bulletbob

Understood.. Thats similar to fishing the Finger Lakes for ""silvers""..[I despise that term].. Suspended fish, usually mid depths, typically near bait thats moving, or near preferred temp. The perfect scenario for trolling, or for jigging with high end scopes and spot lock that let you see individual fish, stay on them, and watch how the fish reacts.. I get it.. Thats the reason why I still consider it a good day catching a laker or two, and the rare "silver", while guys with the live scopes and spot lock are jigging 40 lakers a day, and catching rainbows, browns, landlocks with them... Trolling has always been the best way to catch a lot of suspended fish, and some things don't change much... bob

If the fish are in that thick and that aggressive, I can't understand the need to troll with downriggers or use wire line dipseys , lead core etc and the necessary heavy tackle.. Why doesn't anyone use one handed bass tackle and say a jig and minnow or jig and worm, or heavy jigging spoons, or my personally favorite for lake trout jigging, a 1 oz blade bait.. Its all trolling all the time at Lake Erie it seems, but with those types of numbers, it would seem that jigging might also be a good option for guys that are not all that big on trolling.. Or how about a bottom rig drifted with a big minnow through the lips ,or whole nightcrawler for those that would rather fish with bait and not jig.. I guess I just don't understand all trolling all the time when there are that many Walleyes out there... bob

Jigging, using a blade bait.. My grandson's first ever. A Laker was on his bucket list but we are not really set up for "proper" jigging these days[top of the line FF ,Spot Lock etc].. However, we got a few just at daybreak, me first with a 4 lb rainbow, then his 4lb Laker, then me with an estimated 5 lb Laker[released], and then he lost another laker on top,,Not hot action, it seldom is for us on these giant lakes, but it showed him you can catch nice fish with simple methods, you just need some patience and some luck with lake conditions.. For decades I fished alone on the Fingers, but these days I have a regular partner that NEVER complains when its slow or the weather is bad.. he simply wants to be out there with me..

what did you catch him on?... from what I have read, they don't hit lures much, and are not even readily caught on cut bait.. Supposedly, they greatly prefer live bait.. Others have told me they hit cut bait just fine, and my grandson caught his on a jig, and guys I know have also caught them on jigs. just wondering...

No they have been in Maryland, Pa, and NJ for years in the susquehanna. it was going to happen sooner or later.. Problem is they eat everything, andf the last thing that river needs is another big eating machine.. River already has a huge population of channel cats, Muskies, and the Flatheads out eat both of those... The walleye and SMB populations were already stressed, and something that gets huge and can eat lots of them can't be a good thing.. Walleyes especially are way down in population.. at one time it was nothing to catch 10-20 small sub 10 inch walleyes in an hour,, They were everywhere, and you could not get away from them sometimes, rushing to your lure before the big ones.. Then over a few years, we noticed that the smaller juvenile walleyes that drove us crazy were gone, and mature fish became less abundant each year, until last year, ALL year, our catch for the entire year was 3 fish.. This year to date we have caught one... Something has stressed the population badly. of both SMB and Walleyes.. Flatheads can't be helping..bob

as I stated in the heading of my post, its a Flathead Catfish...

They were confirmed a year ago maybe 2 through an angler photo as being present in the NY section of the susquehanna, but I was hoping it was an anomaly.. Its not, we caught one on a jig around Barton/Tioga a few days ago.. Not real big, maybe 3 pounds, but these things are bad news, they eat everything, and the last thing needed in that river is another species that is basically an eating machine that grows plenty big enough to eat gamefish such as bass and the already badly depleted walleye.. Ugly SOB- Kind of like a huge flattened out Bullhead with a bigger mouth, wider head, more "toadlike" appearance, and a very mottled brown and greenish black color... Just another in a long line of unwanted, unneeded ,destructive species that somehow just appeared where they don't belong...bob

Thats my fishing strategy these days..Same goes for my fishing partner who is with me each and every trip.. 3-4 hour quick trips, Ice cream or fast food burgers after... Gone are the 4 am wakeups, looking for game fish only, latest and greatest lures and techniques, color sonar, spot lock, run and gun... We are enjoying it more and more, and our results have been pretty consistent.. At the beginning or end of each trip, I get and arm around my waist and a head on my shoulder and a gentle loving voice saying, "thanks for taking me papa", or sometimes, "well it wasn't the best trip, but that doesn't matter,we had fun and we're together".. Pretty wise young man, for a boy that just hit 13..btw, look at the size of that bullhead he caught [me holding it for the pic] damn thing was almost 2 feet long.. The Bluegill?.. 3 of them at 9 1/2 to 10 inches, all at 8 /10 of a pound.. They fight like hell.. Carp was 3 feet and as big around as a football, pic doesn't come close to doing it justice.. Walleyes caught last November from shore in Susquehanna River, on small plastics, something we only do in fall in the river.. Most of the time, its worm and bobber, or worm and small sinkers on bottom, and for us, the fishing is better than ever...

Understood, but in my opinion, a trout derby in a stream where they are spawning, and where there are fresh redds is not the best way to get kids to love fishing.. I always did that with a little spincast rod, some worms and bobbers, and the kids would catch big sunnies, perch, rock bass, and quite a few LM and SM bass.. again, just my opinion.. I say let the fish procreate, and leave their eggs intact.. too many feet in that stream... bob

yeah, I am not a fisherman thats into fishing tournaments at all,, Just not my bag..However, I know lots of guys live for them.. Personal taste and all that.... however, a tournament in a natal stream where rainbow trout are spawning??..not my idea of sound fisheries planning/management. Whatever, its a local tradition, I get it... That creek gets hit hard on opening day... Might be better rainbow trout fishing in Canandaigua if the stream wasn't so mobbed first week of the season.. Just never been a fan of pressuring any game fish when they are spawning.

so, are there actually tournaments for trout that are spawning in the feeder creeks?.. Is that a thing???

susquehanna walleyes MY 12 yo grandson loves fishing with me, and I take him as often as I possibly can, as I am not getting around well these days. We have been bank fishing the susquehanna here in NY, and doing pretty well on SMB this fall.. Good numbers of fish on jigs, but size has been really lacking past few years and a 13 incher now is a real good one.. he has desperately wanted to catch a Walleye, but they have been decimated in the NY section of the river, and down into Pa. as well.. I had not caught a single one past 2 years in dozens of trips, and neither has anyone else. So last week while fishing for SMB, my young partner starts screaming he has a Pike.. I go running on the precarious rocks to help, about 50 yards or so, and he is flipping out,, Its a pretty good Walleye-22 inches 3 1/2 pounds.. A huge thrill for him as its his first keeper walleye ever.. Only fish we took home that day.. So of course, now he wants to go again, and despite being in a lot of pain I take him again this past saturday.. Again, we pick a few smaller SMB to about 12 inches, but no great shakes.. Water is getting cold up here, and the bass are shutting down. Just before we are ready to leave he hangs a serious fish, right next to me.. a BIG walleye. Again,screaming,laughing, jumping up and down, pictures etc.. Not 5 minutes later I get a big fish on as well, another big Walleye.. He seems just as that his old papa caught one, as he was catching his own, laughing,jumping,etc,Anyway, we did take them both home with us.. Yes the population is down in the river, and we both know that.. I just didn't have the heart to not let him take the fish he had been dreaming about catching for the past few years,,his was 25 inches, 6 pounds, mine was 24 and 5.. They didn't go to waste,, He , myself, his sister and parents all ate and enjoyed them.. I felt really awful that they were both big females loaded with eggs,, Now that he has caught 2 this year, I will release any we catch at least for the next few years... They are not the first fish I took home and felt bad about it... I dunno, maybe someone can relate.. Seeing those fish he had wanted so badly to catch, I took fish I would normally let go.. I typically don't take anything home except sunnies/perch/rock bass these days, and it was nice to have some big fish to eat for a change, but still seeing those big roe sacs, and knowing I could have helped out a badly depleted population if only by a fish or two . My grandson knows that now that he has caught a couple Walleyes, that they will be released from here on,at least for a while... Strange situation- Feeling happy my grandson caught and actually got to eat Walleyes that he's been talking about catching and eating for years, and then feeling awful that they were loaded with eggs that would have been dropped and fertilized in 3 or 4 months...