Hello, Blog Readers!
Here's my fishing report for April 30th:
--- April 30th, 2015 ---
Location: Newton Lake (Collingswood, NJ)
Time: 12:30-4:30 p.m.
Fishes caught:
-- 7 Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus)
-- 32 Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
-- 4 Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)
-- 3 White Perch (Morone americana)
-- 1 Goldfish X Common Carp Hybrid (Carassius auratus X Cyprinus carpio)
Video:
Below are the highlights for this fishing session:
The video is approximately twenty-one minutes long. 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 original goal for the day was to catch any type of invasive Species of fish in NJ: either a Northern Snakehead (Channa argus), a Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), or a Warmouth (Lepomis gulosus). Since I wasn't able to catch any of those, I ended up focusing only on the Multi-Species aspect of the trip.
Setup:
I used only one fishing rod for this fishing session. My setup consisted of a Cortland Endurance 9' noodle rod with a Shimano Symetre 4000FL and 12lbs Berkley Vanish Fluorocarbon line. Throughout the course of the day, I used mainly two types of rigs: (1) a weightless size #6 Eagle Claw hook with nightcrawlers, or (2) a 1/64 oz. Trout Magnet jighead with either a Trout Magnet or a 1" Gulp! Alive Minnow.
Summary:
I started fishing Newton Lake around 12:30 p.m.. Right after I got to the spot, I ended up spooking a Northern Snakehead and a couple Common Carp in shallow water. That was the hint I needed to turn on my "ninja mode." Heh. I tied on a size #6 Eagle Claw hook with a piece of nightcrawler.
I fished for a little bit at the Beetlewood Avenue bridge, finishing with a couple Bluegill, one miniature Largemouth Bass, and a White Perch. There were a couple big Carp in the shallows, flipping through the aquatic vegetation. I also saw plenty of Sunfish swimming around!
As portrayed in the video, I started walking upwards towards Colford Avenue. Midway, I decided to drop the nightcralwer by the small bridge to see if anything would hit. That's where a caught my first ever Goldfish X Common Carp Hybrid -- number 65 on my Species list. Curiously enough, this little chunky fella behaved very differently than a regular Carp! Normal Common Carp may look at a naturally sinking bait when the same is put right in front of its face. This hybrid ran towards my bait, sucking it in at a first glance! Pretty wild behavior. Hah.
After landing a couple other smaller Species of fish, including the Pumpkinseed, I started to walk the other way around -- towards Oaklawn Avenue. That's when I started to notice that some very very dark colored fishes were swimming in very shallow water. Those actually turned out to be Black Crappie in "spawning mode." In other words, the Black Crappie were swimming in very shallow areas for their spawning season. As a side note, fishes tend to become more colorful in their spawning seasons to attract their mates (i.e. Bowfin tends to become Green, Green Sunfish tends to have yellow fins, Black Crappie get darker, etc).
I kept walking around the Lake without any more success in finding new Species of fish. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to spot a single Warmouth or Green Sunfish at Newton Lake! However, overall, it was still a very productive day. :)
The new Species on my list was definitely a plus!
Photos:
First Largemouth Bass of the day -- a miniature one! As mentioned in the video, small Largemouth Bass are always a good sign: good numbers of small fish show anglers that the natural reproduction in certain body of water is going well.
A neat White Perch from Newton Lake! As a reminder, Newton Lake is not a closed body of water -- it starts as a tributary of the Delaware River. For that reason, there is always a winter kill for Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) at Newton Lake during early Spring, not to mention that new Northern Snakehead and White Perch get into the Lake year after year.
A nice sample Bluegill from Newton Lake. Clearer the water, stronger the color. Albeit, the strongest and most beautiful colors come from acidic pond in NJ.
"Things that you don't see when you stay at home:" Doves around the Lake! Heh.
Another miniature Largemouth Bass. Getting bigger, though...
My first ever Goldfish X Common Carp Hybrid! The chunky little fella is apparently very rare in PA and NJ, being more common around Washington D.C.
A gorgeous Black Crappie in spawning colors.
Another sample of a spawning Black Crappie
A Pumpkinseed in spawning mode.
Another Largemouth Bass from Newton Lake. Again -- no monsters, but getting bigger. Haha.
Best of luck for all of us,
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.
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