# Schuylkill River Saturday, Big "D" Sunday



## Captain Ahab (Sep 9, 2007)

Saturday September 8, 2007 was hot, clear and sunny. Perfect weather for a wade with St. Croix. Started out near the Norristown Damn are and found a few here and there - "picking at them" as i like to say.

By late morning we discovered a nice hole that was producing consistent Smallies in the 10-14" range. No piggies, but good fun and great fights. We also found a huge plastic tub that was partly buried so we decided to make good use for a cool photo. Ever see a triple header Smallie shot?







(All of the fish were successfully released in very good health. Here is a shot of a bigger one from this area:






Still not enough to make me really smile, but a nice healthy fish.

We poked around and after a short hike, found the piggies stacked up in a nice stretch of deeper water:














and one more for good measure







Water temps were warm and water was low and clear. Hot bait was 3.5" tubes in green and black. Also, the Yum ribbed tubes produced lots of larger fish.

Caught a few on wacky rigged senko type stick baits but not many.

Sunday hit the Washington's Crossing area of the Delaware. There were millions of shad fry covering the bottom and stretching the length of the river from shore-to shore it seemed. Huge schools would black out the bottom. It was a sight to behold as we watched Smallies and stripers slam the fry and even saw a osprey getting in on the free lunch.

Yesterday when I got back from the Skuke there was a package from PC baits waiting for me. Three plugs, a shad crankbait, a shad popper and a blue/purple nighttime popper. They are really great looking. Of course, i had them with me and since there were shad everywhere I put them to the test.

The shad crankbaits worked great. This fatty came completely out of the water as it slammed the bait near the surface:




Note the Crankbait hanging out the mouth.

Action was slower on the Big "D" probably becuase there was some much bait around and the fish we did catch would upchunk handfuls of shad fry. Saw a few HUGE Smallies while crossing the river on a foot bridge under the piling - they were just cruising around in circles swiping at the minnows.

Here is the big fish of today:






We spent the late morning catching a few LM Bass at a nearby pond then I got home in time to watch the Phillies win and Eagles loose. At least the fishing was good


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## BassAddict (Sep 9, 2007)

Nice catching, but im more impressed someone can actually spell Schuylkill hehehe


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## Jim (Sep 10, 2007)

In the first pictures, is the water really low or is it like that all the time?


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## Captain Ahab (Sep 10, 2007)

Water is really low - that is only half the river, there is an island behind me.


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## pbw (Sep 10, 2007)

Nice! The many faces of esquired :lol: .


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## whj812 (Sep 10, 2007)

Wow Nice!! Its been a while since Ive hit the River!! Its supposed to rain a little today. I might have to make a trip on the way home after work tomorrow or the next day.

Those are some BIG smallies! Around here the average out of the river is 10-12 inches.


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## MissouriBassin (Sep 10, 2007)

Your posts are always filled with nice fish! Thanks for posting them


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## Captain Ahab (Sep 10, 2007)

Take a close look at the pics of the three bass we kept in a tank and those that were fresh caught - notice how much better the colors are on the non-stressed fish?


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