April Fishing Sessions: 04/16 - Tough Day of Fishing on the Tidal Schuylkill River (Philadelphia, PA)

What's up, Blog Readers?


It's been quite busy for me recently; however, I am still trying my best to keep everything updated! For the past two days, I've been working on my YouTube Channel (editing and updating videos), and now I'll finally work a little bit more on the Blog! Gotta catch up to May ~~

First, here are the latest updates:

-- I've just ordered the trophies for the 6th Catfish Tourney on the Banks. I currently have 7 participants/teams fully registered for it; therefore, the event is definitely happening! For those who haven't heard of it yet -- EPF is back with its non-profit Catfish competitions: the 6th Catfish Tourney on the Banks is scheduled for May 31st, 2015. For detailed information, rules, and registration procedures, click here. I'll post a reminder for this event every couple posts!

-- I've uploaded plenty of new photos on the Facebook Public Fishing Album. That includes a couple neat photos of stocked Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Salmo trutta), a gigantic Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) from Maryland, etc. Once again: anyone can submit photos to the album. If interested, please click on this link for more details.

-- There has been a very interesting fish article running on the Internet recently, so I decided to post a hyperlink here. That's why I always say: we gotta take care of our waters; otherwise, our fish will be gone as time passes by...

-- To save time and make the readers' life easier, all my fishing session posts will now have the following format: Video (in case I caught some fish); Goal (goal and plan for the day); Setup (Gear and techniques used); Summary (short description of my fishing day); and Photos (photos for the day, if available). To avoid questions by e-mail, products will have hyperlinks for description and photo.

Now, here's my report for April 16th:

--- April 16th, 2015 ---

Location: Tidal Schuylkill River (Philadelphia, PA)
Time: 2:00-7:00 p.m.

Fishes caught:

-- 1 Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Video: 

Below are the highlights for this fishing session:

Be advised that the only fish caught in the video is a measly Channel Catfish. Heh. Don't forget to watch it in HD (1080p50)! If you enjoy watching my videos, please support the YouTube Channel by liking and subscribing. :)

Goal:

The goal for the day was to catch some Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) during the high tide hours on the east side of the River, then shift for American and Hickory Shad (Alosa sapidissima; Alosa mediocris) on the west side of the Fairmount Dam during the low tide. Of course resident Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) were welcome as well. Heh. 

Setup: 

My setup in the video consisted of a Cortland Endurance 9' noodle rod with a Shimano Symetre 4000FL and 12lbs Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon line. Through the course of the video, I used the following lures/baits: (1) a Gary Yamamoto 5" Senkos wacky rigged on a 5/0 Gamakatsu Hook; and (2) a nightcrawler on a size #6 Eagle Claw hook, with a couple split shots to add weight. 

Summary: 

I started on the east side of the Schuylkill River, fishing the stretch between the Fisherman Statue and the Fairmount Dam. As portrayed in the video, I missed a nice bite at the dam -- what would have been a 2.5lbs Largemouth Bass. I actually saw the beast for a few seconds; however, I was unable to get it on camera (the angle of the GoPro was off). I also saw a little Largemouth Bass swimming around the walls of the lower deck, close to the fisherman statue.

In the afternoon, I switched gears to the Shad. I ended up going to the west side of the River, "on the rocks." After a few snags and some lost gear, I finally gave up on the place! There were about three other anglers fishing there, including a "Shad afficionado," but zero fish landed. 

At the end of the day, I decided to catch a Channel Catfish to avoid the skunk. Heh.

Photos:

"Things that you don't see when you stay at home:" Mother Goose with 4 eggs in her nest! Behind her, the male is ready to peck on me. Heh.

"Things that you don't see when you stay at home:" The turtle battalion on the Schuylkill River. Lots and lots of Red-Ear Sliders sunbathing on a huge log.

"Things that you don't see when you stay at home:" My Rat-L-Trap Rattletrap immersed in junk fishing line. Sadly, half of my snags at the Fairmount Dam aren't due to rocks or stumps, but other people's wasted fishing lines. :(

A nice scenery view of the Fairmount Dam, with plenty of folks fishing around! Note: there has been a lot of illegal activity down there. The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission is aware of that and field officers will issue fines to those who break the law! Recall: it's illegal to fish 100 feet from the fishing ladder, and it's illegal to take or use herring as bait.

A nice scenery view of the rocks around Race Street. Back in 2011, this was one of my prime spots for Channel Catfish (when I didn't have a net yet). 

Best of Luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.

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