Hello, Readers!
I hope you are all doing well and fishing a lot. After a couple weeks of busy classes and complex homeworks, I'm finally bringing you another fishing session! My hopes are to update everything that is left during my Spring Break - March 11-15th. We will see how everything goes. =/ I've been quite busy with college!
My friend Erik K. and I hit the Haddon/Audubon Lakes (click on the links for the introductory post on each one of them) on the 20th of the last month, when temperatures were still just above 32F (same for the water temperature - just above freezing point). The place was as beautiful as always!
Erik K. spent most of his morning trying for Largemouth Bass at Haddon Lake with artificials. I decided to catch some Sunnies on my bare hook "dapping" technique, which you can see on the videos below:
I recorded the first video myself (no wonder the quality is so bad. Hahaha). In other words, it has harder to perform the dapping technique with one hand while filming with the other. The Dapping technique originated around the 1600's with the purpose of fooling the fish with an empty hook. Therefore, the act of catching the fish depends totally on skill. In this first video, I was able to just catch 1 Bluegill at the end of it.
Erik filmed this second video. Since I had both hands free, it was a little bit easier to perform the technique! I ended up catching 4 Bluegills on it - action until 2:10 minutes.
The dapping technique is certainly very useful when you don't have bait because you can catch your bait (small fish) with "nothing." All you have to do is find a certain location with hungry Sunnies (usually a place where they feed on top water) and "dap" your hook on top of the water! Chances are that they will strike it if you make the hook move like a drowning bug (that's your mission!). Good luck with it!
After messing around long enough with the Sunnies (I caught 61 Bluegills and 1 Pumpkin Seed - there are pictures at the end of the post), Erik and I decided to Carp at Audubon. We went there, took a look at the water conditions, and came to the conclusion that the Lake certainly looked PERFECT for a good Carping session! I went ahead, chummed the water, and set up the rods for Carping. Erik decided to first give a shot for other Species of fish. He set up a rod with a little Gulp! Minnow on a Crappie jig and went to the spillway at Audubon.
It was certainly a great day - Erik and I finished the day with 6 Carps on the corn. Erik also caught 1 Rainbow Trout on the Gulp! Minnow. All the details on the Carps are in the videos below. Enjoy!
Videos and pictures are below:
On Video 1, Erik reels in a 5.77lbs (22 inches) Common Carp on a single piece of Kernel Corn. The spot was a little tough for the net; however, everything worked well in the end! On 2:28, Erik got another hit on one of his rods; however, the fish wasn't hooked up (perhaps just a Carp crossing the line). Before this video, I had already caught 2 Carps (pictures are below).
On the second video, Erik reels in his second (and last) Carp of the day. Being a Power-type, Erik reels the Carp in pretty fast! This one turned out to be the biggest of the day: 6.26lbs (22.5 inches). Notice on 2:15 how my lines are always TIGHT for Carping. For my rig (bullet sinker and swivel), it's essential that there's no slack line, so the hook-up ratio is much higher!
In this video, I'm reeling in my 3rd Carp of the day. The Carp gets stuck in a submerged branch right at the beginning of the video. It's good to keep in mind that leaving the drag of the reel loose gives the angler an awesome fight; however, it also gives the fish more freedom to swim into difficult places! Always keep that in mind while Carping. Since my gear was lighter than Erik's (Fluorocarbon line, less lb test), I wasn't able to outwit the Carp with strength alone.
Last video - my 4th Carp, and also smallest one of the day! Although the fish was the smallest, it still gave up an awesome fight! This last Carp was swimming in a very weird way... who knows. Haha.
Pictures are below:
Beautiful Pumpkinseed from Haddon Lake. I've mentioned this before, but I'll emphasize that there are 4 different main types of Sunnies here in Philly: Redbreast Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Bluegill, and Green Sunfish. They are both beautiful, and great for a Species collection!
The "Purple" Bluegill - the King of the school. Anyone that has fished that spot at Haddon Lake knows that there are tons of Sunfish there! In particular, there is this ONE Sunfish that has a lighter color compared to the others - a purplish color. He's truly the King of that school - the oldest one. Using some skills, would you be able to get the same fish above? It's truly a challenge! It's like manipulating your bait and making sure that the other Sunnies won't hit it while trying to catch THAT specific Sunny. Good luck!
A nice view of the Audubon Lake. Sunny afternoon; however, cold and chilly!
Erik with his 1lb+ Rainbow Trout, caught on a Gulp! Minnow close to the spillway that connects Haddon and Audubon.
First Common Carp of the day. Say "Hello!" to Mr. Carp!
Another angle of the same fish.
Second Common Carp of the day.
Erik with his first Carp of the day (Video 1)
Erik with his second Carp of the day (Video 2)
Third Carp of the day for me (Video 3).
Smallest guy of the day! (Video 4)
I'll bring more posts when I can. For now, enjoy the weather! It's getting warmer. I went for a walk at the FDR Park today, and it seems that the fishing will pick up there soon!
Best of luck for all of us,
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.