Eastern PA Fishing Reports

[YoTone]

3 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

It's on my bucket list - I used to catch a lot of Bowfin and they are great sport.  I don't want to drive 2 hours though without a clue for a snakehead.  

Buddy, I feel your desire and I can give you only a few spots and one is Meadow lake.  You can bank it, Wade it or kayak this small body of water But it's not automatic. I've had my brother in law stay with me for a week and he spent it trying to catch just one. Theres another BR user that  came from Indiana for work that I tried to guide and failed. Newton lake in NJ has similar size fish but I've never tried myself. I wish I could help you more but my friends would stone me to death if I gave up other spots. 

[oysterk]

18 hours ago, YoTone said:

Nice  I was there a few days ago attempting to do that but the wind really messed me up. Maybe   because of the shutdown they stopped the spraying of the grass because there's no need with the rental place closing. Last year for me I only targeted stumps and aim at the bank because there wasnt if any real grass with some depth to it.  Crazy how low the water was right?

It's insane! Looks like they're drawing the water down. Way shallower this May than the last two years, some guys in the marsh creek fishing forum are going wild because they think it's hurting the spawn right now/causing the bass to leave their beds permanently. I could see it having some effect, but I hope not, the spawn + the post-spawn period the week or two directly after is my favorite time to fish marsh 

[YoTone]

They're spawning OK as far as I can tell. I took this when i was there.

Went down the block to fish my local pond for two hours and managed this and lost another at my kayak cos I forgot my net. Since I switched over to a darker frog they seem to not miss it as much. Maybe it's a coincidence but I'm leaving my sun burnt pad crasher on for a little bit longer.

[YoTone]

I buy many different types of frogs but in the end I always go back to the booyah. 

[oysterk]

Anyone catch a fish on a frog at marsh creek yet? Have yet to catch one on topwater this season haha

[MassBassHunter68]

Great reports everyone

[Quarry Man]

21 hours ago, oysterk said:

Anyone catch a fish on a frog at marsh creek yet? Have yet to catch one on topwater this season haha

fishing is tough there right now. haven't been home in a few weeks but they were tight to cover. my info says they are spawning now. they sprayed the milfoil so no mats this year on marsh. post spawn topwater bite is usually solid. white spooks

[YoTone]

Only one catch but she was nice and tall. Caught her at the edge of the reeds where it had a little bit of shade. She took it and dove straight into the thick grass mats. Had to put my heavy rod and line to the test as I had to horse her out. One of the more fun catches of the year.

[oysterk]

Threw a brush hog at a 2 pounder, he took it, I set the hook, and when he was right at the bank, broke off. I came back an hour later and he's still there, with the brush hog in its mouth. 

 

So if someone catches a nice one with a brush hog still in it near the Conestoga bridge, give me a shout lol

[Adam Markley]

Fished my cabin in promised land state park. Caught 7, missed like 4. My Hook set game was weak this morning. Biggest was around 2.5. Nothing huge, but pretty consistent action. 

[JediAmoeba]

6 hours at Beltzville today and all I have to show for it is a lot of lost jigheads, almost sunk the boat with a bad plug, lost 3 bass and only landed 1 bass.  But it was a beautiful morning!

[oysterk]

Jeez I've had an eventful couple of trips.

 

Marsh Creek- Yesterday, caught a 2.3lb and another a little over 1.5lb and my friend caught one that measured out at 3.08lb! Super shallow on a Zoom fluke and a big lizard. Today, went out for two hours caught another at 1.3lb

 

Now for the sad part. Went to Ontelaunee for the first time ever, took my waders, caught a little bass then near the end of the day, hooked into what felt like a heavy heavy fish that broke me off. That wouldn't be so bad, if it didn't flip up near the surface trying to shake my hook after I broke it off, and it definitely looked heavier then my PB, a 4.5lb.

 

Super happy that my season's started to pick up, but that big fish... ?

[Adam Markley]

1 hour ago, oysterk said:

Jeez I've had an eventful couple of trips.

 

Marsh Creek- Yesterday, caught a 2.3lb and another a little over 1.5lb and my friend caught one that measured out at 3.08lb! Super shallow on a Zoom fluke and a big lizard. Today, went out for two hours caught another at 1.3lb

 

Now for the sad part. Went to Ontelaunee for the first time ever, took my waders, caught a little bass then near the end of the day, hooked into what felt like a heavy heavy fish that broke me off. That wouldn't be so bad, if it didn't flip up near the surface trying to shake my hook after I broke it off, and it definitely looked heavier then my PB, a 4.5lb.

 

Super happy that my season's started to pick up, but that big fish... ?

Same thing happened to me man, I had my pb hooked 4 miles deep in state game land. I snagged my lure and bit off the prior cast. picked up my friends rod who wasnt fishing at the time, and hooked the fish on his rod. Of course the line breaks at the knot lesson learned don’t be lazy and retie lol

[Bruce424]

im at a loss at blue marsh. they at the spawn funk. the bass are just cruising the bank. which usually means they just want to settle down and spawn. especially the sizable ones. i only really got the morning bite on topwater or shallow crank. 

got this one on a popper. ?she just sucked it under.

[YoTone]

Tried fishing the Delaware to get on some striper action. This one hammered my white red eyed shad hard. Really fun fight.

[oysterk]

Have the worst bass thumb ever after the last two days...and I'm not complaining lol those were some fun fish.

 

Also @YoTone I want to get on some stripers sooo bad, love fishing for 'em when I'm down in jersey on a beach day with the fam. Any chance you could give me some pointers on where in the Delaware river to launch from/fish for? A park, a location I could launch out of? Been living in Philly area 12 years and still have never tried for them here haha

[YoTone]

2 minutes ago, oysterk said:

Have the worst bass thumb ever after the last two days...and I'm not complaining lol those were some fun fish.

 

Also @YoTone I want to get on some stripers sooo bad, love fishing for 'em when I'm down in jersey on a beach day with the fam. Any chance you could give me some pointers on where in the Delaware river to launch from/fish for? A park, a location I could launch out of? Been living in Philly area 12 years and still have never tried for them here haha

bro, i hate to be one of those guys that wont give spots out by my buddy, the one that told me where and when (outgoing tide) to fish for these stripers asked me multiple times not to share this information. he would even cringe at some of my posts here. I have catches from that day that i wont post because  people will recognize the area. He's the one with that big bass that i posted early in the year. He guards his spots very tightly and im very lucky for him to share it with me. If it was my spot and found on my own Id gladly give out the info but I cannot give out any of his personal spots. all i can say that there are plenty of creeks that empty out into the delaware river in our area that will have stripers  that feed when the tide goes out and their food gets flushed out at the outgoing tide.

[oysterk]

@YoTone Nah that's fair, totally understand man

[YoTone]

So for the last three years I’ve been looking to break my pb of 5.5.  After that catch I’ve decided that to break that I needed to make some choices.

 

First step was to get myself off the bank and decided to get myself a kayak. Once I got that I bought myself rods and reels to prepare myself for any situation while on the water. First few years were awkward for me, fumbling with all my gear and not sure of what to throw but this year I really got in the groove where I feel I could be efficient. My next step was to locate myself the biggest fish I could and Philly would not be the place. I’ve caught a few 5’s at my local pond but to expect anything much bigger was a stretch.  I was watching a fishing video and it had Takahiro Omori. He said he moved to Texas because that’s where the biggest fish are. You have to fish where the biggest fish are In order to catch the biggest fish you can. Once I heard that I decided to make the trips to the biggest lakes near me.

 

It takes me over an hour to reach either Marsh creek and lake  nockamixon. At first I dedicated myself to marsh creek and I've gone when I could which was only on the weekend. Very tough place as  I went over and over again and the biggest bass I caught was probably a 4.  This year with this covid thing going on I've been working from home and home schooling my daughter. I get usually get done by 1 pm and my wife gets home soon after. As you can tell by my recent posts I've been fishing like crazy and I decided to try and get my pb out of nockamixon and today was the day.

 

Started off very slow even though it was windy like the last time. A few hours in I was thinking I might get skunked. Nothing was working but I didn't let that stop me from fishing as cleanly as possible. Every cast I made was with full focus. Went along the bank throwing a variety of lures when I picked up my popping perch and started fishing it in semi open water when I get a strike. I set the hook and when my drag started to slip I knew I had a biggin. Luckily I got her in my net. As soon as netted her and looked I knew she was the one. 6.4 lbs and now I start my  new journey in a quest to beat that.

[oysterk]

@YoTone Congrats man! That's a killer new PB!!!

 

I hope to beat my 4.5lb PB this summer too man been two years now

[YoTone]

36 minutes ago, oysterk said:

@YoTone Congrats man! That's a killer new PB!!!

 

I hope to beat my 4.5lb PB this summer too man been two years now

Thanks buddy. Marsh has bigger ones so you never know what that next cast can bring up. Go get it!

[oysterk]

Went back to Ontelaunee for some revenge, 6 hours and only a one pounder to show for it unfortunately. Still gotta figure that lake out a little more!

[YoTone]

Went back to nockamixon. Caught my share of male bass on the pad crasher. Fun but no biggins. What was interesting I saw a guy fishing for crappie with shiners and asked how the bite was. He was like I caught a nice 2-3 lbs crappie. I was like bull, let me see. He pulls it out and my jaw dropped.

[oysterk]

Fishing shallow at marsh today with a buddy (both wearing waders), missed a bite or two, caught a 2.5lb and a 1.5lb fish. All the guys we talked to said they had a great day on the water fishing shallow!

[oysterk]

Biggest fish of the year so far, 3.4lb caught at the Marsh! It was long enough that I thought it HAD to be over 4, but it was all spawned out and fairly skinny unfortunately. Check out that spawned-out tail though!