Thursday, July 9, 2009

The Big Ones

This is a list of the biggest fish, by species, that I have ever caught. This will be reposted every time I catch a new personal record.

Black Crappie
Location: Glendale Lake, Pennsylvania
Length: 13.5”

Brooke Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 12”

Brown Trout
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 24”
Date: October 13th, 2006

Channel Catfish
Location: Farmer’s Pond in Pennsylvania
Length: 28”

Common Carp - Archery
Length: 25"
Date: July 7th, 2007

Golden Rainbow Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 14”

King Salmon
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 42”
Date: October 14th, 2006

Largemouth Bass
Location: Glendale Lake, Pennsylvania
Length: 15"

Rainbow Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 18”

Steelhead
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 22”
Date: October 14th, 2006

Tiger Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 14”
Date: April 30th, 2007

Sunday, July 8, 2007

The Big Ones

This is a list of the biggest fish, by species, that I have ever caught. This will be reposted every time I catch a new personal record.

Black Crappie
Location: Glendale Lake, Pennsylvania
Length: 13.5”

Brooke Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 12”

Brown Trout
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 24”
Date: October 13th, 2006

Channel Catfish
Location: Farmer’s Pond in Pennsylvania
Length: 28”

Common Carp - Archery
Length: 25"
Date: July 7th, 2007

Golden Rainbow Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 14”

King Salmon
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 42”
Date: October 14th, 2006

Rainbow Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 18”

Steelhead
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 22”
Date: October 14th, 2006

Tiger Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 14”
Date: April 30th, 2007

First Carping Adventure

Some of you may already understand that any adventure with Mike and Frank is going to be interesting. Well they just introduced me to carping. This is fishing for carp, or hunting for carp with archery equipment.

We headed out yesterday in the canoes. I had to be in the canoe with Frank. This is interesting, trying to stand up and shoot a bow, all the time with frank guiding the canoe. We all had our fair share of misses, but Mike ended up getting two, me one and Frank zero.

This was a short trip, so I'm keeping the story short, but we are already planning some all day carping trips. I will have many more carping stories and hopefully some pictures too.

Friday, May 4, 2007

The Big Ones

This is a list of the biggest fish, by species, that I have ever caught. This will be reposted every time I catch a new personal record.

Black Crappie
Location: Glendale Lake, Pennsylvania
Length: 13.5”

Brooke Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 12”

Brown Trout
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 24”
Date: October 13th, 2006

Channel Catfish
Location: Farmer’s Pond in Pennsylvania
Length: 28”

Golden Rainbow Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 14”

King Salmon
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 42”
Date: October 14th, 2006

Rainbow Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 18”

Steelhead
Location: 18 Mile Creek, New York
Length: 22”
Date: October 14th, 2006

Tiger Trout
Location: Chest Creek, Pennsylvania
Length: 14”
Date: April 30th, 2007

Another Bust

Today’s fishing trip was as unproductive as the rest of the season has been. My brother and his friend, Duval, were fishing in Westover, so I went down there. As usual, I wasn’t even getting a bite. Some guy walked down over the bank and caught two on as many casts.

I figured since he was using a lure, I’d try my Rebel Crawdad. About my third cast I hooked one. It looked like a little Rainbow, but it shook the hook. I walked from the bridge up to the old swimming hole, and had a couple bites on the way. There was a big Golden Rainbow Trout in the swimming hole, but I figured he’d been hit with everything the fishermen could throw at him.

I didn’t have any luck getting that big Golden to bite, but did manage to catch a little Brown Trout. After that, I was finished. I’ve had enough sun for one day, and with the way the fishermen are around here, chances are the only way that Golden is coming out of that hole is when someone snags him.

Not Much Luck

I went back out with Jimmy Tuesday. We started in Mahaffey again. I wasn't having any luck, and Jimmy had caught a few, so we went for minnows. After getting the minnows we headed for the La Jose Park. Once again, I wasn't having any luck. Darren and his uncle met us at the park later, and we headed for a different part of Chest Creek. After not much luck there for anyone, I finally caught one. It was just a tiny Rainbow Trout, but at least it was a fish.

From there, Darren took us to Witmer Run. It was a small stream, but we were at a decent sized hole. Everyone else was having pretty good luck, but not me. After a while I caught one. It might as well have been bait though. It was about a five inch Brown Trout. We decided to take a break, and went back to Darren’s.

We discussed some plans, and headed for Hockenberry Run. Darren thought he knew how to get there, but we ended up doing more off-roading than anything. After realizing that we didn't know where we were going, we went to the Glendale Sportsman’s Club. Jimmy was having some good luck, but he was the only one. It started to storm and we went for more bait.


When we returned, the weather still wasn't great. Darren and I spent more time under the pavilion than anything else. I did finally manage to catch a fish though. Yet one more small Brown Trout. Although I didn't catch much, and what I did wasn't very nice, I think we had a pretty good day.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

My 2007 Trout Opener

Although trout season, in Pennsylvania, started a few weeks ago, my season began Monday. I went hunting for gobblers early that morning and mowed some grass after that. When the lawnmower ran out of gas, I decided to go fishing. I grabbed my gear and headed for the water. After a few casts I hooked one. It was a small, about ten inches, brown trout. While trying to remove the hook, the fish shook and buried the hook in my finger. Just as quickly, it shook again and ripped the hook out. After patching my finger up, I started fishing again. It took a little while, but I managed to catch another one. This time it was a TIGER TROUT. The fish was fourteen inches long, and judging by the length and the color, I figured it must have been a HOLDOVER. The state hadn’t stocked around the fishing hole I was at, and the only other time I have ever seen a Tiger Trout was a few years ago when the state had stocked some in that area. The stocked tigers were only about eight to ten inches long and did not have the coloring that this tiger had. After catching the tiger, I went home.

Shortly after walking in, I got a phone call from my friend Jimmy. He told me to meet him somewhere else and we’d go fishing. After meeting Jim, he showed me where we were going. The spot turned out to be more productive for Jimmy than for me. Don’t ask me what I was doing wrong, but after Jimmy totaled his catch up, and I totaled mine, Jimmy won. Jimmy’s count came to at least six rainbow trout and three smallmouth bass. My count, a single fall fish. I did manage to get quite the sunburn and back ache though, and the both of us caught a couple beers at the local bar before heading home and making plans to go out again the following day.

Tiger Trout: A Tiger Trout is a trout that is a cross between a Brooke Trout and a Brown Trout.

Holdover: A Holdover is a fish that was stocked, but has spent at least one year in the body of water it was stocked in.

Previous Accomplishments

Fish: Native Brooke Trout
Size: 8 Inches
Location: Beaver Run in Pennsylvania

Fish: Native Brown Trout
Size: 12 Inches
Location: Beaver Run in Pennsylvania

Fish: Black Crappie
Size: 13.5 Inches
Location: Glendale Lake in Pennsylvania

Fish: Tiger Trout
Size: 14 Inches
Location: Chest Creek in Pennsylvania

Fish: Golden Rainbow Trout
Size: 14 Inches
Location: Chest Creek in Pennsylvania

Fish: Brown Trout (2)
Size: 16 Inches
Location: Spring Creek in Pennsylvania

Fish: Brown Trout
Size: 17 Inches
Location: Chest Creek in Pennsylvania

Fish: Rainbow Trout (3)
Size: 18 Inches
Location: Chest Creek in Pennsylvania

Fish: Steelhead Trout
Size: 22 Inches
Location: 18 Mile Creek in New York

Fish: Brown Trout
Size: 24 Inches
Location: 18 Mile Creek in New York

Fish: Channel Catfish (3)
Size: 28 Inches
Location: 2 Different Farmer’s Ponds in Pennsylvania

Fish: King Salmon
Size: 42 Inches
Location: 18 Mile Creek in New York