How is it going, Readers?
First, a couple small updates:
- A video of Mike and his first Bass Session of the year on Youtube.
- An updated version of my old post: "Fishing at the Schuylkill River Banks (Walnut Bridge)"
- 1-on-1 Fishing Sessions: From this year onwards, I'll be offering 1-on-1 fishing sessions - free of charge. Kids are highly encouraged. If interested, shoot me an e-mail (my e-mail is on the right) for more details.
For the next couple weeks, I'll be updating all my old posts on the Blog. I'll be reviewing my own grammar (which is far from perfect), and adding more information to each of them. Gathering data is an on-going process; therefore, I realize that I can add so much more information to old posts instead of making new ones! So, every time I update a previous written post, I'll make sure to let you guys know!
So...I went fishing at the Schuylkill River on the 9th, willing to catch my first Catfish of the year! Since fish don't really hibernate during Winter time, I've decided to direct my empirical research (experimental data collection) to Catfish and its feeding times. I figured that targeting the same Species of fish for a couple days using the same fishing technique and varying the times of the day could give me enough data to support my hypothesis.
Therefore, I chose the Schuylkill Banks as my prime spot - between Chestnut and Walnut St. For bait, I chose nightcrawlers (1 rod with 2 hooks) and American Eels (2 rods with 1 hook each). As for the fishing sessions, I currently work from 4-11 p.m.. Because of my job, I decided to vary my fishing sessions between mornings and afternoons.
Since it was super cold that day, I arrived on the spot at 1 p.m.. My original plan was to perform short fishing sessions, and then compute the bite average after a couple of them. I fished until 5 p.m. with that set up, and finished the day with 1 Catfish! My first Catfish of the year! ("Yahoo!!!," like my Latin Professor would say)
It was funny because the bite was very light, but I was still able to detect it. For people that still-fish for a long period of time, it was the "Dragging" type of fish bite: the tip of the rod move 45 degrees, slowly, back and forth, without slack line. Everything else was old - I held the rod, felt the pull, and set up the hook! I call this the 4-step process: "see the bite, hold the rod (carefully), feel the force, and set the hook." It turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL Channel Catfish.
Pictures are below:
15lb Bag, Net, fishing case..everything good to go!
Winter Cat! =)
3.1lb Channel Catfish on a piece of American Eel
Best of luck for all of us,
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.