Hi all, and welcome back! If you've been following along lately I'm sure you've noticed that it has been a while since I've posted a freshwater fishing report. The truth is, until the past couple of weeks, I really haven't done much freshwater fishing to speak of this summer. Fortunately, that will change with this report...
If you live around central PA you'll know that the past week or two have provided us with a pleasant change in weather... This past July was sizzling hot! But now that August has rolled around we've been fortunate to enjoy some unseasonably mild temps and some great opportunities to get outside and enjoy the outdoors.
I've almost always found the end of August to be a very productive time to get out and pursue the various species that inhabit our local rivers. Fortunately we have had a few successful outings on the river recently, and it has been nice to see a few signs like this one posted out there... My only suggestion would be to print them also in Spanish--seriously it just makes sense.
Now, getting to the specifics... The first trip I'd like to share with you is one that is very special to me.
A couple of weeks ago I was able to accompany my brother-in-law Chad and my nephew Caleb on a mission--one that is an important stepping stone in every young man's fishing journey--Caleb was on a mission to catch his first carp!
In fact, this trip was our second outing in pursuit of this worthy opponent...And while our first trip provided a lot of action and excitement, in the end the carp were victorious. We had high hopes that the tide would turn in our favor on this, our second trip.
After a quick journey to our "secret" spot, our evening started out as many carp fishing trips do--with the ceremonial cracking of the can of corn
. After the can was cracked (open), we then proceeded to broadcast a fair portion of its contents into the area as chum. Before long we had our rods baited up and cast them out--covering a nice section of the fishing hole. Now it was time for us to wait...
It didn't take long!
After about ten minutes of anticipation, a carp picked up one of our baits... with a couple quick movements and a solid hookset, Caleb was hooked up with a strong fish.
The drag was screaming as the carp took a lot of line... In what seemed like seconds, the fish was almost 40 yards upstream. In the following minutes Caleb's carp battled hard as it swam all over the pool we were fishing--from top to bottom. Caleb even had him in close to bank a couple times before the mighty fish would turn around and swim back out again. It took almost ten minutes of fighting, but in the end Caleb won the battle and landed his first carp... Definitely a fish to be proud of Caleb. Congratulations on your first carp! One you will never forget. :)
For you bass guys (myself included)... Don't worry I have some SMB action to share with you as well! :)
Though not as exciting as our local carping adventures, we have found the smallies biting pretty well lately. My dad and I were out on one occasion this past week and did pretty decent (well actually he schooled me--something like 10 to 3). I also made a couple early morning ventures to the river myself in the past couple weeks.
This time of the year I generally like to fish larger, minnow style baits... Usually either soft plastic jerk baits, plugs, or topwater spooks. I've caught some of my largest river smallmouth this time of the year, fishing baits like these, and although there weren't any giants this past week (best was 19 inches) I was able to hook into a couple good sized fish.
One of the things I love the most about summertime smallmouth fishing is being able to watch the strike, and then experience the fight. Smallmouth are strong fighters all year round, but after a winter of catching nice bass I often forget how much stronger they can be this time of the year.
This big girl fought like she was on steroids. She jumped about 3 feet in the air and then tried to swim between my legs a couple times... Roid rage!
Until my next entry, thanks again for reading and best of luck to you on the water... :)
Oh and btw, I've grown very fond of the new KVD "grip pin" hooks for fishing soft baits. Check them out... just FYI.
