Bass Fishing at Sunrise

Well, between having to relocate my web site to 110MB.com due to the mysterious demise of my previous free hosting service and a business trip to Germany, I haven't done much posting here. (My new web site address is http://njfishrguy.110mb.com.)

Things have picked up since my four skunked outings followed by my one keeper fish at Cranberry Lake on April 19. On April 26, we visited the southern half of Monksville Reservoir and I managed a 15 1/4" largemouth, a 14" LM and a dink, both on Sweet Beavers. (Well, I pour some of my own baits and it was actually one of my versions of the Sweet Beaver.)

On vacation the week of May 5, I skunked at Stone Tavern on the 5th, but did OK at Spruce Run on the 6th. Fishing with a group of buddies, I caught a 17 1/4" largemouth (or "Larry", as pro fisherman Charlie Moore would say), a 16 1/2" LM, and a dink. But the real reason we chose Spruce Run was that the Wipers were biting! Wipers, or hybrid striped bass, are a cross between striped bass and white bass (hence the term "Wipers"). I caught a small 18 incher, but he put up one serious fight. Some of my friends caught much bigger fish (I think 22" was the biggest); serious fun was had by all. The Wipers seemed to hit only crankbaits. Poor Rick had a flat on his trailer when he pulled his boat out, but his spare saved the day.

On May 10, we were supposed to fish Wawayanda Lake. I got there first, and found the gate locked. I know that Wawayanda is normally open for fishing 24/7, so I figured that they changed the gate that was open full-time. A little time with my GPS and it directed me up into New York State, down a road that cautioned it was build in the 18th century for horse-drawn carriages and please be careful, and finally found the alternative entrance. Of course, it was also closed. So back to the main entrance, but on the way the GPS said there was ANOTHER way in. So I turned on to Wawayanda Road (promising name, right?). At first, there were a number of houses. Then they got farther apart. Then there were woods, and one house off by itself that looked pretty forlorn. Then more woods. And more woods. And the road getting narrower and narrower. Then I passed a tiny cutout, but continued pressing on. About 200 yards later, the road ended. Just stopped at the edge of heavy woods. Unfortunately, at this point the road was about the same width as my car. So I had to back the trailer 200 yards to the cutout before I could turn around. It took about 15 minutes. Then I hightailed it out of there back to the main entrance, which was still locked.

I had gotten to the entrance originally around 4:30 AM. It was now about 6:30 AM. As I sat there pondering what to do (there is terrible cell phone reception and I couldn't raise my buddies), a ranger came out to the gate. He quickly let me know he wasn't there to open up, but was just taking a shortcut through the park. We talked for a bit, and it turns out that some kids had come into the park one night and trashed it. So the decision was made that they would now not open the park for any reason until 8:00 AM. Which basically means that my buddies and I, plus any other fisherman who has any dream of a topwater bite, will find somewhere else to go. Just because of the actions of some stupid kids. About then I got a call from a total stranger telling me that my friends were at Monksville but their cell phones wouldn't work from there. So I shot down to Monksville and found them on the north end of the lake.

It was sort of anticlimactic. After all that, I manage one 14" bass and one dink.

Saturday, May 17 found me at Aeroflex. Our other friends canceled out and it was just me and Danny. In a miracle, the bathrooms were open when I arrived at 4:00-something. As my friends know, one of my key qualifications for a "Charlie-friendly" lake is at least a porta-potty at the ramp. This was my best outing this year. The bass were all on the inside edges of the weed line. I ended up with 5 keepers (the largest 17") and 4 dinks, plus a 12" trout. One dink and the trout were caught on a Rapala Floating Minnow; all the other fish were caught on 4" wacky-rigged Senkos.

I took Friday, May 23 as a vacation day and Danny, Rick and I went to Pompton Lakes. Now, I really like Pompton Lakes. My largest bass (5 lbs. 10 oz.) was caught at Pompton Lakes. Sometimes I do well, but sometimes I don't. This turned out to be a good visit. I ended up with 5 keepers (largest 17 1/8") and 3 dinks, along with a 21" pickerel. This is a good example of how you can have a huge lake and catch all the fish in one tiny area. I caught all the fish on one bank into which the wind was blowing. It was no more than 50 yards long, and I spent hours going back and forth along this bank, catching fish.

After a week of travel that interfered with both Saturdays, I hit Mercer Lake yesterday with Danny. Mercer is a funny lake. It can be really tough, or you can catch really large bass. It's the only lake where Danny has caught three largemouth over 5 pounds. I got there at 3:45 AM (yes, I am crazy) and the fishing was dead... until the sun came up. The fish turned on with the light, and there was a lot of action. I caught one keeper and two largemouth early, then had a dry spell, to the point that Danny and I actually beached the boats and took a short nap. Then we headed into a cove that fishermen rarely use because it is too shallow... only Danny knew that there was one spot where you can get in, and this narrow (30 foot wide creek) ends in a T. The left-hand creek is about 150 yards long, the right-hand creek about 50 yards. There is more laydown in these creeks than in the entire rest of the lake. Half-way down the left side was a branch blocking the creek, which I tried to cut with the saw inside my survival knife. Thirty minutes and three blisters later, Danny says "You know, I think we can go around this". Sure enough, I didn't need to hack away at the branch. Danny insisted I go first because he said I'd be royally pissed if he caught a bass in front of me after all the cutting. Sure enough, I pulled a 16" bass out of a laydown, followed by a 13 1/2" bass less than 5 minutes later. The only problem was, it was now HOT. And there was no air moving in the creek. So we got out of there, but we were both pretty wiped, so soon headed back to the ramp.

That's it so far this year. I wonder if anyone reads this and, if they do, if it's too long and boring. Drop me a line at njfishrguy@hotmail.com if you make it this far. If no one reads the blog, I should stop wasting my time writing it!

Tight lines!
Charlie

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 5:25 PM

I fished Cranberry Lake with Danny and Nicky (we fish together a lot) on April 19. I was coming in with a terrible skunk; I hadn't caught any fish in the previous four outings.

The plan had been to go to Pompton Lakes, one of my favorite places. But while I was away on a business trip, Nicky had said he preferred Cranberry, and I went along with the choice.

The bass fishing was tough. Though the pickerel were very aggressive (I caught four and missed another 4-6), the bass were not. I tried Chatterbaits, Senkos (4" and 5"), buzzbaits, finesse worms, swimbaits (the pickerel loved those and hit them regularly), various crankbaits, Rat L Traps, jigs, Culprit worms, Sweet Beavers and more. Nothing seemed to work.

After a few hours, Danny caught several dinks on a 4" Senko. Then Nicky caught a 17 inch bass on a Beaver. It seemed the bass were getting turned on. And then it stopped. No bass were caught for the next three hours or so, in spite of everyone's best efforts.

I finally caught a dink on a finesse worm (I like the Zoom finesse worm in green pumpkin for most lakes), then around 2:00 PM (I had gotten to the lake at 5:30 AM), I finally caught a 15 1/2 inch largemouth on a finesse worm, officially breaking my chain of bassless outings. Also good was that I subsequently hooked and worked to the boat an even larger bass (I would guess around 17 inches) which I lost when I was unable to turn him. But I found him and got him to strike; the rest is technique that I have to work on.

Danny finished the day with a 17 1/2 inch largemouth, earning the lunker of the day. Sorry, Nicky, you should have stayed!

The outing was fun (you can use unlimited HP gas motors on Cranberry, and it's one of relatively few lakes in NJ where that's the case) and I count it as a success. It took a lot of pressure off me and I'm excited about next week! Maybe Pompton Lakes or Monksville Reservoir...

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 3:28 AM

Talk about frustration! I've now gone four fishing outings without catching a bass (or anything, for that matter!) I took Thursday, April 10 off from work and went fishing at Farrington Lake with buddy Rick. If you know Farrington, you know that when it's really cold or really hot, the fish are on wood. There's no grass except lily pads so no where else for them to hide. And the most consistent way to catch them, especially bigger fish, is with a jig. I threw several different jigs until my arm was ready to fall off. No bites, taps, nibbles, no nothing. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with temperatures in the low 70s, and I'm thankful that I was outside to enjoy it. But I fish to catch fish, and get frustrated when I can't make that happen.

I have a BSX sound unit, which is supposed to activate the fish and make them more likely to bite. I can honestly say after 1 1/2 years of using it that you shouldn't waste your money. All last year I used it, and it had little or no effect. In fact, my fishing performance last year was worse than the year before and I was beginning to think it was scaring the fish, though Biosonix says that doesn't happen. After a long talk with them (they are very nice people and very supportive), they sent me a new BSX unit and settings for it based on their pro staff's recommendation. Since their pro staff includes Mike Iaconelli, one of my favorite bass pros, I was anxious to try it out. I've had it running non-stop on one of the three different settings they sent me while I fished on my first three outings this year. On April 10, however, I turned it off half way through the trip because of my concern that it might be spooking the fish. It made no difference on or off.

Then yesterday, April 13 Nicky, Danny and I went to Weston Mills Pond. I left the BSX unit off the entire time. A pickerel bit me off with a Senko, and a bluegill picked up my Senko and ran with but must not have had the hook in its mouth, because there was nothing there when I set the hook. Of course, Danny and Nicky both caught bass, including four fish between them over 15 inches. Danny and I fished together on the way back, only a few yards apart. We were both throwing wacky-rigged 5 inch Senkos, since Danny had already caught several bass this way. I would cast to a spot and nothing would happen. Danny would cast to exactly the same spot after me, and rip out a bass. Same lure, same spot, same presentation. (Well, he pointed out one very small thing he was doing differently, and I started to do the same thing. Since he took bass from my spot two more times after than, I'm thinking that's not the difference.) One interesting point is that while I go to great lengths to get a quiet entry, Danny, who is one of the best fishermen I know, doesn't. He thinks that, especially in stained water, it attracts the curious bass. So I tried not feathering my casts, too. In the end, Danny had a limit of bass, some pickerel, and some crappie, and I had... nothing. Again.

We're talking about trying Cranberry Lake next week. If I don't catch something, I don't know what I'm going to do. My wife says I'm losing my excitement for fishing because of this... I hope she's wrong.

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 4:09 AM

Well, the 2008 fishing year has begun! March 22 was my first outing at Farrington Lake with fishing buddy Nicky. It was COLD, windy and a tough bite. In spite of everything, Nicky managed to catch three nice bass ranging from 15 1/2 to 17 inches, all on a jig. I finally caught one, 15", on the way back to the ramp. All four bass were on wood, which is a typical Farrington Lake pattern because there's virtually no grass on this lake, unless you count the lily pads, which are not up yet.

March 29 found me, Nicky and fishing friend Danny back on Farrington Lake. Danny and Nicky often hold their own mini-tournament wherever we go, and Danny was out to avenge his loss in the last mini-tournament of last year. Nicky, who is outstanding with a jig, was looking like the favorite when he caught a 15 1/2 inch bass. Danny continued to complain over the radio about how terrible the fishing was and all the different lures he was trying, to no avail. But actually, he had caught three good bass, and dropped two more, all on jigs! This is unusual because Danny never fishes jigs. But he knew that's what the fish were hitting, and so he threw it gain confidence. Boy, did that work! In the end, Danny had Nicky convinced all he had was one 12 1/2 inch bass and waited until after Nicky showed his bass to show his. Quite a show that these two guys put on, trying to outdo each other. Unfortunately, I skunked.

Today the three of us fished Dallenbach's. The water was down and it was really tough to get from the front pond to the middle pond. Nicky ended up with four bass, including one 18 incher. Danny ended up with one (plus a few pickerel) and I... skunked again.

So here's the question... what do you do when everyone's catching fish except you? I get depressed, and I'm looking for a more productive reaction. Email me at njfishrguy@hotmail.com with any suggestions or ideas!

Until next time, tight lines!
Charlie

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 4:28 PM

Well, it's been a busy month. I fished Aeroflex Lake, Stone Tavern, Farrington Lake, and Furnace Lake.

It rained for 2-3 hours in spite of the weather forecast while I was on Aeroflex with a couple of fishing buddies. I finally managed a 17 1/2 inch bass on a red shad worm sometime after noon.

Stone Tavern should have been a good day, but it got off to a bad start. I made the stupendously stupid error of forgetting to release one of the tie downs on the back of my boat, so when I finally got the boat to come off the trailer, it rotated to the side and stopped, held by the tie down. So I had to wade out into the water up to my crotch to free the tie down. The day pretty much continued that way. I finally caught a 14 inch largemouth on a Senko, along with a few dinks, and my pants finally dried. (I had switched to the pants from my rain gear for the fishing day.) I sometimes do well at Stone Tavern; I won a night tournament there a few months ago.

Fishing buddy Danny and I have talked for a long time about fishing Farrington Lake at night, and we finally decided to try it. I launched at 11:30 PM, and pulled my boat out at 1:00 PM. For 13+ hours of fishing, I caught one tiny perch on a crankbait. It was that kind of day. When the fog rolled in around 2:00 AM, it was so thick that my 1.5 million candlepower spotlight wouldn't penetrate more than 25 yards! It was spooky and non-productive. I think we waited until too late in the year; next season, we'll have to try it in July or August.

Next Danny, Rick and I tried Oxford Furnace Lake. It must have the worst ramp in the state. Note to ramp designers; steep is good! My exhaust was gurgling underwater before the boat finally came off. And I didn't catch anything. Nada. Didn't get one bite all day. Early on, I went way to the left and was throwing topwaters (a buzzbait and a Spittin' Image) in about a foot of water. My buddy Rick was nearby, and I had seen fish breaking, so I called for him to come join me. The area I was fishing was wide and could have held three fishermen in separate boats without a problem. (Well, only if they knew each other.) Rick made some casts with a white spinnerbait, and within minutes came up with a 5 lbs. 7 oz. largemouth! That was one of the fattest bass I had ever seen. Rick was overjoyed (see his photo above), and Danny and I were really happy for him. He's been fishing really hard and was due for a hawg!

Next week I'm fishing a buddy tournament on Manasquan Reservoir with my buddy Bruce. We already decided we're going to win, so all the other competitors shouldn't spend the money they won't win in advance. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Labels: Bass fishing

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 2:58 PM

Wow! Again I've done a terrible job of not maintaining my blog! The point of blogs is to update them regularly, so I hope I don't get a visit from the blog police!

So, last year I lost a lot of fishing time due to business travel to Europe. I would generally leave on a Saturday, so I lost two weekend days each time I went, which I rarely got back as comp time. For those of you who think that business travel is fun, I have news for you; it isn't. Just ask anyone who has to do it. This year wasn't as bad, but the weather also wasn't that great here in New Jersey.

This year, I'm using a new tool (or toy, depending upon your perspective). My wife bought me a Biosonix BSX unit! (I have the most supportive wife in the world; you should be so lucky!) This box creates the sounds of bait fish when unstressed, when under attack by bass, etc. It can be programmed to make the sounds in particular sequences at particular volume levels, or to play one sound (for example, "Normal Shad", which is an average sound that represents bass feeding, but not too much). A speaker mounts on the trolling motor foot and plays the sounds underwater. You're about to ask me if it works, right? It's really hard to tell. My feeling, which I can't prove, is that it works better when the bass are chasing or hitting topwater and shallow baits. I also think that it helps when they're generally inactive, but not all the time. If you're thinking of making the investment, and you expect the bass to jump out of the water into your boat, you're going to be disappointed. The best independent analysis I've seen is from two guys who use it all the time. They are pretty equal fishermen without the BSX. When one uses the BSX and one doesn't, the BSX user will outfish the other by about 20%, regardless of which one uses the BSX. So I'm still learning and playing with it.

Unlike the last two years, I've stopped fishing any of the NJ BASS Federation events. I was learning a lot by fishing them, but my back can't take the pounding of long runs in a bass boat at 50-60 mph. I've had several anglers I've fished with be extra careful because I've told them about my back, but they couldn't avoid the heavy chop (waves, really) in spite of their best efforts. So I'm still fishing a few local tournaments. Actually, I fished a night tournament with fishing buddy Bruce about a month ago and won $270! I bought a new Stradic reel with it, and can still buy at least one more.

This year I've been to most of the NJ lakes that I usually visit. I've done OK, but not great. Hopefully that will change as fall fishing heats up.

I'll try to update more often, so both of you guys who read my posts know what's going on!

Tight lines!
Charlie

Labels: Bass fishing

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 1:08 PM

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve, and here's my Christmas gift for you.


'Twas the Night Before Christmas (Bassin' Style)

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with mono,
In hopes that Saint Nicholas would be here pronto.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of video games danced in their heads.
And my wife in her nightgown and I without cap,
Had just settled our heads for a warm, toasty nap.

And as I began slowly to drift off to sleep,
My thoughts did turn quickly to the next morning’s feats.
For surely I knew that my family would fail
To consider at all my bass fishing thrall.

No crankbaits, no jigheads, no Senkos, finesse worms,
No drop shots (not weights, special hooks or swivels!)
No one would think that I might want a buzzbait,
Or think about how well different frogs just might rate.

Not one would consider I might want a rod.
“G. Loomis? Who’s he?”, I could hear in my fog.
What rig could I possibly find ‘neath the tree?
None without a picture of the famous Mickey.

So into my dreams I slid in distress,
While knowing tomorrow would bring only jests.
“Where is that big one? Did he get away again?”
That old Uncle Ricky could be quite a pain.

But as my dream slowly did begin to unfold,
I realized the dream wasn’t bad, after all!
Mike Iaconelli was there in the beginning,
Showing me how he stayed focused all season!

KVD taught me to fish the Great Lakes,
And just how to select the right spinnerbait.
The best way to jerkbait, I learned at his side,
Going back to the docks, he even let me drive!

Bill Dance and Denny both taught me jigging,
Denny went first, in shallow water we went fishing.
We killed them! We waffled! Five pounders were normal!
It seemed every flip came back with a monster!

Bill showed me next how to fish the deep structure,
How to read shore lines, birds fishing, the depth finder.
We hooked ‘em up deep and they fought to the surface,
We patted their bellies and then we released ‘em.

Yamamoto showed up without any reason,
Driving a van full with all his creations!
“Take what you’d like”, he cried, very pleasing,
“I brought extra Red Shad; I knew that you’d need it!”

“And take some for Danny, and Nicky and Bruce!
Those guys never have enough of my stuff!”
I cleaned him out quickly, but he didn’t mind,
“Just use it each day, you’ll be a pro in no time!”

Just then in my dream, I was in my new Ranger,
A Z-21; what could be stranger?
Running far south on NY’s Lake George,
Between those tall mountains, and down through the gorge.

The boat was quite nicely, most fully equipped,
Storage lockers overflowed from the baits stuffed in.
And then, up ahead, a great mountain did open,
I turned over that way and soon was within it.

I docked and got out, couldn’t believe my eyes,
Because there in that mountain was quite a surprise!
The inside was fully, completely occupied,
With bass fishing gear of most every kind!

There were buzzers and Trick Worms and drop shot equipment,
Frogs, Silver Buddies, and Crankbaits abundant!
Jigs of all kinds on the racks I did find,
(Including that new Uhrig “Evolution” kind!)

Spinnerbaits took up a whole giant section,
Chatterbaits didn’t escape my detection.
Soft plastics abundant were every which way,
Even Larry Nixon couldn’t leave in one day!

G. Loomis rods took up a whole section,
GLX models were your only selection.
Reels of all kinds were easily spotted,
Shimano Curados grew in trees that were potted.

Every type line that you ever imagined,
Could be found on one wall, the selection was magic!
Just then a deep rumble rolled over that hall,
And I heard in the distance a mighty “Ho-Ho”!

A bright, blood-red Skeeter roared in from a distance,
And a red, fur-clad driver climbed out without assistance.
Smiling, he approached me, and held out his hand,
As I took it, I realized, I recognized the man!

It was Ray Scott, dressed in red as Saint Nick,
“How do you like my North Pole?”, he winked.
“I started this sport those long years ago,
And look at the products that from it have grown!”

“But what makes me happy, what makes me complete,
Is the joy that it’s brought to bassers who compete,
Or just fish on weekends, or cast from the shore.
How you fish isn’t important, that you do is far more!”

And in that brief moment, I realized the thought,
Bass fishing brings so much joy to us all.
It just doesn’t matter if the family understands,
As long as a few good fishing buddies you have.

So I awoke from my slumber, refreshed and renewed,
And wrote down my dream to relate it to you.
As I heard Ray exclaim ‘fore he drove out of sight,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all, Tight Lines!”

posted by NJFishRGuy @ 8:01 PM