Johnsfolly

I thought of a hybrid when I first looked at the photo. I know that coming from myself a guy that wants to be accurate as possible, if he wants it to be his first smallie or hybrid that would be great! He did a great job catching it himself. If you remember how to get to where you fished with Livie and I, I know that this won't be his last smallie! Have fun.

Neither are natives so don't tell BilletHead!?! I would try to catch one.

These shows just continue to grow my bucket list of fish I want to catch!!! I read up on these guys when we were planning our Alaska trip several years ago. Never got after them.

The opposite end from the docks. Last night I got out with my daughter. I tried to get on the big fish that I saw in the shallows on Sat. As I mentioned above no sightings or opportunity at a big fish in the shallows. It was also a n off night for the crappie as well. Livie caught the first fish, a small largemouth bass and the sun was starting to set (not made for a great photo). This actually was her first bass of the year. I put her in the spot where I had caught those nearly black male black crappie Sat evening. On her second cast she hooked a big black male and it threw the hook just as she was lifting the fish. She never did land one, but lost at least two more. She did end up landing a female black crappie and some bluegill and green sunfish. I did land a couple of the males, but none were as dark as the two that I caught Sat evening. Still they were striking fish.

I never got to Day two on my shad fishing. I ended up back at the confluence Sunday afternoon. I had picked up a second rod, a medium weight, and put on my reel with the nanofil #6 line. felt that I would be able to get my casts out further as well as having a little more backbone to control these fish a bit better that the ML rod with #4 fluoroclear line. I also had a few shad spoons, #13 Tony PET spoons (now sold by Luhr Jensen) and a Nungesser spoon. I had used a green highlighter marker to add some green to a #13 chrome PET spoon with yellow feathers. The Nungesser spoon was green and yellow. I tied on the Green/chrome spoon with a green/yellow 1/8 oz dart as the top lure. There were at least 10 people in the spot that I fished on Sat, but the spot that I fished from was open. With the tandem combo I was able to reach the seam between the fast river flow and the slower flow of the creek. The first cast and BAM had a strong hit and after a nice fight I landed my first of the day. I had another strong hit on my second cast and then nothing. Somehow I broke off above the top lure. I hate losing lure and especially losing fish. I tied on my other #13 chrome Tony PET lure and a red/white 1/8 oz dart. I got a couple of bites and landed two on the chrome spoon, but not at the pace of the other fisherman in that area. I switched back to a green/yellow dart and the Nungesser spoon. This combination was the ticket. I ended up catching 5 shad on the dart and 12 shad on the spoon. In just over two hours I hooked and landed 20 hickory shad. What an amazing fish. They hit hard, fight hard, and are plentiful when they run the rivers/creeks. I could only reach the productive water two or three times for five or six casts and would get bit half the time I got it in the sweet spot. The guys along the bank were catching fish after fish as well. What a great time !!

Good luck buddy. No help from here in Columbia on western trout fishing.

Not this evening unfortunately. Had a south wind blowing from the dam out into the lake. Seems like a northeast or northwest wind brings out the beast. I'll keep an eye on the wind the next couple of days. Took Livie out tonight. I'll set up a post after I get a couple of photos edited.

Daryk - Great Job with working with the boys! I hope that you guys enjoy the fish!

I finally got back to Missouri Sat morning. I decided to get out in the evening to try to catch my first crappie for 2018. It's been a weird year and I didn't know what to expect. Would they still be near the banks, have they spawned yet, who knows. I have fished this lake for many years and this was the first time that I did not see brush piles at the attractor locations. Usually the piles are big enough to break the surface. Fishing along the riprap on the dam side could be hit or miss without that brush congregating the fish. I only had a 7' Microlite rod with 4# Pline Fluoroclear line. I also had a couple of 1/64 oz beveled jig heads and a dozen or so plastic bodies. I have had great luck with a black and green jig body on this lake. Though some might think that this jig setup looks like crap , I consistently catch crappie with it. I put on a float about 14 " above the jig and was in business. I headed to the far side of the dam because there looked to be a bit of cedar brush in the water. That cedar brush was a remnant from last year's attractor pile and was right on the bank. The wind was blowing towards the dam. A windy day can be tough on my float and jig combo. The water was very clear for this lake. I made a couple of casts and just got one or two light curiosity nips. I cast out in front and past the brush, got a solid bite, and reeled in a bluegill. Not what I was hoping for but I wasn't getting skunked. I fan casted out from the brush and beyond. I caught six more bluegill all from a 6 by 6 foot area just off and beyond that small cedar. At 7 pm I caught sight of a sea monster just off the bank. With my light line I did not try to entice this fish. I did not get a photo as it cruised past me but I did make a call or two to discuss this encounter. Apparently the fisherman that came down the bank tried to hook it and it broke him off. I don't know if he snagged the fish or it bit his baits. I was planning on going out Sun evening with heavier gear and hoping that this guy did not spook this fish too much. Back to panfishing. I moved down the bank and fished where there was a brush pile last year. As the sun was setting the wind laid down. It was prime time. I made my first cast over the old brush and caught a small white crappie. Then another on the next cast. I don't rely on coloration to id white or black crappie. I actually look at the shape of the head of the fish and count their dorsal spines. Whites have a narrower head and black crappie head tend to be more rounded and look more like bluegill. Whites also have 5 to 6 dorsal spines and blacks have 7 to 8 spines. I typically catch nearly all white crappie on this lake and most range from 6 to 8 inches in length. So I was surprised when I caught two black crappie in a row. Then I caught a nearly all black male. Looked like a Raiders fan! Pulled the phone out for a photo but not enough charge for a photo. I know that there are those that state that if there are no photos then it didn't happen. Since one of the OAFers that insists on photos helped drain my battery when I called him earlier maybe he would give me sone slack on this post ! After that first all black, I caught four other dark males two of which were over 9 inches in length and three nice females full of eggs and also over 9 inches. The sun had set and I was still getting bit whenever I cast over that old pile. I needed two more crappie for an even 20 but the last three fish caught iver the pile were sunfish. I headed to the dock. Just before 9 pm I caught two more white crappie and two bluegill off of the dock. I ended the night with 15 bluegill, 2 green sunfish, 4 white crappie, and 16 blacks. And had an encounter with a sea monster that is still out there! Not a bad evening bite!

Congrats Phil! Thanks for the report. Nothing like the rewards of putting in some time to catch a limit of nice crappie!

Congrats on getting the boys into some crappie! Great smiles says it all. They must have had a blast fishing with dad!

That would be some dirty rice indeed! Great job on your second turkey!

Congrats on your two birds! Great job! I was going to comment that I never give another hunter crap for shooting legal game then I read your post about that second bird. So jealous from the east. Again great job Seth!

That woman is a downright killer! Tell her great job from all of the Folly family!

In Maryland all sea run shad (hickory and American) and herring (blueback and alewife) are a catch and release fishery only. It's my understanding that NJ and PA still allow for the harvest to American shad out of the Delaware river. I have never eaten shad roe, but remember it being sold in PA at the Farmer's markets.

I don't mind catching eels, but hate having to try to remove a hook (which in my experience tends to be swallowed). Slimy critters for sure. May as well throw out any clothes that they slime up!

JHK - Thanks buddy! I have 27 species for the year thus far (since March 3rd) and 6 new species. I want to catch another 11 new life species by the end of Feb. I need to hit the briny waters this summer to get some new guys ! Livie is up to 18 different species. Just 22 more for her goal this year of 40 different species.

Great story and a sobering point about how we may be missing out on our lives. I say this as I am away from my family while working in Maryland. I can't just go upstairs to join them. We are the brink of several major changes in our lives and it is tough trying to figure out what is best for all of us. I will keep this story in mind as we get through these transitions. Thanks Dan.

I love seeing aggressive flatheads getting caught on bass or walleye gear! They are true predators! Nice catch!

That is a beast! Very nice smallie! Congrats!

I appreciate that buddy. I will never forget that first day on the White. You had me looking up spots to meet you guys and I lost my signal never tbought that I would find you guys. But I did and I had a great time every time we fished together. I hope to make it out to Jigfest 2018.

Will be much closer to the NJ pine barrens. Might be a possible day trip. I know that there are some boggy areas in the pine barrens. So am I am not surprised with some oddball species in that area.

Ever since I planned my recent trip to Maryland this late in April, I have been researching about trying to go after the shad that run the rivers throughout the state. Maryland has both American and Hickory shad. When I lived in PA back in college, I never once headed to the Delaware river to fish for shad. It was often a rite of spring in that part of PA with many folks more excited about shad than the trout opener. In those days I knew about using shad darts, even had a few in the day, but never fished them. I researched some spots, read articles, watched videos, and picked up some darts that appealed to me. I asked around at work when I got back in Maryland and read fishing reports. I decided on trying out the confluence of Deer Creek and the Susquehanna river with access in Susquehanna State park in Cecil county Maryland. I drove up to the park on Saturday. I knew going in that this would not be a trip of solitude fishing. If there were no fisherman then there were likely no fish in that area. As I was driving along sight of the river there were cars parked in all of the parking areas. A good sign. I kept driving past the confluence to check out the creek and get a feel for the water. What was apparent that the shad had not gone too far up the creek and that the spot to fish would be the confluence area. As I pulled into the parking area, I saw a couple of bent rods and watched shad being landed. I started with a tandem rig with a 1/4 oz lower dart and a 1/8 oz upper shad dart. The lower one was white with a red tip and the upper dart was a green head with chartreuse body. I could reach a spot with a decent current run and got hung on the bottom on my second cast. I lost both darts. It took losing a few more darts before I got a feel for the rocks and bottom structure. The guy up at the actual confluence gave up and headed off to breakfast. I moved to his spot and got the two dart tandem rig set up. I went with two 1/8 oz green/chartreuse darts. I could see guys on the other side of the creek catching shad. I was watching their cadence and retrieve speed. I tried to emulate that and I got a hard bite. What a fight. This is one feisty fish species. I horsed the fish and pulled the hook. Second cast and same thing. Hard fight and pulled hook. After several casts I had a third hard bite. With this fish, I had to channel Phil Lilly and opted to back reel instead of relying on the drag system. I was able to keep good pressure on the fish, which jumped a couple of times before I finally landed my first hickory shad ! Even with landing only a single fish, I could start to see why people get excited about catching them. What a sleek and gorgeous looking fish. They are a powerful fighter. I couldn't wait to catch another. I switched up colors and I hooked and lost a couple of fish after counting down the rig before reeling it in. What I didn't notice was I was pulling off a scale or two from the hooks. Then I hooked a strong fish and noticed that it fought differently than the previous fish. I also saw that It also was not a silver fish but was golden brown. I was thinking of a carp, but ended up landing my first ever shorthead redhorse sucker! A couple of cast later, I figured out just what I was hooking into when I snagged this gizzard shad with the lower dart. I ended up with five gizzard shad at this location. I watched a guy next to me begin catching several hickories with the majority of them being caught on a #13 silver and green Tony Accetta PET spoon. Another guy down stream was also catching shad on spoons as well. I finally hooked and landed my second hickory of the day on my darts. It was a female loaded with eggs. It was after noon and I was getting hangry. I had a couple of guys move in on me. I had enough and went to get something to eat. I left the river with a few folks still fishing. I learned a lot and had ideas on what I might need if I were to get back and fish this area again. I dropped by the Bass Pro shop in Baltimore on the way back to the hotel to pick up some spoons and a few more darts. I also picked up a medium weight rod to have a second rod for Sunday, but that's another story ! This post has been promoted to an article

I have wanted to catch a tench since I first saw one caught back in the UK. I fI couldn't catch one in the UK, I wouldn't mind catching a exotic living in the States. Would love to find some folks in this area that may have some information on new species ! PM me with their information. Thanks