Casselman River

Casselman River

My son and I took a trip down to the Casselman river. We fished for a few hours, and we caught a lot of smallmouth bass. This is one of the most beautiful places to fish in my opinion. The water is crystal clear, and the scenery is breathtaking.

Smallmouth Bass

Beautiful view of the river and bike path bridge.

Crystal clear water

Stoneycreek River

Brown Trout

I was back on the Stoneycreek river between the Hornerstown Autozone and JHS. It was a windy day of fishing with my son. We were getting pushed around pretty good by the wind. I caught a brown trout, and he caught a few creek chubs. It's always good to be out.

Creek Chub

Opening Day of Trout Season

  Every year I go to Manns Choice to fish the Juniata river on the first day of trout season. It's more than fishing; I get to hang out with one of  my closest friends. We went to school together. We joined the Navy on the buddy program. We've been friends for over thirty years. We have a good time that starts on Friday.

Chris cooking lunch.

 
  I was a little concerned that the rain would wipe out the river this year. There is nothing I like about fishing muddy water. High water and low visibility makes things extremely difficult. Luckily, the water was just running high, and it wasn't muddy. It made fishing challenging, but it wasn't impossible. I caught six trout through out the day. I fish a seven foot, medium action rod with six pound test mono-filament. I was switching between Mepps Aglia spinners in gold and silver in size 1 and 2. I prefer the number 2's. I also was bouncing a night crawler off the bottom to switch it up. I added weight when fishing the crawler, which decreased sensitivity and increased snags on the bottom. I think the first day was an even split; three on spinners and three on crawlers.

Average size of the fish that I caught.

  On Sunday, the water had receded about a foot. It really improved access to the holes in the river. I was able to cast to the spots I wanted, and more importantly, I was able to present in those spots longer. The swift water from yesterday had been moving my bait or spinner very quickly through the holes. I caught seven rainbows on Sunday. The best measuring in at around 18 inches on six pound test. I removed a number 10 hook, a number 8 hook, and my number 2, gold spinner, and I released it. The number 10 hook's line broke, and the number 8 hook looked like the knot had come undone. That should stress the importance setting the drag and of tying a good knot; I'm a faithful user of the Palomar knot (Fishing knots).

Rainbow trout - Catch and Release

Reviving This Blog

 I actually forgot about this blog. I'm going to attempt to revive it. The first day of trout season is soon, and I am hoping to do more fishing this summer. The spring always starts out that way, but time and weather can hinder getting out and actually fishing.

Brown Trout

 I'm hoping to pick up where I left off last summer on the Stoneycreek River. I put my canoe in the water in Hornerstown. It was not an easy task. I've been looking at kayaks. I think it might make things easier. The river moves faster than it appears which makes paddling up stream difficult. It was actually easier at times to just push off the bottom with the oar. It got me thinking that a long pole might work better at navigating the river. I went as far upstream as the Horner Street bridge, and I went down stream to the Point.

Smallmouth Bass

 I caught a brown trout, a few smallmouth bass, and a lot of creek chubs. I released all the fish. I'm not sure about the safety of consuming any of fish caught in the city. It's probably not a good idea. It's definitely fun, and I saw the city from a new perspective. I'm excited to explore more of the Stoneycreek, Little Conemaugh, and Conemaugh rivers. The Little Conemaugh has cleaned up tremendously since the treatment plant went into operation in St. Michael. I'm not sure what affect it will have on fishing it, but I think it will definitely improve the Conemaugh River below the point.

Plenty of creek chubs

The Horner Street Bridge

The Haynes Street Bridge

The Incline Plane