Thursday, December 8, 2011

Juniata River Smallmouth 12/3/11

Hello steeler fishin' blog fans!  :)  The "steeler and vlad fishing show" was out to film a new segment for our television show to be aired when someone calls us up, offers us a ludicrous amount of money and gives us the freedom of speech.  HaHa!  In all seriousness, we hit the Juniata this past weekend for the first time ever.  We were invited by Backwoods Angler Guide and EPFR member Chris Gorsuch (Objet).  We got to fish on his NEW River Pro Jet Boat.  If I could choose one word to describe this machine it would be SWEET!


These Juniata fish sure do put up one hell of a fight and absolutely loved Chris' new prototype tube bait


Are they FAT or what?  Some of these HAWGS could easily swallow a can of soda for dessert.  Chris is pictured below.  Chris didn't have many pictures taken because his focus was putting us on fish.  Thanks again Chris!  Wayne and I really appreciate your kindness.  Next time, you don't have to be nice to him though.  :)


We even had a few DOUBLES on the day.  Not too shabby for a cold December day of fishin'


Wayne with a beautiful girl below.  Probably the cutest female he's ever had the pleasure of "touching lips" with.  Just kidding Wayne!  :)

And Wayne would probably say the same for me .... HaHa


Is this one a FOOTBALL or what?  Roger Goodell wishes he could have his name on this one!


Another nice CHUNK caught by Chris! He looks like a kid at Christmas!  Believe me, that's how we all looked every time a fish was brought in.  46 fish total for the day.  Yes, the holiday cheer was everywhere!


Did I mention how COLD it was out there when we were not in the sun?  Brrrrrrrr


It was a great day on the water.  46 fish total, lots of laughs and the new chocolate chip crawdad tube (as I like to call it) was on FIRE!  Thanks again to Chris from Backwoods Angler.  If you ever want to hit the Susquehanna River, Delaware River, Juniata River or ANY body of water Chris and Blaine Mengel Jr. from Backwoods Angler fish, give these guys a call.  I'm absolutely positive you won't regret it.  There website is listed below and thanks to everyone for reading.  Have a great day! - steeler

http://www.backwoodsanglertv.com/

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Hello everyone,

The Vlad & Steeler Show hit the road yet again yesterday.  We decided to give Lake Wallenpaupak a go since local river levels were bordering on NOT TOO SAFE for a prop.  Well, we made the incorrect decision but that's how it goes sometimes.  Don't get me wrong, we landed a couple of fish but nothing to write home about.  Heck, we didn't even take many pictures today.



The winds and white caps made the water treacherous at times but we ALWAYS manage to have a good time.  Thanks to the weather man who said it would only be "breezy!"  The hot air coming from his mouth was breezy.  HaHa  Anyway, we brought in a few small smallmouth, largemouth and pickerel.  Wayne even managed a perch on a tube.  It was a MONSTER.  Wait until you see the picture.


All in all we still had a fun day.  However, we are really starting to wonder why we fish lakes so often.  You river rats have us chomping at the bit to become a member of the River Ration Nation.  Hope everyone is fat and happy from the Turkey Day Holiday.  Enjoy the weekend ....


And here was the MONSTER that Wayne managed to pull in.  Sorry Buddy, had to poke a little fun at you.  Heck, you always do it to me.  I'm sure I'll be able to land a BIG BOY like this some day soon. 


Sunday, November 20, 2011

Seeking MORE smallies on the Susquehanna 11/12/11

Hello everyone,

Sorry this wasn't posted sooner, but my good buddy Wayne and I were back on the Susquehanna River last weekend.  We were in search of these fish the locals call smallies.  HaHa ... 1st cast of the day and WE LANDED A DOUBLE!  OH BOY ... GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY. 

anyway, it was a cold day out there.  Water temps were 42-44 for the most part and the fish just wouldn't cooperate as expected.  We were able to bring in about 20 fish but it certainly didn't meet our expectations.  Oh well ... that's why they call it fishing.  That line is old but until someone coins a new phrase I'll stick with it. 

Wayne's best fish of the day sure was a BEAUTY


This sweetheart was just shy of 20 inches.  I was rather happy to say the least.  :)


Okay, I'm ready to get back on the drink and catch some pretty PIG BEASTS like this.

Another nice CHUNK


And last but not least ... this little guy had only one eye.  It was still good enough to see my tube bait.  Even better news, he will live to see for a long time out of that one eye.  CATCH & RELEASE only!  Thanks for checking out my blog and have a safe and happy TURKEY DAY.  steeler

Friday, October 21, 2011

Susquehanna River Devastation

Hello Steeler Fishin' Fans!  I'm back to follow up on a promise from last week.  My buddy Wayne and I were able to return to the North Branch of the Susquehanna River this week.  Part of our goal was to take some better pictures of the devastation that STILL ravages the river banks - reminding us of these "2011 floods."  We also decided to do a little fishing while there.  Okay, we decided to do alot of fishing.

Nothing like a pretty fish with a BRIDGE in the background!  I know guys get mad for "spot burning" as they call it, but my intention is to show off this pretty fish and OUTSTANDING Pittsburgh Steelers Beanie cap. :)


Another fine specimen that deserves some "air time"


My buddy Wayne sharing a laugh with the smallie.  Honestly, I think Wayne scared this finned fella


Okay, one more nice smallie before we shift gears


And now some of the unfortunate devastation.  I don't think words will be needed after this.  You will see a picnic table 30 feet up in a tree, boats scattered everywhere (apparently washed down stream from many miles north) and houses that didn't get washed away ... but still damaged enough to be condemned.  SAD!

Yes, there is a PICNIC TABLE wedged up in that tree.






Please don't ask what happened here because I'm still NOT sure but ... yes, this smallie got caught in my beanie cap.  Thanks to Wayne we were able to get him unbuttoned and back into the water unscathed. 


Hey, I am a Pittsburgh Steeler fan YOU KNOW! Until next time .... good night!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Susquehanna River Smallmouth Fishing10-8-11

Hello and good evening everyone.  I apologize for neglecting my fishin' blog, but work and family obligations have prevented me from fishing lately.  However, my good buddy Wayne and I were able to get out and hit the North Branch of the Susquehanna River this weekend.  First, let me say WOW .... I'm still attempting to make sense of the devastation these towns up in Northern Pennsylvania have gone through with the recent floodings.  What we observed just didn't make sense - or seem possible.

While traversing the river, we took notice to many different items lodged into trees, some 20-30 feet high.  There were walls, siding, doors, tires, swimming pools, tarps and even a little jon boat crammed in between tree limbs.  I'm sure the squirrels and birds may be happy, but I feel awful for the people of these small communities that are still out of their homes - some forever and others I'm sure for an extended period of time.  It was quite the mixed bag of emotions to say the least.  We were excited to be fishing but it was definitely put on the back burner once our eyes focused in on the damage this area has been hit with. 

I'm still upset with myself because the pictures taken just don't do justice for what we were able to see.  I can honestly say we were so engulfed in our surrounding that pictures were the last thing on our minds.  I managed to take a few and will get some more on our next trip up north.  I'll focus more on the items lodged in the trees and pictures that showed where the mud line or river actually reached up to. 

First fish of the day was quite impressive.  It took about 5 minutes and we had the skunk out of the boat.

This was a house that probably washed down river by the floods.  You can see how high the river came up by looking at the muddy leaves on the trees.

Here is one of Wayne's fish on the day.  We started the day with air temps around 40 degrees and the water in the lower 50's.  By days end the air temperature reached 78 and water temps mid 50's.  Nothing like thermals and beanie caps in the morning and shorts/t-shirts in the afternoon. 


Yes, here is an afternoon fish! We were actually sweating but HEY .... so were the fish!  HAHA


Some type of wall that washed down river and lodged into a tree.  Again, look at the trees to see where the mud line is.  Still can't believe the devastation ....
Apparently these decoy ducks are not too expensive.  The hunters decided to leave one behind so we RESCUED it! It was crying for help.  Not really but we weren't catching fish for awhile and this thing caught our attention.

A trailer that looks to have slid down the bank into the river during the floods.


I'm pointing at this guy because he decided to take a leak on my shirt.  BAD BOY!  Wait ... it's a girl!
This fish was obviously caught in the morning.  It was quite foggy as you can see. 


It's about 70 degrees and I still have a beanie on.  No clue - sorry ... but the fish were still biting. 

It was a good day!  We brought in 47 for the day.  We lost many more and wasted valuable time figuring out a pattern.  After we made the adjustments of finding the right tube color and switched our jig heads from 1/8 to 1/4 oz. we slowed down our presentations and sped up our catch rate. 

Thanks for visiting - I hope to post more good times in the near future. 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The "Vlad & Steeler Show" - live from Lake Wallenpaupak

As some of you already know - I'm an active member of Eastern Pennsylvania Fishing Reports (EPFR).  It's a great site if anyone is interested in checking it out.  If you decide to visit or become a member, you will learn that most of my fishing is done with a good buddy, Wayne (site screen name is Vlad).  Wayne and I have a great time night fishing.  We pretend to have a television show and title our fishing adventures as such.  I post most of my adventures on this site and wanted to share this one from tonight. I hope everyone enjoys - have a good night.  -steeler



Okay, the Vlad & Steeler made its' return this weekend - live from Lake Wallenpaupak.  Wayne arrived to my house Friday night at 10:00PM and we hit the road to the Pack!  After prepping the boat, our gear, rods, lure selections for the evening (makes things easier when lures are laying out on the deck of the boat), etc. we were fishin' by 12:30AM or so.  We tried hitting a shoreline that has been productive in the past but NO LUCK!  We decided to go to our second location and ..... BANG

Not sure of the weight and length but she was a hefty critter.  Any thoughts on how big she is ladies and germs? We fished this island for about another hour and then ... BANG - I hooked into her gorgeous twin sister


By this time, I was quite the happy camper the "eyes" came out to co-star on the "Vlad & Steeler Show."  The bite picked up after this second walleye.  We boated numerous dink smallmouth, largemouth and rock bass.  Then BANG ... Wayne hooked into this pretty gal


Even funnier was the face Wayne made after this pretty gal decided to take a flop on the boat.  She was quite the feisty one!  Wayne hurried, gave her a hug and dipped her back into the drink


A little while later, I found her little sister eating popcorn and watching the "Vlad & Steeler Show" on Versus.  You know, we come on right after Blaine.  Cough ... cough!   ;D



All in all we had a great time again up north at the PACK.  We boated around 15 fish from 12:30AM to 8:00AM.  We also had several follows by nice fish, lost one or two nice ones (that's the norm with us) and had a giant bear try to jump on the boat.  Okay, I'm fibbing about the bear but the bats were out in full force that night.  For some reason, the bats kept trying to land on Wayne's head.   ;D

steeler



Monday, August 1, 2011

Ocean City, MD updated pictures

Good evening Bloggers.  I just received a few NEW pictures from Ocean City, MD and wanted to share.  I hope you enjoy - again, it was an AWESOME vacation.

Here was another of our decent collection of flounder.  They pail in comparison to a 6 lb. largemouth but that's just fine in my book!  It was a heck of a vacation.

Again, these ugly little sea robin critters are something else.

My fishin' buddy for the week (Paul) with his "beaut" of a tuna.

Hey, there was a "Dew Tour" this week in Ocean City, MD (see the bottom right of the picture) but the fishin' was much better.  

One of the coolest moments of the trip was when 4 dolphins came within 5 feet of the boat.  We were on our way out to go crabbin' in the bay.  Good stuff

Hope you enjoyed as usual and GOOD NIGHT!  

steeler