Hi Folks,
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| Calico Bass |
Let me start with WOW! and yet again WOW! Today after work I was hell bent to get on the Ramapo River to begin the 2014 trout season. I got boots wet by about 2:30pm and there were maybe a dozen or so people fishing. Weather conditions were overcast with a steady drizzle. My goal was simply to enjoy getting out for a couple of hours and simply relax.
I started out at the Ramapo Reservation Park and walked downstream of the bridge. I found an older gentleman that caught a couple of trout and figured well hey I got a shot today. After traveling down stream from him I began casting a 1/16th ounce white roostertail and no sooner I had my first trout of the year on. While reeling the fish near the bank the treble hook slipped from its mouth and by some stroke of luck snagged him in the tail. That's called landing a fish bass ackwards!
I fished that stretch of river and started working my way upstream of the bridge. With nothing else doing I decided to throw the roostertail in Scarlet Oak Pond for a while and what a great decision that was! The first two casts resulted in back to back largemouth bass around 10 inches long. Following that I hooked and landed a 19 inch Pickerel and then 2 jumbo Calico Bass (Black Crappies) each about a foot long. All that occurred in like 20 minutes time. The two Calico's almost came home for dinner but I was merciful and released all fish with little harm done.
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| Pickerel |
Not to be defeated by the trout, I left the reservation and headed north on 202 to a spot just north of Halifax Road. I will have to keep the place un-named do to local considerations. Within the first two casts I had another Rainbow Trout and was getting close to calling it a day but I decided to press on for a little more. That was another great decision because after catching another average sized trout I hooked and landed this 18 inch beauty pictured below in the net.
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| Rainbow Trout |
Saturday's opening day brought record crowds to the Ramapo River and it showed with many people just leaving their trash along the river bank. This has got to stop folks and we all have to take action when we see it happening. Take your trash out of the woods or deposit it in the proper receptacles.
Til next time Happy Fishing
Tommy
Hey, nice to see you back in action....I did not know that there are crappies and pickerels in Scarlet Oak Pond. That pond is so small. I do not like that people allow their dogs to swing in the pond and the #1 and #2...
ReplyDeleteI was not going to buy my fishing licence this year but after watching your post, I will...
Yeah its actually a fairly clean body of water despite the dogs... It harbors some huge HUGE bass and nice pickerel, i have personally witnessed people catching large-mouths in excess of 4 lbs. It can be tough fishing in the summer because it gets so overgrown with vegetation. Early morning or rainy days seem to produce the most bites. Glad I can motivate to get out and enjoy.... Good Luck! ...Tommy
ReplyDeleteYeah, I am motivated... I just print my tree fishing licences: Fresh Water, Crab, and Salt Water.. Good luck fishing in 2014....
DeleteTommy what rooster colors and size are good for trout and Crappies?
Thanks
I used a white / silver bladed 1/16th ounce rooster tail for this time of year for trout.... It just happened to work at the pond as well for the crappies and pickerel.. When the water warms up I will use a brown / gold bladed 16th or 8th ounce roostertail again for trout. This was the first time I have caught crappie on a lure so I'm not sure what would be best.
DeleteThanks Tommype5 for the feedback...
ReplyDelete