Schuylkill River Fishing (5-22-16)

On Sunday, May 22, 2016, I went to the Schuylkill River with my friend Miles to do a little bit of fishing. However, this was not my average fishing session because I got into a fight with my parents and they ended up taking my rods away (it is all good now). So, this was a pretty short session where I only caught one or two smallmouth bass (haha, since this post is so late, I can't remember how many fish I caught). For the situation at hand, the outcome was obviously pretty good, considering I did not have my own rods. Well, it was fun hanging out with my friend and catching fish.


A beautiful Schuylkill River smallie

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (5-20-16)

On Friday, May 20th, 2016, I went down to the Wissahickon Creek to do a little bit of fishing. I went to the dam close to the Valley Green Inn. The first fish that I caught was a green sunfish, which was caught right below the dam. I then found a couple of largemouth bass above the dam and managed to catch one on the Gulp! Alive minnow. After my largemouth encounter I quickly caught a redbreast sunfish to increase the amount of species I had for that day. I then tried for trout and almost got one from under the dam, but he got off as I was bringing him up. I decided to go a bit downstream to where the water calmed down and there were many trout surfacing. I ended up catching a rock bass but no trout. I think the trout would have preferred a dry fly rather than my tiny nightcrawler. Obviously I would have stayed later, but it was pretty much dark and I had to get back, so I called it a night before I could land a trout. However, this was an overall great session, considering that I found some nice Wissahickon largemouth.



This is not the best picture, but this was the pretty green sunfish


Definitely not the biggest out of the group of them, but still a beautiful fish


What is a Wissahickon fishing session without a colorful redbreast sunfish?!


Sorry for the terrible picture quality (my phone was acting weird), but here is the cute rock bass

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (5-19-16)

On Thursday, May 19th, 2016, I went down to the Wissahickon Creek for a little while. The fishing was pretty slow, but I managed to catch a few redbreast sunfish to keep me from getting skunked. They were caught on Gulp! Alive minnows. Even though the fishing was not very good, it was still a nice night.



One of the redbreast sunfish, which happened to be extremely beautiful!


Another pretty redbreast sunfish

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (5-16-16)

On Monday, May 16th, 2016, I met up with Miles Taylor (another fisherman from Philadelphia. I met him by coincidentally fishing across the dam from him one time). We went to the dam by the covered bridge in the Wissahickon. I caught an array of redbreast sunfish and 2 or so rock bass. The fish were mostly caught on a Gulp! Alive Minnow on a small jig, with the exception of one or two fish being caught on an earthworm. Miles caught a wider array of species including, a brown trout, a rainbow trout, a minuscule smallmouth bass, some rock bass, and a few redbreast sunfish. It was a fun night with a few fish caught. As always, pictures are below.




New record sized rock bass lol



Check out the exquisite colors on this spawning redbreast sunfish!

Schuylkill River Fishing (5-15-16)

On Sunday, May 15th, 2016, I went down to the Schuylkill River to do a little bit of fishing. I was going for whatever would bite. I fished for a couple of hours and the fishing ended up being pretty slow. However, I did catch one fish, which happened to be the first fish that I caught in the Schuylkill River. I went with my dad and started the day a little bit below the Fairmount Dam. The tide was actually super low when we came and we were able to go down the river. After a little while, the tide started rising, so we walked up to the dam and fished there for awhile. I caught one redbreast sunfish on an earthworm on a small jig. I stayed there for a little more than and hour and decided to got across the river to the area by the fish ladder. Though, when we got there, there was no place to park and we ended up going up river to the East Falls area. We only stayed there for 30 minutes or so. I tried for smallmouth bass with a wacky rigged senko and caught nothing.



My first Schuylkill River fish!

Manayunk Canal Fishing (5-14-16)

On Saturday, May 14th, 2016, I headed to the Manayunk Canal. I ended up fishing with a small worm on a small hook (I don't know the size) and caught my first bluegills of the 2016 season. While I was exploring the canal I did see some large bass. However, the bass did not seem to want my worm. It did look like the bluegills were spawning, so I think the bass had just finished.
I then went down to the Schuylkill River for a little bit to try to catch smallmouth bass. I ended up missing one (I am pretty sure it was a smallmouth).



A nice small bluegill



A bluegill, which I think is spawning

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (5-10-16)

On Tuesday, May 10th, 2016, I went to the Wissahickon Creek to do a short session. I ended up almost getting skunked. However, at the end of the session I caught my first ever smallmouth bass. It was not a large one, but definitely a great start! She bit a little bit after dark on a small jig. She was very finicky, as I would throw out my jig in the same spot and would get a small bite. I then would reel in and recast, where I would get that little bite. The bite was not enough for me to be able to set the hook, but I kept trying until I was able to reel her in.

There she is

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (5-9-16)

On Monday, May 9th, 2016, I went to the Wissahickon Creek (as you can probably tell, the Wissahickon is my go-to spot because it is close and I love it) for a short session. I originally had plans of targeting smallmouth bass, but instead I decided to go for trout and one little redbreast sunfish. I used earthworms on a small jig below a dam for the trout (the sunfish was caught on the same setup, but above the dam). I took one of the trout home to eat for dinner and released the other one. This was also my first brown trout that I was able to get a picture of (I accidentally let the first one go when I was walking to my camera). Check below for photos of the trip!



This is the trout I kept


The redbreast sunfish


The second trout I caught (he was released)


This is the finished trout.

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (5-4-16)

On Wednesday, May 5th, 2016, I went to the Wissahickon Creek to do a little bit of fishing. The fish were very active. Many trout, and what I think were sunfish, kept surfacing. I started off with an in-line spinner, which I ended up snagging. However, I did not catch anything on it. So, I then switched to powerbait and a small hook. I managed to land one nice rainbow trout, which I released. I also got a pretty redbreast sunfish.


Here is the rainbow trout


This is the redbreast sunfish

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (4-29-16)

On Friday, April 29th, 2016, I went to the Wissahickon Creek to do a little bit of fishing. I started the day out with an in-line spinner and caught nothing. I then switched to an earthworm on a small jig and the action started to heat up. The first fish was a rainbow trout, which I almost brought up. However, since I was on top of a dam, he unhooked himself while I was bringing him up. A little later, he or another rainbow trout bit again. When I got him I ended up jumping into the water so I would not lose him while bringing him up. The water turned out to be much deeper than I had expected, but luckily I had waders on. I then kept him and ate him for dinner (he was stocked, not wild). He was actually extremely tasty. After the trout, I went above the dam where the water was much calmer. I caught a nice rock bass. On my last cast I was able to catch a really nice sized redbreast sunfish, who was also incredibly colorful.


The rainbow trout I caught (keep in mind that if I weren't going to eat the fish, then I would not have put him on the ground)


The rock bass that I caught


The redbreast sunfish


Underside of the sunfish

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (4-23-16)

On Saturday, April 23, 2016, I went to the Wissahickon Creek for some trout fishing. I saved a Green Sunfish that was snagged on a tree. I landed one pumpkinseed sunfish one a Mepps Agalia In-line spinner. The largest catch or almost catch for that matter, was a channel catfish. There was this huge channel catfish that hit my PowerBait. I almost landed him. However, right before I pulled him up, my two line were crossed and the fish was able to get off the hook. The last fish was a nice sized brown trout, who also was on the Mepps Agalia In-line spinner. I landed him, but while sprinting over to my bag, I let him back in the water for a second (while holding him). Though, he took advantage of my kindness and swam off, which kept me from getting a picture of him. Overall, I only technically landed the pumpkinseed and brown trout.





The Pumpkinseed that I landed, which had great colors!



This is the Green Sunfish that I saved.

Wissahickon Creek Fishing (4-14-16)

So, yesterday, on Thursday, I went to the Wissahickon Creek to go for trout. I used powerbait because there was another stocking on Wednesday. I did not land any trout. However, one tiny rock bass hit my powerbait. I almost landed one fish that I think was a trout, but it got caught on a log and got away right before I could get him. I also had one or two other nibbles on the powerbait.

Wissahickon Creek Trout Fishing (4-10/11-16)

On April 10th and 11th I went down to the Wissahickon Creek to see if I could catch any trout. Both times I got skunked. I used mainly in-line spinners. They are stocking some more trout on Thursday and I will probably go for a little while on Saturday and maybe go to the Schuylkill River on Sunday. I am not sure yet.

Wissahickon Creek Trout Fishing (4-3-16)

Today, April 3rd, 2016, I headed to the Wissahickon to have some fun with the holdover (from the day before) stocked trout. I ended up spending a couple of hours, as it was nice out and it was enjoyable. I successfully landed one rainbow trout and almost landed a larger trout, (I think it was a brown trout) but it unhooked itself while I was trying to grab him. 
During the day I found one nice in-line spinner, a minnow lure, and a crayfish lure, all were relatively easily accessible. That goes to show how lazy people can be. Well, I will get good use out of these lures!
Even though there was a cold front coming in, I still got to see a great amount of wildlife (see gallery below).

Allentown Fly Fishing & Trout Hatchery (4-2-16)

On April 2nd, which was opening day of trout season, I went with my neighbor to a creek in Allentown to fly fish. I almost landed a really large rainbow trout, but it snapped the line before we could net it. However, I was able to successfully land a smaller rainbow. Also, right next to the creek was a cool trout hatchery, which we checked out before we went fishing.
At the end of the day I hit the Wissahickon Creek for an hour as it was getting dark, but did not catch anything. It was a nice time, as the toads were calling and it was a nice temperature.