Hello, Blog Readers!
Before anything else, here's a gentle reminder of the 6th Catfish Tourney on the Banks:
For those who did not know about it yet, Extreme Philly Fishing is once again holding non-profit Catfish competitions on the Schuylkill River! The 6th Catfish Tourney on the Banks is scheduled for May 31st, 2015 (a Sunday). The permit from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has just arrived, so everything is good to go!
Every fishing event in Pennsylvania requires a permit from the PA Fish and Boat Commission. The permits can be obtained for free; however, they do require the sponsor to apply for it way in advance!
For registration and rules, please access the following link.
Note that this is a non-profit event! 20% of all proceeds will go to a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports aquatic sustainability and/or environmental conservation (in our case, the SRDC). The rest of the money will be distributed as cash prizes. The prizes will be given at the end of the event for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, as well as the "Biggest Fish." Small trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places will also be given out.
Hope to see many of you there, and may the best win!
Now, here's my fishing report for April 10th:
--- April 10th, 2015 ---
Location: Stony Creek (Norristown, PA)
Time: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Fishes caught:
-- 7 Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Below are the highlights for this fishing session:
The video is 17 minutes long. The introduction portion goes all the way to 5:00 minutes and the rest is just fishing and catching. The only type of fish Species portrayed in this video is Rainbow Trout. My fishing setup can be found in my previous Trout videos; although, I will emphasize it once again below.
Everything started with my friend Blaise FP. sending me a photo of his Trout limit at Stony Creek in Norristown, PA. Once I glanced at it, I immediately saw that some of those Trout were actually Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)! For me -- a Multi-Species angler -- that was a major discovery. After all, it's well-known that the PA Fish and Boat Commission stocks only Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout (Salmo trutta). Therefore, my immediate question was "how did those fish get into that Creek?!" After a little bit of online research (Google is always helpful), I found out that a private organization actually stocks the Stony Creek with Brook Trout. That's when I decided that I had to go down there to catch myself some Brookies!
Since I go everywhere by public transportation, I ended up taking the Septa Manayunk/Norristown regional rail line all the way to its final stop. And boy...I was surprised! After I walked into Norristown's main street, I almost found myself in the middle of Mexico. There were Mexicans everywhere; three different Mexican restaurants in two blocks; a Mexican "Taqueria;" some Mexican pubs...wow! It was just a neat little Mexican community right there. And since I am a freak for Mexican food and I do speak Spanish, I went for some Tacos right away. I had some "Tacos al Pastor," de Cabeza, and a "Torta a la Milanesa." And yes, folks -- I do recommend it and it was utterly delicious. The best part? The food was way cheaper than most Taquerias in South Philly, if you know what I am talking about. The trip was well worth just for the food. Haha.
Anyways...after I gorged myself, I took the Bus Route 90 all the way to the Norristown State Hospital, which is right besides the Stony Creek. As a matter of fact, I started rolling the YouTube video just after getting off the bus.
Upon arrival, I noticed a couple signs saying that "Trout were not stocked in that area because of safety concerns." After consulting with a local angler, I came to know that those signs have been there for the previous five years; therefore, they could just be disregarded.
I did my setup right next to that bridge: a Shimano Sedona 500FD with a Daiwa Spinmatic ultralight rod and 4lbs Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon line. Throughout the day, I switched between in-line spinners, Power Bait, and kernel corn. The Power Bait eventually outdid the other two...
I walked from the State Hospital all the way up to the intersection of the Stony Creek with Kepner Creek. After three hours of fishing, I finished the day with 7 Rainbow Trout and no Brookies. Sadly enough, I did see some Brook Trout swimming in the Creek; however, I was unable to make them bite. :(
After exploring a good portion of the Creek, it came to my attention that the Stony Creek had a lot of "dams" that created little pools where the stocked Trout were hanging in. From a stocked Trout perspective, those dams were just awesome! After all, an angler would be able to pinpoint the Trout lies just by taking a single look at them. From a Multi-Species perspective, however, those dams were pretty bad. Besides the stocked Trout, I wasn't able to see a single fish from a different family. In other words, the Stony Creek is highly recommended only for Stocked Trout and nothing else (at least for the portion of the Creek that I explored).
Photos of the trip are below:
In every Creek, spots with hanging trees are just amazing! It was no different for the Stony Creek -- I was able to catch three Rainbow Trout under the first tree on the right.
A nice view of the other side of the bridge.
A healthy stocked Rainbow Trout from Stony Creek, Norristown, Montgomery County, PA.
As I explored the Creek, I found this little inlet to be very interesting. Very shallow water with a smaller, deeper pool on the other side. It makes me wonder how the spot will turn out to be after some heavy rain.
One of the multiple man-made dams at the Stony Creek: good habitat for stocked Trout; however, not so good for other Species of fish due to the boundary conditions of the Creek.
I decided to cook three of them for dinner. Boy, it was good!
More fishing reports will be coming soon... :)
Best of luck for all of us,
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.
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