Our First Fishing Adventure of 2014

largemouth-bass-2014

I took my son fishing the other day and it was a nice sunny spring day.

He was disappointed since he didn’t catch anything. But he spent more time trying to figure out how to use his new spinning rod and reel combo than anything else. Lots of “bird’s nests” with the string and I had to help him many times to get the string untangled.  🙂

He was using bread and a bobber to try to catch some sunnies, but the fish just wouldn’t do anything more than nibble.

However, Dad was successful on our first outing of the year!

I managed to catch a small sun-fish, a large-mouth bass and a white perch. And I was using my trusted old “best spring fishing lure” – the Hildebrandt flicker spinner.

Its a size 1 and very small, but the flickering and spinning motion drives the fish wild. If you’re interested in picking one up, you can find them on Amazon – here. (Don’t pay attention to the picture on amazon, it doesn’t have a feather on the hook!) You can see the lure if you click on my picture above to see the full sized picture.

Our fishing was done after about 90 minutes and we determined to change the string in my son’s reel to get a more limp string that won’t tangle so much.

So for all you fishing “pros” out there, what fishing line do you prefer or use. I’m interested in trying something new!

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your input and I’ll catch you later!

white-perch-2014

For more Freshwater fishing adventures, click here.

 

The NJ DEP’s Environmental Expo 2013

Once again, we headed off to the NJ DEP’s FREE “WILD OUTDOOR EXPO’’ on Sunday the 15th of September 2013.

It had been 2 years since we last went, so I thought I knew how to get there! Silly me! I plugged in “Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area” into Google maps and away we went! You know, you can’t always trust Google maps, right? So as we’re heading down a dirt road going farther away from civilization, and we see a gray fox, my wife’s starts to get scared and closes all  the windows!  🙂 When the GPS says you have reached your destination, I’m thinking to myself, “I should have read that PDF on the DEP website that had the directions!

There was already someone else at “the destination” who looked lost, so I asked if they wanted to follow me and once we got cell phone reception back, I’d get the directions from the website. They agreed and we turned around to start our 2 mile dirt road trek out of the wilderness. While heading back, we passed 6 more cars going the wrong way and they too turned around and became part of our caravan! Suffice it to say, “lesson learned”! I will use the directions that the DEP provides from now on!

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/newsrel/2013/13_0086.htm

We finally arrived at the Expo and had a truly wonderful experience. My ten year old son loved it and we had some excellent burgers while there! Even my wife had a good time.

My son had accidentally broken the tip of his fishing rod on our last fishing trip, so we got him a new rig at the Expo – for a very nice Expo price!

I took some pictures to share with you:

Hope to see you there next year!

Catch you later.

Editor Note: I know this is posted a little late, but I had problems getting the pictures off of my phone’s camera.

 

 

 

First Freshwater Fish Catch of 2013

Just wanted to do a quick update from yesterdays post.

We dug up some worms, took some bread, and lures and off we went fishing!

It was a beautiful day but it became cloudy while we were fishing – perfect conditions to catch some fish!

My son started out using bread and a bobber. His first cast and he caught a white perch!

Here’s a picture of it:

 first freshwater fish catch of 2013

We fished for over an hour and our final tally was 4 white perch and 1 sunny!

All in all it wasn’t a bad start to the new fishing year!

Catch you later!

NJ Fishing License For 2013

Just bought my 2013 NJ resident Fishing License today!

Yes, I know I’m a little late … but better late than never!

So if you’re looking for the site to get a NJ fishing license, go here:

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/als/websalesintro.htm

Going fishing for the first time this year with my son, so wish me luck.

Hey if you fish in NJ and would like to know if it’s safe to eat any of the fish you catch, please read the information at this page:

http://www.fishsmarteatsmartnj.org

Catch you later!

Garden State Outdoor Sports Show

garden state outdoor sports show

Hi there!

I just received an e-mail that I wanted to share with you about the upcoming Garden State Outdoor Sports Show.

Here are the contents:

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Garden State Deer Classic is slated for January 10 – 13, 2013 as part of the Garden State Outdoor Sports Show taking place at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, NJ. 

This year’s display and show promises to be the best ever. Continuing on the success of last year’s program, the newly refurbished Deer Classic and Division of Fish and Wildlife display will be a focal point for the show. To complement the already high quality vendor and educational seminar line-up, the Show has added several new attractions like the 3D Archery Tournament and Kids Zone, which are sure to excite the outdoor enthusiast.

Again this year, the show is pleased to provide two very good reasons to purchase admission tickets online:

-For every ticket sold online, the show is donating $1.00 to New Jersey’s Hunters Helping the Hungry (HHH). HHH is a non-profit organization working with regional food banks that enables hunters to donate venison to the needy while addressing the overpopulation of deer in New Jersey. Purchasing an online ticket is a great way to support Hunters Helping the Hungry so it can continue to provide hunter donated venison to people in need.

-Along with the show ticket, online ticket purchasers are being offered a 1 year subscription to a choice of Field & Stream, Caribbean Travel & Life, Outdoor Life or Popular Science magazine.

To take advantage of this great offer purchase tickets online at http://osg.ticketleap.com/garden-state/t/HHH13/

Did you catch that?!? You can get a free subscription to Field and Stream or Outdoor Life just by purchasing your tickets online!  Not a bad deal!

If you’ve never been to one of these shows, take the family and make a day of it, you’ll have a great time. They are informative and lots of fun!

Take care and I’ll catch you later!

Another Huge Largemouth Bass Caught!

Texas Largemouth Bass

I was reading through a post made at the World Fishing Network today that I thought you’d be interested in reading.

It seems that a very large largemouth bass was caught and released back into the wild through a program called the “Toyota Sharelunker”.

Turns out the fish was caught about a year ago and it has grown since it was first caught!

Check out the article:

 

 

Huge Largemouth Bass Caught In Texas

 

 

The Toyota Sharelunker program sounds like a great idea that every state could use.

What do you think? Drop me a comment down below?

Thanks and I’ll catch you later!

 

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How Is Your Knowledge of Fish As Food?

I received an article in my inbox the other day that I thought I’d share with you all.

The e-mail was titled: “Fish Fact and Fiction” and came from WebMD.

Being the freshwater fisherman that I am, my curiosity was picqued! So I opened the e-mail and there was a link to the article (or so I thought).

It actually was a link to a quiz! I took the quiz – there are 17 questions – and got 3 wrong!  I guess that’s not too bad!

So with that, here is the link for you to check out the quiz and see just how much you know about the benefits of eating fish!

Fish Fact and Fiction

If you’re brave enough to take the quiz, please post your results in the comments section!

Have a great day and I’ll catch you later.

Trout Fishing In NJ

This just in from the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife!

(Just another reason to get a trout stamp for fishing in New Jersey.)  🙂

Did you know that all of the trout New Jersey stocks during fall and winter measure 14 inches to 24 inches and weigh one and a half pounds to eight pounds? If not, you’re amongst the 67% of New Jersey trout anglers were not aware of this major stocking change when surveyed in 2010.

The 33% of New Jersey trout anglers who do know about the fall and winter big trout bonanza couldn’t be happier. A growing number of them now eagerly await the big fish, cool water, great weather and spectacular scenery of New Jersey’s fall trout fishing season. And it doesn’t end with fall; hot trout fishing action extends through the winter months until spring stocking begins again in April.

From October 9 through November 21, more than 26,000 lunker trout will be stocked in 16 streams and 40 ponds and lakes throughout the state. Any of these fabulous fish could very well be a once-in-a-lifetime trout for many anglers. See the video at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/trtinfo_fall.htm for some great footage of the stocking of the fall and winter trout from the Pequest Hatchery and fall trout fishing in New Jersey.

Don’t miss out on New Jersey’s spectacular fall and winter trout fishing. If you haven’t gone trout fishing yet this year, simply buy and print your fishing license and trout stamp online at http://www.nj.wildlifelicense.com/. It’s that easy.

For more information on the fall and winter stocking program and the complete stocking schedules, visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/trtinfo.htm or call the Trout Hotline at (609) 633-6765.

Catch you later!

Changing My Freshwater Fishing Habits

Hi folks!

It’s been a while since I’ve written – I’ve had my first fishing trip this season with my younger son. He caught some nice sunnies; I’ll post the pictures in a few days.

But today I’ve got a guest blog post from Mr. Jake Bussolini! Hope you enjoy it!

Changing My Freshwater Fishing Habits

By Jake Bussolini

From the time I started freshwater fishing at the age of 6, in a small New England town, until today at the age of 76, settled into a home on a beautiful North Carolina lake, I have gone through a major transformation as a fisherman. I started fishing for trout with worms in a small pond, controlled by a local fishing cub. I later discovered the added challenge of fly fishing for those trout in small streams and rivers. I took a short break for college and then as my career developed I started fishing different lakes and rivers, wherever and whenever I had the opportunity.

My career had nothing to do with fishing, since I started as an aerospace engineer and later moved into management, or did it indeed create a natural flow into my fishing experiences and later, influence my writings. I discovered when I moved south to North Carolina, that fishing here was different here in the south. Many of the lakes in the south were man- made for the generation of electric power, as people moved south and the demand for power grew. Generally a lake built for power generation was constructed by clear cutting all growth, demolishing all structures to provide water that was free of material that could damage power generating equipment. The result was water that lacked all of the underwater habitat for fish that I was accustomed to in natural lakes.

Fishing these waters was a whole new experience and I found it necessary to become a student of the waters to better understand how the fish behaved and of course how they could be caught. This is when I realized that I had an advantage with my scientific background, because I started trying to understand the science behind fish behavior. Because I was learning a whole new fishing technique, I was also taking detailed notes and photos which eventually led to writing and publishing four books about freshwater fishing. The unique thing about my books was the blending of the science of fishing with the sport of fishing.

At this point in my fishing life I also realized that technology was playing a more important role that it ever before had played, in the fishing experience, especially with fish finders, which I define simply as Sonar equipment. I had always been accustomed to fishing in areas where there was structure, because the fish were always around structure. I didn’t even understand why the structure attracted fish, I just knew that it did.

As I developed a more detailed knowledge of the behavior of fish, I realized that it is all about survival and for fish that means that to survive, they must eat and avoid being eaten, and they must procreate to keep the species in existence. It was all just that simple. To take advantage of these simple facts, I became an expert on Sonar equipment because that allowed me to better understand the bottom structure, the location of food sources, and the identification of the fish species that I was seeing. Everything in my books is based on this knowledge. Recognizing the image of a large catfish near the bottom as shown below, told me where to put my bait.

fish finder graph

Understanding that finding a school of small perch would also put my on bigger fish that would be feeding off of that school of bait, was a valuable bit of knowledge that would increase my catch rate. The Sonar image below shows such a school of perch and also illustrates how the bass will normally feed off of that school.

fish finder graph2

Even without the bottom structure found in naturally created waters, Sonar can show a fisherman how valuable the points and drop offs are in attracting fish. The Sonar image shown below illustrates how fish reside near these drop offs.

fish finder graph 3

I have developed a library of thousands of these Sonar images over the years and thanks to digital cameras and small recorders, I was also able to record the type and size of the fish that I caught when these Sonar image photos were taken. With that information and a basic understanding of how Sonar works, it is possible to identify the species of fish being observed and normally the size and weight of the fish. Matching the Sonar photos with the notes taken provides a valuable library of information that has permitted me to improve my catch rate from about 2 per hour to nearly 5 per hour.

Technology is continuing to change the way we fish. The new side scan Sonars are providing even more and accurate data on bottom structure and fish location. New lures and rigs are attempting to create the image of small bait schools to more easily attract the predator fish. The latest creation called the Hydrowave, is artificially generating the sound of large schools of bait fish to excite resting bass. It’s exciting for me to look back at the changes that have taken place in my lifetime and project how different fishing will be in the future for my grandchildren. However, I sometimes remind myself that there will never be anything invented that will replace the thrill of retrieving a 5 pound brown trout with a simple fly fishing rod and reel, from a small mountain stream.

Jake Bussolini’s books about freshwater fishing can be reviewed on www.jakestakeonfishing.com.

Catch you later!

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Trout Fishing Season In NJ

Hello Fellow Fisher-folk, how are you all doing?

I just finished the God-awful income taxes for another year! Yay!!!! It’s such a horrible thing and it usually takes over 2 weeks for me to complete everything.

And of course you know I missed Trout Opening Season here in NJ because of the income taxes this year! You know, I’ve never been able to go to opening day for Trout fishing here in NJ … something ALWAYS comes up! So I hope you had better luck than I did and that you were able to go and catch a few trout.

I received an e-mail from the NJ Fish and Wildlife Department that I thought I’d share with you, in case you aren’t privy to that info. There are lots of nice links in the mail.

Check it out:

The most anticipated day on the New Jersey fishing calendar is the opening day of trout season, which falls on April 7 this year. More than 180,000 trout have been stocked for opening day anglers, including thousands of breeders that measure 17 to 24 inches and weigh 3 to 8 pounds.

During April and May, nearly 600,000 trout, including more than 5,000 breeders, will be stocked in nearly 200 streams, ponds and lakes throughout New Jersey. Nine ponds and small lakes will each get a special allocation of 30 to 50 breeder trout providing great opportunities for many anglers to catch that trout of a lifetime. This year’s Bonus Broodstock Ponds and Lakes are listed at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/bonus_brdstk12.htm.

The entire spring trout season stocking schedule can be viewed at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/trtinfo_spring.htm. Weekly in-season stocking information is also available by calling the Trout Stocking Hotline, (609) 633-6765.

There’s a reason the number of New Jersey trout anglers has increased more than 20 percent during the past six years. It’s because trout fishing has never been better in the Garden State, and we’re working to keep it that way in 2012. Don’t miss out this year; join the growing group of anglers who know the value and quality of New Jersey trout fishing.

In just minutes, you can be on your way to enjoying some time in the outdoors while experiencing the thrill of trout fishing in New Jersey. Simply visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com to buy and print your fishing license and trout stamp online. Licenses and trout stamps can also be purchased at nearly 200 license agent locations throughout the state listed at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/agentlst.htm. License buyers have the satisfaction of knowing 100 percent of their money goes toward improving fishing in New Jersey and protecting the quality of the state’s waters both for fish and people.

This message was sent by the NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife to individuals who provided an e-mail address via the DFW license sales website. You can remove or change the address at any time by editing your profile at http://www.nj.wildlifelicense.com/ or by replying to this message with “Unsubscribe” as the Subject.

 
So here’s to another succesful fishing season for us all!

Cheers and I’ll catch you later!