Hello, Blog Readers!
First, I apologize for my lack of local fishing reports for the month of January. For the following reasons, I haven't been able to fish a lot:
1. My mother is visiting from Brazil and leaving in February. Therefore, I got to spend a little bit more of family time.
2. Temple Spring Semester starts tomorrow. This semester is going to be utterly brutal: I'm taking 4 Physics classes -- Classical Electromagnetism, Introduction to Quantum Physics, Solid State Physics, and Experimental Physics. Thus, I've been reviewing and preparing for the battle!
3. The weather has been really really awkward this season, as you guys may have noticed. Extreme cold temperatures kept most bodies of water frozen for a little while, followed by one or two warm days (in Winter!). And now we have another snowstorm warning for tomorrow (Tuesday -- January 21st). 6-9 inches. So, the weather hasn't been helping a lot...
Despite all of that, here's your photo of the month:
January 3rd, 2014 -- The Schuylkill River on a Winter Morning
And also a little homemade video of the frozen Schuylkill River (01/25):
Note that the Schuylkill River is a tidal River, meaning that the tides change every 6 hours (5-7 feet variation). Therefore, tidal Rivers are much harder to get frozen than regular Rivers, which are much harder to get frozen than Lakes and Ponds.
And now, for the fishing sessions...
--- January 13th, 2014 --
Location: Schuylkill River
Time: 12:00-3:00 p.m.
Fishes caught:
- none
After many chilly mornings, the Schuylkill River finally melted! If you guys recall, this was after the recent rain, when temperatures were in their 50's. This was my first outings of 2014, unfortunately (quite late compared to the previous years), and I ended up skunked! The River's current was very fast, carrying all types of trash downstream. Thus, my lines were getting caught with trash every couple minutes or so.
I fished for 3 hours without a single bite, so I decided to give up. I took a photo of the scenery (below).
The Schuylkill River, after the rain. Notice the muddiness and saturation of the water.
--- January 29th, 2014 --
Location: Upper Cooper River/Wallworth Lake/Evans Lake
Time: 1:00-2:30 p.m.
Fishes caught:
- none
After multiple snowstorms and horrible freezing days, I went to a few unfrozen bodies of water in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Hopkins, Driscoll, and Evan Ponds were totally frozen. Wallworth and the Upper Cooper River were partially frozen.
Due to the extreme weather (below 32F and lots of wind), I fished only for 90 minutes and ended up getting skunked. Below are a couple scenery photos, though. =)
Muddy Wallworth Lake, Haddonfield, NJ. This small spillway rarely freezes due to its all year round high saturation levels! In the past years, I've gotten multiple different Species of fish from there: Black Crappie, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Common Carp, and Brown Bullheads.
Same location, another view! In this photo, you can see the frozen upper portion of it.
A photo of a spillway at Driscoll Pond. Nature does some beautiful shapes, isn't it? =)
The stretch of the Upper Cooper River that connects to the Driscoll Pond. Lots of snow around.
Finally, a photo of the Hopkins Pond (entirely frozen...)
Over all, this January was definitely not a productive month for me! The weather didn't help at all: we had lots of snowstorms and freezing days. Also, my mother was visiting from Brazil and I was busy with the beginning of my classes at Temple University.
With all of that, I barely had time to get out! =/
Tight lines, readers!
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.