Hot summer nights

 So after a week of brutal temperatures and humidity, the temperature was 80 and the humidity was low so I decided to go and do a little fishing in Schlegel run. I figured that I would do a little experimenting again with some live trout minnows. I caught mostly small sunfish and a few small rock bass. After about half an hour I ran out of minnows so I decided to take a quick trip over to Swamp creek in Bechtelsville. All I caught were some more small sunfish and a 3 inch largemouth bass.I haven't seen any trout there since the first week in May and even then they were small yearlings. I think the lack of rain and high temps have definitely affected the trout fishing around here. I know there are still plenty of trout in the West Branch of the Perkiomen but I haven't had much time to go over there lately. Also with these temperatures I really don’t want to stress the fish too much. I think I’ll start fishing some of the lakes around and leave the trout alone until fall. 

Deep Sea Outing

 So this past Saturday I went deep sea fishing with the men’s ministry from my church. We went out of Belmar New Jersey on the Big Mohawk. It was a beautiful day. I caught so many Black Sea Bass that by the time we got back in my right shoulder was killing me. It was a fun trip though and I got to know some of the guys better which was part of the reason I went in the first place. I’m already looking forward to next year’s trip.

A couple of new spots to try

 So I noticed a pond at Camelot park in East Greenville on Google Earth. I decided to take a look today and see what I could find. It didn’t look to bad but after fishing for an hour or so I realized that it was full of sunfish and carp. I didn’t see any signs of a predator fish. No bass, pickerel or anything. I finally headed back towards home and decided to make a quick stop at the West Branch of the Perkiomen. I never fished the creek in this location off of County Line rd at the bridge but I drive over it every day on my way to and from work. Once I got down to the creek I made a couple of casts and hooked into the largest creek chub that I’ve ever seen. It was just over 16 inches long and put up a heck of a fight. At first I thought it was a brown trout but no such luck. It was still fun to catch.

Swamp creek again

 So I took a quick trip over to Swamp Creek in Bechtelsville last Sunday afternoon. I didn’t see any trout and all I caught were some small sunfish, a three inch largemouth bass and a creek chub. Kind of a boring outing but what are you going to do?

West Branch experiment

 I decided that it was such a nice afternoon that I would head over to the west branch of the Perkiomen. I had picked up a 5’6” Ugly Stick on clearance for $22 a while back at Walmart and a Shimano Sienna size 500 spinning reel from Dick’s for $7.50. They match up nicely with each other and I figured I would give them a try. I caught a couple of small Brown trout with no problem but when I hooked into a decent sized one I had a heck of a time getting it in and the current didn’t help. I went to net it and it came off. I usually use a much longer rod with a stiffer action. I’ll give the smaller setup another try and see what happens. Maybe I just need to get used to it.

Bechtelsville again

 So I had today off and I decided to go over to Swamp Creek in Bechtelsville and get a couple of casts in. Every time I go there the first thing that I do is cast above the dam. I seem to always catch a large minnow or creek chub. Today I made my first cast and caught an 8” brown trout. I then made my way downstream but didn’t see anything. Once I got next to the post office I cast straight across and found this nice 14” brook trout. I caught a skinnier version of this last October 5th in the same spot. I know they aren’t the same fish because I let the last one go above the 2nd dam.

Mixed bag

 So I took a few minutes and went over to my usual spot on the West Branch of the Perkiomen. This was my first trip there this season. First I tried on the south side of the route 100 bridge. I caught a small brown but not much else. I went back across route 100 and started heading north. I cast upstream and caught a ten inch brook trout then on my second cast I caught a ten inch brown. My third cast got me a smaller brown and then the next cast I hooked a larger brook trout but I had left my net in the car and he came off when I tried grabbing him. As soon as I fully recover from my recent surgery, I plan to go back with my waders on.