Pocono Pond Pickerel

I went fishing with a couple guys on Thursday with the plan to fish the Francis E Walter dam.  Prior to leaving I looked at the flow gauge online and saw the water was moving at 4000 cfs compared to the normal 1000.  After arriving, we took a look at the dam and decided against fishing there and instead went to see what the small ponds nearby could produce.  I did not look at the weather forecast for up north and did not expect it to be 20º colder than it would be back at home.  Combined with rain, wind, and shorts, I was cold quickly but still fished the whole day.

We tried the pond at the north end of Walter Des Road (I heard it was called Stick Pond).  We quickly found Zoom super fluke were the lure of choice in any color for the pickerel.  Walking around the pond and casting were we could netted us roughly 10 picks between us and a 13" largemouth.  After fishing most of the exposed shore line we went to a series of three private ponds.  I only managed one pickerel here and lost two of the bigger ones of the day.  This taught me that although the pickerel is small, they still have teeth that can cut through fishing line like it was a spider web.  The guys I were with made out with two more largemouth and seven or so more pickerel landed the largest being 23".

The pickerel were all very agressive strikes from quickly walking the dog near the surface.  Some fish missed the lure three times, but with continued retrieve finally found the hook.  We probably had short strikes on twice as many fish we caught resulting in our flukes getting a few new holes in their tails.  Two of the bass hit the fluke within 3 seconds of hitting the water before we even got a chance to twitch the lure.  The third was caught in 6 feet of water on a Senko.

Black tears

Sunset

Another toothy critter

After such success with the fluke, I still wanted more pond action on Friday so I went to a pond that apparently only exists in my faulty memory.  After finding out that there was never a pond there I hit up a section of the East Branch Perkiomen I haven't fished before.  I didn't have my waders, and it was much too cold to wet wade so I fished from shore and pulled 3 smallmouth 8, 10 and 15 inches, losing a few more.  I believe that 15" is my second best for the East Branch and a respectable fish out of any water.

Fat Perkiomen Smallmouth

Wooo! Underwater camera!

Those pickerel made me miss catching northern pike up north where I never fish without a leader.  I may have to add another trip to my to-do list.

Slow Going

The end of summer is upon us and with that comes hurricanes (apparently) and me sucking at catching fish (apparently).  Right before Irene came through I did some fishing and managed 5 smallies on the fly rod off the East Branch Perkiomen.  As soon as the rain started the bite stopped and I haven't had a bass on the fly since.  I managed to get a white perch and a couple fall fish while fly fishing adding to my species count.  With my mediocre flies not producing, I have started spin fishing again and managed a couple decent, for me, bass.  I've been mainly using a chartreuse buzz bait and getting some explosive reactions.

mmm... clousers

Tubby

And that's where the fishing part of the blog stops.  

Irene came through and gave the area some hefty flooding.  I had to work the morning of the storm when the water was the highest which meant I had to find a route that didn't pass over any creeks or streams.  I wish I got more pictures that day but by the time I got out of work the water was back down to an unremarkable level.  Some trees were knocked down, some cars were stranded in the middle of bridges they thought they could ford, but most came through unscathed.  The Nockamixon spill way was cleared of most its weeds and left them in the trees.

Tree-weed

I stumbled across a new edible mushroom for me to try.  The black trumpet.  I picked about a pound in a small area, but have yet to find a recipe that really stands out and showcases the mushrooms flavor.  I think I will experiment a little and see what works best.  I was already going to make an alfredo sauce, so I will toss some in there.  They smell like a peach or apricot and not like a mushroom at all.

Do you know what smells worse than a skunk?  

A skunk that's rotting on a muddy river bank.  

I thought about grabbing some of the skunks fur to make some flies but decided against it.  The catfish might like them.  

I'm hoping that's not a sign of the fishing to come.