Susky River Rat

I have some friends who fish tidal water. I have fished tidal water sparely but, they way he explained it to me is think of flushing a toilet as it starts to go to low tide the water is going down the fish move. When high tide “the toilet is filling up” the fish are moving. He told me to always stay ahead of either. Once you learn to fish at the tides it’s almost like clock work. It’s still fishing you can always get skunked but, learning the areas that produce at high or low tide is key.

Well I picked this up today. River approves!

It’s sad but true.

Good luck buddy! I picked up some DTs because of this thread as well. I would have had some fish less days without cranking.

The Ned rig isn’t a secret here or anywhere else lol. I don’t keep secrets from people in my boat while bass fishing. My dad is my regular fishing buddy. I do take other people from time to time and I want them to have fun and the best experience they can with me. Most aren’t diehards just someone that wants to go out once twice a year. I’ll give them my whole play book. Musky fishing was a whole different story. I would put the baits away before I ever got back to the ramp. Even if I caught one I still would tell everyone I didn’t.

Not long after I got my boat I was launched it alone had the rope in my hand stepped onto the dock. That rope was never wrapped around the cleat. Emptied my pockets and jumped into about 50 degree water to get it back. I have an outboard jet. For anyone who doesn’t know Jets are finicky with weight disruption shimming the impeller and keeping it sharp. So you have two different kinds of jet owners. Ahh it runs I’m good or people like me who want to try to get every half MPH I can out of it. I had the bright idea to shim it a little closer than I should. Well there I was tearing the boot off in the parking lot to take the shim back out because it wouldn’t start. You live, learn then do the next dumb thing.

I mainly fish s river but, I’ll use s tube or ned rig let it sit on bottom. Give it slight wiggle let it sit again. It’s painful to do but works where I fish.

So you’re not too far from cowanesque. I’m about 30 minutes east of Harrisburg. My wife and I may head up to happy acres at some point 2023 and if we do I was going to take the boat. Fish the west branch or little pine state park

I may have to get up there sometime with you. I have launched out of Nesbitt park and fished the north branch. You are probably more west of that though. That’s about an hour and half for me.

Just curious why everyone chooses to fish where they fish. Is it location? Numbers? Size of fish? Size of the water? Just to learn something new? Water level? Time of year? Unless I am fishing for a different species I am generally happy fishing anywhere. Location generally plays a big factor for me. I generally stay within an hour drive of my house. The next is water level. Every once and awhile I will stray to 1.5-2 hours. I tend to stick to a specific 4 mile stretch of river but, I am trying to learn another 8 -10 miles of it in a different location. That is purely dependent on water level.

I’ll pet my dog. Look around maybe wait to the chorus of the song that’s playing to move my jig. It’s painful. Slow is extremely hard for me as well. Even when I crank bait slow I try to just move my reel Handle just fast enough to keep the bait moving.

That’s how it gets down here in sub 40 degree water temps. You feel them pick it up off the bottom as it sits.

Dragging bottom on rivers seems to work for me when it gets cold. Usually on the current seam around deeper water.

If I would have had a drink in my mouth at the time I was reading this I would have spit it out lol

The bruins finally lost their first home game in a shoot out.

I get my butt whipped by local guides much less pros. The hobie kayak tournament fishes about half of my local river range. Seeing some of the go pro footage those guys clean up. I know my dad and I have talked about this. I don’t always think “my local knowledge” is best. A pro that has never fished it will not get stuck in the memories of fishing it like you or I probably would.

Thank you guys for all your comments. I did in fact get one. I got to use it and I must admit I do like it a lot better then flipping or trying to grab them.

I tend to throw flicker Shads in my river. I like to make bottom contact here and there. They do not seem to snag up that often for me.

For those of you that have a winter or off season do you have any plans to do boat up grades/changes? I generally do not put the boat away till freeze up. I would like to do some better storage in general on my boat to reduce clutter. No major upgrades or changes for me. I am holding off anything major till I get a new boat.

Got my new fishing hat for 2023.

That’s awesome buddy! I don’t have any information worthy of this lol

I’ll put it on tv but it’s more background noise for whatever else I am doing. Other than Defoe, b lat and Ike I couldn’t tell you another pros name. The only reason I even stubbled on knowing these guys was Ike is fairly local you could say. B lat has a video fishing my local water with a guide here. I watched a video of Defoe running a river.

I got treated badly when I first started musky fishing. I was called spoiled that I didn’t earn my fish, fish were to small I think I heard everything bad said about me. It fueled the hunger. It also got to where I measured my success off what others didn’t accomplish. I helped run a fishing Facebook page. Started out local then turned into about 35k members. I would get noticed at the ramp or on my boat. It all fueled my ego. Since 2020 I deleted all social media. I don’t measure my fishing success off of being better than others. I just fish for whatever species I want. I tend to fish with friends not fishermen. By that I mean a guy from work that might only get out once twice a year or my dad. I also fish a lot by myself. I don’t feel like I have an image that I need to maintain anymore. Finding success within yourself and not measuring it against anyone else is key. When you start getting an ego/image the humbleness and humility fade. That’s just my 2 cents to this all.

Ram 1500 V6 not the hemi. Towing my boat average around 18 to the places I go most. Not towing on the highway about 23.

Awesome looking pup! Thanks for sharing