My fishing log for 2009

[hengstthomas]

Broadkill 1-2-09 (Trapper needed)
Saw some nasty weather approaching and havent wet a line in days so I decided to hit the Broadkill before the snow started . Well I got there around 10:30am and it was already snowing ..

I managed 1 Crappie before the "Mob" arrived

A mob of atleast 6+ Otters came and waged war on whatever they could catch ..
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They are some Beautiful animals but a REAL BIG PITA if you are trying to catch fish .. They scare off everything

Right before high tide they finally moved off and I got a few more fish ..

Winds and snow picked up and I was frozen so called it a day at 12:30pm .

Broadkill 1-17-08
Was bored and wanted to wet a line but I got there and it was almost entirely frozen .. I have NEVER seen this water frozen like this ..

Flag was at halfstaff ..

I didnt even attemp it and just headed home and waited until night time for IRI instead .

Seaford 1-18-09 (The Bird)
After the Skunk at IRI last night I came home and warmed up and made coffee and headed towards Seaford .
I arrived at 10am and the water was way up .. Maybe the highest I have ever seen it and continued to come in for the next 2 hours . Its was 2/3rds ice with a small channel in the middle .
I used the 1.75" Fin"S" and a casting bobber and picked off Crappie ..

And Gills ..

It went about 6 Gills for each Crappie and I got about 6 Crappie total and lots of Gills .. I had 1 pickerel bite off and lost a small LMB as I lifted it out of the water . I also had Gulls diving and eating some kind of small fish that looked like small Herring or small Mill Roache .
My woman asked that I not stay out all day ??? She never asks me that ?? I left them biting at 3 PM and headed home as to not stay out all day ..
She never did say why she wanted me not to stay out but I kept my word ..

I get home around 3:45pm and she has the whole living room moved about .. At first I am baffled and a bit upset as there was no place to sit down .. I shed a few layers and help her with the big stuff .
I am tired and hungry so I make myself a big bowl of Chilli topped with Cheddar Cheese and some Italian Bread with butter and I walked by the front door and saw one of the cats next door throwing something into the air .. I couldnt tell at first what it was but after the 3rd toss by the cat I see a small animal trying to flee the cat ... I shoved my dinner at my woman and stormed out the door and surprised the cat and took the cats bounty ..

Janeine and I both thought it would die so I needed someplace to put the little guy so he was atleast warm as he passed .. I was confused because you cant tell from the pics but this was a TINY TINY bird .. We both thought it was a baby ?
I rigged up my Leach Tote with a Towel and placed the bird inside ..

The bird was shivering and had 1 wing that looked broken and it would not open its eyes .. It kept wanting to put its head under its wings ??
I sat down and ate and about 20 minutes later I see Bella sniffing around my fishing gear .. She knows better and is good about it so I was confused as to why .. I yelled at her and she backed off .. THATS when I saw the bird on the rod guide on one of my rods and was hoping back and forth .. I went over to help the bird and it flew around the house 2 times and landed on my monitor .. I cupped the bird and walked outside .. It didnt want to leave as I kept switching hands to make sure its small feet were ok too .. It had its eyes wide open now and finally flew to the nearest tree .. I stepped back and watched from the door as the bird walked up a branch and finally flew off ..
This made our day .. I guess its time to do something about those cats

Broadkill 1-19-09
My woman doesnt drive in the snow so I took her to work and stopped and chatted with Bill Jr (Pockets) at Bills Sports Shop for about an hour or so and got home just before 3pm .. I decided to go see how bad the ice was at the Park on the Broadkill and found it ice free and very high water . I also saw the otters and 1 was huge .. so big it looked like a big beaver .
I fished for 1 hour and landed about a dozen fish ..

The Gills liked Bryans hand tied Dart so I switched to the 1.75" Fin"S" to catch the Crappie and LMB .

Broadkill 1-20-09
Judah and I met up at the park and fished for a few hours .. Missed a few fish each as the bite was lite and it was COLD !
I did manage to avoid the skunk with this little guy ..

But that was it .. No more fish for either of us and Judah gets the big old :skunk:
The tide was high the whole time and just as we left was optimal tide but that'll be another day

Always a pleasure fishing with you Judah

Seaford 1-21-09
I went a picked up Judah at 7:30am and we headed towards Seaford .. We arrived around 9am and had very clear water and light winds .. Tide was incoming and halfway up ..
Some scenery ..

Took some searching but wasnt long before..

Judah was right behind me with one ..

Then I get ..

And then back to ..

And then ..

I go one a little flurry of Neds and Crappie but Judah is right there with a flurry of his own .. All Crappie ..

He get 2 more like that and the this Gill ..

And then he pulls in his biggest Crappie of the day at just shy of 11"

We make a move and it was a Gill fest .. Judah nails about a dozen in a row while I keep trying for Neds and Crappie . We both catch Gills for about 2 hours and decide to try the productive spot again and I get into some small Neds ..

And small LMB

We got back to the bridge and pick off more gills and I look down at Judah feet and see this guy ..

He must have been tired because he let me almost touch him before he said Bye Bye ..

We had Duck and Geese around all day and Seagulls diving and picking off some type 3" baitfish that was very shiny (shiners?) .. We saw a huge Eagle and some diving birds as well .
We had a very nice day with some decent Crappie .. Lots of fish and great scenery with all the Foul

Again Judah it was great to wet a line with you again ..

IRI and Seaford 1-23-09

IRI
Got there about midnight .. Tide was almost low and no currents or rips .. Lite winds from the South and clear water .
Saw lots of Isopods swimming about as well as pods of Sandeels and even saw 3 fish crash the surface but did not get 1 bite .
Stayed until 3am and still like glass and low tide ??
Well the bait is there and so are the fish .. I guess these past cold days gave them lockjaw .

Seaford
Left the home front at 7am .. Yepp I was late Took me about an hour to get there because of traffic and school buses but I arrived at 8am . The tide was outgoing and almost low with little to no wind and crystal clear water .. Had birds diving and everything looked great .
Rigged up the BM 1.75" Fin"S" and 3 cast later ..

Picked them off at a good clip with an occasional Gill ..

It was about 4 Crappie for each Gill so I was happy
The size of the Crappie was very nice and they were fat and healthy ..

I made a move and found some Yellow Perch and LMB ..
The Yellows averaged about 9" but got some bigger and smaller

The LMB were 3 times the size of the other day .. LMAO ! They were about 3" the other day and averaged 12" today ..

I kept seeing this HUGE bird that I have no idea what it was but it was really big .. I also saw an Eagle and seconds later a Hawk started to pick on the Eagle ?? The Hawk ran the eagle off .. That other bird whatever it was was A LOT bigger than the eagle and had huge Talons . I wish I could have got a shot of him .. I did get some of the Eagle and Hawk .. Not great pics as my camera doesnt take real good zoom shots .

I finally found out what the birds were feeding (diving) on ..

Got a few more YP ..

And Crappie ..

LMB too

When the tide topped out the bite died and wind picked up .
Got home at 4pm .. Lots of nice fish today

Seaford 1-25 & 1-26-09

1-25
Started at about 8am .. Temps were about 20 degrees and no wind with the tide halfway out and very nice clear water .. Only problem was it was 50 percent ice .
I landed as few small LMB and Yellow Perch and after about an hour I was able to hit the island . I landed some nice Crappie in the 10 to 13 inch range and a few more small LMB .. Wish I had took the camera on the island but it was muddy so I left it shore bound . Another hour or so passes by and I am FINALLY able to hit the back island for the first time this year It was Ice so I took the camera but didnt stop to take many pics because it was just nuts
It was on ..
Yellows

And small LMB

Pounded them for 1.5 hours and landed about 60 fish with around 6 YP to 1 LMB ..
Average YP were 6 to 11 inches with some nice fat Females but none of the BIG NEDS ... Later on when the spawn gets hot the average will be 12 inches with some up to 15+ inches
Left the back island with fish biting .. Had no choice as the water had risen enough that I knew I had to go ..
No problem .. I hit the front island again and something that always puzzles me is this ..

I find lots of old Milk Bottles and Soda Bottles and every once in awhile I find old "Cough Syrup" Bottles . I guess there is an old Bottle dump nearby ? And why is a LEWIS DAIRY Milk Bottle in Seaford .. I am sure there are dumps here in Lewes at that time .

I continued to pick up Crappie but now smaller and averaging 8 to 11 inches ..

Of course the Gills had warmed up by now and were on the feed as well ..

And some LMB in the 12 inch range played as well ..

Ok so now another hour has passes and it time to get off the island so I hit the Spillway next .
Before I could cast I saw 2 Bald Eagles but not enough time to get the camera to catch both them ..

Tried to get another better shot but wanted to fish more as this was the best bite yet this year .
More LMB ..

And one with a hold under his chin big enough that I could have put my thumb through it with ease ..

For awhile it was only LMB with 2 break offs and 2 pickerel bite offs as well ..

A guy walks by as I hook up and he watches till I land a 13 inch LMB then asks me what all the dead fish in the Lake were ?? I had no clue because I didnt know anything about it . I released the LMB and took a stroll and sure enough he was right ..

I even ventured out on the ice for awhile ..

All the white spots on the ice are either fish (Shad) or "PECK" marks from birds trying to get at them through the ice .. It was comical at times because the birds would crash into the ice thinking it was water (Clear Ice)

The ice cracked and water squirted up from a hole (peck mark) and I in turn busted my a$$ .. My head actually left a concave mark .. The ice was 4" thick ... I know because my head went through it
I layed spread eagle and slowly creeped back towards shore .. Thank God I didnt go through because I saw stars when I hit and was dazed .
You can see the birds (Gulls) in the background ..

they were picking away and eating well back there because there was more open water there than anywhere .
I went back to the spillway and was about to cast when I saw all the Gulls go into flight with a few Ducks and Geese too so I go take another look and I see the 2 Eagles again approaching fast .. Just as I was about to run for the camera I saw that other HUGE Bird again and it came from the other way and twice as fast as the 2 Eagles .. I froze wanting to get a close look to identify the Bird ..
It came right over my head at about 40 feet up and it was BIG !! If I had to guess I'd say it's a juvenile Eagle ... I know a bit about Eagles more than any other bird and I am 95 percent sure that is what it is . Oh well I'll get a picture sooner or later
Back to the Spillway and picked up about 8 more Crappie like this ..

Then spent the next 2 hours without a bite .. Cant complain as I was in the triple digits easy

Due to the loss of 6 jigheads and 2 bobbers I decided to go to Walmart in Seaford ..

Grand total was $3 Bucks for 6 packs

I would haved love to see what this day would have brung with no ice ..
It cant be January :roflmao:

1-26
I got there around 9am and it was lightly snowing the whole ride and still coming down . I caught few Yellows ..

LMB

And 2 Gills ..

I took a few scenery shots ..

I caught about a dozen fish before Joe (bent rod) showed up slightly passed 10am . Joe and I shot the bull for a bit and I ventured out on the island and he stayed and fished the spillway .
I caught 2 small Yellow Perch and lost a nice Crappie and a few casts later got a nice Pickerel right to the bank and as she took off sideways my line parted . I just could not find the Crappie and went back to fish with Joe . He tells me he had quite a few bites but was unable to hook up .. A few casts later he hooks up and its a nice 5+ Pound Pickerel .. It thrashes about right after hook up and spits the hook .. Sorry you lost that fish Joe .
We walked below the green bridge and since Joe had no boots we fished the bank instead of the island ..
Joe's first cast

As he is reeling I get hit and missed the fish .. I landed another small YP and then Joe hooks another Pickerel ..

We stayed and pulled in a few more small YP and watched the Eagles soar overhead .. We had 5 of them at one point ..
The mysterious big bird flew over and Joe also thinks it an immature Eagle .. Just hard to believe how big it is already ..
Anyhow we had plenty of foul to watch again today with some Geese , Ducks , Crows , Seagulls , Eagles , a Hawk and a Kingfisher .. It was also neat to hear the warning cry from some of the birds when the Eagles would swoop down .. Seagulls warning other Seagulls ??
Joe decided to leave around 1:30 ish and I stayed to try to find some Crappie .. I fished everywhere and just could not find one .. I caught a few Gills and LMB but no Crappie and around 2:20pm the bite completely shut down .. The tide was coming in strong so I lowered the jig and found ..

Lost 2 more like that and landed one more and last cast at 3pm ..

On my way here I saw a pond I wanted to try for LMB .. Kinda odd how the pond on each side was frozen solid but this one in the middle was completely open .
So I end with a small LMB and head to this pond and dontcha know it The one thing you dont want to see ..

I was ready to fight because I knew I was not speeding .. I promised the lady I would not SPEED .. So I did a rolling stop .. Oh well I actually laughed about it and talked with the officer who plainly said to refrain from anything like that on that road .. It is being watched daily ..
Good enough for me
Joe it was a pleasure to fish with ya and sorry you lost that big Pickerel .. but dont sweat it you still got the biggest fish of the day

 

[hengstthomas]

1-29-09 Seaford

Got to Seaford about 10am .. Tide was outgoing but still very high . In this pic you can see the "tide line" . Tide is out about 16" ..

Island #3

Island #1

The Pond above (Williams)

Looking towards the Kayak/Canoe Launch ..

Bird taking flight (Eagles Around)

Fished for 4 hours an NO FISH ! Had 1 breakoff and 1 other bite .. The tide was almost right so I hit the Island and started my campaign

Got 3 all that size and lost 1 more and then NOTHING !
I decided to try Concord Pond Spillway but had to wait for the Helicopter to land ..

Pretty neat to watch .. I drove to Concord but the water was VERY VERY DIRTY so I went back to Seaford and landed 6 more Crappie in this range ..

Left at 5pm with a total of about 18 Crappie and NOTHING else .. No YP NO Gills and NO LMB
Cant always have your cake and eat it too I guess
I saw schools of Threadfin Shad in the Pond above and when I left the whole place was open and NO ICE .. On my way home every body of water I passed was atleast 90 percent thawed .
I am sure they will ice over again (skim ice) tonight ..

Seaford in the snow 1-27-09

Left home about 9am and it was deadly out on the roads .. I passed 4 accidents on my way and lost control 3 times and put it in 4X4 twice . I arrived at about 10am and wasnt gonna park on the road so I had to park too far away ..
I get almost to the water and slide and bust my arse :roflmao:
I was so glad no one was around to see this as I slid about 20 feet
I get organized and fish the spillway .. Tough bite but I managed a Gill after about 20 minutes ..

Couldnt get another bite so I hit the 1st island .. 20 minutes and ..

A pattern was developing with this LMB ..

Part of the pattern was these ..

Another part was this ..

I had a 15 foot section that I fished very very slow and Crappie were pounding the Fin"S" and if I strayed beyond that point the I had a 20 foot section that fished with current movement only produced LMB mostly but some small Yellow Perch and Gills also .
I worked the Crappie area the hardest waiting for the time to hit island #2 for YP .

I caught about 12 nice Crappie before the time was right to move to island 2 . I made my way there and took some scenery pics ..
These pics were from standing under the "green" bridge in a foot of water ..

Island #3

Underneath the bridge ..

This is island #2

This is the Kayak/Canoe Launch

First cast ..

50 casts later not one bite ..
I really didnt mind as I know the YP will be here and much bigger soon enough so I headed back to Crappie ..
I took this pic at low tide at island #1 in hope you can get an idea of the water level drop ..

Just as I left it but a better bite

On the 1st island looking to the front of island #3

Same deal as before .. 15ft of Crappie and 20 foot of LMB

I couldnt see the Eagles when it was snowing but I could tell when they were around because all other birds took flight but when it stopped snowing ..


The bite really gets hot with some better Crappie ..
Almost all the Crappie had rocks in their mouths from bumping the bottom ..

I was on them HARD

Measured a few for GP ..

The Crappie bite slowed but didnt stop and the YP ..

And LMB took up the slack

Back of island #1 at low tide ..

The fish kept biting

The tide started to roll in and put a damper on my day .
Same spot on island #1 about 1.5 hours into incoming ..

Was forced to leave the island but I did find a Positive Identification on the baitfish ..
Yepp it is a Thread Fin Shad ..

Tried for another 30 minutes and no bites so I packed it in ..
Took another Pic first ..

10 am to 3 pm and lots of fish
Roads were clear on the ride home .. I saw a nice sized Hawk that was White and Tan on my way home but couldnt reach the camera in time ..
I love fishing in the snow

2-3-09 to 2-5-09 (Neds and Crappie)

Wagamons Pond 2-3-09 Let it snow , let it snow , LET IT SNOW !!
Stayed up all night anticipating this morning and finally arrived at Wagamons at 9am .. It had been snowing since 6am with no accumulation with winds from the N to NW at 10 to 20 MPH with gusts to 25 and temps hovering around 37 degree's .
I had very high hopes and couldnt contain myself .
Rigged up a White/Chartruse Crappie Magnet on a 1/32 ounce White leadhead and put a 4" casting bobber 3 feet above the lure .. I then added a Splitshot to help in distance while casting. The winds were perfect .. Crosswind from the N to S made it hard to keep the bow out of your line but was just right for "Wind Drifting" That means cast straight out and let the wind push the bobber along and watch very close for anything that is "odd" .. Like where did it go (You got a bite) or when the bobber starts swimming against the wind (You got a bite) or perhaps the bobber takes off with the wind at an abnormal rate of speed (Yepp You got a bite) .
It takes me 3 casts to get my line loose enough to get out to where I needed to be .. 70 + Feet and if you got farther than that you were in business .. So casts #4 ..

#5

#6

Conditions ..

It was all Neds after that for almost 1.5 hours and these were Females that were fattening up for the spawn .. He we go ...

Holy crap I only had with me the 1 lure , 1 bobber and 1 splitshot and the camera and I wasnt going for the ruler but I think this one was over 13" LMAO !

2 Cow Neds in a row .. I had to get the ruler

An average fish ..

Dont ya know I was getting hit every cast as long as I got out far enough .. Sometimes I would get the dreaded Helicopter Effect with the bobber and it might take 5 or 6 attemps to get out there , This is what I mean by every cast .. In the Zone .. Guaranteed atleast a bite !
So I jinxed myself but it wasnt all bad as the Crappie started to bite again and some nice Gills as well ..

Had quite a few people honk at me and a few stopped to ask if they were biting and I just smiled
Josh (fishforever) shows up and the bite is still decent .

Bonus (Golden Shiner)

Josh after missing a few fish .. You really had to watch that bobber and strike fast He lands a few fish and then gets this Crappie with a blemish ??

Josh leaves for awhile but says he'll be back and 20 minutes later I get into a school of Crappie like this ..

Landed around 10 Crappie and a few YP and had 4 Pickerel bite offs . While Josh was gone I moved about and changed colors 4 times .. Black/Chartruese got mostly Gills but also Crappie and YP .. White/Clear with blue flakes got the Pickerels attention and nothing else .. Solid Chartruese got everything but nothing in particular .. Clear/Chartruese with Black Flakes got Zippo ! Todays hot bait was the same as yesterday White/Chartrues .
Josh came back and we both picked at fish .. It was still a decent bite but had slowed up a lot by 3pm or so when Josh took off . I stayed and fished till 4pm Picking up a few more Fish .. By 3:45pm the bite had died .
Just for kicks I tried the other side of the spillway and landed 1 Pickerel in 15 minutes with no other bites .

Conditions as I left ..

I caught a lot of FISH
Did I tell you I love fishing in the SNOW !

Wagamons Pond 2-4-09
I had to defrost the truck and then swung by and picked up Dockrat (Chris) at about 9am and we headed to the Pond . I got my wind/rain gear out and it was a block of ice from sitting out wet in my truck all night We had a bit of ice on the right hand side but barely any at all . The winds were from the NW at about 10 MPH but picked up to 20 MPH in about an hour and stayed that way .. It was a tad bit much but we managed a few fish .
I missed 3 fish and Chris takes the first blood ..

Then he gets his first ever YP

I finally land one ..

Dang fish did about 8 doughnuts on top before taking to the depths .. Pretty funny to watch

We moved to the left a few feet and got some nicer Crappie

A few Gills ..

And more YP ..

It got dark for a bit and the snow fell .. It looked like fog coming at us ..

We found some Neds to play with ..

Josh (fishforever) shows up and we all catch fish here and there .. Josh with a "Snake Fish"

The sun came out and the fish started to short strike .. It got tough for sure and we missed more than we caught .
Harry (oldsnow) showed up and chatted awhile before the cold ran him off Always nice to see ya Harry !

We had to pack it in around noon .. Not bad for a few hours

Same baits fish the same way .. Conditions were basically the same but temps were 15 degrees colder and the winds were 10 MPH stronger .
Josh and Chris .. Great as always to wet a line with you guys .

2-5-09 BONECHILLER (4 Locations)
I picked up Dockrat (Chris) at 9am and we hit Wagamons Pond . The wind was whipping at 20+ MPH from the NW and a little ice but 90 percent was open water . Bambeklr (Jeff) also showed up not long after we got there and we all tried but nothing was happening .. I think Chris missed the only bite .
We stayed and fished from 9:30am to 11:00am and decided to swing out back to the Broadkill . We met up with Jarjar (Paul) and was joined by Clam Man (Gene who will be a member as soon as I get this report done) . The 4 of us fished for about 45 minutes on an almost low and dropping tide .. The water was CRYSTAL clear and I did see some small 3" Gills patrolling the rocks but no one caught anything .
Dockrat and I decided to hit Seaford and Paul also came along. We fished from 12:30pm to 2pm and had quite a few bite and landed some fish as well . The tide was almost high so the fish were on the small side
Me first to "break the ice"

Then Chris get a Gill for his first of the day ..

I got a tiny LMB ..

A few Gills ..

And some 5" Yellows then get this some what bigger LMB ..

Paul was fishing the opposite side of the spillway and landed an 8" ish Yellow Perch for his first but he was too far for the pic ..
We changed locations to the Green Bridge and get into some more small YP and Gills while Chris walked to get a bite at the corner store . Chris comes back but doesnt really fish and Paul and I get a few more small Gills and YP .
We left the babies biting and headed back to Wagamons

hoping the sun had warmed the water some and the fish would bite but again not 1 bite . We fished from 3pm to 4pm and Paul decided to hit Lavinia Pond at the back of Wagamons and Chris and I hit Diamond Pond .
It took about 20 minutes before I get this guy ..

Chris takes one on a piece on worm

I get another ..

Dead Turtle in the water ..

Me trying to see my bobber

I get 2 break off from decent fish and land a total of 4 YP and Chris end with 2 YP .
I was trying hard to get a Crappie as none were caught today and dont ya know it .. Last cast

Well we made "The Last Cast" about a dozen times but the sun was gone and the bite was done .. I wish we had took the canoe out on Diamond first thing this morning !!
Anyhow it weird how the fish were biting at Diamond but not Wagamons .. The 2 Ponds are connected ??
Thats fishing I guess .
Bait was Crappie Magnets and 1.75" Fin"S" for me but caught nothing on the Fin"S" ..
Chris used the Crappie Magnets and a few worms .

Judah these are the worms you bought I'll give them back when I see ya .

 

[hengstthomas]

A few reports .. 2-6 to 2-9 2009

2-6-09 Broadkill (The return of the ICE)

Got a late start but went to Wagamons at around 11am and this is what I found ..

Thats right .. 99.9% ICE and Diamond Pond was the same way .
I decided to hit the Broadkill and found the creek channel solid ICE but the Basin was free and clear with very clear water . The tide was halfway out and on its way out . I saw NO Otters and very few Diving birds and maybe that because there werent many fish ?? I picked off 4 small ones like this ..

Water clarity .. With the Polarized Glasses you could see 4X more than this pic ..

For those that dont know or havent been here this is the beginning of the miniture Train that runs this track .

The end ..

Some of the new playground ..

GO MILTON

Take a Gander

Jeff (bambeklr) , Harry ((oldsnow) and Gene (clam man) alll showed up as well as Joe (bent rod) who came to pick up the Seanymph he bought from Gene
We all fished but with very little water and less fish we didnt do much .. I got one more nice Crappie ..

Lost another the same class and thats it !!
We all left with about an hour of outgoing tide left .

I went by Wagamons and Diamond at 2:30pm and they are still ICE ! I have a suspicion that this ICE wont be gone until LATE Saturday .
So just FYI you may find ICE if you venture out Saturday

Broadkill 2-7-09

Went by Diamond and Wagamons Pond and both were frozen from end to end so I went to the Park on the Broadkill . Nick and a friend were there as I arrived at about 9am . They had 1 Crappie in about 20 minutes before I showed up using minnows as bait . I had a Crappie Magnet on and Landed a Crappie on my first cast . From then on it was a good bite of Yellow Perch ranging from 4" to 11" with a Crappie about every 6th fish . We got some Gills and baby LMB also . The tide was high and just starting to go out and after about an hour the sun came out of the clouds and the bite ceased . Nick and his buddy left to go to my honey hole for Grass Shrimp and I stayed and played it out waiting for the Ponds to thaw .
Nick got back about an hour later with plenty of shrimp but in that time I landed 1 Crappie and 1 Gill . Nick Left and Drew , Judah and Acumenhokie show up but the tides almost low and nothing but tail grabbing Gills were playing .
The 4 of us caught Gills and Ringo shows up saying the Pond was clear .. The 4 of us hit Wagamons Pond for about an hour and Jeff (bambeklr) also shows up .. 5 of us and 1 hour with NOT ONE BITE ..
Called it a day around 5:30pm

Broadkill , Wagamons & Diamond Pond 2-8-09
Jimmy get here a bit past 6am and we load the canoe and gear and by 8 "ish" we are at Wagamons Ponds . Winds were right in your face at 15+ MPH and it was tough .. Brent was there when we got there so the 3 of us fish for about 40 minutes and the headed to the Broadkill . Well it wasnt a repeat of yesterday thats for sure .. We were joined by Nicks friend , Jeff , Gene , Tweet , and 2 unidentified anglers . We fished till about 10:30am .. I got 1 small Crappie and 1 small Gill .. Tweet got 2 Crappie and Jeff landed a Gill by the time we left .
Jimmy and I hit Diamond Pond at around 11am .. We get out on the water and dont ya know it a Game Warden drives by and yell " Do you have 2 lifevest on board ? " .. I looked right at them before we left my house but neglected to throw them in the car .. I also didnt have any ID nor my fishing license :angry2:
The guy was pretty cool and just cited me for no vests .. A 25 dollar fine but when all is said and done it comes to $56.50 .. He let me take Jimmy car home (2 miles) and get what I needed .
SOOO Jimmy had already caught a Gill and a Crappie from the shore while I went home so I had some catching up to do ..
Well the bite just never shifted gears but we managed some fish including a Pickerel that was my first fish ..

Just as I was about to take that pic Jimmy hooked up so I tried to grab a "bowed up" shot ..

The result was a LMB for Jimmy ..

A few other fish ..

Another Pickerel ..

Jimmy with a nice Slab ..

No Gills today .. 1 LMB , 2 Pickerel , about 12 Crappie and maybe 10 Yellow Perch . I lost 2 nice fish .. one I know was a nice Crappie .. Those Big Slabs are so elusive for me from Diamond Pond ..
Anyhow we picked at fish until 2:30pm when we left and returned to Wagamons and found the same condition as this morning .. West winds at 15+ MPH . We launched the canoe and fished for about an hour .. We tossed and turned from the wind and had 1 bite a piece and missed them both .. Saw a nice size fish crash the surface 25 yards away ..
WE packed up and called it a day and not a very productive one at that .

Wagamons & Diamond 2-09-09
Started at Wagamons at about 10am and fished for about an hour with 1 Crappie and lost 1 Pickerel

Left for the Unemployment Office and 2 hours later I hit Diamond Pond .. Fished for about 2 hours and got a few Crappie

Ended up with 5 small Crappie and lost 2 rigs to Pickerel . I swung by Wagamons on my way home and fished for another hour without a bite . I was home at 5pm

Diamond Pond 2-11 & 2-13-2009

Diamond Pond 2-11-2009

Met up with Josh (fishforever) at about 8am and we headed out in the canoe . The winds were wicked and we had to row right into it .. The anchor would "drag" and we would drift because of the winds .. I'd guess in excess of 20 MPH with gusts to 30+ MPH .
Well we get set up and it doesnt take long .. Josh hooks up with a LMB ..

Then it was a game of staying with the fish but we both went back and forth with many double hook ups .

We both had a few bite offs and missed many strikes but we managed to stay with some fish .
This one had its lip almost ripped off (Not by me)

I tossed a spinnerbait for awhile today and picked up a few Pickerel , LMB and even a Yellow Perch .

Check out this dudes "EYE" :shock:

I played around and threw the Maribou Crappie Jig and even tossed a tandem but never doubled up ..

Josh took off around 2 "ish" and I stayed till 5:50pm .. I got into a nice run of Crappie but only a few over 12" .

Not many Yellows Today .. But plenty of the others I believe Josh got 5 Species (me 4)
Now I need to find where the Yellow will Spawn and where the BIG Bull Gills are
Josh it was great to fish with you again and always ..

Diamond Pond 2-13-2009

I met up with David (Esquired) at Diamond Pond at 7am .. Dave beat me there and landed 1 Pickerel from the bank before I pulled up
We set out and stopped at the honey hole and found light West winds and Sunny skies and of course some fish
First fish for me ..

Got another on cue

David gets in on the action as I knew he would

David gets a Release Citation YP at 12.5"

I got my first Pickerel of the day and she was squirting eggs all over me and the canoe ..

Davids Crappie release Citation at 13.5"

Finally got a Gill with a bite out of its gill plate ..

We went almost all the way to the back of the pond and picked off some decent Pickerel and I got about 5 nice LMB too .. Spinnerbaits Rule
Crappie were off the hook again and we got some nice Pickerel and LMB and a few nice Neds to round out a long 11 hour day of fishing .. We got a mess of fish
We ran into Whit and Vicky out there as they were also in a canoe .. They too got into some fish and left with a few meals

Dave , Thanks for lunch and as always a pleasure fishing with you . I sent you copies of the pics for your Release Citations . Congratulations !!
Whit and Vicky .. Also always a pleasure to see you both .. Dont forget to call me when you plan a return visit

2-14 to 2-19

Wagamons & Diamond Pond 2-14-2009

Sporto (surfphishn) picks me up and we set out for Wagamons Pond and fished for about 45 minutes without a bite so we returned to my place to pick up the canoe
We went straight to the spot and didnt move from 10am till 5pm .. Nonstop fish with some Golden Shiners and Bluegills too as well as the ever present Crappie and Pickerel but for some reason neither one of us got a Yellow Perch ? Oh well for me I am happy catching Crappie after Crappie .
The Pickerel were back in the spot and a tad bigger than yesterday ..

Golden Shiner ..

Bluegill ..

Crappie ..

Sporto get himself a Release Citation Crappie (actually he got a few DOZEN as I did) ..

I caught this same guy a few days ago .. Notice the ripped gill sticking out ..

We caught A Lot of FISH !!
At about 2:30pm we got into some real nice SLABS and we released them all .. around 4pm Sporto wants a few for 'MOM" .. The big ones kept biting so ..

The fish were a lot more active today and I think if we were targeting LMB or Pickerel we would have done very well .
Boy it sure got cold at dusk !
Congrats on the Citation Sporto and anytime your ready to do it again .. I say lets do it !

Diamond 2-15 / 2-16-2009

Jimmy came down around 6am and we were on the Pond by 7:45am . Clear sunny day with winds from the NW at about 10 to 15 MPH .
We went right to the Spot and hit some Crappie ..

Jimmy finally gets a Release Citation

A guy in a boat came over and asked us "Man what the heck are you guys using ? " :roflmao:
We showed him as we were pulling in fish

We got some real JUMBO Golden Shiners and Jimmy lost the biggest one I have ever seen (had to be 2 pounds) .

I got this guy AGAIN today

Inside corner from the back of the Pond ..

The back of the Pond ..

We got into some toothy guys as well

I got this nice one at 25" ..

We left the rear and headed back to the Spot and continued catching Crappie and Golden Shiners as Drew , Judah and Jarjar pull up and we motion them over
We all got some Crappie but the bite ebbed off around 4:45pm so Jimmy and I headed to the Spillway by the road .
We picked off a few Crappie and Yellows and missed a few Pickerel . We called it a day at 5:30pm .
Caught lots of fish today .. Great to see everyone out there and always nice to wet a line with you Jimmy


Diamond Pond 2-16-09

Jimmy stayed over last night so we set out even earlier looking for the Yellow Perch bite . We talked to Sporto who was fishing from the shore . Cloudy skies to start and winds from 15 + MPH .
With Neds in mind Jimmy gets "slimed" first .. OOPS !

My turn was soon after ..

Then Paydirt

My "OOPS" ..

Even a LMB

Then we get over run by these ..

We found "pockets" of Gills ..

And with the Gills were those Golden Shiners ..

These guys were ever present today .. I am sure Jimmy had his PB with them

Another "OOPS"

We kept some fish for Sporto and delivered them and stretched the legs

That picture doesnt put those fish into prospective
Maybe this will ..

Great to see you again Sporto Nice job on the fish .. He said he got about 25 fish from the road WTG !
Jimmy and I set out again looking for some Crappie since they were on the Bigger size today
We caught Crappie , Gills and Golden Shiners with a few more skinny "Snakes"

Another baby LMB

Before calling it a day we found a few more Neds
Packed up at 5pm .. Lots of fish and average sizes was great
Jimmy took a few Neds and I showed him how to fillet them

I got Golden Shiners , LMB , Pickerel , Crappie , Yellow Perch , Bluegills and Pumkinseeds today Just need to find them Red Ears now Seems the Gills are getting more active . Yesterday I saw one about 14" when Jimmy and I came acrossed a mass of fish .. we pushed them towards the bank where they disappeared in the grassy bottom .

Diamond Pond 2-17-2009

I got there at about 8am and found Jeff (bambeklr) and Nick about ready to launch a boat . They both helped me with the canoe and then set off with me following a few minutes later .
It was very cold at first but the sun came out and it was almost a perfect day .
We set up near the Spot and slowly worked our way through the entire area . The fish were very finicky but we managed some fish ..
We targeted Yellows at first until the bite just died but we managed a few ..

Got some nice Gills ..

Jeff and Nick ..

When the YP bite died off we tried for the ever present Crappie . I got a few and some Pickerel including this 26"+ .

I started throwing a 2.5" Fin"S" on a 1/4 ounce leadhead and picked up 3 more Pickerel and 2 YP ..

Nick and Jeff leave around 2'ish so I decided to try for my
"paper" Bluegill or Red Ear . I came very close with the gills ..

I was attacked by 15" Pickerel ..

Caught about 8 small ones and a few more YP and as the sun started to set I noticed Crappie in every direction feeding on the surface ..

When the sun stated to duck behind the trees at about 4:30pm the bite turned on with some nice Crappie .. They moved in from my left and circled back into the Spot .

Some scenery ..

I fished until 5:45pm and then made the call to have the woman come get me as I paddled back to the road .. The Crappie were still biting as well as the "toothy" one

It was looking real nice when I left
Another great day with some nice fish .. Bite started slow with few Crappie but they made up for it in the end

Wagamons & Diamond Ponds 2-18-09

Hit Wagamons Pond at about 9am . The winds were stiff at 15+ MPH and right in my face .. Rain was off and on . I walked up and saw my buddy way over near the ramp so I headed that way

As I got close I saw a dead Goose and a few feet away was another I am thinking was its mate ??

Had Geese swooping down on me left and right ..
I got 2 10" Crappie and thought I was gonna slay them so I went for the camera .. I returned and lost one and landed this small LMB ..

That was about it as the winds increased to 20+ MPH making casting out in productive water almost impossible . I packed it in at 11am and headed for Diamond Pond ..

Diamond Pond .. 11am
Winds were still in my face but much less than Wagamons and besides that the fish were right close to the road
2nd Cast ..

I should have went right here in the beginning
It was on after that

Just missed the 10" mark for my C&R Citation

Conditions were WET !!

Had 2 more bite offs and land this one to send me home at 2pm ..

Caught about 30 fish total with a few nice sized ones to boot .

Diamond Pond 2-19-2009

Woke up to a very sunny day but at about 9:30am it changed and started raining with cloudy skies . I headed to Diamond at about 10am .
Took me about 20 minutes to locate some fish as the winds were whipping at 20+MPH .

First fish ..

The fish were way out and dead center ..

Got another Pickerel with a ripped gill raker ..

She slimed me with eggs ..

Got 1 nice Ned ..

The Crappie again were very nice and ever present

Got 2 LMB ..

Quite a few Pickerel and lost 3 today ..

At 2 pm the bite died .. I fished till 3:30pm without another fish ..
Lots of Crappie and Pickerel .. 1 YP , and 2 LMB and NO Gills Today .

ANYONE want to hook up and wet a line ??? As you can see I fish almost everyday and I run my own fishing site but yet I still fish alone most of the time .. Company would be appreciated

2-19 to 2-27-2009

Diamond Pond 2-20 & 2-21-2009

Diamond Pond 2-20-2009

I fished from the road for about 1.5 hours and lost 2 nice Pickerel and landed these 4 small Crappie . Winds were wicked and the fish didnt want to play much . Took me an hour to get a bite and for a moment I thought I'd get Skunked .. NOT !!

Diamond Pond 2-21-2009

Met up with surfphishn at about 6:30am .. Loaded up the canoe and made some coffee and we were on the water at about 7:45am . It was bitter cold with a bit of ice and very sunny with winds from the SW at 5 to 10 MPH .
There was 1 other boat out there with 2 guys and they were on fire .. Crappie , Yellow Perch and they must have an ALL time record for total landed Pickerel .. No joke they must have been targeting them and I am sure they landed 20 to 30 a piece .. WE landed a good 25 to 30 between the 2 of us and lost about half that many .
So we set up and ..

Yepp the Pickerel were feeding hard .. Just how hard .. Keep reading
We found some Neds and we landed more than I ever have for Diamond Pond but most were males that averaged 10" .. They are SPAWNING ! Some of the Male Neds were oozing "white stuff" .
The sun came up really bright and almost on Cue I said they's shut down soon and sure enough the bite slowed to a crawl .
I got about 4 Gills with the largest being 9.25"

These guys were relentless .. Seemed to be no end to them ..

This Pickerel was caught 2 times in an hour by Sporto .. There is no doubt it is the same fish .. It has a 9" Bluegill in it ..

We caught Neds sporadically the rest of the day and mid afternoon Spoto finally gets his Live Release Citation fish
WTG Bro !

I got 1 LMB ..

The Crappie bite didnt really start till almost 4:30pm .. By that I mean the real SLABS .. The little guys bite here and there all day .
The Pickerel never stopped biting and even at dark they bite ..

A few for Sporto's Mom

I am glad someone was with me today as no one would believe the amount of Pickerel caught today .. Not just by us but all 3 other boats that came out .

Wagamons & Diamond Ponds 2-22-2009

With winds at 10 to 15 MPH and rain expected all day and snow later on this afternoon I figured I go to Wagamons and check the tide for Seaford . The tide was HIGH on the Broadkill at 7am so I dismissed Seaford .

Wagamons Pond
The winds were dead calm and had overcast skies with light rain so I decided to see whats biting .. Since this is connected to Diamond Pond and the Neds are SPAWNING in Diamond I figured they should be here in Wagamons also ..
I caught about 8 YP from 10 to 13 inches but no signs of spawning .. I also got a Red Ear and about 10 nice Crappie .
My friend Dave shows up and the winds start but the rain has stopped and even a bit of sunshine broke through the clouds .
I went to get the camera and ruler
First "photo op" was .. Go figure

He had a missing LIP !

The winds picked up and slowed the bite a tad but they still bit ..

Caught 2 LMB .. This one and a small 10" ..

This was the last fish as soon as I let it go the sky broke lose and it poured ..

There was a total of 6 guys fishing and no one but me caught anything and we ALL ran when the rain hit .
I talked to Dave and told him I was waiting it out and may just hit Diamond since the wind was right in our face and ALL the fish were 50 yards out .
Dave told me there was 3 guys fishing the bank at Diamond so I went to see if they left because of the rain .
On my way I saw Scotty and his Pop Leonard and knew they were 2 of the 3 at Diamond but they said they only got a few Pickerel .. Didnt matter to me as I knew better
No one was at Diamond and while I waited out the rain Dave and Scotty and his Pop also waited .

Diamond Pond
After 15 minutes the rain left up enough for me to give it a go and dont ya know it .. I get 4 Crappie in my first 4 casts
Yepp I rubbed it in to Scotty and his Pop
So now by this time I look over and see Josh and his daughter too fishing near the spillway .
It was still raining and I wanted to take some pics especially of the larger Pickerel and Crappie but I decided not to until I got this 10" Red Ear for my Live release

Got another one at 9.5"

Seems the "Day of the Pickerel" continues ..

He has a STY on his EYE

I landed 10 Pickerel from 15" to 25" , 7 Crappie to 14" , 2 LMB at about 12" , 2 Red Ears 9" to 10" and 3 small Bluegills .
Dave got 1 Pickerel and lost 2 more and landed about 8 Crappie .. No one else caught a fish .
Everyone left by 1pm and I stayed until the snow started at about 2pm .. First time the snow let me down .. I could not find a bite for the last hour and called it quits at 2:45pm

2-24-2009 Broadkill , Wagamons , Diamond & Seaford

Had plans to fish Seaford today but wanted to do an "ICE" check at a few spots first ..
Stopped at the Broadkill and saw NO ice and was about to pull out but I saw fish breaking .. I had to give it a shot
Caught 10 Crappie like this ..

Then 3 Otters and 2 Diving Ducks came and spooked the fish .

I then stopped at Wagamons and saw very little ice and the same went for Diamond . I tried both spots for about 40 minutes a piece and got this at both ..

Yepp NOT 1 bite ..

At 11am I was at Seaford and it was dead low tide so I hit the back island and they were there .. I got 3 nice YP before 2 guys and a bucket of minnows came down on the other side and put 2 rods out a piece .. I didnt want to show my hole card anyways so I walked under the green bridge and fished the 2nd hole from the 1st island . The fish were bigger and I got about a dozen before a man and 2 kids came down and started chucking nightcrawlers out for Gills.
I moved over to the spillway and set the camera up and took a video of me that lasted 36 minutes before the batteries died . In 36 minutes I landed fish on almost every cast .. All YP and LMB nothing else .
So anyhow I thought I had a treat for you guys but I cant edit it and its too big to upload (1.5GB) . SUX !!
So anyhow I stayed until 5pm and nailed fish until 4pm and nothing in the last hour . I got into a few pods of nice YP but 85 percent were 4 to 8 inches .
If anyone knows how I can put up this video then please let me know .. Its a Quicktime movie .

2-25-2009 Seaford , Broadkill and Diamond

Had some issues so got a late start but I was in Seaford at 9:15am .
Bait was ..

Tide was outgoing and water clear .. winds were calm with very sunny skies .
I started out in the same spot I left right near the spillway but got no bites so I moved to the center and nailed about 3 dozen like this ..

I moved to the 2nd island and caught 2 small YP and that was it so I went back to where I was catching and just like I left them ..

Thought this was funny

Saw a lot of these little Gills ..

And also lots of tadpoles but I couldnt catch one .
I caught fish until about 11:30 am when the tide bottomed out and it was very LOW .. No water = No fish .
Caught about 60 fish in 2 hours with a 50/50 on Males and Females .
No Crappie or Gills but got 4 10" LMB also .

At Noon I left and went by Diamond Pond and watched a man and woman launch a small boat and break ice the whole way out . I went by Wagamons and it was twice as bad with the ice covering 75% so I went to the Broadkill and found Gene fishing alone so I joined him for about an hour and landed 4 YP , 3 Crappie and 1 Gill .. Nothing over 8" .

At 2pm I headed over to Diamond Pond and on my way Wagamons was now 50% ICE .
Diamond was pretty much wide open and I found Dave fishing alone .. He said he'd been there an hour without a bite and we both fished for another hour with NO FISH !!
Before I left my Friend Scotty and his Pop Leonard had been out in a boat all day and they had Zero fish at 4pm .. 5 hours and NOT 1 Fish
At 4pm they both landed 1 Crappie and 1 YP .. WOW 4 fish in 6 hours .

2-26-2009 Diamond Pond

Drove over to Diamond at 5am for an ice check and found it clear of ice so I head home to load up the canoe and wake the woman so she can drop me off . I am on the water by 7am .
Went to the spot and ..

Found the YP minutes later ..

3 hours of nothing but YP with a Pickerel about every 10 YP ..

At about 10:30am I landed a Crippled Crappie (1st of the day) ..

So now the YP are done and Its Crappie , Gills and Golden Shiners .. Oh and PICKEREL
What funny is about noon I landed this same Crippled Crappie

Dont know why this happened ..

Pickerel , All in all I landed over 40 Pickerel with 3 bite offs and many fish that just popped off .. I had 4 over 24" and 1 at 26" . Scotty and Leonard got about 20 Pickerel between them with about a dozen bite offs and lots of fish that pulled off .
YP , Got about 2 to 3 dozen this morning and picked up 3 more throughout the day .
Gill and Golden Shiners , Too many to count .
Crappie , From 10:30am to 3:30pm I landed a few dozen Crappie with only about 6 being over 12 inches .. At about 4pm the bigger Crappie bit good till 5pm with the average fish being 12" .

Big fish of the day .. 26" Pickerel

The YP have not dropped their eggs .. YET

Diamond Pond 2-27-2009

Got a late start but ended up in the canoe at Diamond at 7:30am . Winds were 20+ MPH and very sunny .. Too sunny
I tried for YP but I guess the bite was already over as I got ZERO .. Got to get up earlier
So anyways Scotty shows up sometime around 8:30am followed by fishforever (Josh) .
I fished for 3 hours with only 4 of these to show for it ..

Atleast they were nice healthy Pickerel

Josh hooks up and loses it at the kayak ..

Josh hooks up again and land this one

After 4 more Pickerel I finally manage a small Crappie

With nothing else playing Scotty heads home and I head to the truck for another rod to toss spinnerbait and maybe Traps .
Josh and I head to the bend (2nd cove) .. That was a bitch .. Worst part was trying to get off the shoreline .. The wind kept grabbing the canoe and spinning me "about face" .
Plan was to drift back and toss lures for Pickerel and LMB but it would not have been drifting but "trolling" instead so I had to deploy the anchor .. That too was a PITA because when I pulled it up it would have massive amounts of Grasses and slime .
We fished almost back to where we normally fish before Josh hooks up but loses the fish and I believe a spinnerbait . I land one right after and after retying so does Josh .

Back to square one .. Josh and I both have a few more fish that bit us off or just popped off and we also land a few as well .
I am not sure what time Josh left but he should have stayed not long after he left I got into CRAPPIE and of course more Pickerel ..

The difference was this

And it made ALL the difference today

Even got a small LMB ..

Lost another about 3 pounds after 2 nice aerial jumps

Eagles were soaring high today

So the winds increased around3:30pm and I had to scat or I might not have been able to get back .. Stuck it out for 30 more minutes and called it a day at 4pm .

Make sure you listen to this .. You can hear the wind howling .. Had "white caps" by the time I left .
<embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="https://i276.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=https://vid276.photobucket.com/albums/kk40/Hengstthomas/100_3830.flv">

 

[hengstthomas]

Seaford & Concord Pond 2-28-2009

Met up with Sporto at about 7:30am and headed to Seaford for some YP . Tide had been going out for about an hour and water was still very high .. Overcast skies and winds 15 + MPH with very clear water .
It took us about 10 minutes to locate some fish but we managed some small YP with a few toads mixed in as well as a few LMB and 1 Gill caught by Sporto .
The day consuisted of mainly YP but we both managed about a half dozen LMB .
A few Neds

We had a double header LMB ..

Yepp mine was the Fry

I finally land the only Crappie ..

Sporto get a Ned that spits up a minnow ..

Found Goodies

We caught quite a few YP today but most on the small side but plenty of action .
At about 3pm we decide to hit Concord Pond .
Tide was dead low and wind was of no concern here .. Water was stained .
Not much going on but we fished until about 5:30pm (2 hours) and got LMB , Crappie and Gills with a couple Golden Shiners . I'd say a total of about 15 fish were caught between us but no BIG fish .. Biggest was a LMB caught by Sporto .. Sorry no pics but it started to hail/freezing rain .

Another Great day
It was a pleasure as always to fish with you Sporto

3-1-2009 Seaford , Williams and Concord Pond

Brent (btk) Picked me up around 11am and with temps below freezing and winds 25+MPH we set out for Seaford .
The islands were covered with water and tide just starting to go out . The bite was very good when we first arrived but tapered off fast . We picked off YP , Gills and LMB and Brent also got 1 Crappie . We fished through wind and rain and I found out just how much Under Armor gloves help . I lost one yesterday and the hand without the glove was close to frostbite . I alternated the glove from hand to hand and its a fact in my book that the UA glove helps 100 percent .
We did get some nice fat Neds and also some thick 1 to 2 pound LMB .
At 1pm we hit the wooden walkway on Williams Pond and it took us about 20 minutes to find some fish . We picked off mostly Gills but also a few nice Crappie and 1 small LMB . We missed many fish because of the wind and bow in our lines .
The bite died off around 4pm so we set out for Concord Pond . Tide was outgoing and the sand bars was just starting to stick out . I ended up with 1 LMB , 1 nice Crappie and a dozen or so Gills ..
Brent kidded me about his "bad mojo" all day but I doubt that was the case .. The temps were brutal all night and today was BITTER and WET !

Brent we gotta do it again soon .. maybe a canoe trip ?

Broadkill 3-3-09

I dropped off the woman at 1pm and was at the Broadkill at 2:30pm . I saw that Diamond and Wagamons were partially frozen .
Winds were whipping at over 20 MPH and it was bitter cold .. Water was crystal clear .
Lure of choice was a black/chartreuse Crappie magnet . I got a few taps and adjusted the depth and found a nice 11" Crappie and after that I got into some 4 to 6 inch YP .. Played with the YP for a bit and then got a 7" Gill .. Tide was dropping so I adjusted depth again and started getting some nice Neds like this ...

It was so cold and not having my other UA Glove made it almost unbearable .. Picture taking was out of the question after the first one .
I picked up another 15 YP . Tide was very low and the bite continued but it slacked off .
Fished from 2:30pm to 5pm and got 1 Gill , 1 Crappie and 15 nice Neds with another dozen 4 to 8 inchers .

I am gonna try a bit earlier tomorrow .

Yesterday snow pics

Broadkill 3-4-09

Got there at 10am and fished to 11am .. Landed 3 nice YP and the bite stopped .. Tide was dead low with NO water .
I went by Wagamons and Diamond and both were FROZEN !
I'll be heading back in a bit when the water rises a little

March 5 , 6 & 7 - 2009

3-5-09 Broadkill

Hit the Broadkill at 7:15am and found Jeff already at it .. He said he got some small YP and had 1 nice Ned laying in the snow .
The bite surely was hot but we did get a few fish and Jeff got to take a few Crappie and YP home for Dinner .
So in the first 2 hours with a slow bite we managed about 4 Crappie (3 kept) and about 6 more YP (3 total kept) . We talked and watched the birds and even saw some fish swimming right at out feet (small gills) . We even saw one fish that was stuck in a hole in the rocks jump out and swim to freedom
Around 10am we took a stroll down the creek and fished the point ... I got the only bite but didnt hook up . Jeff in the meantime finds some treasure ... We found necklaces , keys , earrings , cuff links , bracelets and a locket .. Jeff also had a gold watch that dropped off the tip of his rods and fell back in the water . Anyhow it looked like someone robbed a home and seperated the real from the costume and just chucked it into the water .. Man that sucks .
We stroll over to the wooden walkover bridge and find its only 1 foot deep and we can see the bottom and ZERO fish .
We make our way back to the docks and fish with no more bites so at about 11am we ride over to Diamond and find in frozen .. So was Wagamons . I called it a day shortly before noon .

3-6-09 Broadkill and Diamond

Got to the Broadkill at 6:45am and found the YP there ..

Caught quite a few but the majority were only 4 to 8 inches but still had some nice ones in the mix ..

Atleast nice by the Broadkills standard size YP . I had to run to Dover at noon so at about 11am I headed over to Diamond and found both Wagamons and Diamond free of any ice . I fished Diamond for about 40 minutes and landed 6 Crappie .. 2 Nice 12" er's and 4 8 to 10 inchers .
I stopped at Walmarts and K-Mart and picked up a few things .

3-7-09 Diamond , Wagamons , Broadkill , Seaford & Williams Pond .

Met up with fishoholic at 6am at Diamond Pond .. We were on the water by 6:45am . The winds were calm with overcast skies and looking very promising but the sun and warmth from yesterday caused oxygen to form under the slime and grass on the bottom and as more air got trapped the debris would float to the surface .. It was a mess . We get to the spot and the whole center is full of the debris so we hit the far side with the most open clear water .
I got a nice Crappie on my second cast but didnt take a pic because I just knew I'd get more ...
30 minutes later or so I get a YP ..

And of course some toothy critters wanted to play ..

It pretty much died after that except for a pickerel about every 30 minutes ..
We made a few moves but found the same .
We started tossing all kinds of plastics , cranks and spinners and I finally settled on a Stickbait ..

That was it for the panfish .. 1 Crappie and 2 Neds .
That stickbait was like a magnet though because it brought LMB , YP and lots of Pickerel to the boat but they wouldnt bite it ??? It was still a blast to watch all those fish come chasing the lure and when I stopped the lure they'd just stare briefly and haul arse .
Atleast the Pickerel played ..

Check out his tail ..

Well atleast fishoholic didnt get skunked .. he landed a pickerel in the early hours but released it before a pic .. He asked me about throwing crankbaits and I advised against it because of the Pickerel but politely said not to let e sway him not to throw one ... What happens ?? 1st cast with the firetiger crank he gets slammed by a nice Pickerel and 5 seconds later the fish had a trophy .. Bite it clean off .
Kinda hard to believe this is the same place I fished all last week .
We called it quits at 2pm .
Sporto was fishing from the road so he followed me home and I dropped of my truck and we hit Wagamons Pond .
Fished the whole road with no bites so we headed out back to the Broadkill and found it PACKED !!
I made 3 casts and had a guy cast acrossed me twice .. The tide was just coming in and they had chummed up the water pretty good so we decided to head West ..
We hit Seaford at 3:45pm .. I get 2 small 5" YP .. The tide was HIGH but just starting to go out . We saw some nice Crappie way in the back behind Island #3 but they were out of reach . With the tide being wrong we settled in on Williams Pond . The winds had picked up and with the long casts we'd get a BIG bow in the line and setting the hook was almost impossible . We got LOTS of bites but few hook ups . I kidded around about having to take 2 steps backwards to set the hook but I did it and I got a Crappie

So we did get a few fish .. Gills , Crappie and Sporto got a small LMB . We stayed till dark picking off a fish here and there until we could not see the bobber anymore .

Saw too many people to remember over the 3 days but it was good to see everyone out there .

 

[hengstthomas]

Broadkill & Seaford 3-8-2009

Started out at the Broadkill at about 7am and found Nick and Tweet there .. Nick was chumming shrimp and catching a few med Crappies . I got a few bites and landed 1 decent Crappie so I figured they had fed the fish well over the last 2 days with chummed shrimp so I headed to Seaford at about 8am
I arrived at Seaford and found it desolate and low tide just starting to come in .
I picked up YP until the tide ran me of the island . I watched a group of guys catch some small YP and LMB and took them all .. I left disgusted and called it a day at about noon .

3-10-2009 Broadkill - Wagamons - Seaford - Records - Williams

Got a real early start and arrived at the Broadkill at 6am .. IT WAS Dark
I saw lots of fish popping but could not see my bobber so I headed to Wagamons and gave it a shot from 7am to 8am and caught 2 small Gills and 1 nice Crappie . Boats showed up and were fishing right where I was fishing so I gave in and made the journey to Seaford .
I got there at about 9:30am and the tide was very high and just starting to go out . I caught 2 small YP and 1 nice Gill in an hour so again I packed up and headed to Records .
I took a walk first and saw lots of Herring so I grabbed my gear and tried the spillway .. I had 3 hookups but landed none so I went down to the floating dock and I got 2 Herring and 1 Crappie on a Sabiki Rig .. Yepp all in one shot .

I hooked 2 more Herring and then Crappie started to pound the Sabiki Rig so I switched to a Crappie Magnet and caught about a dozen nice Crappie and a few 5" er's .
The Herring stopped and the Crappie bite died so I went over to the Handicap Pier to try for YP and Crappie . First fish was a nice Red Ear ..

The Handicap Pier recieved a facelift and looks GREAT

I got 1 more Red Ear and a Gill and the winds were too much so I packed up again and hit Williams Pond at around 3pm .. First fish again was a Red Ear ..

Missed lots of fish again due to the bow from the wind but I still did pretty good .
Quite a few nice Red Ears and Crappie ..

And of course lots of Gills ..

Then I hooked my first White Perch of the year ..

I had another that was Very Nice but it fell off when I lifted it over the 4 foot rail ..
At 4:30pm the Crappie took over and some nice ones

When it was just about dark and hard to see the bobber (again for the second time today) I got a LMB to send me home

OK now for the fish story
When I was at Records Pond and walked down to the floating dock a guy had 1 Herring on the deck and was packing up and left . I guess about 45 minutes later I see a guy fighting a fish at the next bridge down so I took a walk to investigate .. It was that same guy and he had cut that Herring up into chunks . He was using a Crappie rod with 6 pound test (so he said) and he landed a 44" Striper .
A little while later I saw my friend Henry who said his friend caught a 42 at the same bridge on a live Herring .
And Lastly I was told the Herring have been there since March 2nd ..
Looks like Yul was the closest

What a long but entertaining day

3-11-09 Broadkill , Diamond & Some local LMB

Hit the Broadkill at about 10am and found the tide high with winds at 15 to 20+ MPH .. The water was very dirty . I did see some fish popping (Crappies) but tried for 30 minutes without a bump ..
Packed up and went by Wagamons and there was white caps with winds right in your face .. I strolled over to Diamond and again the winds were almost directly in your face but I gave it a shot for about 30 minutes with no bites ..
Picked my brain about where to go next because I had to be home at 2:30pm.
I decided on some LMB .. From 11:45am to 2:15pm I landed about 20 LMB with none over 2 pounds ..
Stickbait ..

I never seen so many spots on LMB ..

Missed a few more on the stickbait so I switched to a Senko Wacky Rigged ..

Got 2 more like that then switched to a Spinnerbait (Plain) ..

I switched again to a Spinnerbait with no skirt but added a Rubber worm ..

Caught about 6 like that and missed many small fish that just hung onto the chartreuse tail .
I worked a Senko again on my way out looking for a worthy fish but it wasnt to be had ..

This spot "WAS" always good for atleast 1 4+ pounder but in my last 4 trips I havent got one over 2 pounds .
Too many people taking them
Bastages :angry2:

3-12-09 Moore's Lake

I started out at Broadkill but the chummers were there and it got crowded . There was only 2 guys there when I got there and they had about a dozen nice Slabs on small Minnows while chumming dead shrimp . I was told there was a lot of regulars there earlier chumming with lots of shrimp and I could tell . You could see fish all over the basin popping but the wouldnt bite . This I think happens because of too much chum ... Anyhow I landed 2 nice Slabs and 1 Gill and headed to Dover to fish Moore's Lake .
Someone told me that they havent been able to catch fish in the spillway and I have been dying to go and give it a shot .. Its my home water
First thing I notice is fish popping everywhere .. Most were Gizzard Shad but also Crappie and Gills (You could actually se them . The water was slightly stained and almost low which isnt ideal but after a few tail grabbers ..

That has to be the smallest Crappie of this year for me
I kept trying the Bobber but kept missing fish so I adjusted the depth a few times to no avail and then just took the bobber off and switched from a black/chartreuse Crappie Magnet to a Yum black/chartreuse Twister and it was GAME ON !

Played with them for about 2 hours and then tried the lake and got a tiny Gill ..

I had 1 nice LMB take a swipe at my twister but never came back for it .
A few casts later I was in a tree and lost my rig so I called it a day .

I am glad to see the fish are still there

Broadkill 3-14-2009

Hit the Broadkill at 5am and used a 2" White Twister under a bobber with a light stick attached to it .
Caught Crappie and Gills until about 7:30am when the tide bottomed out and the sky brightened up .
Most Crappie were this size ..

But I did get a few around 12 to 13 inches and some Nice fat Gills .. The fish were popping everywhere .
The last fish was a tagged LMB at 20.5" and a release Citation

What a Sweet way to end the morning
I'll be heading out again in a bit

Williams Pond 3-15-2009

Met up with Paul (jarjar) at my place at 8:30am . He brought the boat just incase we might need it but if it was like yesterday then NO boat necessary .
We arrived at about 9:15am and found Sporto and his nephew sticking a few nice SLABS
The bite started off slow for us but we found some fish . We all got nice Crappie and some Gills and some got LMB .
My biggest Crappie today ..

Sporto got a release citation Red Ear and yesterday his nephew got a release citation Crappie .

We nailed slabs until about 2pm and Sporto and his nephew left shortly before the bite died .
Well after about 30 minutes of no bites I see Paul unloading the boat so we struck out in search of another bite .
We landed quite a few LMB and some fat ones too and Paul had one break him off right at the boat . We also got some really nice Red Ears and Gills .
We moved around a few times but ended up back where we were fishing from land to finish the day .. We pulled out at 6pm .
For a March day that rained all day and cold temps we surely nailed some nice fish .. I wish I could have taken more pics of the fish but like I said it never stopped raining .

Sporto and Dwayne it always a pleasure to fish with you both and Paul .. Its about time we finally got to wet a line again .. Lets not wait a year for the next trip

Williams Pond 3-16-2009

I got a call at about 8am from Jeff (bambeklr) and he said he just pulled 5 days of "daddy duty " and needed to wet a line so I told him to get situated and give me a ring ... I got another call at 9:15am saying he was about ready so I headed to the Broadkill to meet up with him .
We got to Williams at about 10:30am and after about 15 minutes we found the Crappie and picked them off pretty good for the first few hours but by 2:30pm the bite had slowed considerably but we still managed some nice Crappie and a few stray fish as well .
Jeff (he respooled with my 6# Omniflex) and got in the groove
He got a Live Release LMB at 21" and fat as heck ..

Then gets a nice 25" Pickerel thats also a Live Release Citation

We slayed quite a few Citation Crappie as well and I even got 2 nice Red Ears that also were Citations ..

Lets not forget the Crappie

Nick showed up around 3PM but the bite had slowed and by 4PM we were headed out .
Baits were Fin"S" and Crappie Magnets .

Jeff I hope I help you curb the Cabin Fever
You know where I live now so dont be a stranger