MY 2011 FISHING JOURNAL

March 24, 2011
Well it's that time of the year again. Time to start my 2011 fishing journal. I'm all set with my lifetime combo license and just waiting for warmer weather. I'm pretty excited about this up coming season. Our sportsmen's club will once again be stocking parts of the North Fork to Red Bank Creek here in Jefferson County with Brown Trout, and the PFBC has added those two section back on the pre-season stocking schedule and are stocking it on April 15th with Brook Trout.
I'm also excited about working a deal with a Pa business that makes hand crafted fishing lures.. we will be selling them at the Dixon Corner Country Store this year and I can't wait to try them out on the Clarion and the local trout streams... Their #1 seller is called " the dude". Can't wait.
I invite you to stop back during the season and see what I have been up to in the way of fishing in this great state of ours...


APRIL FISHING


April 14, 2011
I took a ride along the river and stopped and fished a couple spots.. river is high and fast... almost impossible to get bait to bottom without too much weight and then you get snagged on the rocks.. I enjoyed getting out but the fishing was not good....


April 18, 2011
Fished a couple hours on North Fork . Stopped at Jones Bridge for an hour and then Richardsville. Saw nothing and caught nothing. Water high and fast but not dirty. I wanted to fish the river and Toby Creek at Portland mills in the late afternoon but just as I arrived it started to rain and after waiting for awhile decided to return home, and I will try North Fork at Richardsville in the morning if we do not get too much rain tonight. The PFBC will be stocking there tomorrow.

April 19, 2011
Since I had not caught a fish this year I decided to help stock the local stream and then fish it. I usually do not do that, maybe once last year when the club did the stocking and that was the first time in many years... I caught and released 15 trout this morning in two hours of fishing.
Went back over at 3pm (IN THE RAIN ) for two hours .... I can't remember the last time I fished in the rain.. but I remember why now...only caught 4 and lost 3 before I could touch them.. I don't count them as caught unless I touch them
But it was fun and I caught 19 for the 4 hours..
I was TOTALLY surprised at how many guys caught limits and KEPT THEM ALL...
I probably saw 20 guys fishing today and at least 15 of them kept limits and the rest just a few .. I was the ONLY one I saw putting them back .. that surprises me.. and only heard one guy say he did not catch any.. by watching I think he threw nothing but spinners though...
Two of the guys from the club kept theirs but they were taking them back to camp and smoking them... anyone every have fresh stockies smoked ??????
I thought more guys practiced C & R than I saw today.... BUMMER....
BTW.. the bucket I carried down ( of 10 buckets put in plus more at the bridge) was full to the brim and there was 4 Brookies that I know were close to 20 inches.. one of the guys that helped stock caught one that was probably that big... and I had something on this afternoon that was giving me a GREAT fight til it "spit the hook".. oh well there's always another day..
I did see two guys catch a limit each BEFORE the stocking truck even got there....
all in all great day of trout fishing... maybe be back on Thursday...

April 21, 2011
Fished 2 hours this morning and 2 hours this afternoon at Richardsville Bridge.., the wind was TERRIBLE, but no rain and sunshine. It was really hard detecting the bite with light line, the wind kept a bow in it and after the 30+ degrees last night the trout were not really attacking the baits, just sort of a nibble. But I did land 4 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon... 25 so far in 8 hours of fishing.. I'm happy
Fished with a guy this morning who landed 4 and released them and this afternoon a girl caught 4 after school and kept them for supper !!!
One interesting note...caught most of the fish on small baby nightcrawlers and golden meal worms. I did throw some spinners and on the third cast with "the dude" which is the lures made in Pa that we sell at the store now I hooked into one, It hit the gold beads spinner ... that was NEAT !!!

April 24, 2011
EASTER Sunday the store was closed, so I have 3 days off in a row...
Naturally I was looking forward to some fishing BUT naturally MOTHER NATURE has her own plans and it was raining when I woke up.
It let up a little around 9am so I headed to Richardsville Bridge planning on standing under the bridge to keep dry if no one else was already there. No one was there and I had the area to myself. I was using something different for me this time.. Butter Worms... they were the trick.. no hits on anything else.
Lost three and landed 6 today and headed home just before noon..
Water still high and FAST, but no wind and color was okay, not muddy..

WHEN WILL IT QUIT RAINING !!!!!!

April 28, 2011
Great day of Trout fishing... I helped stock the upper sections of North Fork in the morning and then went to Egypt Bridge for an exciting afternoon of trout fishing. Golden meal worms and baby nightcrawlers did the trick. I even landed one on the very first cast. Landed a total of 25 trout, and all were released in good shape.
Finally ran out of live bait so I decided to throw the new "the dude" spinners. I landed one on the second cast. Tried a few more colors with only one more fish on the gold one. Decided to call it a day and headed home.



MAY FISHING


May 1, 2011
Left work for a couple hours this morning to stock Brown Trout in North Fork that the Warsaw Sportsmen's Club got for stocking at couple spots.
Loaded about 400 Brown Trout into the tank in the back of a pick-up and headed to Blowtown. There were about 10 people from the club waiting for us with two floats... we put about 300 in the two floats and the guys took off with the floats. Dumped one more bucket in the creek right at the bridge. Then went to Jones Bridge and put about hundred there.
We discovered we still had about 50 in the tanks so we went over and spread them out along Clear Run...
Nice size fish and being Brownies they should hold for awhile and supply some good fishing in the area...
May 2, 2011
I went down to Jones Bridge where we put some Browns yesterday hoping to find a few.. no luck but I did find a hole with some Brook Trout.. missed quite a few and have no idea why ???
I was using butterworms and just had trouble setting the hook good and they were getting off about 6 feet away from me ???
Switched over to "the dude" and tried a red one and landed two Brookies..
Caught only 4 for an hour and a half fishing trip..


May 5, 2011
I went to Blowtown early this afternoon and traveled almost all the way to Jones Bridge... managed only one small Brook Trout. I did find the Brown Trout but they wanted NOTHING I threw at them, they followed it in but then turned and went back to where they came from... MANY MANY times .
I wish I would have had some live minnows, that may be the ticket... but RAIN is once again in the forecast for the upcoming few days...
Went over to the Clarion River about 4pm but it is higher and faster than before so unfishable...

May 12, 2011
I spent a couple hours fishing Toby Creek at the "old tressle hole" near Portland Mills this morning. I landed three small Brookies and one fairly nice Brown Trout. I also missed a couple hits, the trout were not hitting hard, just a nibbling feel. I had fun and that's all that is important to me...
Went up to the Hallton Canoe Launch on the Clarion from 3-5pm this afternoon. I landed one Brook Trout and a big sucker. I had fun but the river fishing is far from being good !!!


May 16, 2011
I took a late afternoon fishing trip.. I believe I did more driving than fishing. I headed to the Clarion River at Belltown first.. MISTAKE..
The Clarion looks like the pictures on TV of the Mississippi... high and MUDDY...
I thought about Clear Creek State Park 5 miles away and the lake there... I walked and fished 1/2 way around it and NOTHING... did have one small trout follow the bait to shore but would not bite..
So back (over) to North Fork .. I took my first trip to Humpback Bridge rather than Jones or Richardsville .. Creek was high but not muddy. Good decision.. I landed 4 Brook Trout and lost 2...


May 17, 2011
I went to vote in the primaries this afternoon and then went fishing from 3-5pm on North Fork again. I must confess it was sort of neat seeing my name on the ballet -- I even voted for "ME"
I landed 3 Brooks at Richardsville Bridge and 2 Brooks at Humpback Bridge.. Missed about 4 bites , I must be getting old !!!

May 30, 2011
Finally a day with out rain that I did not have to work and the Clarion River was GREAT...
I fished for 3 hours at three spots, the first two yielded only creek chubs and one small Rock Bass. The last spot was below the heath hatchery so I was hoping to get one of the trout they put in on Friday. I landed my first Smallmouth of 2011 and a nice 18 inch Brown Trout.
very ENJOYABLE day...
May 31, 2011
When over to my favorite rock on the Clarion which I know was out of the water and landed 2 Smallmouths, 1 Rock Bass and a Sucker. All on halves of crawlers.
Saw two grouse and 15 deer on the way home on River Road,and along Spring Creek Road.

JUNE FISHING


June 2, 2011
This morning I left the house at about 6am and fished near Belltown until 9:30am. Fishing was very slow. Only landed one smallmouth and two large suckers. No trout at all. Can't figure where the trout have gone since last Friday ???

June 6, 2011
Fished the Clarion River at Portland Mills from 6pm to 8pm and landed two trout. One was a Brook the other a Brown, both were on the "fat" side. Also caught a small smallmouth. Saw 15 deer on the trip home. Nice afternon even though the fish were not biting very good and I managed alot of "snags"...

June 7, 2011
Fished above the Portland Mills Canoe launch for 2 hours late this afternoon and landed 2 smallmouths, a brown trout and a brook trout.
Saw alot of game in my travels today. I went to DuBois in the morning and saw a young buck on SGL #54, A woodcock standing along side the road, a ground hog, and two groups of turkeys. On the way home from fishing saw 8 deer.
Fished for an hour and a half after work near Portland Mills and landed 5 smallmouths and a brook trout... saw 11 deer on the way home. I am hearing folks talk about seeing fawns but I have only seen one....

June 29, 2011
Fished above Portland Mills this evening. I landed 4 smallmouths and was entertained by a doe and her 3 fawns..

JULY FISHING


July 7, 2011
Had my line out this afternoon and noticed a small "nibble" as I lifted the rod I felt a nice steady pull away. I set the hook and the fish continued going away from me pulling some "drag" out .. then suddenly ==== NOTHING...
I reeled in and saw my line was "broke" about 4 inches above the knot holding the hook.
I tied on another hook and added a half crawler and tossed to the same spot... within a minute I felt that same pull away set the hook and the battle was on... Much to my surprise it was a walleye ... a 22 inch walleye and sure as hell there in it's mouth was my other hook and crawler. AMAZING...

I landed 4 Rock Bass and 4 Sunfish and lost what may have been another walleye.. had it on then the line was "cut" same as the other walleye did... ??











2011 SEASON SUMMARY

FISHING TRIPS
Clarion River - 10
Kyle Lake - 0
North Fork - 9
Toby Creek - 1
Lake Erie - 2
Farm Pond - 0


FISH CAUGHT
Smallmouth Bass - 12
Sucker - 4
Trout- 81
Rock Bass - 6
Walleye - 1
Lake Erie Yellow Perch - 60
Laje Erie White Perch - 2
Sunfish - 4
Channel Catfish - 0
Yellow Perch- 0
Largemouth Bass - 0
Bullhead - 0


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