Ice Fishing Part Deux

Route Hiked from Parking Lot to River and Back

With Christmas and New Year's over and cabin fever setting in Austin and I headed up to the Bluestone in pursuit of trout again, because there isn't much else to do this time of year. As was the case this time last year we were again hit with a severe cold snap, and like last year much of the river was frozen over. This time however, we were presented with different challenges. Less of the river was frozen over than it was last year, with the exception of a few spots, and you could still walk out onto the ice a good way but you couldn't get as close to the edge as you could the previous year. This made releasing fish and working lures challenging at times. It was anything but unproductive though. One of the first things we saw at the river bank was a bald eagle surveying the scene from the air, perhaps doing some fishing of his own. There was also plenty of animal sign from coyote, raccoon, deer and turkey tracks, as well as, an ominous scene of blood and hair covered snow no doubt where a pack of coyotes cornered a deer. The fishing was pretty good considering the circumstances. It rained off and on all day and there was a cold dampness in the air that you could feel in your bones. In-line spinners were the weapon of choice (surprise, surprise) as the fish weren't interested in jigs. All together I caught 11 rainbows and Austin caught 8 with several other bites that got away. The most interesting fish of note was one around 20 inches in length and in the 4 pound category that I caught. I had been fishing the edge of an ice shelf and had several trout follow my lure up the the edge of the ice then turn away. I cast it out again and worked it back slowly letting it sink as much as possible. I noticed a couple of smaller trout chase after the lure then dart away as a lunker, that had been hiding under the ice, came straight up from the depths in a mad dash for my little spinner. It reminded me of shark week where Great Whites rocket up from the depths and ambush their unsuspecting prey. This fish swam straight for the lure and then at the last second turned to the side. I thought I missed my chance, and would probably hook a smaller opportunistic fish waiting for its chance when the brute double backed and attacked the lure. A minute or two later I had it flopped up on the ice and was posing for a picture. It was a very good day, one I hope to repeat in the near future. Another interesting point of note was that I brought my smartphone with me that has an app that tracks your GPS location, distance traveled, elevation change and time. It was very interesting. I had no idea that this trip we have made many times over the years is nearly 7 miles (6.91 on this particular trip) with an elevation change of 1,269 feet! It was pretty interesting to see the numbers and a pretty good way to ring in a new year. Here's to catching many more fish in 2011!

Bluestone Trout Fishing Year 4 Round 2

We had such a blast catching trout the week before that Austin and I tried it again a few days later. Conditions were a little tougher this time around as the water was gin clear and a full 2 feet lower than the week before, not to mention that the sun was out in full force. It didn't seem to hurt our ability to catch fish though. We ended up catching a total of 91 between the two of us. Most of the catch came off ofpinners with a few from hair jigs. This time we actually brought fly rods and gave that a go. Although we got a few to rise on dry flies it proved largely ineffective due to the clarity of the water, the brightness of the sun, and the difficulty of casting near the bank. I think in the future I'll just stick to my spinning tackle.

Bluestone Trout Fishing Year 4

Well it's year four of the great trout experiment in the Bluestone River. We found out that WVU finished their study last year and would not be stocking the Bluestone anymore. Fortunatlly the State has taken it over this year, and hopefully from now on. We got some information that a stocking was taking place this week so Nathan, Austin and I decided to hike in and see what kind of trout action there was. We packed a lunch and left before daylight as this was going to be an all day affair. It was hard to tell what to expect. When we first arrived we were pounded with snow, which turned to rain as we decended into the valley. It rained off and on (mostly on) throughout the day; however having the right kind of rain gear and insullation makes all of the difference between having a fun comfortable time and being completly miserable. This trip was absolutly ridiculious. I thought last year was insane when Austin and I caught over 50 fish apiece. The size of the average fish was a little smaller this year, but the numbers were just crazy. All three of us caught about 30 fish a piece before we left the first hole. We fished spinners primarly with Austin and Nathan switching to hair jigs. I considered switching to a jig as well, but I figured if it isn't broke don't fix it. I like the action of a spinner and its ability to cover lots of water really quick so I stuck with that. In addition, the stinger hook trailing behind a spinner makes unhooking the fish a little more difficult, but it also betters your chances at hooking the fish in the first place as many of them would just nip at what was thrown to them. Truth be told these fish would have hit just about anything thown to them, and the fishing skill required to catch these trout was virtually non-existant. Obvisiouly the stream was overstocked with nearly 2000 pounds of trout in the little 2 to 3 mile stretch of river to accomindate the patrons of paying trips. This is clearly not sustainable, but as long as they keep stocking it we'll keep fishing it. The average fish that was caught was 12-18 inches long; however, Nathan managed to catch a couple really nice ones. One measuered in at 24 inches and the other at 20 inches long. These two fish provided a great excuse to use my new net, which proved invaluable in landing them. One good thing is that we didn't see any otters. That doesn't mean that they aren't there, but hopefully they've at least moved on to somewhere else. Nathan had to cut his trip a little short and left after catching and releasing a total of 65 fish. Austin and I stayed another hour or two and ended up catching and releasing 101 a piece. These numbers are ridiculious by any standards and only go to show how easiley anyone could catch them, but it was fun all the same and a nice change of pace when you've had slow days where you're lucky just to land one fish.

Cast and Blast

On a very cold October morning Austin and I headed up the Bluestone Lake to try our hand at some fall turkey hunting. We got there a little after 7am and cruised around the lake listening for turkeys. After a while we did hear some along the bank and proceeded to call them in closer. It didn't work however as the turkeys went silent. We didn't see or hear any more the rest of the day, so we decided to pass our time by fishing. The weather warmed up considerably throughout the day, and while the fishing wasn't a whole lot better I did manage to catch a mudcat and Austin caught a few nice smallmouth. All of the fish were caught by flipping a jig-n-pig near the bank.

Buggs Island Fall Fishing

Buggs Island turned out to be a neat adventure. Austin and some of his friends usually make this trip in the spring where they spend 7 days fishing the lake. On this occasion I decided to accompany him for a 3 day trip in the fall. The fishing has been terrible this year on the Bluestone and it was a bit refreshing to go someplace new and try my hand at some different tactics. At around 55,000 acres this by far has been the largest lake that I have fished on. The forecast was to be cloudy with a chance of rain each of the 3 days we were there. Boy, did they get that wrong. It was mostly sunny the whole time, which in combination with the considerable wind resulted in some mild sunburn and wind chaffing. It didn't have the negative effect that I thought it would on the fishing though. Everyone caught pretty good numbers each day. The primary methods Austin and I employed were jigging (with either shaky head worms or a crawfish jig-n-pig) and shad colored spinnerbaits working them across underwater points jutting out from the bank. This one two punch of jig and spinnerbait worked quite effectively. The jigs were very productive and the spinnerbaits proved invaluable when the wind kicked up too much to adequately fish a jig. Our first day was spent in the Essex Branch of an offshoot of the lake called Grassy Creek. The water was rising a little throughout the day and I was amazed at how shallow the fish were. Most of our catch came in 1-2 feet of water or less. We also fished an area called Little Beaver Creek with mixed results catching 14 bass total between us that day and losing nearly that many on thrown lures and bad hook sets. The next day we fished a place called Rudd's Creek where we struggled until ultimately heading back to Essex to finish the day out with 19 fish one of which was a chain pickerel that Austin caught. Our last day there was by far the most successful. We went to a place called, ironically, Bluestone Creek. The wind was most difficult that day and spinnerbaits were used heavily with intermittent jig work during calmer periods. We ended up with 25 fish that day. Austin caught a small striper in addition to his bass and a walleye, which I have yet to catch. I caught all bass that day but they were nice ones, one of which was upwards of 4 pounds. I don't think we would have won any tournaments but I think we would have had a more than respectable showing. I look forward to going back some day.

Claytor Lake Grand Slam

Austin and I made our first trip of the year to Claytor Lake. It was perfect weather for fishing, mild temperatures coupled with overcast skies, a slight breeze and warm water made for and enjoyable and comfortable experience. The fish weren't hitting lights out, but the bite was pretty steady. Early in the day we caught several fish on top water lures such as buzz baits and Zara Puppies. Later I switched to my in-line spinners to go after fish in shallow water just below the surface and caught several spotted bass, as well as, a decent little large mouth. I even managed to catch a small striper on a crawl fish colored 300 series bandit crank bait. We were fishing near a submerged man made fish structure when the striper hit the crank bait just as I had nearly retrieved it all the way to the boat. As the day wore on the bite slowed down, but picked up a little in the evening as we switched to more finesse baits like Senkos. We fished them slow around structure and caught a few more fish before the day was through. We ended up catching a dozen a piece. I even managed a grand slam (catching four different species in one trip) which included spotted bass, largemouth bass, red eye, and a hybrid. It was a very enjoyable trip and I look forward to going back later in the summer for our usual bluegill assault.

The Beast

Truly if ever I had wished to have had a camera on a fishing trip this would have been the day, although wrestling with this beast while simultaneously trying to take its picture may have proven futile. I was wading in front of the dam, as I have done hundreds of times before, fishing primarily for smallmouth and pan fish. I was using one of my black elite spinners tied to imitate a bait fish or leech. I had only been at it about 10 minutes working the lure along the outside of a weed bed when I felt a strong pull at the line. The strike was firm but not overly aggressive, which proved to be very deceptive as to what was on the end of the line. At first I thought that I had hooked a carp. Being that this was a bigger fish I was sure to set the hook quite hard. That's when it really started to fight. It had the weight of a large carp or catfish and bulldogged its way downstream the way a carp or catfish often does, but something was different. It began to fight violently and aggressively almost like a bass. I saw a quick flash of it and immediately thought monster bass, but the body was too long. This was a Musky, and a BIG one at that. I would estimate that approximately 98% of the fish I catch weigh 3 pounds or less. Fighting these fish usually involves little more than just reeling them in. This fish; however, was truly a fight. Different tactics were required. I fought with it for several minutes letting it take line as it ran pumping the rod and reeling in line as it tired. I couldn't help feeling under equipped. I had a medium light fishing rod, no steel leader, no net, no boat, and no real means of landing this brute. As he finally tired I was able to reel him in next to me and get a rough measurement against marks I have on my fishing rod. This guy was in the 40 inch class, somewhere between 40 and 42 inches as measured by the markings on my rod. I've never really been intimidated by a fish, but this one had me a little more than concerned. He was still pissed off and thrashing about, snapping at me as I reached for him. The prospect of grabbing a hold of roughly 3 and a half feet of teeth and bad attitude had me a little hesitate as to how to handle him. I initially considered grabbing him up under the gill plate but reconsidered as he snapped and thrashed about. I then went to grab him behind the head. I grabbed the leader and positioned myself next to him, my hand literary inches from his head when he snapped and shook his head violently one last time severing the fishing line in the process. I don’t consider this a defeat though. The fish was fooled into thinking this lure was prey and took it. I hooked this brute fair in the mouth, no foul hooking was involved. It was a text book fight and I did all the right things to wear him out, get my hand on the leader, position him next to me, and get a rough measurement. I was going to release him anyway this just prevented injury to the fish and myself. I had caught a musky each of the last 3 years in April on lures that I have made. I was beginning to think that the streak was going to end this year, but on the last day of April I got another one. Coincidentally each year the musky keeps getting bigger so I’m really looking forward to what I catch next year!

Shanklin's Ferry

Spring has finally arrived and fishing is starting to heat up. Austin and I decided to take my boat and fish Shanklin's Ferry. I have wanted to fish there for a long time, but never had the opportunity. It was a day of firsts for me. It was the first time I had ever fished Shanklin's Ferry, it was the first time I had tried my new boat motor in the river, I caught my first fish on my new St. Croix Mojo Bass rod, and most importantly it was my first Smallmouth citation. I have been after one of these for a while, and while I've caught thousands of bass over the years I have yet to catch a Smallmouth that qualifies as a trophy, until now. I caught this 4lb, 20 inch stud using a skirt jig with plastic crawdad trailer. The bass was in a text book spot in a current

break on the bottom edge of an island. This gave the bass easy access to deeper water, which was converging from both sides of the island. Ausin took the role of river guide, as he had fished Shanklin's Ferry most of his life, and like any good river guide he put us on the right spots to catch fish. Austin himself ended up catching some really nice bass and we have vowed to return for a couple more trips before the end of May when the water levels drop due to Claytor Lake holding back water and before the Holiday/Summer crowds invade.

Ice Fishing

Sometimes things don't go according to plan. Being smack in the middle of January and deepest darkest winter, it is natural that most of us are starting to get a serious case of cabin fever. To help treat this ailment Austin, Brian, and I decided to fish the Bluestone for trout. We were just coming out of a 3 week arctic chill that had temperatures in the single digits on many days. The water table looked normal and the temperatures were mild that day so we decided that the time was right. It was a bit of a surprise to find that about half the river was frozen over when we arrived. We had figured that the moving water would have prevented some of this, but as it turned out the best holes to fish were almost completely frozen over with a thick sheet of ice. One of the most interesting things we saw was a big fat otter on the bank near one of these deep holes cleaning himself, marking his territory, and diving into the hole to catch some lunch. We managed to pull a few fish out of these holes as well, but most of our success came with fishing a shallower stretch of river, between the deep hole where we started and the deep holes at the Mountain Creek Lodge, where the moving water limited ice buildup. There were several trout staging in this area, and in-line spinners proved too tempting for them to ignore. We all caught numbers in the double digits, and it proved to be a successful day.

Monster Trout Day on the Bluestone!

I don't know if I'll ever have a day, with trout at least, that will ever replicate the one Austin and I had on this day. The Bluestone had been heavily stocked a few weeks prior to this day. We gave it a try a few weeks back, but the water was high and rising fast. That coupled with the fact that the river was littered with leaves made it next to impossible to get to many of the fish holding in deeper water. This day, however, conditions were next to perfect. The water was at normal levels and had a slight tint to it. That combined with the fact that it was overcast made sneaking up on fish easier. The leaves had been flushed away as well, which made life a lot easier. I really don't think that you could go wrong with lure selection this day as the fish were ravenous. I believe they would have hit a bare hook given the opportunity. We used in-line spinners to smashing success. Austin ended up catching 53 and I caught 50. Most of this is due to the over stocking of this small stretch of river that undoubtedly will not be sustainable, but hey strike while the iron's hot. We caught several hold over fish from last year which is encouraging, but the highlight to my day was a 24 inch 5 pound rainbow that I caught. I finally have a trophy fish to put on the wall and a day I'll forget.

Bluestone Trout Fishing Year 3

As winter fast approaches Austin and I thought we'd shift our focus towards trout. Once again the Bluestone River was stocked with Rainbows, some of which weigh up to four pounds. We had received 2 to 3 inches of rain the night before and the river was rising throughout the whole day, making the fishing more difficult as the day went on. Austin ended up catching 5 rainbows and I caught 3 along with a redeye and a nice little smallmouth weighing in just short of 2 and a half pounds. It's one of the better ones I've caught in a while and a bit surprising as the bass fishing has slowed quite a bit. One of the most intriguing things we encountered was a blue herring that followed us most of the day. It didn't seem bothered by us in the slightest and let us get quite close to him. I guess he was out fishing too. I watched him land on a rock on the opposite river bank from me. He stood there motionless for several minutes only to catch a fish of his own. I guess it was a good day for everyone.