fishin pics

[bigben]

for some reason the last 7 or so years I haven't been doing much fishing.  not sure why just haven't made time for it.  well this spring I started fishing again heavy.  over the season I took some pics of some of the catchs. 

to start it off here is a big rainbow that I caught at a local lake.  caught him using a artificial lure.  this was one of three we had hooked that were big or bigger then this one.  just had some troubles getting them landed. 





another type of fishing I enjoyed when I was younger was fly fishing.  an old farm pond and some dry flys always produced sunnies on a nice warm day.  here are three colored ones I caught in early summer.







here is a smallmouth i caught on first fork sinnimahoning.


another smallmouth that fell for a topwater on the susky.


heres a largmouth that fell for a soft plastic at a local farm pond.


as of late I have been wanting to start catfishing.  looking to find something that fights back more then trout do.  last saturday critterslayer took me out in his boat on my first trip for cats on the river.  ended up with some filletable channels.

flat head


Thursday night I borrowed my fathers boat and hit the river with my uncle.  here is the first fish of the night.


second fish of the night layin in the boat.  a nice sized channel cat


here are the big ones we kept to fillet.  I did learn something and thats that them flatheads for as big as they are do not have hardly anything to em to fillet.  they looked like they would put a nice fillet out and nothing. 


fishin at the local farm pond.

[muttbuster]

Good pics Ben. I really like hooking into a big flat head. Earl and I are going tonight. Over the last couple days I've caught several small blue gills and some nice size chubs for bait. A local sporting goods store has a catfish contest for the month of July. Last years winner was 38 lbs. I would sure like to top that. The other night I was fishing for chubs and pulled in a 20 inch rainbow. That was a nice surprise.

[Lookn4Fur]

Nice pics Ben.  Looks like you making up for lost time.

[foxpro51]

I love fly fishing. Got mutt buster into fly fishing. Nice pictures Ben.

[uncle buck]

That was nice Ben..thank you for sharing..  Wow looks like the Flathead fishing is starting to improve in the area.  When I did fish the Susquehanna River I never got any Flatheads.  Just Channel Cats.. The Channel Cats taste good too...

[muttbuster]

It's hard to believe that you guys have rivers that are clean enough to eat the fish you catch. Over here, they have one eye, three ears, two tails, and they are all transgendered.

[bigben]

these were even caught below a nuclear plant.   

[uncle buck]

Ben what are you catching the Flatheads on? Heard you have to use Bluegill or Sunnies?

[bigben]

Worms

[muttbuster]

Creek Chubs work well on Flat heads. Catch them in a minnow trap or a small hook and a piece of worm, or wax worm. Marshmallows work great too. Wet your fingers when you put the marshmallow on the hook. They get sticky. Marshmallows float so attach a split shot 2 to 3 inches above the marshmallow and it will float near the bottom. The bigger the chub the bigger the flat head. I also use Blue Gills about 2 to 3 inches long. Catfish swallow Blue gill head first so put the hook in the right place. Two weeks ago I caught a 23 pounder in the river with cut up chub. Flat heads will eat bait dead or alive. It just can't be a fish that has been dead too long. There are a lot of small creeks no wider than 5 feet filled with chubs. If you have any in your area go have some fun catching chubs. They attack your bait like a school of small Sharks..

[uncle buck]

I always did well in the Susquehanna River using Crawfish AKA Crayfish, AKA Crawdads... Channel Cats in the 24-25 inch range  but real big Carp too...Carp in the 34 inch size.

[muttbuster]

I'm happy just catching a fish that's bigger than my bait. Channel Cats are great fighters. Flat heads are a breed of their own. The big ones are not easy to catch. Check out a web site called "catfish one". Lots of good info. One of the guys I fish with is a Flat head fanatic. He's learned how to catch the big boys pretty well. That's where I heard about the website.

[bigben]

I was using some live bluegills on thursday night and had a few get taken buy something.  I would let em run with the bait then they would stop then would run again.  that was when I would set the hook and nothing.  pulled the bait outta their mouth.  did this three times.  caught one channel on a small bluegill.  next time I am back down there again I will let em take it longer. 

[muttbuster]

Are you using the bait runner hooks Ben. The hook curves in. It takes a while to get used to them. I don't use them but the catfish fanatic I fish with does. He lets them run a good distance before setting the hook. I don't have the patience for them. When I get a hit I set the hook and be done with it.

[bigben]

if your talking circle hooks I can honestly say I hate em.  tried em but cant get em hooked up.  only caught one cat on one and that was hooked on the outside of the mouth not sure if it was luck.