flg2010

For sure Pike will kill a ton more bass then bass will Pike. However I would be more worried if you see otters. Otters will decimate bass... they have on the river I fish in.

So I was out fishing again on the Walkill, I have one rod setup for smallmouth bass fishing, using fake worms and jigs.. worked well last year this time. Nothing this year. I have a second setup for Catfish, which has usually never done too well, and bam.. I get the biggest catfish I have ever caught in my life. What the hell is wrong with the Walkill... no bass.. well except for a tiny Rock Bass... The catfish was released unharmed.. although the otters might have gotten him since they went into the river when I released him. I wonder if the otters dined on all the bass? Anyways this year's fishing subpar.. I need a new river or lake.

I prefer alone.. simply because as I get older I find that finding people with the same interests is impossible. At some point I hope to get my wife to go out with me.. maybe if I am around in 10 years and contemplating retirement I can get her to join me on a small boat in a lake somewhere. Right now I Fish the Walkill River system and have given myself the project of catching a state record Rock Bass. That is a solitary pursuit.

I am checked routinely. However, that said, I fish a polluted river system along with small connected to river system ponds which you really cannot harvest anything out of without putting yourself at risk for all sorts of problems if you eat the fish. I can understand being concerned about over harvesting on a healthy river, stream, or lake... but.. not on my river.

I setup two rods usually, caught this Carp on my setup for catfish. Anyone know what kind of Carp it is? Was around 26 inches. I thought it was a log at first and then maybe a big catfish.. no such luck.. and it took a long time to get landed. I did safely release it and it swam off. I have been fishing my usually kytech fake worms and grub plastics this year to no luck with Bass. Its just been a too cold type of start...

Great advice. What we will be doing once fall is done and before first snow is making a clear trail through woods and marsh to a shoreline on the river I can fish. I will clear the path and keep it clear. i will simply continue to carry bear mace. Park is too close for me to safely carry a long arm.

Look for a brand of custom fake worm you have not used before. That got me out of my funk

Food for the otters they won't go to waste

Smallmouth are biting, I am having the best luck on Keitech custom worms. I caught a bunch of fish but the two best for this weekend (two different trips) were a 14 inch and 16 inch Fish. Both were released with no issues, the 14 was on live bait and the 16 (today's biggest) was on the fake worm. I am having no issues with gut or gill hooking due to adjusting line and keeping a better watch on bites. The fishing is above average compared to last year which was horrible in September. I did see people taking fish.. not sure what they expect to do with them, Smallmouth are horrible eating and the Wallkill is not a safe to eat fish from place. Someone today had 5 or 6 (various sized) Smallmouth on a stringer. Sad...

Well this has given me some things to think about. Not sure what I am going to do. One option is to simply go to the fishing parks like I have been. There are ticks back in thew woods so maybe thats a sign.. just stay the hell away. Thanks for the perspectives. While I am sure my bolt action Winchester .270 cal can do the trick it also has a range that would make me worried about using it near my house or other homes. Now I understand why the previous owner fenced in the deck with 7 foot high chain link, it at least would delay a bear.

wow... well time to break out the metal leaders at least. I'm going back on Friday.

Just curious, I have several rifles which I have only used at the range. They stay in a locked cabinet. We recently moved to a wooded area with some riverfront. I would love to start fishing in my woods however I ran into coyotes and black bears twice over the last year and quietly ran away, I stick to fishing parks because of this. Getting a handgun carry permit will be impossible in the county I am in (Orange County NY), and I am not in any way advocating or intending to hurt/kill a bear or Coyote. That said am I correct in thinking it would be illegal to use either of my long guns as protection while I fish. I am only on 1.26 acres, on one side of me is a wildlands preserve, heavily wooded and the other a neighbor who is also heavily wooded. I am also considering bear mace. I suspect the answer is stay away from the woods... lol... but I thought I would see what people think.

carp are seed/nut and vegetation eaters though?

Fished in partly rainy conditions.. caught a ton of bluegill, even one around 8 inches. Then on a rig that I had a YUM plastic (white and green colors) I seemed to have caught a branch or something (fishing the Wallkill), it was not a branch.. as I reeled it in slowly, over maybe 10 minutes.. I thought "has to be a turtle". Well around 5 feet from shore it starts fighting I keep pressure on and try hard to land whatever it is. I see white, I see scales, splashing,.. then the line breaks. What the hell was this? I'm thinking catfish and something 12 pound mono won't land. Do I go back tomorrow? or Do I just go to my next spot on rotation and forget this. I doubt I could ever land it anyway and its not a bass... right?

I did this.. wow.. the 3500 BG is so d**n smooth.. I caught my recent 16 inch Smallmouth on it.. paired this reel with my 6 foot 8 inch ugly stik gx2 and 12 lb cajun mono. Worked so well.. and the reel was around 80 bucks online.. local fishing place has it for over 100. Its the best reel I have ever used... Thanks!!!!!

lol stupid me should have been "Carolina" was on my iphone and it auto corrected when I miss-typed.

Switch out brands of the plastics... find one that works better.

This 16 inch was heavy and fat in the wrong areas. I am noticing that River smallmouth are oddly shaped. Released unharmed for the most part. The battle to get him landed took longer then I would have liked and he was pretty tired. He had a fake crayfish plastic down his mouth that I didn't put there, could not remove it, it looked like it had been there years.... Caught him on a Keitech custom worm. Hopefully he will continue to grow.

Usually 2 rods - Rod 1: California rigged Keitech custom worm (3 inch or 3.5 inch), one ball bearing weight. 12 lb test Cajun red mono line. Rod 2: Earthworms rigged the same as above. 12 lb test Cajun red mono line. I managed to land a 16 inch smallmouth today on Rod 1.

Swing Impact 3" and 3.5"... expensive sadly...

Maybe its where I fish. I fish primarily the Wallkill River and several ponds that are fed by the river. I fish for Smallmouth and occasionally largemouth and Rock bass (now that I know what these are, but I don't fish them on purpose). Typically most fish I land are 1/2 a pound to 2.5 pounds with the rare 3+ pounder. Basically no trophy fish.. but its fun. This last year I finally started buying Keitech custom worms on the advise of a tackle store clerk (back in May). It is out-fishing everything. What is disturbing to me is that the fish are aggressively going for them even before I start reeling in sometimes. I am finding that even sunfish are hitting these. Maybe its the scent? I can't figure it out since they don't look like worms and they also do not look like anything in the river or the ponds I fish. Today I fished live bait on a 2nd rod as a test. landed a 1 pound 10 inch on live bait. I landed 4 fish on the custom worms, 2 pound was the largest at 15 inches. All smallmouth. Its out-fishing live bait. In all of the bites the fish had grabbed the bait before i could even start reeling in. Now with barb less hooks I am loosing a few fish so add another 3 to the list that i didn't land. I have tried other brands of fake worms and they work about half as well. My Question: Why is this one brand of fake bait working so well? Is this just because the fish aren't used to them yet? Thoughts?

I like cheap... Ugly Stick Gx2 6'8" works great.....I have several reels I use now.

biggest bluegill I have seen are in the 8 or 9 inch range..

just because there are bluegill does not mean there are bass. I have run into several ponds like that on abandoned farms...

So today's trip was problematic, Over 6 hours I caught 5 Smallmouth between 11 and 13 inches, I am posting the pic of the worst case but all are the same in regards to the issue. I am using keitech and Zoom fake worms 3.5 - 4 inch hooked with an Eagle claw red bait-holder number 2 hook. They attach to a swivel (for action) and I use a twist line weight 1/8 oz a foot from the hook. I am using 10 pound test cajun red line. Problem: The river current is high, this causes the bait to drift, I try to set the hook quickly but the fish are nearly swallowing the bait and getting hooked deep in gills or stomach or too far down. The fish pictured had to be left with hook in.. I suspect it died. At this point I am thinking of quitting until next season or just fishing the ponds I have access to which are fed by Wallkill. These ponds are hard to get to and typically ever more over-fished then the wallkill. The river is much higher then last year so i have to deal with current more this year and that is why this is occurring. These are small fish and I don't want to be part of the problem. Any suggestions? Has anyone run into this issue?