Hello, Readers!
Recently, I've been doing minor updates on the Blog, including the introductory post on the Pennypack Creek in Northeast Philadelphia. The hyperlink is under the "Introducing..." tab on the right side of the page; though, I'll leave a link here to make things easier. Here are the main updates on it:
1. I added a map of the Pennypack Creek from Google Earth and divided it into 3 different sections: Lorimer Park, Pennypack Park, and tidal Pennypack.
2. I added a few more Species and photos to the Pennypack Park section of the Pennypack Creek (i.e. White Sucker, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, etc).
3. I gathered and compiled a couple photos from close friends, addressing rare catches in the overall Pennypack Creek. Many thanks to Bryan KL, Karl H., Peter S., Billy F., and Don G. for their contributions!
And now, here's my fishing report for September 19th:
--- September 19th, 2014 ---
Location: Delaware Canal/Buck Creek (Yardley, PA)
Time: 12:00-5:00 p.m.
Fishes caught:
-- 2 Redbreast Sunfish
-- 1 Common Carp
-- 2 Bluegill
-- 2 Largemouth Bass
As I have cited previously in my Facebook Page, this year I took a good amount of my Summer season exploring new bodies of water in the far Northeast Philadelphia, close to the Delaware River. During the months of May-July, I wandered through Bristol, Yardley, Levittown, Falls Township, and I went as far as West Trenton in New Jersey. I could name here all the bodies of water that I've explored this Summer, but I decided to just do a map for better visualization, which is posted below:
A Google Earth map of the Northeast Philadelphia. Creeks are identified as colored lines and Lakes/Ponds/River are identified as colored circles. In this post, I'll be talking about the black line, which corresponds to the Delaware Canal, and the gray line, which corresponds to the Buck Creek. You may click on the photo for a better magnification.
From May to September, I did a couple of Multi-Species fishing sessions in Yardley's section of the Delaware Canal, including a portion of the Buck Creek. Despite its looks -- saturated and shallow, I caught a huge variety of fish in it: Redbreast Sunfish, Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseed, Golden Shiner, Brown Bullhead, Largemouth Bass, Common Carp, Chain Pickerel, etc. Note that the Delaware Canal is one of the few places around Philadelphia where you will be able to actually catch a PA Chain Pickerel (my first PA Chain Pickerel came from the canal). I'll eventually do a full introductory post on the Delaware Canal one day. For now, the photos of my catches in the Delaware Canal and Buck Creek can be seen on my Facebook Page's albums.
As I arrived on September 19th, I noticed that the water levels in the Canal were extremely low! I was quite frustrated, to the point that I made two small videos showing a measured 5 foot difference in water level! After a little bit of "googling," it turned out that a pump was broken in the upper Delaware Canal; thus, not enough water was getting down to Yardley.
The low water levels made fishing difficult and easy (what an oxymoron, eh?). On one hand, it was difficult to fish in the canal because 90% of the spots were shallow and lifeless. On the other hand, it was easy to catch fish because it was easy to locate them! In other words, I already knew that all fishes would be concentrated in the deepest spots in the Canal. On the further hand (not that we have 3, heh), it was hard to catch those fish because their wariness was still top notch due to the shallowness of the place. There were deep spots compared to other spots; however, the deepest portion of the Canal was still shallow!
In the end, I was able to pull a couple fish from both the Delaware Canal and Buck Creek. It required quite a lot of walking, but I believe that it was worth it! The Common Carp and Bluegill were caught on a piece of nightcrawler. The Redbreast Sunfish were caught on a Thomas Nickel/Gold in-line Spinner, and the Largemouth Bass were caught on Gary Yamamoto Senkos, whacky rigged on a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook.
Photos of the session are below:
The photo portrays the Delaware Canal at Yardley, with very low water levels. Note that the green grass marks the regular water level for the Delaware Canal.
A Redbreast Sunfish from Buck Creek, caught on an in-line spinner (one of my favorite lures for streams).
This little fella came up by surprise! It bit on a full nightcrawler, on the bottom. My first Common Carp from Buck Creek, and it's a pleasure to say that "they are there."
A nice sized Bluegill from the Delaware Canal. The background on the photo actually shows one of the deepest spots in the Delaware Canal at Yardley.
Another sad photo of the low water levels in the Delaware Canal. As mentioned above, the green grass marks the regular water level for it.
After a lot of walking, the first Largemouth Bass of the day finally came up on a wacky rigged Senko! The little fella was hiding under lily-pads.
The other Largemouth Bass came from under the bridge -- another deep pool in the Delaware Canal.
"Things that you don't see when you stay at home:" A messed up Great Blue Heron (note the feathers) waiting for a nice meal.
"Things that you don't see when you stay at home:" Not one, not two, not three, but four does at the Delaware Canal! It was a beautiful sight.
More fishing sessions will be coming soon. :)
Best of luck for all of us!
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.