Driftb

As far as I know, eels numbers are way down throughout their range. I believe the Delaware is one of the last that has a commercial fishery for eels. One theory for the dwindling numbers is that freshwater intakes on power plants and other large scale facilities are killing the elvers along with other fish fry, in staggering numbers. Single power plants can kill young fish by the billions. There is some movement to force companies to re-engineer their intakes to exclude baby fish, but of course the overriding concern is once again, the almighty dollar..

Eels are very common in the upper Delaware river on the NY-Pa border. I used to fish for them commercially using an eel weir, and on a good night you can catch thousands of them. One reason there are so many eels here is that there isn't a dam on the river for three hundred miles from the ocean. The eels spawn in very deep water in the Atlantic, I believe the number is 20,000 feet deep. (about 4 miles). The baby eels then migrate back to fresh water where they will live most of their lives until they return to the ocean. They can live a long time, and if there is a dam in their way, they can wait a long time and get really big before they migrate. When they are small, everything likes to eat them. Once they get big, they are a little tougher, but I have caught striped bass and walleye on eels 12-18" long.

The Ranger net company make a great rubber net with a handle that extends to about 6'. I'ts about all you'll need for bass and walleye fishing and runs about $50 at Dick's. If you are really concerned about getting hooked, you might try a Boca grip, but I have only been hooked badly by a fish once in the past forty five years or so.

In south Fla, it's almost a year since the last spawn. I am guessing the blue is on the lower jaw of the female bass. Have you noticed them. trying to spawn yet?

I just thought of one more myth to explode: Fishermen are all liars. Discuss...

Match the hatch is not a myth at all. If you are fishing dry flies for trout, you match the bugs that are hatching. It's also a good starting point for bass fishing. IIf you are not getting bit figure out what they are eating. Here is a good myth: Don't talk when fishing. If you are not quiet, you'll scare the fish- I believe my Dad invented this myth to shut me up for a minute! If you exchange the word "quiet" for "Still" I think it is a good rule Smallmouth like rocks, Largemouth like wood. I like this one. How about correcting the myth: Smalllies like to be near current. Rocks stay put in current, providing a current break. Wood is more likely to drift away in strong current, eventually settling in a spot where the current dies. These spots are coincidentally where the largemouth like to hang out, totally out of the current. I get lots of smallies near wood. especially wood that's stuck in current. Also plenty of largemouth near boulders, especially boulders with an undercut. I think this myth was invented by an out door writer who needed something to talk about.

The noise issue is as complex as you want to make it. The issue is actually more accurately called vibration, not noise, since fish cannot hear, but detect vibrations through their lateral line. IMHO, when one is fishing a lake that has a lot of boat traffic, the fish are likely conditioned to a higher noise level that in a wilderness situation. The whine of an outboard or a jet are definitely mood killers for me, but possibly not the fish. Guys are running boats all over a lake during tourneys, and the fish still bite. If I am on a lake and I get buzzed more than once or twice, I just hate fishing under those conditions. Especially jet skis. I'll usually move unless I am really pounding the fish. Sudden unusual noises are a different matter. Dropping a rod or weight on the floor of a tin boat is going to surprise fish. Some will move closer to cover, some will move deeper, and some may suspend in deep water. With really aggressive bass, some may even come closer to see what made all the noise. After a little while, they will start to bite again. If you are still on them. I expect that noise will adversely affect the bigger older fish more than the smaller, younger fish. Trout area little different though. When most people think of trout, they are talking about a stocked fish raised in tanks that is acclimated to expect to be fed when it detects the vibration of feed pellets hitting the water. Wild fish are different. Wild stream trout have to survive a constant barrage of predation and so the bigger fish tend too be very wary. I have seen all the trout in a pool stop feeding many times, after a slight noise in the boat. Funny thing is, I have also seen trout continue to feed a few feet from the boat as I approach with the outboard running,

Try verticle presentations with hair, maraboo or soft plastic jigs, and blades. Jigging Spoons can also be deadly. Think ice fishing without the ice.

My take on "power fishing " is that it works best when fish are somewhat aggressive and close to the bank, weededges or other visible features. Moving the boat almost constantly and hitting the likeliest spots, fishing the drop with a heavy jig, or jerkbaits, spinnerbaits or crankbaits. Kind of the opposite of finnesse fishing, with smaller lures, light line and slow retrieves.

BBTW- I have more confidence in noisy, flashy or dark colored, lures in muddy water, quieter, more natural colored lures in clearer water.

I won't say there isn't difference between clear and muddy water. IMHO the fishing tends to be better in stained or muddy water, cold or warm. The biggest factor is going to be temperature. Try fishing a river as the temp is droppping through the low forties. Bass will bite until the water temps are cllose to freezing. Even the you can get bit once in a while, but you have to be sensitive, and react properly..

I wouldn't worry about the shell peeling killing the craw. A bass will do it anyway. Plus you won't wait nearly as long for a hit on a peeled craw. The way I learned to fish a craw is to thread a Kahle hook through the craws mouth all the way through his body and out the bottom of the tail. They don't live all that long that way, but they don't have to. Especially soft or peeled craws get eaten on the drop. Circle hooks are good with me too, but don't fool yourself. Plenty of fish will get hooked deep on circle hooks too.

Take a look at your average water temperatures. Water temps of 32-39 degrees are what bass under the ice are going to experience. 32 degrees right against the ice,and progressively warmer toward the bottom. In lakes, the warmest water is going to be close to the bottom, about 38-39 degrees. Water is at it's lightest at or below 32 degrees. That is why ice floats. But until it freezes, it will sink as it cools. So the water close to the ice gets heavy and sinks to the bottom, warms up against the bottom, and rises until it hits the ice and cools off again. This is one of the reasons why the most actively feeding fish are going to be close to the bottom of a lake or pond. The bottom is the warmest part of a lake in the winter, the reverse of summer pattern when the warmest water is at the surface. Digestion drastically slows down as the fish's body temperature cools down close to the freezing point. A meal that would take a bass 8 hrs to digest in the summer now takes a week to digest.. That actually works out OK as most of the food is dormant, under rocks, leaves and buried in the mud. Since the fish mostly congregate in the same deep holes, competition gets pretty fierce, and even though food needs are much lower, it is also harder to find food so the fish will still feed. In my experience, when you find those deep holes the fish can be stacked up. If you catch one, stick around and try a few presentations until you get bit again.I am perplexed by states like Pa that have liberal limits on bass caught through the ice. Once you find these fish, it isn't hard to clean out a lake. Although a reaction strike may get one or two fish, you will find that slow subtle finesse presentations will win the day. Bites tend to be very light and many if not most will happen on a dead stick. Although the fishing slows pretty drastically in temperate lakes, the water temperature isn't far outside of a basses comfort zone, if you slow down your presentation and fish close to or on the bottom, once you find fish, they can be caught. Rivers are different though. Since they are constantly flowing, they have much less convection effect warming them up. So until they start to freeze, the temps continue to drop until the water is just barely above the freezing point. Deep holes will be approximately the same temp as shallow water, at least below rapids where any stratification has been mixed up by the turbulence. If you question this, take a look at colder norther rivers where it is common to see anchor ice forming. this is when the bottom is cold enough for the ice to freeze as a coating on the submerged rocks, boulders and gravel forming the river bottom. At these temps, most fish can barely digest food at all. Metabolism slows down to a crawl. Yet some of the fish will still feed. Walleyes are well adapted to low temps and can be very aggressive at 32.1 degrees. Yellow perch and pickerel, to a lesser extent also seem to be able to deal with extremely low temps. When it comes to the bass family, I find they tend to turn off at about 34 degrees. I will occasionally catch a smallmouth bass in 32.1 degree water, but I would say it is somewhat unusual. You can find fish stacked up and they will not bite, even bait. They do not need to feed. The food will rot in them before it digests. There are some other factors influencing fish location and behavior in winter, like light, weed growth, oxygen levels and current Put all of those factors together and you will have a good start at locating wintering fish in your local waters.

Here comes buzzkill- you might want to check your local regs before you go out and set any kind of bait trap. Most guys will typically go with the largest trap allowed by state law. It can also be illegal to transport some species of bait, including some crawfish species that have become a nuisance invasive. Once you establish the legality, have at it. Craws are an awesome bait, especially soft craw. IIf you are not getting bit on the hardshell craws, try cracking the back shell and peeling it off before you hook it. If you are planning to catch and release, however, you might want to rethink the whole bait thing. You should expect to hook a large percentage of your catch pretty deep.

Go ahead and "power fish" the Upper Delaware river anytime from now until March. Let me know if you catch anything. A week ago in 42 degree water I was catching 15-25 smallies per trip on blades in 35-70 feet of water. I was also catching walleye shallower on jerkbaits and soft plastics. The water temperature plummeted this week, and is now hovering at about 34. This week, I caught five smallies on blades, one on a jig and netted 30 legal walleye on jigs. I have caught a few smallies on jigs in 32.1 degree water, but one usually has to fish very slow, and right on the bottom. I know that lake water tends to be warmer, even under the ice, so fish right on the bottom may well be quite active. Occasionally you'll see a blitz and the smallies will feed actively in extremely cold water, but even so, I doubt that "Power fishing" is going to be the big bite. Just sayin.