Fishing Log

If the power station is not running, not warm water flows to fish happy.

Alex, I am going to fish the traditional way, float that supports 15 to 20 grams , 8lb main line, 4lb tippet and 1/16 ounce darts and let it drift through some pools and in larger pools set the depth for 25 to 30 ft and just let it hang there and see what happens, also I will give the dart a little shot of WD-40

yesterday at Yardley I didn't get any hookups but it was nice being on the water.was only there from 13:00 TO 15:30 water temp was42.8 The wind died down. @my buddies were up there today from 09:00 t0 !5:00 they didn't get any hits . How did U make out today weofish ? Going to try early tomorrow.

LOL Alex, Okay for everyone who don't understand, "SACRILEGE" Meaning : Violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred. You are to funny my fishing brother. I'm heading out this afternoon, I'll let you know how I make out.

Hi Frank, it’s been awhile since I last seen you out there, I hope all is well with you, and hope to see you on the water soon. I’m not going out today, however I will be on the water at Trenton tomorrow afternoon around 3pm till dusk. Then on Saturday morning I’m going to put in at Lambertville access. Hey Alex I did have the opportunity to wrestle in some salmon on a Cortland GRF1000XP 9’ for line 8/9. I modified the handle with an extension to fit a spinning reel. I use this rod specifically for salmon fishing. I should take it along with me this weekend. Sorry if this makes your stomach sour. : / But you are right on the fight, well at least with the salmon. So I think you have convinced me to use it on the Shad. Only I’ll be sticking to my spinning reel. : )

Weofish, I should have put this in my last post, but thought of it too late to do so. However, it is important enough to put up a 2nd post. I warn you! Do not pick up a fly rod and try to catch a shad! If you ever hook one on a long wand you will be ruined for the rest of your life. One fly rod fish is worth 10 on spinning gear! :-)

Fished at Trenton on Tuesday, from 1pm till 5:30pm . No fish to report there were three other shore fishermen , and they had the same results. Now me being a spin fishermen, I am being entertained by all of the fly fishing mumbo jumbo terminology. While I am waiting to wrangle my first shad of the season, however I hope this does not turn into a fly fishing blog. LOL No pun intended.

Chiggy, up until 2 years ago I was using 6' ultralight Fenwicks & an old cheap 5' 6" ultralight with the Sustains slinging lightweight darts. I'm sure a noodle with 2# would be a hoot. Maybe 6 years back I caught two 9.5# roe on one of the Fenwicks in the Worthington area a year apart. Both of 'em took me well over a quarter mile downstream and approximately 45 mins. to land & well after dark on one of 'em. The 6# line class record was 6# & change in those days. I actually cut off 50 feet of line & the terminal tackle with the intent to submit the 2nd fish. But when I reached down to pick up the fish on the stringer, I just couldn't do it. I swam her in the current for awhile until she kicked her tail in gear and continued on north. When I caught the first one I was shocked to see how flat they are right behind the head (just like a big carp). You could have set a beer can down on her and it wouldn't have tipped over! Last year bigger roe were scarce for me. I caught a ton of fish but none over 5.5#. Albeit, my buddy Dennis nailed a few 6+ pounders. Then again, as I have frequently remarked, I'm pretty good, but Dennis is just flat deadly with darts!

Ooh, a Spey Rodder using high end gear, no less! Nice. We are kindred light tackle spirits. I currently prospect for the rascals with a 7' Ultralight St. Croix spinning rod. Until last year I used Ultralight Sustain reels loaded with 120 yard of 6# class Ande Tournament if I'm fishing in close proximity to other fisherman. I carried spare 140 yard spools of 4# class line when I've got enough elbow room and I won't interfere with someone else's endeavors. Last year I'd gone through my umpteenth Sustain 1000 and finally sprung for a Stella. However, since I've been spending a lot of time harassing redfish in the sound behind Hatteras these days, I picked up a 2500 for the extra line capacity. So far, I'll be darned if it hasn't been worth the extra $. With either shad or redfish, when I find 'em in sufficient numbers and the conditions are right, I break out the 5 weight. Similar to you, I've got a variety of shooting heads from Type III, IV, VI and a Type VII Striper series line with the head built into the running line. When chasing redfish, I exclusively use the Type III (for distance) as the explosive top water strikes you get from redfish make it "died & gone to heaven" fishing. I mostly use the Type VII in the Delaware. I carry two Pfueger 5 weight Trions & two 8 weight Presidents in my fly gear bag. Always use 6# or 4# class tippets on both. I'm afraid I'm not in your league with fly rods. I'm still using Fenwick HMG rods. I really should get a 5 weight with a bit more backbone for casting, but it is a delight when hooked up. It took me a year and a half to catch my first shad on the long wand as I was self-taught and started out using Clousers. During that period I wound up extracting two of them myself from the fleshy area in the back of my upper arms. I had no idea human skin was so tough to push a 2/0 hook through (and I keep my hooks sharp)! In one case, I stuck one in my nose and I thought my buddy Mike was going to feint when I made him extract it on the river bank (after pushing it through to mash down the barb). He wanted me to go to the Emergency Room. Are you nuts! We're catchin' fish! ;-) Fortunately, eventually I met Rich Fasanello and he gave me a proper education re: shad fishing with long wands, shooting heads, etc. Here's a pic of the 1st shad I landed using the 8 weight with a 400 grain 'Chuck & Duck' 10' sink tip. More than a little embarrassing to look back on it. ;-)

If next week's weather forecast holds up, We'll see numbers.

If the weather turns a bit warmer next week, going to hit north of the gap and try our luck. I'll put in and Smithfield and try to cover as much ground as possible.

Lets see what Trenton has in store for us today ????

Chiggy, as I caught my first fish in the lower Delaware on 2/25, I guarantee you the fish are already at Smithfield Beach & points north. Now finding a school & getting one to bite is a different story. Also, a buddy of mine caught 'em pretty good last year just north of Smithfield on 3/18/16. What the heck. Since I'm putting up this reply I'll include another pic from yesterday's skunking.

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Rich - I really like that ! Bookmarked.

This should help - Official Precip

Alex, I think I understand what you are saying. It kinda reminds me of trout fishing with a spinner, I hated when them fish would get finicky on me. Drove me crazy, like teasing a cat with a string, they come up swiping back and forth, back and forth, looking, and looking, nip at the feathers. Like you had to have that, just right presentation, before they would hit. However in the section of Trenton I was fishing that type of water is a little hard pressed to find, with the tidal water. But I will keep that technique of yours in mind when fishing further north. Thanks for the tip…..

Weofish, FWIW I could not get a bite twitching on the drift which is normally how we pick up many of our fish in the spot I was fishing. I positioned myself so I was fishing straight down a well defined seam where the fish were moving to into the fast water out of the seam to traverse the rapids maybe 20 yard from where I was standing. I used a technique I discovered years ago which in many cases will get 'em to bite. At the end of the drift I was bringing the darts straight back to me just inside the seam in what I call the swirly water for lack of a better description. Basically a very slow retrieve starting with the rod parallel to the water in front of me then one turn of the handle, then a sharp pop of the rod bringing it 90 degrees to my left side keeping it parallel to the river then immediately moving the rod back to the starting position so the darts could sink & swim in the current. When the wind wasn't blowing I tried popping 90 degrees up so the rod wound up pointing toward the sky; however, that wouldn't work yesterday, probably because it was bringing the darts too high in the water column. Popping the rod straight up requires less effort, and later in the year it will work as the fish appear to be willing to move farther out of their path heading upstream to bite. Of course, if the wind is huffing you need to pop to the side regardless to keep the wind from catching your line and raising your darts higher in the water column. I've had this work in pools, as well, when the fish have been finicky. That's not to say it works every time and/or in every circumstance. One thing I am certain of, your margin of error with these early fish is very narrow and you have to have the darts working pretty much dead in front of their noses. There has been many days when I could get a bite and guys on either side me of couldn't buy one. There was a time when I was one of those guys! ;-) And when I'm fishing with my buddy Dennis, from time to time I am still one of them. Well, I can get bit, but not as consistently as Dennis. He is just flat deadly! Since I'm putting up this post, I'll add a pic of one of yesterday's suckers (probably pushed 4#). I know everyone is just dying to see it!

Gentlemen! Quite a learning experience today! Not so much re: fish catchin' as I did what expected to do which was catch 'em up. More so re: fishing in this kinda weather. Have never fish in air temps this cold before. Thought I'd be smart and suit up at home. Put on two pair of sweat pants and 3 layers of shirts, flannel, quilted flannel & heavily quilted flannel. Drove down to the river in my waders, so, in theory, all I needed to do was don my wading boots and off I'd go. Jumped up in my dressing room (truck bed) and immediately saw that my wading boots which had been left wet out in the cold since Friday afternoon were frozen solid. It was akin to trying to put your foot in a cast iron mold! Had to put them on the floor mat with the heater on max for 10 minutes to get them somewhat flexible. Got into 37.3 degree water about 1010 hours. 3rd cast, bang had one on/off, 3 strong rod twitches on the same cast and I was hooked up. Now this was one of the fish which decided it didn't want to keep swimming against the current. It immediately screamed off about 80 yards of line in 8-10 seconds headed south bound! I know it was that much because 'Stella' (my pet name for my reel) holds about 240 yards of the 6# class Ande tournament which I use and a 3rd of it disappeared at a somewhat alarming rate. I was primarily concerned because the reel was still cold and I'd set the drag in warmer weather. Anyway, the fish finally turns west into slower moving water and I start working it back north. I'd gained maybe 15 yard back and 'Stella' starts making a gosh awful noise (and she's a pretty high quality gal less than a year old). What the heck!? Took me about 5 seconds to realize it was the ice on the line going over the bail roller that was creating the racket. Hmmmm .... so maybe another 10 minutes later I put a 3# roe on the bank, take a couple of pics and send her back to make babies. I learned another annoying lesson. You really need to remember to clear your guides of ice before you cast; and the top guide was icing up on every cast. About 30 minutes in I forgot to clear it and since I needed to make very long casts both Friday and today to get to where the fish were crossing from the swirly water into the fast water in these low water condition, I was having to put a lot of muscle into casting. You know what happened next. The darts headed out and the line stayed glued to tip top & I needed to re-rig. I quickly learned that re-rigging a pair of tandem darts is just a thrill a minute in 25 degree weather! About an hour later after another fish cut itself off on a rock and took my bottom dart north with it and I had to re-rig again. The wind had picked up and I was already shivering. By the time I tied a dropper & uni on the bottom threaded two tails on & superglued 'em, I was ready to cut the tag end off of the uni knot. My hands were shaking so violently, it must have taken me over a minute to get the line between the cutting edges of the tool! I also, discovered the joy of having to cinch knots in your mouth because saliva was freezing instantly, otherwise. For the 1st 40 minutes I couldn't make 5 cast without a hook-up, missed hit, on/off or a scale! Fishing was just as hot as it had been Friday, perhaps more so! Bottom line, I went 2 for 5 & 2 suckers with numerous scaled fish & missed hits. Headed for the barn at 1250 hours (2.5 hours fishing). I really wanted to fish for a couple of more hours, but the cloud cover had moved in and the wind had picked up at noon as predicted. I knew I was asking for trouble if I stayed. After all, at age 69, I'm no spring chicken. ;-) I.E., I really didn't need to fall in the water due to fatigue. Oh yeah, one other amusing item springs to mind, if you have a wading stick tethered to you and you walk on shore and stop for one reason or another and let the wading stick sit against your waders, it will freeze tight to your waders. :-) Catchin' in 37.3 degree water is a personal best for me. If they're there, they're there. If they're not, they're not! You just gotta get the darts in front of their noses. And I know where they live in that hole! Note: the pic fish, a nice 3.5 # buck is being "freeze dried". Credit to my old fishin' friend Rich Fasanello for that pun! Guess this guy cooling his heels on ice is enough and I really don't need to put up two more posts with pics of a 3# roe and a sucker. ;-)

Thanks for the report Alex, that make me feel a little less anxious about going out into the elements tomorrow. I'll be fishing from Trenton area again.

I will start the Hotline on March 17.....Call with reports 610 984 5944......Thanks

Fished Lehigh confluence again today marked a very few fish water was 44 degrees nothing to the boat.

Fished confluence of Leighigh and deleware for a couple of hours last night. Water temp 39 marked a few fish no bites . Gonna try again tonight

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