Night Trollin' ... and hoping there's no ICE 12/28/13

As 2013 was coming to a close my buddy and I decided to give Beltzville Lake one last try.  Yes, we always hear the stories "you can't catch stripers in water below 40 degrees."  Hey, myths are meant to be proven wrong - right?  Anyway, our biggest concern was ice covering the launch at Beltzville.  We checked in with local forums but nobody could help us out.  It's only a half an hour ride, so we took a chance and made the trip north.  GOOD CALL on our parts.  Water temperatures ranged from 36-38.  Air temperatures hovered in the low 30's.  We trolled around the lake for a few hours and boated 3 stripers and 2 pickerel.  We also lost another 2 or 3 fish.  Those guys wanted to wait to take pictures with us in 2014.  :)

Happy Holidays everyone.  Thanks for checking out my blog!  Here's to great fishin' in 2014!

steeler

In search of BIG stripers 11/30/13

My buddy Chad and I decided to hit Beltzville Lake November 30, 2013.  We figured the BIG stripers should be ready to bite by now.  We fished from 5:00 to 1:00AM.  Water temps hovered around 43 degrees.  The air temps hit 32 degrees when the sun went down.  Good thing we had a big bag of hand warmers to shove into our gloves, pockets, etc.  The bite was slow but Chad was able to hook  into a 14 lb. striper.  It took awhile to get this guy in but this is why we fish the DEAD SEA!  In total, Chad came out with 2 stripers.  I was sentenced to a skunking.  However, Chad's fish made up for that.  Great night!

Unfortunately, this BIG guy completely swallowed the crankbait and wasn't able to be released.

Chad brought this guy in trollilng a crankbait in 34 feet of water!  Thanks for reading.  See you on the water soon.  Time to catch some December fish.  - steeler

Hello, my name is steeler and I'm a fishaholic!

The plan was to hit the Susquehanna this Saturday, November 16, 2013.  You know the routine - leave my house at 4:00AM and hit the water at first light.  Why is it that plans rarely go as planned?  HAHA ... My buddy Chad fell asleep Friday night and didn't throw his fishing gear in the dryer.  He attempted to do so at 3:30AM only to discover his dryer "kicked the bucket!"  I'm thinking this was a sign of things to come.  However, my name is steeler and I'm a fishaholic!  Chad threw his clothes in my dryer and we finally left around 7:00AM.  We were on the water by 9:00AM!  Too bad the fish weren't ready to take pictures.

Fishing was so tough we had to place "rally tubes" in our beanies!  When times are tough, the tough wear "rally tubes" in their beanies.  Water temps ranged from 38-40.  The water was gin clear and blue bird skies hovered above.  Uggggh!  We fished from 10:00 to 4:00 and landed ONLY 7 fish!  It was heart-breaking!

Here are a few shots from the worst day I've ever had on the North Branch of the Susquehanna River:

We tossed jerkbaits, "little spanky's", crankbaits and about 10 different color tubes.  This one like the orange w/purple flake.  On the way home we decided that we didn't get our money's worth and decided to hit Beltzville Lake.  We only stayed for two hours or so but it was worth it.  I lost a nice walleye at the boat in the first 10 minutes.  Then we hooked into these gals:

I know many people would be happy with this haul.  However, this was one of the toughest days this year.  I will give it another try soon!  I'm guessing it's time to concentrate on stripers for a little.  I'm ready to go now!  Thanks for reading.  Hope you enjoyed!  - steeler

Chasing 40 on my 40th

This Thursday, November 7, 2013 I turned 40 years old.  As many of you know, there is no other way I'd like to celebrate this occasion than spending a day chasing smallmouth bass.  This birthday was special in more ways than one.  I was joined on this trip by Tavion - my 14 year old son.  I almost lost my "scruples" when my Tavion said he would join me fishing this weekend.  Does it get any better than this?

We hooked up the boat and headed for the North Branch of the Susquehanna at 4:00AM.  Yes, my son slept the entire way.  However, if that's all it takes for him to join dad for a day of fishing ....so be it!  We arrived to the ramp around 6:30 and were in the water by 7:00.  Air temperature was 26 degrees.  Water temperatures started at 38 and rose to 41 as the day went on.  Within the first 3 minutes, there was a fish in the boat.  Yes, let the pictures begin.

Our day ended at 4:00PM.  I had to get my son back to attend a party with his girlfriend.  Pop earned a bunch of "COOL" points for this.  Maybe he will join me again one day soon!  Thanks for reading ....

steeler

Night Stalkin' Stripers 11/2/13

Due to my buddy OVER SLEEPING this morning (I won't say any names CHAD), we reverted to Plan B and stalked some stripers Saturday night.  It was a beautiful start to the night.  The fish weren't biting just yet but it sure was a pretty sunset:

Once the sun went down, it was COLD out there.  The fishing gods rewarded our efforts with 4 fish this evening.  Yes, it was a slow night.  However, sometimes QUALITY is better than QUANTITY.  All of our fish were caught on lipless crankbaits.  NOTHING else seemed to work.  

Here's my 10lb. 28 inch striper

and here are my buddy's other 3 fish:

Until next time ...... steeler

Vlad & Steeler Show - Fall Smallie Bassin' 10/19/13

October 19, 2013 and the "Vlad & Steeler Show" returns with live footage from the North Branch of the Susquehanna River.  It's been quite some time since Vlad and I have been able to chase some smallmouth.  Needless to say, we were happier than kids in a candy store.

Water temperatures were in the low 60's and there was a minor stain to the water.  In total, we pulled between 30-35 fish to the boat.  As usual, there were a few stragglers that managed to come unbuttoned boat side.  It just wasn't their time to take a picture and appear on the show.  :)

Anyway, it was great to get back out there with a good buddy.  We used tubes, cranks and jerbaits to entice all fish today.  Here are a few pictures from our day:                       

GREAT DAY ON THE WATER WAYNE!  Hope to get back out there soon!

Labor Day DRIFTING 9/1/2013

What better way to celebrate the Labor Day weekend then fishing the Susquehanna River?  I can't think of many off the top of my head!  I hooked up with a fellow EPFR member PA PACO and we drifted a beautiful stretch of the North Branch from 6:00AM - 1:00PM.  Here was our method of transportation for this fishing adventure:

It was an outstanding day on the water!  I honestly don't know how many bass we caught.  There were too many distractions.  One of those "distractions" was spending 15 minutes bringing this 31 inch carp to the boat:

There was another "distraction" and it was PA PACO's 24 inch catfish:

Then were these irritating smallmouth bass that kept "distracting" us!  HAHA!  

  

We didn't hook into the size we hoped to while fishing for smallmouths but thankfully there were a few othere species willing to cooperate.  I won't talk about that possible citation smallie that spit my hook and laughed on her way back down into the water.  All in all, it was a great day on the drink!  All fish were caught on tubes today.  We were stubborn when it came to change.  Besides, why change when something is working? 

After our initial float, my brother (ST. DOT on EPFR) came up the campsite with his son.  The four of us went back out for a few hours.  Again, we hooked into a bunch of fish.  Not much in the way of HEFT but still fun!  Here is my nephew's first Susquehanna smallmouth:

Yep, that's us floating along in the background!  Too bad ST. DOT caught the skunk today.  Still, having your son catch a fish is PRICELESS!  

Other highlights of this trip included a bald eagle watching our every move and PA PACO's dog Rita stealing my stinky socks!  Thanks for visiting my blog!  See you soon - steeler

 

This I-phone picture doesn't do this bird justice.  It was right above our heads!

Beltzville Bassin' 8/13/13

On short notice, my brother and I decided to fish Beltzville Lake on 8/13/13.  We were on the water by 5:00AM and immediately got into some fish.  I brought in the first largemouth on a spinnerbait.  Steve followed up with two largemouth bass on jerkbaits.  We were in 10-15 feet of water fishing the weed edge. Yes, it was pouring on us!  No matter ... we are fishermen!
                                        

                           

Steve then struck slime with this feisty little pickerel!  

After that the fishing got TOUGH!  We decided to change our thought process and headed for the rocks.  It was time to chase some smallmouth bass with various plastics from Wacky Worm.  It didn't take long before Steve hooked into this gorgeous FISH

This largemouth weighed in at an even 5lbs.  The picture just doesn't do this fish justice.  I'm telling you ... it's sort of like going to a Penn State Football game in person after always watching on TV.  HaHa!  Yes, Steve caught the bigger fish today.  I was having a dinkfest for most of the morning.  Lost something HUGE near the dam.  It attacked my spinnerbait and cut the line before flopping and shouting at me "NOT THIS TIME SUCKER!"   I may have used a bad word about 2 or 3 times over the next hour.  Okay, it was around 31 times in 30 minutes - but who is counting? 

Anyway, I lost another big smallmouth later in the morning before finally landing this decent girl:

We probably boated around 15 fish.  It's a shame because the day had great potential and started off excellent.  However, once the rain stopped, the bite became difficult.  It didn't help that we lost another 7-8 fish during the course of the day.

We spent a few hours fishing deep and shady water.  We even wandered back into some coves looking for colder feeder streams.  After awhile, we packed it in happy with our catch for a mid August day on the DEAD SEA!  Thanks for viewing

steeler

Delaware River / Dingman's Ferry 8/2/13

This past weekend, I was invited up to the Poconos to do some fishing.  We started off by fishing Shohola Lake on Friday, August 2, 2013.  We were able to land a bunch of dink largemouth and 1 pickerel but NOTHING to write home about.  The fun started as we fished the Delaware River on Saturday, August 3rd and Sunday, August 4th.  Both days we spent approximately 6-7 hours chasing smallmouth bass.  Our baits of choice were tubes, jerkbaits, swimbaits and my trust Dai' Buzz Bait.  Here are some of the pictures:

The date should read August 4, 2013.  Sorry for the mixup!  

Thanks for being such a gracious host Paul!  I had a blast and look forward to doing it again.  Here are a few more pictures from our weekend.  Hope you enjoyed this brief post of fishing on the Delaware River.  

   

On another note, I was a little worried about fishing this part of Pennsylvania.  Paul's neighbors can be quite scary.  Please check this link out.  You won't be sorry 

http://wnep.com/2012/11/21/route-209-reopens-to-drivers/

Thanks for checking out my blog - steeler

2013 Father's Day Night Fishin' - "An Eight Hour Tour"

For those of you that KNOW me, 3 hours of fishing is comparable to a fat kid getting a freezie pop from the ice cream truck.  It's just not enough!  Don't get me wrong, I loved the time with my family earlier in the day.  It's priceless, and I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING.  However, I need some more fishing time.  It's my leisurely passion!

@ 2:00 my buddy Chad asks if we can fish Beltzville tonight.  I explained that we were just walking in the door from a short morning trip ... BUT SURE!  9:30PM and I was on the water again.  Water temps were hovering around 68 degrees.  Our goal was to hook into a few stripers!

The night was calm for the most part and the stripers were the only things making noise as they rustled up the alewives against the banks.  We sat around and tossed right dab smack in the middle of them while it lasted.

It's simply amazing how feisty these little critters are!  My rod was nearly doubled under the boat on numerous occasions tonight.  The size hasn't been the same as in years past, but the numbers are still there.  (Don't get me wrong, I'll take 4lb. and 5 lb. stripers any day of the week).  You just have to find what they want!  Tonight, we were able to do that!

We were even rewarded with a few BONUS fish tonight!

Chad only landed 1 fish tonight but this WALLEYE made his night.

P.S. Always stay awake on the ride home, or you face the high possibility of starring in pictures like this:

We boated between 10-12 stripers, 2 smallmouth bass and a walleye tonight.  NOT TO SHABBY for the DEAD SEA!

Note: This post is dedicated to Abel DeLuna.  Abel was one of 47 seniors that just graduated Lincoln Leadership Academy.  Abel drowned earlier today at a swim party for our seniors.  Abel was an outstanding young man and a  member of our first ever graduating class,   You will NEVER be forgotten.  Rest in Peace Abel

steeler