly in the still-fishing: "I can't connect with the fish."

11-12 a.m.

The bite slowed down from 11 to 12 a.m. The White Perch disappeared! American Eels were still the main attraction, and I managed to get another little Striped Bass for our collection! I told Jay: "Watch this, Jay. I'll catch a Striped Bass by suspending my bait." 10 seconds after the bait was in, BOOM - a Striped Bass came up. At this portion of the FishAThon, we were still pretty active and focused on our fishing. Fatigue hadn't kicked in yet, and we were saving our energy for day time. I made sure to tell the Team: "Save your energy for tomorrow morning and afternoon, when the bite will get hot." Also, Rob got his first Spot Croaker of a lifetime around 12 a.m.! Congrats, Rob! New Species for the collection! At 12 a.m., we finished on the count of 10 White Perch, 2 Striped Bass, 2 Bluegills, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 3 Spot Croaker, 33 American Eels, and 1 Rock Bass: a total of 54 fishes, 12 fishes caught in an hour. The ratio went down... =( Anddddd...Mike was still performing poorly at still-fishing: "How do you guys do this? I'm not getting any bites!"

12-1 a.m.

Another school of White Perch passed by, and they decided to stay for a while! The bite became consistent for a little bit, giving us a lot of fun during this portion of the night. Rob and Jay were still getting used to the tricky "nibbling" habit of the White Perch; therefore, they were missing a lot of bites and bait. Jay's friend showed up at a certain time, and brought us some muffins, orange juice, and bananas! That was great - thank you! At 1 a.m., we finished on the count of 34 White Perch, 2 Striped Bass, 2 Bluegills, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 7 Spot Croaker, 38 American Eels, and 1 Rock Bass: a total of 87 fishes, 33 fishes caught in an hour. Mike finally was able to catch a White Perch, and he improved a little bit in terms of passive fishing. Way to go, Mike!

1-2 a.m.

The school of White Perch passed, leaving only some hungry ones behind. The bite slowed down once again, and fatigue started to kick in. Without noticing much, we started to yawn. As Biology goes, yawning is a body response to stimulate focus and attention, so the person doesn't fall asleep. We managed to catch a couple more White Perch, and Mike improved slightly in Perch-fishing. It was around 2 a.m. that Jay caught a beautiful Pumpkin Seed - another Species for our collection (Jay certainly doesn't look THAT ACTIVE as in the previous picture with the Rock Bass)! At 2 a.m., we finished on the count of 44 White Perch, 2 Striped Bass, 2 Bluegills, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 7 Spot Croaker, 38 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, and 1 Pumpkin Seed: a total of 98 fishes, 11 fishes caught in an hour. =(

2-3 a.m.

The bite was definitely slow at this point of the night, and we were SURPRISED with the lack of Catfish in the River! They were supposed to get extra active during night time, but they weren't hitting our nightcrawlers as well. At a certain point, I had a theory that they weren't very hungry; therefore, they were being very selective about their food. Over these hours, we caught a couple of small Catfish, and we were saving them in an aerated container for a group picture. We stayed with our primary set ups, still trying to catch White Perch and American Eels. At 3 a.m., we finished on the count of 59 White Perch, 2 Striped Bass, 3 Bluegills, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 9 Spot Croaker, 44 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, and 1 Pumpkin Seed: a total of 118 fishes, 20 fishes caught in an hour.

3-4 a.m.

Not much happened from 3 to 4 a.m. It was probably one of the worst hours for us. We picked up a couple small Catfish on the aerated container, and focused on the three main Species: White Perch, American Eel, and Spot Croaker. However, they didn't bite much during this time range. Rob managed to catch another small Striped Bass, which was fun to watch! The city was beautiful, though, and the location was SO CALM! There was no one around - only us. It was a great fishing environment. At 4 a.m., we finished on the count of 65 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 3 Bluegills, 2 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 10 Spot Croaker, 44 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, and 1 Pumpkin Seed: a total of 130 fishes, 12 fishes caught in an hour.

4-5 a.m.

Same situation as above. I was almost falling asleep for this entire hour, barely keeping my eyes open! I had to take a little break to regain my focus, and my team mates were struggling to catch fish. Despite all the calmness, we managed to catch a couple American Eels and Jay caught a nice Channel Catfish around 4:50. We were thanking the River for the White Perch - we knew that we would depend on them heavily during the day for points. At 5 a.m., we finished on the count of 73 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 3 Bluegills, 3 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 10 Spot Croaker, 47 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, and 1 Pumpkin Seed: a total of 142 fishes, 12 fishes caught in an hour.

5-6 a.m.

This hour was definitely the worst hour during our entire FishAThon - 2 Catfish in 1 hour. The Catfish were certainly more active, and my theory is that they probably scared all the bait fish away. Rob managed to catch 1, and Jay managed to catch the other 1. We also caught a couple little ones, and we were saving them for a group shot before 7 o'clock. At 6 a.m., we finished on the count of 73 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 3 Bluegills, 5 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 10 Spot Croaker, 47 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, and 1 Pumpkin Seed: a total of 144 fishes, 2 fish caught in an hour.

6-7 a.m.

The White Perch started to bite better, and the American Eel came back for a swim. During this time, other fishermen started to come to attend the Philly Fun Fish Fest, which is an annual competition that happens at the Schuylkill Banks during September. The water department arrived; members of the SRDC arrived; and kids would soon arrive as well. We were praying for the place to not get packed! Hehe. We took a picture of all the small Channel Cats we caught during the night, and around 7 a.m., I caught my first nice Catfish of the day. At 7 a.m., we finished on the count of 85 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 3 Bluegills, 29 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 10 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, and 1 Pumpkin Seed: a total of 183 fishes, 39 fish caught in an hour*.

*The small Cats were caught during all night, so, not really in an hour.

Challenge: count how many Catfish are there in the picture (the answer lies in mathematics).

7-8 a.m.

White Perch fest! The place was infested with kids because of the Fish Fest competition, which made our fishing a little bit difficult. However, we loved to see parents and their kids out there, learning a new sport. Jay mentioned - "A love to see all these kids out here, smiling and fishing." From 7 to 8, the White Perch started to bite compulsively. The whole team knew that that was the signal: it was time to use our stored energy and get as many White Perch as we could! At 8 a.m., we finished on the count of 108 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 3 Bluegills, 29 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 10 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, and 1 Pumpkin Seed: a total of 206 fishes, 23 fish caught in an hour.

8-9 a.m.

Things certainly started to pick up! As we hoped, the White Perch were on FIRE! I've never seen a plan work better than this: we saved our energy, had our hopes up, and it happened! I was totally focused during this hour, using my secret fishing technique to catch the Perch by surprise on the hook set (what Jay calls "ninja style")! Rob and Jay were doing an awesome job as well. Mike was trying...he definitely improved a lot by then. Also, it was around 8 a.m. that our first American Shad came up! Jay got it on a piece of nightcrawler - isn't it beautiful to know that they are still here, even after the run? It means something, people...it means something! At 9 a.m., we finished on the count of 145 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 5 Bluegills, 29 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 11 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 1 Pumpkin Seed, and 1 American Shad: a total of 247 fishes, 41 fish caught in an hour.

9-10 a.m.

Another American Shad came up between 9 and 10. The Fish Fest competition was in its Climax, and the place was full of kids criss-crossing our lines. Fishing became quite difficult, and White Perch bite slowed down. Mike was so tired at this point that he could barely open his eyes. We did what we could for this hour while realizing that we were already pretty sore from all the casting and retrieving. At this point, my camera's battery died. We started using Rob's phone for pictures. At 10 a.m., we finished on the count of 151 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 5 Bluegills, 29 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 11 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 1 Pumpkin Seed, and 2 American Shad: a total of 254 fishes, 7 fish caught in an hour.

10-11 a.m.

The Fish Fest competition was on its last hour. I found out that Nadir was participating in it, and apparently, he was doing great on it (Of course. Who taught him how to fish? Cof cof...Heh). The situation for us was no better - kids were still enjoying themselves, and casting bobbers everywhere! The River was a float land! Rob and Jay tried their best to fish under those conditions, while I took a good break to refill my energy bar. As the tide moved, Sunnies came to eat our crawlers! At 11 a.m., we finished on the count of 160 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 10 Bluegills, 29 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 11 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 1 Pumpkin Seed, and 2 American Shad: a total of 268 fishes, 14 fish caught in an hour.

11-12 p.m.

After the Fish Fest ended, we finally had space for ourselves. The team started to focus on White Perch once again. The sun was strong, and we were getting toasted under it. Also, the fatigue was pretty intense at that point, disrupting our dexterity. Jay caught one more Pumpkin Seed during this period of time. Some Sunfish and Spot Croaker also came up. At 12 p.m., we finished on the count of 178 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 12 Bluegills, 31 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 12 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 2 Pumpkin Seed, and 2 American Shad: a total of 292 fishes, 24 fish caught in an hour.

12-2 p.m.

Curiously, I have no pictures between 12 and 1 p.m. The Perch bite picked up; therefore, the team decided to just save them in the aerated bucket, and take pictures all at once. For these two hours, we fished White Perch and Spot Croaker like crazy! It was just as we thought: once noon came, feeding frenzy started! Rob, Jay, and I kept ourselves busy for most of the time. We missed a lot of fish, but we caught a lot as well. Mike, on the other hand, was still having a hard time connecting with the fish. At 2 p.m., we finished on the count of 238 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 12 Bluegills, 31 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 21 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 2 Pumpkin Seed, and 2 American Shad: a total of 361 fishes, 69 fish caught in 2 hours.

2-3 p.m.

We used the same approach as before: we started saving the Perch in the aerated container for group pictures. We tried to take advantage of the situation, hence the White Perch were biting SO GOOD. We knew that they could be gone at anytime; therefore, we used all of our strength to catch as many as we could. It was between 2 and 3 that I caught the ONLY White Perch that would be considered as "Large" for the FishAThon (8"+), and the only White Perch among 332 to be more than 8". Also, Rob caught a really nice Channel Catfish around 2:50. At 3 p.m., we finished on the count of 239 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 12 Bluegills, 32 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 21 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 2 Pumpkin Seed, and 2 American Shad: a total of 363 fishes, 2 fishes caught in one hour.*

*As mentioned above, the fish were saved in a container for group picture. Therefore, it wasn't really 2 fish in one hour.

3-4 p.m.

The bite continued, and the day started to get cloudy. We knew that the weather report stated that there would be rain in the afternoon, and we were more than ready to move under the bridge in case of heavy rain. The White Perch were biting non-stop, and the Spot Croakers joined in for a little bit. I caught one decent Catfish between 3-4, and that was all for exceptional catches. At 4 p.m., we finished on the count of 284 White Perch, 3 Striped Bass, 15 Bluegills, 33 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 27 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 2 Pumpkin Seed, and 2 American Shad: a total of 415 fishes, 52 fishes caught in one hour.

4-7 p.m.

The last 3 hours of the FishAThon were quite extreme. Rain moved in, pouring the whole city. Mike and I moved a couple feet away to hide under the bridge while Jay and Rob put their ponchos on for some extreme fishing under the rain! They focused mainly on White Perch while Mike and I focused on Sunfish (prime spot for Sunfish!). We decided to save all the fish inside the aerated bucket, and do one last photo session just before 7 o'clock. It was intense for Rob and Jay, who got soaked under the rain (the Poncho helped a lot, though). And, finally, Mike contributed with a new Species for the team: a Yellow Perch! He didn't catch a monster Flathead or a nice Striped Bass, but hey...a Yellow Perch is quite rare in the Schuylkill these days. Anyways...Basically, we called in a last round: we went all out for the last 3 hours! We were ALL very tired at the end, and I'm sure that all 4 of us couldn't wait to go home, take a shower, and go to bed. Hahaha. Anyways...here are the final statistics for the last 3 hours, and the final score:

At 7 p.m., we finished on the count of 332 White Perch, 4 Striped Bass, 40 Bluegills, 42 Catfish, 1 Brown Bullhead, 29 Spot Croaker, 50 American Eels, 1 Rock Bass, 6 Pumpkin Seed, and 2 American Shad: a total of 507 fishes, 92 fishes caught in 3 hours (average of 30 per hour).