Extreme Philly Fishing: March Fishing Sessions (Last Update: COMPLETE)

Hello, Blog Readers!

After a long and painful Winter, Spring is finally coming! It's still a little bit chilly; however, expect temperatures to rise steadily over the next couple weeks.

Before anything else, just a quick update for upcoming fishing events:

-- The 5th Catfish Tourney on the Banks will be on March 23rd -- a Sunday! In case of rain, it will be held on March 30th (the following Sunday). For registration and more information on it, you may access this link! Trophies for this competition are already on the way, and they are coming with a new design for 2014! Also, the Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC) was kind enough to add this event on their page. Please, be aware that all competitions held by Extreme Philly Fishing are profit-free, with 20% of all proceedings going to a local non-profit organization that supports environmental conservation and/or aquatic sustainability. Therefore, you will be helping your local community by participating and having fun in it. =)

-- The Trout Opening day for 2014 is on March 29th, a Saturday! If you don't have your Trout Stamp yet, this is the perfect time of the year to get them! Both Pennypack Creek and Wissahickon Creek will be stocked for the Spring, and we should be expecting a fair number of Golden Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, and Rainbow Trout! I'm definitely going for a Golden Rainbow Trout this year! You may click here for more information on the Spring Trout Stocking in Philadelphia.

-- Be aware that the Approved Trout Water legislation is already under work! In other words, all Approved Trout Waters (i.e. Pennypack, Wissahickon) are CLOSED to all anglers from March 1st until March 29th, 8:00 a.m.! You WILL be fined if they find you dandling around those Creeks with your fishing equipment. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is very strict when it comes to this rule!

-- The Spring Striped Bass migration is finally coming! However, who knows when it will be coming. Heh. Due to this "change" in weather, water temperatures are colder than they are supposed to be at this time of the year. As my friend Kevin W. says: "Going to be a very small window of opportunity to catch big cows this year." If you are interested in Striped Bass fishing, don't forget to stock on clams and blood worms (apart from the regular lures)! For more information on the run, you may click here.

-- The 1st Carp Tourney on Kelly Drive will be held on April 13th -- a Sunday. Rain date for it will be on April 20th! This competition will have a slightly different set of rules, and the post about it will be coming ASAP. Note that participants WILL need to have some basic expertise on Carp before the beginning of this competition, since the weight range per fish is 5-20lbs! A net will also be required! I would definitely recommend a Balzer net.

-- Apart from the Spring Striped Bass migration, there's also the Shad migration. It's about time for anglers to prepare their noddle rods and shad darts -- the American and Hickory Shad will be coming soon. However, don't forget that there are CPR only on the Schuylkill River (Catch-Photo-Release)! Click here for the 2014 legislation on American/Hickory Shad.

Now, here's your photo of the month:

March 8th, 2013 - Common Carp from Audubon Lake, NJ. Carping is golden during the month of March, and soon they should be feeding very actively. =)

And now, for the fishing sessions...

--- March 7th, 2014 --

Location: Schuylkill River
Time: 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Fishes caught:

-- None.

Believing that the day would be quite nice, I went to the Schuylkill River with chicken livers for some Catfish. Guess what? It was windy and cold as hell! Heh. I fished the River for 2 hours in the afternoon -- not a single bite. Ended the day getting skunked.

At least the River was clear and pleasant. =)

--- March 8th, 2014 --

Location: Schuylkill River
Time: 12:15-3:15 p.m.

Fishes caught:

-- 1 Channel Catfish

After 3 hours of fishing, I finished the day with a nice Channel Catfish -- 5.57lbs, 24 inches! For low metabolism and cold water temperatures, this fish fought great! It was a great catch, indeed.

One funny thing I would like to point out: as I was fishing, someone approached me and asked me questions about fishing (nothing unusual about that). But then, the same asked me if I was fishing in brackish water...!! Then, the person asked me if there were Flounder around. I swear -- I thought the individual was joking with me, but no...he was dead serious.

Anyways...the Schuylkill River is entirely freshwater, and there are no Flounders around. I wish there were Flounders around, though! Yum...

Photos of the Catfish are below: