April Fishing Sessions: 04/05 - Fishing for Trout at the Pennypack with Spinners

Hello, Blog Readers!

As you all may or may not be aware of, I keep a very organized tab of all fishes that I catch every year. And by that I mean every single one of them. That's what I call my Statistical Fishing Chart. In the eyes of a Multi-Species angler like myself, every fish is unique. In other words, there is no "discrimination" when it comes to their sizes or appearances. To ensure that all these Species will thrive and survive in their natural habitats -- from micro-species to game fish -- I tend to handle them very carefully and practice CPR: "Catch, Photo, and Release."

Now...you may be wondering: "why are you telling us all of this stuff?" Well...I am telling you all of this stuff to not give away a wrong impression of my fishing style (i.e. Multi-Species fishing). If you have been reading my Blog for a while or you know me personally, then it's all good! However, if you are a first timer here and you don't know my ideology very well -- then I don't want you to have the wrong impression of my fishing ideologies. 

Anyways...recently I've posted 2 videos of Trout on my YouTube Channel and soon I started to receive interesting e-mails. People were simply curious as to why I didn't release those Trout, since I release almost everything else. The fact is that I release about 95% of my annual catch -- keeping few fish for table fare or bait. And stocked Trout is within the 5% of fish that I actually take home to eat. I just wanted to make this clear to all my Blog readers, Facebook followers, and YouTube viewers.

Therefore, overall, I do follow the practices of CPR and selective harvest. And I do believe that stocked Trout are better off in a plate. Heh. As a matter of fact, I will leave this very amusing article for those who are interested in Stocked Trout.    

And now, here's is my fishing report for April 5th: 

--- April 5th, 2015 ---

Location: Pennypack Creek (PA)

Time: 7:00-10:00 a.m.

Fishes caught:

-- 4 Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

-- 1 Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)

Below are the highlights for this fishing session:

The video is about 8 minutes long. I've divided it in 2 parts: setup goes up to 1:00 and the rest is fishing! It takes a long long time to actually edit these videos and upload them in 1080p50 quality (HD quality); therefore, if you like them, please like the video and subscribe to the Channel. That would be very well appreciated. 

As mentioned in the video, my game for the 2nd day of the Trout Season was to use an in-line Spinner. Just so everyone knows, my game plan for stocked Trout never changes! Every year is the same thing: Power Bait or corn during the first day; in-line spinners and Power Bait during the season; and Gulp! Alive 1" Minnows and corn late in the season.

For the second day of the Trout Season, I decided to go with my favorite in-line spinner: a Thomas E.P. series, nickel/gold color. My setup consisted of an Ultra-light Daiwa Spinmatic rod, a Shimano Sedona 500FD, 4lbs Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon line, and as mentioned above, a Thomas "Easy-Spin" series in-line spinner, nickel/gold color, 1/8 oz.. 

Many people have been asking me lately why the Thomas E.P. series spinner is my favorite. First of all, I've used a lot of different brands in the market and I can say that the E.P. series spinner has a very good quality and finishing touch for its price. I've used many in-line spinners from Panther Martin, C.P. Swing, Mepps, etc, and I still prefer this particular one from Thomas Fishing Lures. After watching the video, you guys may have been aware that I can actually cast pretty far with the 1/8 oz.! Distance is very important when it comes to Trout fishing. Also, it doesn't only catch Trout, but it catches different Species of fish. For a Multi-Species angler like me, this is a very important factor. I've caught Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu), Fallfish (Semotilus corporalis), Northern Snakehead (Channa argus), Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), Chain Pickerel (Esox niger), different types of Sunnies (Lepomis spp.), and even Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) on this little fella! So, I guess you guys understand now why I hold it so dear.

Of course it's not just about the Spinner! The lure is certainly important, but it will always remain incomplete without its appropriate technique. Therefore, a certain level of expertise is necessary for the lure to work. Similar to what I did in this post, there's a Microsoft Paint diagram below for the in-line spinner, for a better understanding:   

As portrayed in the diagram, the current flows to the right. Do you notice how the spinners are actually behind the fish? The ideal situation would be to tie a Spinner with very thin line (i.e. 4lbs test) and cast it over the Trout (so you don't spook them). The speed of the retrieve determines which layer your lure will be in: if the retrieve is too slow, the lure will end in the Hypolimnion and you will eventually get snagged; if the retrieve is too fast, the lure will end in the Epilimnion and you will eventually not get bites. The goal is to keep your lure inside the Thermocline, so that the fish will actually see it and bite it.

Using the technique described above, I limited out after half an hour or so. My Brother-in-Law tagged along with me in the morning, finishing his day with two Trout on Power Bait. Photos are below:

Here's a photo of the only Brown Trout of the day, also the last one caught in the video. 

My Brother-in-Law with his Rainbow Trout, caught on a piece of yellow Power Bait.

A nice scenery photo of the fallen tree below the Roosevelt Boulevard Dam. This is actually another well known spot for Trout and boy...you gotta have dedication to climb and sit on the tree! Anglers usually cast their spinners from the opposite side. 

In the end, my Brother-in-Law and I finished with 7 Trout total: 6 Rainbow and 1 Brown.

Stay tuned for more Trout reports, folks! There will be a report on the East Branch Brandywine Creek and another one on Stony Creek coming up soon. I will also be uploading a couple more Trout videos on my YouTube Channel this week -- some of them with Trout being released actually (since I caught my limit for those days).

Best of luck for all of us, 

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.

April Fishing Sessions: 04/04 - Fishing for Trout at the Pennypack Creek with Power Bait

Hello, Blog Readers! 

I've added 9 new photos to the Public Fishing Album on my Facebook Page. As a reminder, anyone can submit photos! If interested, you may click here for more information.

Now, here is my fishing report for April 4th -- the first day of Trout Season in Philadelphia County;

--- April 4th, 2015 ---

Location: Pennypack Creek

Time: 8:00-9:00 a.m.

Fishes caught:

-- 4 Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

-- 1 Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)

Below are the highlights of this fishing session:

The video is about 30 minutes long. I've divided it in 3 parts: Introduction goes up to 4:45; Setup goes up to 9:45; and the rest is fishing!

This was actually my 4th consecutive year fishing the Trout opening day in Philadelphia, PA. It just so happens that every year I hit the same location: the Pennypack Creek between Roosevelt Boulevard and Bustleton Avenue. Instead of describing the whole scenery and the "chaos" of the Trout opener, here are some shots from 2011 to 2015:

Trout Opening in 2012:

Compared to the other years, the amount of people in 2012 wasn't as high. Note, however, the green scenery in the beginning of April. On April 5th, 2012, water and air temperatures were between 50-55 degrees! 

  

Trout Opening in 2013:

Here's a nice view of the "chaos" during the first day of Trout season at the Pennypack Creek. In comparison to 2012, everything was just starting to bloom. On March 30th, 2013, water and air temperatures were between 45-50 degrees.

A nice scenery view of the Roosevelt Boulevard dam -- one of the deepest spots around the Creek.

A nice collection of anglers wading a deep hole under one of the bridges between Roosevelt Boulevard and Rhawn Street.

A pack of anglers under the Rhawn Street bridge.

Trout Opening in 2014:

Moments before 8 a.m. on March 29th, 2014! Same dry branch as in the photo from 2013. Same weather. Same crowd. Same chaos! 

A nice scenery view of the Roosevelt Boulevard Dam from above the small metal bridge.

And, as always, the Roosevelt Boulevard dam was packed. Heh.

Trout Opening for this year:

Air and water temperatures around 50 degrees. This year I did a "head count" for the area around the dam: ~50 people total! Quite insane, right? 

As mentioned in the video, some folks decided to step up this year! Apart from all the BBQing and stuff, they even brought in a tent. 

Minutes after 8 a.m. :)

If you watched the whole video, you should already be familiar with all the technical information that I'm going to write here. Just in case, though, let me emphasize some of the fishing jargon. For the first day of the Trout season, I decided to go with the traditional Power Bait. My setup was very simple: ultralight Daiwa Spinmatic rod with a Shimano Sedona 2500 FD; 4lbs Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon line with 3 small split shots and a size #8 Eagle Claw hook. 

For Power Bait, I decided to pick my favorite color: beige. And no additional scents or anything like that. As a matter of fact, I've tested all different colors of Power Bait and I came to the conclusion that the beige, yellow, and white colors work best! And this is definitely not biased -- the fish may actually connect the beige/yellow color of the Power Bait with whatever they used to eat back in the hatcheries. Also, as an additional note, two of the Trout's favorite foods are kind of beige/yellowish: meal worms and corn. Think about it...

As mentioned in the video, I decided to use three split shots instead of one because the current was a little bit faster than usual (due to the rain from the previous day). The regular setup involves only one split shot with a small hook (#6-#12) and 4lbs test line. In other words, "as finesse as possible," as Bass anglers would say. That's usually the way to counter the Trout's top wariness.

Finally, I decided to leave a space of 6 inches between the split shots and the hook. That's because I truly believed that those 6 inches would help my Power Bait stay in the Thermocline. For those who are not familiar, the Thermocline is the water layer between the Epilimnion (a.k.a. "surface layer") and the Hypolimnion (a.k.a. "bottom layer"), and that's where certain Species of game fish hang and feed at. Different watersheds have different thermoclines, since it's based on water depth and water temperature. For a better understanding, I drew a diagram on Microsoft Paint:

As portrayed in the diagram, the current flows to the right. Do you notice how the Power Bait doesn't stay 90 degrees above the split shot? That's due to the force of the current and the amount of line after the split shots (there's a lot of Physics involved here, folks). The goal is to keep your bait inside the Thermocline, so that the fish will actually see and bite it. 

Using the technique described above, I limited out in 20 minutes or so. Photos are below:

Beautiful Rainbow Trout.

My five fish for the day. By now, they are already cleaned and ready to be smoked!

Little Brown Trout.

Stay tuned for more Trout reports, folks! There will be some additional videos coming up on my Youtube Channel as well.

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.

April Fishing Sessions: 04/03 - Catfishing the Tidal Schuylkill River

Hello, Readers! 

Today I'm bringing you guys my short fishing report for April 3rd:

--- April 3rd, 2015 ---

Location: Schuylkill River

Time: 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Fishes caught:

-- 1 Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Below are the highlights of this fishing session, in video form: 

Readers -- nothing too exciting happens in this video. Heh. There's actually only one fish in it. Thus, if you want to jump directly to the catching part, go to 7:50. 

Even with all the rain, I decided to do some Multi-Species fishing on the tidal Schuylkill River (around the South Street Bridge). As portrayed in the video, I set up one rod with cut American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) and two rods with nightcrawlers. Setup number one consisted of 20lbs Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon line, a 2oz. egg sinker, Eagle Claw snap-swivel, nylawire, and a Gamakatsu 5/0 circle hook. Setup number two consisted of a high-low rig with Spiderwire Invisibraid, three way swivels, different sized Eagle Claw snelled hooks and a 2oz. river sinker.

Here is a nice view of my setup: the rod on the left was hooked with American Eel. The photo portrays the tidal Schuylkill River right next to the South Street Bridge in Center City.

My original plan was to do some Multi-Species fishing around the Promenade stretch of the Schuylkill River. Unfortunately, the plan didn't go as expected: after 5 hours of fishing, I was only able to land a 1.5lber Channel Catfish! The photo of the sacred beast is below. Heh.

The only fish of the day: a 1.5lber Channel Catfish. On the positive side, I avoided the skunk. Hehe.

In reality, I had many bites throughout the day (about 6 total). Therefore, it wasn't exactly the fishes' fault. Heh. Anyways...here are a couple bonus photos that I took after my session, during the low tide:

"Things that you don't see when you stay at home:" A Northern Mockingbird was picking small pieces of wood for its closeby nest. Beautiful little creature! 

A scenery view of the outlet close to the South Street Bridge. The same is portrayed in the video around 8:10. When the tide is low, one can actually see some Channel Catfish and Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) swimming in and out of that outlet. Very neat. 

A scenery view of some trees right by Locust Street. The pipe on the right and the hole on the left are awesome structures for smaller Species of fish when the tide is high enough. 

A closer view of the hole on the left side of the photo above.

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.

April Fishing Sessions: 04/02 - Micro-Fishing the Tacony/Tookany Creek in Cheltenham (PA)

Hello, Blog Readers!

Before my report for today, here are the latest updates and reminders:

-- 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 updated my Statistical Fishing Chart for 2015 (up to 04/02). You may click here to check it out. So far, I got 9 different Species of fish for this year. The goal is to eventually beat the maximum number of Species that I got last year: 38.

-- I've updated my Fishing Log (up to 04/02). If you want to know where I have been and what I have been catching, or how many times I've been getting skunked, you may click here for it.

-- I've uploaded a couple new videos on my YouTube Channel. I'll eventually hyperlink those videos to the Blog. My new GoPro camera is performing well so far! I'm very satisfied with it. Hah.

-- Extreme Philly Fishing got featured in April's issue of the local Milestones newspaper. Once again, I would like to thank Linda R. for writing such a nice article! For those who are not familiar, Milestones is a newspaper published by the Philadelphia Corporation of Aging. According to their website, it "provides information, resources, and inspiration for senior citizens." Information for subscription is in the provided link (Page 2). Since "declining participation" is one of the main issues in our sport nowadays, let's hope for more folks -- including senior citizens -- to join us in our outdoorsy adventures. Heh. You may read the April issue here.

Now, finally, I'm bringing you my report for April 2nd:

--- April 2nd, 2015 ---

Location: Tacony/Tookany Creek

Time: 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Fishes caught: 

-- 7 Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)

-- 4 Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus)

-- 8 Redbreast Sunfish (Lepomis auritus)

-- 2 Spottail Shiner (Notropis hudsonius)

-- 1 White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii)

Below are the highlights of this fishing session, in video form:

Be advised that this is a video on Micro-Fishing! In other words, there are absolutely no "Game Fish" on it. All fishes portrayed are below 6 inches (with the exception of the White Sucker, which is a little bit bigger)

As mentioned in the video, my original goal was to go to the Tacony/Tookany Creek to see if the Spring "Sucker Run" was on. Similar to the American & Hickory Shad and the Striped Bass, the fishes in the Sucker family also have a Spring run! In other words, they run up the Creeks and Rivers in search of their spawning grounds.

Unfortunately, I soon came to realize that there was no run at all! Perhaps I had already missed it. There were some White Sucker around, of course, but those were just the "local ones." Therefore, due to the lack of White Sucker in the Creek, I changed gears from White Sucker fishing to Micro-Fishing. 

As indicated in the video, I decided to use a very traditional setup for it: 4lbs Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon line on a Shimano Sedona 2500 and a Daiwa Spinmatic. Eagle Claw #8 hook and nightcrawlers. Absolutely no weight and no float. After walking for a little bit from State Avenue to the Jenkintown Road, I finally found a school of minnows. And, for my surprise, my first catch of the day was a Common Shiner, which was a Species of fish that I had never caught in the Tacony/Tookany Creek!

The Common Shiner is one of my favorite types of Micro-Fish! The red coloration on its fins is just spectacular. Another fish that has red coloration in it is the Warmouth (Lepomis gulosus), which is also very rare in Philadelphia.

I fished that spot for quite a while, finishing with the following additional Species of fish:

A beautiful Creek Chub from the Tacony/Tookany Creek. With polarized sunglasses, an angler is able to clearly visualize them aimlessly swimming around in schools,

A small Redbreast Sunfish. In the video, I actually caught a Redbreast Sunfish who was kind of "lost" among the school of minnows. In other words, a "blessed" fish. All of my other Sunfish were caught around structure and not in the middle of the Creek. 

After landing a few extra fish, I decided to move on towards Jenkintown Road. My goal was to fish the spot by the waterfall -- where the Jenkintown Creek gets dropped into the Tacony Creek. 

A nice view of the deepest portion of the Tacony/Tookany Creek. The left of the photo portrays the shallow Jenkintown Creek in Cheltenham.

I spent about 45 minutes fishing around the waterfall, around the bridge, etc; however, I ended up not having a single bite! I could see schools of big White Sucker by some structure and I aimed my bait straight at them, but they were just not interested in my nightcrawlers. I started to walk my way back towards State Avenue, but this time on the other side of the Creek (kind of made a U turn). 

For my final spot, I decided to pick the deep pool right in front of Kleinheinz Pond. Nothing new or unusual: schools of minnows and small White Sucker. Though, for my surprise, I landed a White Sucker while trying to catch minnows. Hehe.

Finally, on my way back to the bus stop, I decided to give a couple casts at my initial spot. And I was very well rewarded for it: I ended up landing something nice and different...

My last Species for the day: a neat Spottail Shiner! 

Overall, it was a very successful day of Micro-Fishing, I truly believe that there were plenty of Spotfin Shiner in the Creek; however, my size #8 hook was too big for it. Still, it was a joy to finish up with 5 different types of fish. That's not to mention that I used less than one nightcrawler for all these fish. Talk about saving bait, eh? Haha.

Tight lines, folks!

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.

March Fishing Sessions: 03/20 - Fishing the Schuylkill River on the First Day of Spring

Hello, Blog Readers!

Today I'm bringing you folks my fishing report for March 20th -- the first day of Spring for the year of 2015. Heh. Before that, I would like to comment on a little something: 

As a side note and curiosity, here's an interesting article for you folks to nibble at. If you read it, you should be quite shocked! It just happened that we got super "lucky" this year: the East Coast of the United States of America is actually the only blue dotted area on the map. Everyone else in the northern hemisphere had a warmer Winter than usual. On one hand, we can say that we were extremely unlucky for that to happen. I mean...we did suffer from all the ice and sleet! On the other hand, this "warmest Winter" business is really really bad for our planet! As you may or may not realize yet, climate is changing all around the world. Think about it...

--- March 20th, 2015 ---

Location: Tidal Schuylkill River

Time: 1:00-2:30 p.m.

Fishes caught:

-- 2 Channel Catfish

-- 1 American Eel

Straight to the point: the first day of Spring was brutal! I've fished Philadelphia's watersheds for the past 4 years, and yet I never saw 5 inches of snow on the first day of Spring. Certainly unheard of. So, instead of writing about these "harsh conditions," here's the video from this fishing session:

This was my first video with my new GoPro camera! The interesting part is that I got to test it under harsh conditions. Did you notice the little "shooting noises" towards the end of the video? Well...those were the snow getting banged on the GoPro casing! Heh. Anyways...expect tons of videos this year (as far as I land some fish in them). 

As indicated in the video, I initially setup three rods with American Eel (Anguilla rostrata). After 40 minutes or so without a single bite, I decided to switch one of my rods for a high-low rig with small hooks and nightcrawlers. And guess what? Bang! The fish were actually biting on the nightcrawler.

Here is a photo of my second Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus): 

A nice 1.5lber from the Schuylkill River, right by the South Street Bridge. This hungry beast decided to feast on my nightcrawler.

And here is a photo of the American Eel, which was not portrayed in the video:

My first American Eel of the year. I usually CPR all my fishes; however, Eels are quite special to me. Therefore, I decided to keep this little fella as bait for future monsters.

As a matter of fact, this Eel came up quite unexpectedly! In other words, I didn't even know that the fish was hooked. I would have taken my sweet time with photos and video if conditions weren't that tough. However, my hands were already freezing after catching that second Channel Catfish! And so was my body, since 2 layers of Under Armour were already wet from the snow (I was wearing 5 layers all together). This Eel was the final deal! After unhooking it, I knew immediately that I had to pack my gear and go home...

Here is a second photo of the Eel. Note the difference in color between my hand and my wrist. The redness of my hand is actually a primary symptom of Frostbite -- something that you definitely do not want to get while fishing during cold weather. 

Thankfully, I was really fast on the packing and my hands were in my pockets in no time at all. Thus, I went only as far as the initial stages of Frostbite (no blisters or anything like that). As I mentioned previously, that Eel was the final deal: I knew by then that I had underestimated Mother Nature and I took all the necessary precautions to remain healthy. No "acting tough" for me. Hah. It's definitely not worth it! 

I gotta tell you one thing, though: the feeling of taking a hot shower after being out in the brutal cold is unbeatable! And I ended up not getting skunked! And the video turned out to be quite good (in my opinion). So, at the end of the day, everything was well! :)

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S. 

March Fishing Sessions: 03/17 - Exploring Oyster Creek and the Vincetown Millpond (NJ)

Hello, Blog Readers!

Here is my fishing report for March 17th:

--- March 17th, 2015 ---

Location: Oyster Creek/Vincetown Millpond

Time: 10:00-11:30 a.m./1:30-2:30 p.m.

Fishes caught:

-- None

After hearing all the exciting things about Oyster Creek in Barnegat Bay, my brother-in-law and I decided to go down there to check things out for ourselves! According to some online fishing reports, local folks were catching some nice Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) around the power plant facility down there. Instead of going directly to the power plant, we decided to check out Oyster Creek Park first, which was located right around the corner -- on Dock Ave. 

A nice view of the Oyster Creek Park by Dock Avenue. The level of comfort there is super high: park the car, setup the rods, and wait in it! Can fishing really get any better than that? For boat and kayak owners: there's also a ramp for you fellas to put your stuff in.

  

Before setting any rods, I used a 2oz. weight to scope out the area. It turned out to be very smooth -- very few snags and a constant ~5 feet depth! Taking that in consideration, we setup 4 rods with a standard high-low rig: 2 oz. river sinkers, size 4 hooks, and shrimp. Of course shrimp wasn't our bait of preference; however, for our disappointment, no local tackle shops were opened on that day! We ended up getting our bait together with our breakfast, all at ShopRite. Heh.

That's correct, readers. Besides all that was mentioned above, that little neat park also had pre-made rod holders! Isn't that amazing? Beautiful! 

  

We fished the Park for about 30 minutes, which was about the time that took us to gulp down our breakfast. Not even a nibble. As expected, the water temperature was too low (~38F) and there were absolutely no fish swimming around that portion of Oyster Creek. We packed our stuff and headed up straight for the power plant. For our surprise, this is what we found out once we arrived there:

It turns out that the only public accessible spot at Oyster Creek by the Power Plant Facility is a bridge. The left and right sides of the bridge are private property; thus, fishing over there could result in trespassing charges.  

Once we arrived at the bridge, three anglers were fishing there. After taking a good look around, I found out that they were soaking blood worms without any success. Different than the "park side" of Oyster Creek, there was quite a current coming from the direction of the power plant. I didn't really measure the water temperature at that exact spot; however, I bet that the water there would be warmer by at least 5F. No wonder the fish like to stay around there...! :)

In the end, we decided to not even try. I mean...if those folks weren't catching anything on blood worms, chances are that ShopRite shrimp wouldn't work! We hopped back into the car and decided to explore another spot on our way back home. After studying the GPS for a couple minutes, I decided to pick Vincetown Millpond in the Southampton Township.

Here's a nice scenery shot of the Vincetown Millpond. Very beautiful watershed with a very promising spillway and plenty of slow pools!

My brother-in-law and I tried some Thomas S.P. nickel-gold in-line spinners and also some Gulp! Alive Minnows under a float; however, after one hour, we ended up without a single bite! Very tough fishing with the water temperature staying below the 40's. Regardless, I can definitely "picture" how productive that place will be during the Summer time!

A perfect spot for an in-line spinner or a Gulp! Alive Minnow. Note the island in the middle: it creates a perfect current break for fishes to hang around, specially after seasons of heavy rain!

Can't wait to go back there! As a reminder, fellas: part of fishing relies heavily on field work, meaning that the person with the passion for the sport should look for new spots to explore. Imagination is an important key in fishing. Thus, even when we get skunked, it never hurts to be a "modern Linnaeus." Hah.

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.

March Fishing Sessions: 03/16 - Scoping Linden and Kirkwood Lakes in Lindenwold (NJ)

Hello, Blog Readers! 

Before anything else, I've added a nice photo of my friend Mike M. on Facebook's Public Fishing Album. And yes -- he strikes once again, this time with a beautiful Linear Koi (Cyprinus carpio mutation) from the Delaware Canal. As a reminder, if you want to submit your photos for the folder, you may click here for more information.

Today I'll be talking about my first 2015 trip to the Linden and Kirkwood Lakes in Lindenwold, NJ. If you are not familiar with them, you may want to check the following YouTube videos for a general idea:

Part 1 of my introductory video on the Kirkwood Lake in Lindenwold, NJ. As you will read further below, I fished mainly in the pipe.

Part 2 of the video above. In this video, I walk a little bit deeper into the Lake, quickly stopping at some productive spots.

A nice video of me fishing Linden Lake for Black Crappies (Pomoxis nigromaculatus). The Lake is also known for producing nice Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and a few Chain Pickerel (Esox niger) and Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

Now, here is my fishing report for March 16th:

--- March 16th, 2015 ---

Location: Linden Lake/Kirkwood Lake

Time: 1:00-1:30 p.m./2:15-4:00 p.m.

Fishes caught:

-- 20 Bluegill (Lepomis Macrochirus)

With all the ice meltdown and water temperatures around 40F in small Lakes and Ponds, I decided to scope out two Lakes in Lindenwold, NJ: the Kirkwood Lake and Linden Lake. As always, I left home with a solid game plan for the day! My plan was short and simple: try for Black Crappie at Linden Lake first, and then move to Kirkwood Lake in case of no fish bites. The fact is that I can always avoid getting skunked with the golden pipe in that Lake! If you watched the first video in this post, you know where I am talking about.  

Here is a nice shot of Linden Lake that I took just after arriving there. Note that there was still a thin layer of ice covering ~10% of the Lake! This is good empirical evidence that Lakes and Ponds tend to defrost last when it comes to the transition of Winter to Spring (recall: moving water is a big factor in the ice melting process). 

I arrived at the Linden Lake around 1:00 p.m.. I immediately setup a high-low rig with nightcrawlers for still-fishing. Then, with my second rod, I setup a 0.5oz. weighted float with a 1/64 oz. golden jighead and 1" minnow imitation (exact setup as in the third video above). Since there was a new piece of cover in the lake, I started by jigging around the edges.

As any veteran angler would be aware, that board is perfect cover for game fish!  

I jigged the edges of that board for a good 10 minutes and ended up not getting a single bite! It was quite a disappointment, since that type of cover is really enticing and hard to pass while fishing. As a matter of fact, cover like that is golden for lie-in-wait predators to strike (i.e. Chain Pickerel). Therefore, if that board remains in that spot, it will be a hot place to fish for during the Summer months.

After jigging all the edges, I started to cast my bait out in the open (just like in the third video). At that point, I was specifically targeting Black Crappie. Note that the two major points in Crappie fishing is to "find" where the school is located at, and at what "depth" they are located at. Once those two factors are taken care of, the angler usually walks home with plenty of fish for dinner! Since water temperatures were still quite brutal (~40F), I setup up my float high; therefore, my bait was just barely touching the bottom. That took care of the "depth." My challenge then was to "find" them. Unfortunately, after casting in a range of 180 degrees, I was still unable to locate them. That's when I changed my game plan and moved to the Kirkwood Lake.

A scenery shot of Kirkwood Lake. Note that in this bigger lake, there was no presence of ice (not even a thin layer). 

   

After a quick lunch grub, I arrived at the Kirkwood Lake around 2 p.m.. Upon arrival, I spotted a kayak angler fishing for Largemouth Bass using a blade spinner! That was a good sign. Heh. At that point, I didn't really waste any time: I took a quick look at the spillway; came to the conclusion that the water flow over there was too fast for fishing; moved to the pipe! 

Here is a nice shot that portrays the consequences of rain and ice meltdown: faster current. The regular Kirkwood water level would not have water flowing down from the sides of that spillway.

Nothing changed after arriving at "the pipe." I stayed with the same setup as Linden Lake. As I cast my still-fishing rod into the water, another angler came by. The more the merrier, right?! I immediately noticed that he was using a very similar setup to mine: a little football jig with a 2" minnow imitation, no float. And guess what? After a few catches, he actually caught a very neat baby Largemouth:

The pipe and its surprises! Here is Rob F. with the results of his Micro-Fishing: a very nice colored Largemouth Bass.

   

The difference between Linden and Kirkwood Lakes became very apparent when I was still setting up my second rod. And I can tell you this, folks: there ain't a lot of better feelings than getting a hit on one rod while setting the other one! And that's exactly what happened. I landed my first Bluegill of the day then! 

A healthy Bluegill came up on a piece of nightcrawler. Signs of life are always good signs, right? :)

After watching my rod bend on a piece of nightcrawler, I decided to go Multi-Species with my second rod as well. Instead of a 1/64 oz. jig with a minnow immitation, I decided to tie on a regular #6 j-hook. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pull out anything besides Bluegills for the day. On the other hand, I was more than satisfied with all the bites that I got. For a Multi-Species angler, every and each bite is very exciting! Recall the beautiful quote by Robert Altman: "I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what's on the other end. Your imagination is under there." I had 20 Bluegill by 4 p.m. and decided to call it a day. Overall, very productive day with plenty of "imagination" in it. Heh.

Best of luck for all of us,

Long Days and Pleasant Nights,

Sincerely,

Leo S.