Photo credit: Eliza Devroe.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go fishing for the first time this year. I didn’t catch a thing and only had a single bite but it is early in the season and that isn’t really why I went.

My main objective was to get my new pole and reel set up and to test my new waders. It took some getting used to the new reel, it is a Shimano Symetre RJ 2500, because it has some releases on it that gave me some trouble. I got used to it in short order and I’m liking the feel of the reel, the drag settings and the bail. The weight of it seems about perfect too.

The waders, as you can see from the photo, worked well. The water was cold but the felt-bottomed boots kept me from falling into the drink. Last year I didn’t have waders and it limited my ability to get access to certain areas of the river. Hopefully this year I won’t have any excuses and will be able to reach the fish wherever they may hide.

Next time, I’ll catch some fish.

Photo credit: Eliza Devroe.

After a friend and I were talking about fishing this weekend I noticed that I never posted a photo of my biggest catch this summer – a 5-pound bass.

As you can see from the photo I was soaking wet. Eliza, my friend Johnny, and myself walked to our fishing spot (about a mile off the road) only to have a downpour come at us about half-way there. We figured we’d continue even though we were soaked.

The rain brought out a lot of frogs and toads that were jumping back and forth on our path. Just before we got to our spot I grabbed a toad that I was going to use for a few minutes instead of our night crawlers that we brought with us. The toad was fairly big so I knew that they only fish I’d get to bite would be a whopper.

You see, the thing about bass is that they love to feed after a hard rain. Rain washes insects, worms, and other critters into the river and so bass just sort of swim up stream and gobble up pretty much whatever hits their mouths. Fishing right after a decent rain fall, when the water is all murky from the rush, is the best time to get a fair amount of hits.

It wasn’t too terribly long before my toad disappeared under the water. It was like a vacuum was turned on under the surface and the toad simply sunk straight down. But then the toad popped back up a few feet away, only it was no longer on my line. My line was being dragged away. The bass didn’t put up much of a fight and I brought it in pretty quick.

The bigger the fish the older the fish and some would say that a bass this size is probably not great for eating. But I wasn’t about to throw back my catch of the summer. Nummers!

A few photos from fishing the other night with my friend Johnny. I posted a pretty wicked toothed Walleye on that night but we ended up with a pretty decent catch in a relatively short period of time. Huzzah.

This guy had some wicked teeth!

John and Kristopher Weinert fishing. We won’t mention the current score between the two fishing this year. (Kristopher is most likely ahead.)

Caught this little guy while fishing in Prompton, PA a few weeks ago. The thing to watch out for when catching toads is that they are not being stalked by some other animal like a snake or snapping turtle. They are the main source of food for many animals so beware.

Paul fishing from the middle of the river. What a gorgeous night to be out!