Cold Water Fishin' the Delaware Water Gap

Checked another one off my BUCKET list today.  HaHa!  I was lucky enough to spend this 1st day of December (2012) with fellow EPFR member, Chris Gorsuch (Darkside).  It was my first time ever fishing the Delaware Water Gap, so you know the deal.  I was like a kid at Christmas!

However, these New Jersey smallmouths are a bit more stubborn then their cousins from Pennsylvania.  We were ONLY able to boat 3 fish in about 5 hours.  I'm 100% certain the 35-36 degree water temperatures had a lot to do with this.  Chris and I both had 2 other bass hooked, but the snowy banks just didn't want that many pictures of these good lookin' fish today.  Yep, we lost them!

Despite the lack of cooperation from these gorgeous finned specimens, it was still a great day to be out fishing.  The air temperatures hovered around 31-32 degrees, but it was not all that bad.  We were both bundled up pretty well.  Warm clothes, a ski mask and the possibility of  catching fish usually keeps me warm!  

Thanks again for getting me out on the drink today Chris!  Much appreciated.  Again, if you want to check Chris out just Google "Backwoods Angler TV" and check out all of his informative episodes. Time to hit the sack!  Hope everyone enjoyed this adventure.  Happy Holidays!

P.S. These are my first ever smallmouth bass caught in the month of December!  Wonder if I can catch some in January?  - Steeler

Tip of the day - Always fish the 3rd or 4th day of a warming trend during the COLD winter months!  Not the last day of the cold front like we did.  Haha!  Just another good tip from Chris I'll be storing away for future trips.

North Branchin' for SMALLmouth Bass 11/10/12

For many months now, I've been telling my buddy Rich we would hit the North Branch for some small mouth  bass.  This past weekend the stars aligned, the mooned didn't matter because we fished during the day and the mush mouth bite was on!  Haha!  The fish didn't cooperate as well as expected ... and we couldn't find the BIG ones, but it was a great time.  All in all we collected 38 fine specimens from the Susquehanna River.  Rich even had a scratch 40 inch muskie about 5 feet from the boat.  All fish (including the muskie) were caught on tubes this trip.  We fished many deep holes, shallow banks and eddies thanks to some great trips from Chris Gorsuch of Backwoods Anglers.  Thanks again for all your help Chris.  It is appreciated! Nothing like turning another buddy into a River Rat!  Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Something almost had this guy for dinner not too long ago!  He was released yet again to live another day!

steeler

How to Capture that Trophy Fish in a Picture

I'm probably posting this more for my own viewing, but my fishing has gone statewide.  :0   I was out fishing with Chris Gorsuch from Backwoods Angler last season.  I've been on a few trips with Chris and nothing gets better than this.  I'm like a kid on Christmas morning while traveling to meet up with him.  Chris takes incredible pictures and included one of mine in an article he writes for the PA Boater & Fishing Magazine.  First, I'd like to say a BIG thank you to Chris for making my day.  Second, if you ever need a professional guide, look Mr. Gorsuch up through Backwoods Angler.

 Two years ago, we were out on the Susquehanna River and pulled in 166 fish in about 8 hours of fishing.  Chris takes awesome pictures and always puts his guests first.  If you have the opportunity, look him up.  You won't regret it!

P.S. This article is in the November/December issue of 2012.  It tells all about How to Capture that Trophy Fish in a Picture.  Some great advice is in this article folks.  Thanks and have a great night!
steeler

Slammin' Smallies with ST. DOT 10/2012

Well, it's that time of year again.  The leaves, air and water temperatures are falling faster than the offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  This can mean only ONE THING!  It's time to hit the Susquehanna River for some smallmouth bass action.  Mid October is always a fun time, and I was FINALLY able to convince my brother to get out and fish this gorgeous river for the first time in his life.

Let me start by saying the weather gods could have been just a little more friendly.  We fished with a constant bow in our lines from the wind. The sporadic rainfalls were troublesome.  However, we were able to "grin and fish" it.  The action was pretty constant throughout the day.  We managed to land 65 fish total.  However, we probably lost another 25-30.  I'm guessing part of this was the "Walmart" brand jig heads we had to pick up at the last moment.  The wind also made it extremely tough to feel the mush mouth bites. Anyway, here are a few fish from the day.  Tubes, Jerk Baits and Spinner Baits were the ticket today.

This was not the biggest fish of the day, but can you see why they call em footballs this time of year?

My brother was able to edge me by 4 fish 35-31.  Safe to say we will be hitting the river again soon!

                                           We managed to bring in 4 DOUBLES on the day!

The water looks calm in the background but it was more like the Atlantic Ocean at times today.

Yes, we caught enough fish to have some fun and make the pictures a little more interesting!  HAHA

Another beautiful CHUNKER from the Good OLE Susquehanna River!

 This was a solid fish but Steve was able to land most of the BIGGER GALS today!  Hey, he is used to bringing in the bigger girls though.

Only 1 of the 65 fish caught today had black spots!  It's good to see percentages like this!  Hope you had fun viewing.

steeler

It's been a long time since my last post and I do apologize.  I've been extremely busy with family and work  obligations.  However, here is some new reading material .....  finally.  My brother and I decided to take a trip to Lake Wallenpaupak this weekend.  It was definitely a good call on our parts.  

Like Franki Vallie and the 4 Seasons would say "Oh What a Night!"  Yes, I'm showing my age by remembering this song    However, it was "stripers" we were after this past Saturday, September 22, 2012.  We still had stinky fingers, but everything we caught didn't result in a trip to the local emergency room.  It's been a long time since my last post.  Hopefully, there will be a few more coming soon
  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD7LNDLKfWY 

Anyway, we decided with the oncoming cold front and dropping temperatures, we might fall into a few stripers and walleye this weekend.  Well, we were right!  In a span of about ONE (1) hour (probably 9:30-10:30PM) we ran into THE FRENZY!  We caught about 10 stripers and 2 walleye in this short period of time.  The action was so incredible that Steve actually had a striper take him under the boat and jump out of the water on the other side.  I've never seen it before, but it sure was pretty fun.  Hell, at one point, I said "all we need now is to hit a walleye" and then BAM!  The "eyes" decided to join our little fishing reunion.  Enjoy the pictures.  Again, hopefully we will be able to get out again next Saturday.  Good times on the drink Steve! 

Sorry for the quality of pictures this trip.  I forgot the digital camera at home and had to rely on the Iphone.

steeler

The "Vlad, Steeler & Chico" SHOW 3/24/12

Hello Steeler Fishin' nation!  Yeah, I know there are only like 6 people that read my blog, but we can pretend there are more, right? The Vlad & Steeler SHOW finally returned to the studios this past weekend.  We hit the road and wound up on the NORTH branch of the Susquehanna River - again.  I'm going to try and keep this story short as my NEW little guy (Kaden Matthew George) was born February 19, 2012. 

3:30AM - Vlad shows up in front of my house.  Hey, who is this puppy that is along for the ride?  Yep, it's CHICO ... Wayne's best doggie dog friend.  3:45AM - We are on the turnpike.  6:00AM - We launch onto the Susquehanna River.  And so the journey begins ... Wayne (Vlad) starts off the morning with a nice smallie

Please take notice to Wayne's NEW eye glass protection.  I'm guessing he was trying to match that cool hat!
It's now my turn to get on the board and as you can see ... Chico likes the taste of fresh fish. 

Water temperatures this morning started at 56 degrees.  It was pretty stable throughout most of the day.  The fishing was quite tough because of the wind we battled all day long.  We are not QUITTERS!  Besides, that's one helluva ride to our destination.  Besides, we wouldn't have it any other way. 

We didn't catch much in size today.  We were able to land about 30 fish total and even a few walleyes to boot.  Overall, we probably lost about 10-15 fish.  Some were missed because of the bow in our line created by the wind.  Some simply came unbuttoned.  Our theory was the jigs weren't too sharp.  Doesn't help that we caused this by jamming them into boulders all day long. We will sharpen our hooks next time out.  Tubes were the bait of choice today.  We used about 6 or 7 different colors to bring in fish.  Here is one of the walleyes that decided to pick up my tube. 

Here is another walleye that was cruising along looking to grub.  This guy was quite small but nonetheless a pleasure to land.  As you can see, Chico had plenty of room to roam around the boat today. 

The rain started in on us later in the afternoon, the wind chill smacked us in the face and fishin became hard work.  All of a sudden the bite just stopped COLD.  We tried changing up, fishing slower, etc. but nothing.  It's funny how mother nature can decide that we had enough fun and decides to throw us a curveball.

Yep, here is the aforementioned curveball.  Look closely and you will see that CHICO has two hooks stuck in him.  One in his foot and one in his hind quarter.  All was well until we put the boat on the trailer.  Chico decided to run up front and stepped onto a BIG jerkbait.  The first hook entered his left paw and Chico flipped out.  Chico proceeded to flail and try to rid the hook but only caught it in his hind quarter.  Now his two legs were stuck together.  Wayne tried to get it out but Chico bit him!  So much for man's best friend ..... but you can hardly blame the poor puppie.  We eventually calmed Chico down and broke the lure.  This freed his legs momentarily so we could find a local vet.  30 minutes and about $250 bucks later Chico was sedated and hook free thanks to the nice ladies in the Towanda Animal Hospital.   

It was a  LONG day but we had fun as usual.  Too bad the wind made it difficult to feel the fish bite at times.  We did manage to catch many fish in the 12-14 inch range.  That's a great sign of things to come.  Now we have to get back out there and find a few HEFFERS.  Here are a few more pictures from our trip

Thanks for tuning in everyone.  We had a blast out there fishing.  Hope you had a blast reading about our adventures.  Time to go check in on my new little guy.  Fishing is great but it's nothing like becoming a daddy again. I just have to keep up on the "honey do" list so my fishing trips can continue.