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Brinkmans Philadelphia and Eastern Pa. area Fishing report

71K views 66 replies 6 participants last post by  tailchaser 
#1 ·
#28 ·
Ray there is a Wiper impoundment about 20 miles northwest of Milford Pa. in Eldred N.Y.

Artificials only catch and release. Sunrise Lake is the deeper lake with the hybrids. Live wells are in the rentals in case of a record fish.
An extremely good possibility here. The guys who run the place swear the next ones coming from there. They are aweful tough to catch but they have seen enormous fish boated as well. Should you want to fish it, reserve a day or two in advance.
Rental boats 80 bucks for 2 people 7:30 to 3:30 and 6:30 till 2:30 Saturdays.
www.eldredpreserve.com

Ps large and small mouth bass, crappie, perch, pickerel, panfish and hybrid stripers
 
#29 ·
Hey Jim,
Thanks I live in Bushkill and try to hit the river whenever I have time. I never have caught any Stripers but then again I have been fishing from the shore (Bushkill and Eschback boat ramps). I have had alot of lul with Smallmouths especially on the Little Bushkill. I usally fish it about a mile from the Delaware walking down to the mouth where I always pick up at least 4-5 fish on Repallas.

I actually have been up to Eldred to fly fish for Trout (nice place).

Thanks again for the info!
Ray
 
#31 ·
Nice. Sheepshead Bay or the Highlands?

Ray Im 15 minutes from Eschback in Dingmans.
I like to fish the pathway right before Eshback. Smallies and walleye. Otherwise I go south to Portland or as far as Reiglesville. Thats where Ive had success with stripers.
I fished Trenton twice without a bite. During the spring run I'm in the salt in NY. and maybe a trip or two to the Hudson and New Jersey. In the fall its back to NY and long Island.
I'd like to master Wallenpaupack but its proved tough from shore.
The DFG dump the hatchery fish in there in September.
 
#32 ·
Jim,
You were close we went out of Staten Island. I am going fluking tomorrow (want to get one more day before th close of the season). I here ya about Walenpapack. I use to fish from boat but as I understand it the best bet is trolling or live Herring between the hours of 0100 and 0500.
Well have to get to bed to make the trip to the Highlands. I normaly go on the Prowler but am going to try the Fisherman tomorrow.
Ray
 
#37 ·
Friday October 5th, 2007
Brinkmans bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.

WERE TO BE STOCKED IN THE PENNYPACK ON WEDNESDAY BUT DUE TO THE TRUCK BREAKING DOWN IT WAS NOT. I HEAR IT IS TO BE STOCKED NEXT THURSDAY BUT PLEASE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE CALL THE COMMISSION AT 1-717-626-0228 FOR INFORMATION.

Myself I was able to get back up river again this past Tuesday with John to find the river again crystal clear and extremely low. I thought it was going to be a great day until I got to the river to see the wind blowing 10 miles and hour up river again. So we headed up to the start point and put out some minnows to make several drifts without a hit. The wind had allot to due with it moving the boat across the river and also keeping the bait below the boat during the drift. So I started throwing grubs. Now for the first couple of hours things were back and forth with minnows picking up a couple of fish and same with the grubs. One of the first fish I caught was a nice 18 1/2 inch 3 1/2 pound smallie on a minnow. One of Johns first fish on a minnow was a 4 to 5 pound catfish. But till dinner time things were very slow. After dinner we headed back up and fished with minnows for a couple of hours with no success. It was grubs then. Zooms were the ticket and by the end of the day we had 25 smallies and 3 catfish. Yes it is dropping off a little bit each week but I think the conditions of the wind and a low pressure system did not help matter. A couple more trips on the Delaware then I think I will be heading to the Susquehanna for a few trips. But if we don't get rain soon I'm not sure how I will be able to get around out there either.

Most everyone I talked this past week fishing the upper Delaware all are still catching fish but most say it is slowing up. Kevin was up just past New Hope picking up 47 fish on Sunday all on minnows. He tried the grubs most of the day and only caught a fish here and there. But with minnows he did very well picking up 4 fish over 16 inches. He also anchored up and fished for carp a couple of hours picking up three all about 6 pounds on cornmeal. Peter was us fishing the Bull's Island area just below the walk bridge picking up several smallies but did his best on small stripers. He was fishing minnows and twister tails. Last guy I talked to was wading the Treasure Island area and was a couple of times this week. Monday he caught 14 smallies and 9 catfish and Wednesday he had 11 smallmouth, 5 catfish and 2 stripers. He is fishing all minnows and said a couple of the bass were decent size. Up at the Water Gap a couple of guys were up last weekend doing very well on bass and walleyes. They fished Saturday night into Sunday and landed 19 smallies up to 17 inches and 7 walleyes up to 23 inches. They also had a mix of catfish and rockbass mixed in. Charlie is still fishing the Tohickon right above the Delaware. The past couple of weeks the creek has been so low the fishing has been way off. This week he fished were the creek dumps into the Delaware, just below Point Pleasant catching 9 smallies and 3 catfish. He fished all kinds of lures but found the grubs to work the best in the main river. He again thinks with a little rain the fish will start hitting back up in the creek. The Perkiomen has still been the best for amount of fish. Al was out on Sunday with minnows catching 75 fish total. He had a mix of smallies, rock bass, bluegills and pike. He was fishing just below Green Lane. A bit further down stream around the Skippack a couple of guys picked up over 100 fish on minnows. These guys said a few nicer fish were taken up to 15 inches. They tried all kinds of lures but found the fish hammering the minnows the best. And one customer that has been fishing by the prison told me that some bigger fish have been hitting on bigger minnows. He is fishing some 6 to 8 foot holes that are still left on the creek picking up a few fish up to 18 inches. He said one fish last week was close to 4 pounds. The Neshaminy has really slowed up for smallmouth bass but for bluegills and rock bass it has been smoking. Now the Susquehanna should be the best fishing for smallmouth bass but with the extreme low water not many guys have been heading out. One customer has been heading up each weekend to hunt but gets a couple of hours fishing on Sunday. He is wading around Williamsport. He says he has been able to pick up 20 to 30 smaller fish each week with a couple of 15 to 16 inch mixed in.

A few guys are telling me the bass fishing on the river has picked up this past week in Dredge Harbor. They were over Monday morning fishing with hair jigs, plastic worms, rattle traps and crankbaits picking up 19 largemouth bass, 2 crappies and a bunch of small white perch. The back by the pipes was the best fishing but they also did well around the creek mouth. Another report from the river was a bit further north by Trenton and the power plant. These guys were up fishing on Saturday fishing the high tide above the Route One Bridge. They were up bass fishing for largemouth finding the smallmouth bass fishing the best. Using grubs and plastic worms they picked up 20 fish up to 14 inches. They had to get out due to the water dropping so they went down and fished the power plant. Here they picked up 4 largemouth bass and lots of catfish. Here again the plastic worms were working the best. Fairless Hills has picked up for some better largemouth bass. One customer was up Sunday morning catching 6 smaller bluegills and with them he caught 3 largemouth bass up to 19 inches. He also had a couple run off missing the fish. Another customer was up with his son fishing from a boat. They were drifting nightcrawlers and minnows picking up 2 largemouth bass and 4 smaller walleyes. Rohm Haas for largemouth bass has still been pretty good. Here fishing in the morning has been your best bet with plastic worms. One customer picked up several packs of 7 inch power worms in pumpkinseed and black and chartreuse. The day before he caught 8 bass up to 3 pounds. Levittown Lake should be getting trout today or tomorrow but even without the stocking several guys have been doing very good on largemouth bass and bigger bluegills. The bass have been hitting on 6 and 7 inch plastic worms with slider heads. The guys that are getting the bluegills have been fishing with wax worms, meal worms and smaller minnows. Core Creek is another lake that should be getting trout but I'm not sure when. And with the screw up with the Pennypack I really don't want to say a thing. But here again they have been getting allot of smaller fish along the shore line. Crappies, perch and bluegills have been hitting small jigs, twister tails, spinners, meal worms, wax worms and earthworms. A couple of carp were even caught this past week on corn. These guys were looking for stray trout. Noxamixion this past week picked up in the main lake but the spillway has shut down. I think with the low water they stopped releasing water all together. One customer was up Friday night last week for several hours not having a hit and had a hard time finding water to fish in. But in the main lake the bass are starting to pick up with allot of crappies, perch and bluegills hitting also. I even heard of a couple of guys doing well on stripers fishing at night with surface lures. This did not come from the fisherman but a couple of guys that were talking to them at the ramp in the morning. They had 4 stripers in the live well up to 27 inches. He told me they had Zara Spooks tied on their rods while they were talking. The shopping center lake I only heard one report this past week. This couple that goes up a couple of times a week picked up several crappies, perch, catfish and bass. All they use is nightcrawlers. Nothing big but enough action to keep them coming back. A bit from south jersey, Union Lake has still been very good for perch, crappies, pickerel and bass. I have been really surprised how many nice smallmouth bass they are catching in this lake now. The group that heads here each weekend had a really good day last Saturday. They were fishing the islands for the bass and pickerel and did very well on plastic worms, plastic lizards and live minnows. In a full day of fishing they picked up 9 smallies, 16 largemouth, 11 pickerel and all kinds of smaller fish. They said several other boat were fishing around them and everyone was catching fish. Some of the bigger bass were 3 to 4 pounds. Allot of guys seem to be putting allot of time on Spruce Run doing very good on largemouth and smallmouth bass. Here they have been using allot of plastic worms and jigs. Here again some decent 3 to 5 pound fish are being caught. One customer was down to Pemberton doing very good on bigger pickerel. He was fishing the shore line with Mepp's spinners. Most of the fish were 14 to 18 inches. Another really good pickerel lake has been Lake Lenape. Here several guys have been out bass fishing finding the pickerel hitting better. Richie was down early in the week picking up 4 largemouth but also had 19 pickerel up to 17 inches. He was using spinner baits, plastic lizards and Rapala's. The last place that I heard anything on was Stone Tavern. A couple of guys were out fishing here Tuesday night have a pretty good evening on largemouth. The fished until 5 in the morning with jitterbugs, hula poppers, sputterbugs and buzz baits catching a total of 17 bass. The biggest was 21 inches close to 6 pounds but they said most of the fish were close to 3 pounds.

Saltwater action has been really good if you like bluefish. The beaches from south jersey all the was up to New York has been just loaded with blues. Most of the fish south have been smaller 1/2 to 1 1/2 pound fish but up north some bigger 5 to 10 fish move in this past week. Most of the fish have been hitting mullet, mackerel, spoons, diamond jigs and shad bodies. Off shore bluefishing has been very good on chum trips with either bait or diamond jigs with plastic tubes. Here they have been getting fish 3 to 15 pounds. The blackfishing has picked up off the jetties and around the bridges all up and down the coast. But as some cooler weather comes in this will just get better. Back bay striper fishing in Cape May and Wildwood has been very good on fish from 20 to 35 inches. Fred has been getting 10 to 20 fish each afternoon fishing with live mullet and spot. They are getting some fish on shad bodies and fin-s fish but the live bait has been the best. If you are looking for quality of fish the Cape May up into the Delaware Bay has been full of croakers and small porgies. Here they have been fishing with top and bottom rigs with either bloodworms, Fish Bites in bloodworm or squid and squid. Nothing big but the number have been really good. The sea bass fishing was one of the biggest disappointment this past week. Several guys fishing the jetties are getting a few really small fish and the off shore fishing was very slow with the 70 degree water temperatures. Now the warm water has made prime for tuna fishing. When the boat are able to get off shore they have had some really good trips for yellow fin tuna and dolphin. Here chunking and trolling has been good.

Well that is all I have time for this week. Hope you get out on this fantastic weekend coming up. And with the way the Phillies are playing you might as well get out and do some fishing.

Bill

FISHING TRIPS

Korr Productions PO Box 28139 Phila PA 19131 215-291-0638
Cape Cod, North Carolina, Eastern Shore and many more places
Most trips include Luxury Bus, Privately Chartered Boat, Tips for Mates and Bus Drivers, Rod and Reels, Bait Snacks, Beverages, Hats and T-Shirts
Informations at Brinkman's Bait and Tackle or Call Mr. Korr direct
 
#38 ·
Friday October 12 18th, 2007
Brinkmans bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.

All St. Croix avid fishing rods 20 % off while stocks last (Lifetime warranty)
Trout were stocked in the Pennyback on Thursday this week. The Wissahickon and Levittown were last week.

Well for myself I never was able to get out fishing this past week due to work. And with hunting and a couple of business shows that I have to head to I probably won't be getting out for a couple more weeks. Next week I will miss the report being away hunting over the weekend.
With the Pennypack not being stocked last week most everyone I talked to hit the Wissahickon and Levittown Lake. Both were very good for some nice size trout. Now I did not hear of any monsters but most guys were getting their limits of 12 to 14 inch fat fish. In the Wissahickon most guys did best with minnows, wax worms, meal worms and earthworms for live bait with spinners and bead head flies working very well for artificial. In Levittown they were using allot of minnows, power baits, wax worms and meal worms for live bait with Kastmasters and Phoebe Spoons working for artificial. And in this lake they also did very well on largemouth bass with a few crappies mixed in. I don't know if Core Creek got stocked or not but talking to several guys fishing the main lake the fishing has been pretty good for crappies, perch and catfish. One customer was up fishing rattle traps in the back cove picking up 4 largemouth bass and 2 catfish last Sunday. The bass were all 12 to 15 inches but both catfish were over 10 pounds. He also saw a couple of 8 pound carp caught in the same area on corn meal.
Up to the change of weather most of our business has still been hitting the smallmouth bass. The Delaware River has been one of the hottest spots to head. Kevin was up fishing out of Washington's Crossing this past Saturday picking up over 40 fish on live minnows and top water lures. Most of the fish were 8 to 12 inches but he did boat a couple of 16 inch fish. Jay was up wading on Monday saying the fish hit well when he first got there picking up 4 fish right away but it dropped off till dark. He did break off one big smallmouth on a minnow. Tony and his friends were up wading the Treasure Island area on Sunday and Tuesday doing very well both times. On Sunday they picked up 50 bass and 11 catfish. Tuesday they only had 24 smallies, 5 catfish and 2 stripers. All their fish were caught on live minnows. There was a big tournament up at Bryan this past weekend but I did not hear how they did as of yet. But one customer was up there on Saturday saying the fishing was tough on live bait but throwing large Fin-S fish boated him 9 decent bass. Now the Perkiomen all the way down into the Schuylkill River the smallmouth bass fishing has been extremely good. Up in the creek most of the fish being caught are on the smaller side but numbers are high. Timmy was up fishing below the Skippack on Friday picking up over 70 fish himself on minnows and grubs. He did not have a fish over 14 inches. Now down behind the prison there has some bigger fish caught up in the 15 to 18 inch range. These fish are being picked up in the deeper holes on minnows, spinners, grubs and poppers. A few guys fishing the Schuylkill are saying the numbers of bass have been pretty good but they like the size of allot of the fish that are being caught. One customer last week has 5 fish over 16 inches on live minnows. He said there are allot of smaller fish with a mix or rock bass and bluegills mixed in. Now the Susquehanna River should start picking up in both number and big fish but most guys I know that head this way have been holding back for some water. The past month the water level have been so low but after this week I think things are going to change.
Now the lower river has been picking up for catfish, stripers and largemouth bass. The catfishing has been really good the past couple of weeks. Several guys have been fishing in 15 to 25 feet of water picking up fish up to 8 pounds. Most of the guys are saying herring, shrimp and chicken livers have been working the best. But they are also using allot of nightcrawler, clams and all different kinds of soft catfish baits. And mixed in with the cats have been allot of 4 to 8 pound stripers. None of the really big fish that we have in the spring but fish worth going out for. Here herring, chicken livers and bloodworms have been working the best for bait. Now with all the baitfish around there are allot of guys throwing rattle traps, Zara spooks and Kastmaster under the baitfish for both stripers and largemouth. The largemouth bass back in Dredge Harbor, Salem Harbor, Neshaminy Marina, Tullytown Cove, Warner's Cove and the power plant have picked up real good with this cooler weather. These bass are starting to move back into these waters and have been hitting rattle traps, spinner baits, plastic worms, plastic lizards and jigs. One customer was back in Dredge this past Monday fishing with hair jigs with live minnows picking up 19 largemouth bass, 3 crappies and a whole bunch of white perch. Chartreuse and brown were the better colors. Another customer was out over the weekend fishing with slider worms and spinner baits catching 8 largemouth bass up to 3 pounds. He was up fishing in the Marina. And two different reports from the power plant. One guy was out on Saturday fishing with bait catching 2 stripers up to 24 inches, 4 largemouth bass on lures and all the catfish he wanted on bait. He said herring was working the best but he also caught fish on plastic worms, Rapala's, Bomber's and Rebel's. Chuck fishing down in the Salem area of the river with herring, nightcrawlers and bloodworms had a real good day last Sunday. He was out in the main river and picked up several stripers up to 27 inches, catfish up to 6 pounds and white perch up to a pound. And Alex was down fishing off the shoreline in the same area picking up allot of big white perch and also a snake head. This fish picked up a smaller white perch when he was reeling it in.
Down the shore the main talk has been bluefish. From smaller blues on the beaches south to big 8 to 12 pound fish hitting up north. These fish have been hitting mullet and metal the best. One report from the Longport Bridge last night with this customer picking up 1 weakfish, 9 bluefish and a small striper. He was fishing with Fin-S fish. Another customer was fishing the same bridge on Tuesday night and had several stripers up to 29 inches on bucktails and shad bodies, he landed 15 bluefish on a mix of rubber and metal and 2 weakfish on rubber. He told me he had 30 or more hits from bluefish just cutting him off. That is when he switched to metal. Up in the Delaware Bay some stripers are starting to pick up but most of these fish have been 20 to 25 inches. But for numbers the croaker fishing has still been very good on squid, clams and bloodworms. In the Ventnor, Margate, Atlantic City to North Wildwood there has been good number of kingfish and bluefish on the beach and piers. Bloodworms and mullet have been the better two baits. Off shore tuna fishing has still been very good but the winds coming for the weekend will stop the boats from heading out. But till then the yellow fin and dolphin bite has been fantastic. The dolphin have been picked up trolling and casting the structure with most of the tuna on chunk baits and diamond jigs. Now down south in the Chesapeake the spots, croakers and smaller porgies have been hitting in great numbers. Bloodworms, Fish Bites, squid and clams are what most guys are fishing with. And up north in Massachusetts the big porgies are picking up each week. One customer was up early this week filling up a couple of coolers with 2 pound porgies caught on bloodworms and clams.
Now to some of the lakes. Rohm Haas has been holding it own for largemouth bass. Most everyone I talked to this past week is catching plenty of 2 to 3 pound fish on plastic worms, spinner baits and rattle traps. One customer picked up a nice 22 inch fish over 5 pounds on a plastic worm last Monday. The shopping center lake is starting to drop off a bit but it still has been pretty good for perch, crappies, bluegills and bass. Live bait has been the ticket with most guys using small minnows and worms. A customer was down fishing Roosevelt Lake down by the sports complex picking up some crappies and bluegills on small twister tails and trout magnet. Noxamixion spillway has still been slow but the lake has been very good. Several guys have been bass fishing around the dam picking up fish on live bait, spinner baits, medium depth crankbaits, jigs, and plastic worms. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass are being caught. And if you are fishing the structure and around the docks they are also getting allot of crappies, perch and bluegills on small twister tails and tubes. One customer was up fishing Fairless Hills this past Tuesday bass fishing no success. He tried mostly plastics and fished for several hours. He did see a couple of fish caught all out by the boat fisherman. Union Lake has still been very good for largemouth, smallmouth, crappies, perch and pickerel. The guys were only down one day last week but did very good fishing the shore line with plastic worms, spinner baits, jigs and Rapala's. The picked up 7 decent bass 11 pickerel up to 19 inches and a limit of crappies and perch. And the last report came from Dennisville which is down below 55. These guys were out looking for big bass to find tons of big pickerel. The did get a couple of bass 2 pounds or so but they boated over 25 pickerel up to 20 inches. They found 5 inch twister tails to work the best.

Well that is all I have time for again this week. Enjoy this nice weather change.

Bill
 
#39 ·
Friday January 18th, 2008
Brinkmans bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.

ALL ST. CROIX AVID FISHING RODS 20 % OFF WHILE STOCK LASTS ( LIFETIME WARRANTY )
2008 FISHING LICENSE ON SALE!!!!!!

I guess everyone can tell I'm home from vacation. This is pretty easy just look how cold it has gotten. Every year we leave some of the nicest weather here to head to the islands and the week after we come home the weather always gets extremely cold. Oh well!! We did have a great vacation with fantastic weather and again no fishing. They were doing allot of fishing right off the surf where we were at catching all kinds of smaller tropical fish on shrimp and spoons. And I talked to several guys that were fishing off shore for bill fish not catching a fish all were. It is really not the season for bill fish in Jamaica. But the boats still run. Us we sat on the beach, drank and stuffed ourselves for 9 days.
Now I wish I had more to report but there has not been that many guys fishing the past couple of weeks. But if you do head out in the lower Delaware Jon has been fishing over in Dredge Harbor catching some really good size yellow perch. He was out several times last week with 40 to 100 fish each trip out. Now usually they catch a mix of crappies and bass over there but John said it was only yellow perch. Sam has been up fishing Tullytown Cove and said just there is only crappies hitting up here. He was up three times last week and is fishing with minnows, wax worms and jigs picking up 20 to 40 crappies each trip up. And he has not caught a bass or yellow perch at all. Most of these fish have been 12 to 14 inches. One customer was up the power plant fishing off the bank picking up several catfish and carp on worms. He has been looking for bass or walleyes but will take any action he can get. Up above at Bull's Island, New Hope and Bryan when the river is down they have been catching some nice size walleyes. A couple of guys have caught several fish 4 to 6 pounds on minnows, worms, jigs and bucktails. And back down in the lower river at Salem they have been catching some nice size white perch with a small striper mixed in here and there. Bloodworms are the best bait but very hard to find this time of the year. Other than that they have been fishing with minnows, nightcrawlers, shrimp and squid.
Trout were restocked in Levittown Lake last Tuesday and most everyone I talk to is doing very good on chunky rainbows. They say most everyone is catching a limit of fish in a couple of hours using meal worms, wax worms, minnows, power baits and Kastmasters. And in the warmer weather last week there were several crappies picked up also. And trout were also restocked in Core Creek on Tuesday and talking to several guys the fishing has been pretty good. Now most say 1 or 2 trout a day is common but a nice mix of crappies, perch and bass are still hitting. Meal worms, wax worms, minnows and power baits have been the best to use. And one report from the Pennypack comes from Allen who was over last Tuesday at Woodward Avenue picking up 2 trout and 4 bluegills on Olive Cone Head flies. He said he fished a mile or so of the creek and spend close to 8 hours catching those fish. He said the creek is extremely low.
Several guys fishing south jersey are doing great on pickerel, perch, crappies and even some largemouth bass. Lake Lenape has been good for pickerel with live minnows and spinners. But down in the Egg Harbor River just below the dam of this lake there are several nice white and yellow perch and pickerel hitting. Minnows and shiners have been the best baits but some guys are doing pretty good with wax worms and grass shrimp. The Mullica River at Batso has been really good for crappies in the early morning and once the sun get up high the pickerel take over. Minnows and twister tails have been working the best here. A couple of guys have been heading down to Collins Cove looking for white perch but have only found smaller pickerel. Now they have caught a few perch but only a few. They say the pickerel are 10 to 14 inches and have been tearing up their minnows. One customer fishing the spillway at Atison caught several 14 to 18 inch pickerel all on minnows. He has been up fishing the main lake but has not done very well.
The local lakes have been very slow. A couple of guys have been up to Rohm Haas not doing anything. Churchville should be pretty good for crappies and perch under the bridge but everyone is telling me that there are so many no fishing signs now they don't want to take any chances fishing these waters. The shopping center lake has been slow but a few crappies have been caught. Several guys fishing the spillway at Noxamixion have been catching a walleye here and there but that is the only thing I have heard from this lake. Fairless Hills has been pretty much dead. Now if you are a club member Penn Warner has been really good for bass, walleyes, pike, crappies and perch. Guys still fishing in boats have been doing as well as the guys wading and fishing off the docks. The pike and bass have been hitting jigging spoons, Kastmaster and jigs. The walleyes have been caught on twister tails, minnows and worms. The perch and crappies have been hitting on minnows, wax worms, twister tails, spinners and small jigs.
The last thing has been what little saltwater action. This has been weather related with heavy winds keeping the off shore boats docked up. But when they can get out some monster sea bass have been caught in 100 to 150 of water. Some of these fish are weighing up to 5 pounds. There are a mix of ling and whiting being caught also. Inshore the blackfishing has been very good with several 10 to 14 pound fish taken. There was a fish over 20 pounds caught a week or so ago.
Well that is all I have for you. I hope to be back to every other week now. This is a good time to start checking out your equipment to see if any repairs need to be done. Check all your guides and tips and if there are problems get them in now while we are slow. If you wait till trout season it may take 2 or more weeks to get them back.
Bill
RECORD AMERICAN SHAD CAUGHT - http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/33943.html.
 
#40 ·
Friday March 7 th, 2008
Brinkmans bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.

Bloodworms in stock now
Price is still 9.50 per dozen

We brought bloodworms back in stock this past week and several dozen have gone out but so far no reports of any stripers caught in the river as of yet. Now several guys have taken worms down to Salem and the lower Mulica river and have been catching nice size white perch. Some of these perch are over a pound. The only really good reports I have been hearing has come from down river around the Commodore Barry Bridge for catfish. Paul has been fishing with chicken livers picking up plenty of smaller catfish. He has had a few days with over 20 fish. His biggest this spring was over 8 pounds. And the few guys this week that went over to Dredge picked up a few yellow perch on live minnows. They said the numbers were way down but most of the fish they caught were all around a pound. Off Station Avenue this week I only heard of one smaller catfish taken. A couple of guys were up to Camac Street fishing with herring and clams picking up a few catfish. And the last good spot has been the power plant at Trenton with these fisherman picking up a few walleyes, crappies, catfish and gizzard shad. There has been several guys looking for American shad but again so far no luck. The whole upper river is extremely high and muddy after the rain on Wednesday and after tonight's and tomorrow's rain I think it will be a complete mess.
With trout fishing closed nobody has been able to fish Core Creek, Levittown Lake or the Pennypack Creek. And don't forget the season down here opens March 29th a little earlier than years past. The rest of the state opens April 12th. You have to check you rule book for the dates of the spot that you fish.
Now some of the better places to fish that are not stocked with trout. Fairless Hills lake has been one of the best spots to fish right now. Several guys have been going up to this lake catching crappies, perch, walleyes and largemouth bass. Calvin was up on Monday fishing with minnows and small tubes picking up 20 crappies and 2 bass. He said most of the crappies were 10 to 12 inches but both bass were smaller. Another customer has been going up each afternoon with wax worms and small marabou jigs catching 10 to 25 fish each day. He again said most of the crappies have been decent size and he has been picking up a perch here and there. The couple of better bass I know of were caught on rubber skirted jigs and pork trailers in deeper water. Timmy was up flipping jigs last weekend picking up only two bass but both were over 4 pounds. He said any black and natural combo was working the best. The last report was from a customer that was up drifting minnows along the shore line doing well on all kinds of fish. He said in a couple of hours caught 1 walleye, 4 crappies, 2 bluegills and 1 bass. He said most of the fish were on the smaller side but the action made him happy. Roosevelt Lake has been the next best spot I am hearing anything from. Here they have been picking up bluegills, crappies, bass and snakeheads. It seems the snakeheads are slowly taking over this lake and several of these guys are now down targeting these fish just to get rid of them. They have been picking up most of the snakehead on surface poppers and shallow crankbaits. The bluegills and crappies have been picking up on minnows, mealworms and trout magnets. A couple of guys have been fishing the lower Poquessing Creek picking up a few smaller largemouth bass and suckers. They have been using earthworms for the suckers and minnows for the largemouth bass. The lower Pennypack Creek is showing a few suckers right below Torresdale Avenue. One customer was down Tuesday morning picking up 4 suckers, 1 catfish and even a 16 pound carp. He caught all these fish on nightcrawlers. The last place I have heard anything from has come from the spillway at Noxamixion. Jim was up on Saturday and Tuesday this week picking up several keeper size walleyes on chartreuse twister tails. Both days he came home with 3 fish for the frying pan.
South Jersey has been another good spot to head in all the lakes and rivers. I talked to several guys that are fishing Lake Lenape and the Little Egg Harbor river catching all kinds of bass, pickerel, perch and crappies. Now in the river they have been catching yellow perch and pickerel on minnows, twister tails, sassy shads and spinners. In the lake they have been getting pickerel and bass on buzz baits, spinner baits, twister tails and rapala's. Rich caught some of the nicest fish last Friday landing two bass both over 4 pounds and several pickerel 20 to 22 inches. Union Lake has been another really good spot to head for bigger crappies along the dam, bass and pickerel along the islands. Nick and Kevin were down over the weekend drifting along the dam with twister tails, marabou jigs, trout magnets, meal worms and wax worms. They fish all day long and caught over 40 crappies 8 to 15 inches. The biggest two fish were both over a pound. Now they talked to several other guys that were out on the main lake and it seemed everyone caught fish. One guy had three bass in his boat that were caught on Rapala's and he also said he caught 4 pickerel. The other guy they talked to released 5 largemouth bass up to 14 inches and lots of pickerel. The Mulica river for pickerel has been pretty good in the cove across from Crowley's landing. Here the best things to use is yellow and chartreuse twister tails, Rapala's, spinners and live minnows. The last place in jersey is Spruce Run. This customer was up fishing off the shore line last weekend. He only caught one smallmouth bass but this fish was 16 1/2 inches about 5 pounds. He had several guys go by him in boats all saying they were only catching a few bass and pickerel.
Saltwater action has been really slow most due to the weather. The high winds the past couple of weeks has keep the boats from going off shore. But if you do get a window of good weather they off shore boats have been doing great on sea bass 3 to 5 pounds with a few cod and ling mixed in. Several guys have been down fishing some of the bridges from Cape May up to Sea Isle but not one guy has done a thing. They are all looking for the first striper of the season. And the boats going out of Cape May have been fishing some of the inshore wreaks picking up smaller sea bass and blackfish. Other than that the shore has been a bust.
Well that is all I have for you this week. I hope to start putting this report up each week real soon but I need some more things to write about to do so. I have not gotten a reports in over a month in my e-mail box. So please if you do get out let me know what you did and where you did it at. EITHER WAY!!

Bill

Monday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Thursday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday 7:00 am to 4:00 pm
 
#41 ·
Friday March 28, 2008
Brinkmans bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.

STRIPERS HAVE STARTED IN THE DELAWARE RIVER!!!!
Well I broke down this week and put the boat into the river only to see if it would run. Well I was surprised when it kicked over the first time so I went out to see if I could pick up my first striper. Well after three hours of fishing and 4 different moves the one catfish I landed kept me from being shut out. Now I talked to several guys that were fishing off the dock at Linden Avenue all day and they had only caught a nice 8 pound catfish. With trout season coming up this weekend I won't be seeing the river for close to a month. Oh well!! Water temperature was 44 degrees.
Now over all this week I ended up hearing of 8 different keepers in this section of the river. All off the shore line and all caught on bloodworms. Two of the fish were from Station Avenue, three from Linden Avenue, one from Princeton and one from the arsenal. The biggest I heard so far was a 33 inch fish about 14 pounds. Now down below several guys have been doing much better but still allot of smaller fish are mixed in. Kevin was down fishing the flats just below the bridge picking up two 28 inch fish before landing a nice 36 inch 23 pound fish that he had to release since he had two in the live well. He also caught 9 fish down to 15 inches, 4 catfish and a couple of white perch. He said the bloodworms were working the best. Several guys have been fishing the river down by the U P S building and I'm getting all kinds of mixed reports. Several guys are telling me they are catching all of smaller fish, some guys are picking up a keeper here and there and most are saying they have not caught a fish. But it is looking better and better each week and with a warmer week coming up I hope to see more fish caught this coming weekend.
Other report from the Delaware. Several guys have been over to Dredge and most are saying with the muddy water they have not done well on the perch, crappies or bass. Now most are saying they have not been shut out but say you have to work for 5 or 6 fish in several hours of fishing. But minnows fished under a slip bobber has still been working the best. One customer was up fishing off the docks at the Neshaminy marina and had a good day on crappies. He was fishing tubes right along the docks and caught 19 fish up to a pound. He said white and chartreuse were the best two colors with a 1/32 head. He tried to fish the rocks on the jettie but did not pick up a fish. Several guys have been up the Trenton power plant and they say the American shad are hitting in good numbers here. Most have been using shad spoons and shad darts picking up fish 2 to 5 pounds. Even at Yardley they have picked up some shad from boats fishing up by the wing dam and even from the boat ramp. Here your numbers will drop but I weighed in two fish last weekend that were 4 pounds each. Talking to one of the guides that has been fishing from Byran north is saying the walleye fishing has really turned on. He has had some days with 15 to 20 fish and even landed a 11 pound fish last week. One customer was fishing off the New Hope wing dam picking up 5 walleyes with twister tails. He was fishing the slack water on the jersey side.
With trout season closed no reports from Levittown Lake, Core Creek, Pennypack Creek, Wissahickon Creek or the Canal but that season will open this coming Saturday at 8 in the morning. You will be able to keep 5 fish 7 inches or bigger this year.
Fairless Hills lake has still been very good for crappies, perch, bluegills, bass and pike. Several guys have been doing extremely good on crappies with minnows, meal worms, wax worms and small twister tails. Some guys are catching 10 to 20 fish each day. One other customer was up yesterday picking up one largemouth bass 18 inches and one small pike 21 inches. He had both these fish on spinners. Now from what I heard on this lake is that is going to be a catch and release lake starting April 1st. This is word of mouth from a customer that heard it from one of the rangers. Time will tell. Rohm Haas was slow this week with several guys heading up looking for both bass or crappies and they all had no luck. One customer was even able to snag a few gizzard shad and drifted them all over the lake and never had a hit. Roosevelt Lake has still been pretty good for crappies and bass. One customer was down last Sunday with minnows and meal worms catching 5 bass that he had to release and 9 crappies that he brought home with him. I weighed in one of the fish at 1.1 pounds. Nice fish.
Saltwater action has been extremely slow. One the weather has not allowed allot of the boats to get out off shore so the sea bass and blackfish reports have been bad. Now several guys have been fishing the surf at Fortasque and Reed's Beach catching allot of small stripers with bloodworms and clams. But I did not hear of one keeper taken. At Cape May Point I had one customer that was down fishing with bloodworms, clams and mullet. Him and his some fished all weekend without a hit. Hereford's Inlet one customer was down fishing off the jetties picking up some small blackfish. He was down to catch stripers but after throwing shad bodies for several hours he started fishing with squid in the rocks. He had 3 fish to keep and had to release another 4. And I talked to several guys that have been up fishing the beaches at Sandy Hook and other than a small striper here and there it has been dead. I just talked to a customer that was out on a charter boat in Cape May. They had a day with 44 stripers up to 32 inches. All these fish were caught on clams.
South Jersey lakes have been one of the best fishing in the area. One customer did get down to Union Lake on Tuesday and said he had a real good day on pickerel and bass. He was drifting minnows along the shore line with a bobber. He said he would have like to try for crappies but the wind had the lake so rough he had to duck into the coves to catch the fish he did. Lake Lenape has still been very good for bass and pickerel. These guys have been down using allot of spinner baits, plastic worms, Rapala's and shallow crankbaits. And in the river below some good yellow perch have been caught. Now they are not getting any big numbers but some nice size fish have been caught. Minnows have been working the best here. One customer was down to Carnage picking up 4 bass, 1 pickerel and a limit of crappies. He did have one bass over 5 pounds picked up on a pig and jig. The Mullica river out of Crowley's landing this customer heading down towards the bay. He was fishing the main river for stripers and had 3 fish in the boat with one keeper. He landed this fish on a big shiner. They he headed back to the ramp and stopped off at one of the canals around the house. Here he threw out shiner with bobbers and caught 9 pickerel up to 20 inches. The last report is from Spruce Run. These guys were out last weekend getting ready for a bass tournament. They started fishing right off the ramp with Senko worms, Zoom lizards and suspending stick baits. They fished from 7 in the morning to 12 and landed 14 largemouth bass up to 3 pounds and 3 smallies up to 5 pounds. Most of the fish were on the stick baits.
Well that is all I have for you this week. I know I'm a little early but with trout opening on Saturday I have to do it now or never. I will be back each week now and I'm still looking for a little help with reports sent in when you can.
Bill
 
#42 ·
Brinkmans Bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.
Friday April 4, 2008

Well another opening of trout season has come and gone. Normally we have extremely wet weather but this year we managed a dry weekend but a very cold one. And with the real cold nights most guys said the fishing early in the mornings was slow but the fish turned on later in the day. Overall the Pennypack creek was some of the best fishing for most. We only weighted in two trout this year a 5.4 pound palomino on opening day and a 3.1 pound rainbow on Monday. I heard of a few more bigger trout but did not see them. Some of the better places this year was at Welsh Road, Rhawn Street, Boulevard, Woodward Road, Veree Road, Krestown Road and Pine Road. Some o the best baits were wax worms, meal worms, earthworms, yellow and rainbow power baits and corn. Some of the best lures were Rooster Tails, Panther Martins, C P Swings, Kastmasters, Pin's Minnows and Trout Magnets. I would say most guys were able to catch their limits but I did have several guys catch 15 to 45 fish each day. Now that was just the better fisherman that fish the creek all the time. And with them restocking the creek yesterday I think this will be a good weekend coming up. The Wissahickon is another really good spot but I only heard one report back from there. This customer said there was plenty of fish in the creek but he found with the cold weather they were really hard to catch. He ended up picking up most of his fish on salted minnows and live minnows. One Saturday he picked up 7 rainbows, Sunday he got a late start and ended the day with 21 rainbows and 1 palomino. For lakes Levittown Lake is one of the best places to head with most of the trout being caught on wax worms, meal worms, power baits, Kastmasters, Thompson Spoons, and Rooster Tails. Here again most everyone did well but a few of the locals were able to pick up 10 to 20 trout each day. Core Creek was really good for a couple of customers that fished the upper end of the lake. These guys were fishing with chartreuse power bait, wax worms, earthworms and spinners. And they also had a nice mix of crappies and perch mixed in during the day. A few guys that were down fishing the lower end by the dam said the fishing was slow. One customer fished all Saturday and Sunday only catching 3 trout and a bunch of crappies. One other customer fished on Saturday catching 3 rainbows on wax worms fished under a bobber. The last place for trout I heard from was the upper Neshaminy Creek up by Dark Hollow Road. Dennis was up for opening day and also went back on Sunday. Two day total was 48 trout a mix of rainbow and browns. He also had one nice 15 inch brook trout. He found a mix of corn, wax worms, meal worms and minnows to work the best. And he told me if you are looking to get away from the crowd this is one of the best places to head. Saturday he only had 15 guys in his area, Sunday just 4.
The striper season on the river closed this past Monday for keeping fish. Now that does not mean you still can not fish and release. The last keeper size fish I heard of was a 33 inch fish taken last Friday and a 35 inch fish on Sunday. But with the cold weather and the heavy winds we been having there were very few reports this week. I was even going to head out for a couple of hours on Wednesday but with the winds blowing over 20 miles an hour I decided to stay home. In the lower river I talked to several guys that have been fishing below the Commodore Barry Bridge last weekend have a couple of good catches on smaller fish. They did not have any keeper size fish but both times they had over 30 fish. All the fish were caught on bloodworms. They also had quite a few catfish. One other customer that was down around the C and D canal fishing with bloodworms, herring, shad strips and chicken livers. He picked up 17 stripers, 14 white perch and a bunch of eels and catfish. Again no keeper size stripers. Other river reports are coming from Dredge Harbor for yellow perch and bass. This customer was over on Sunday picking up a bunch of perch and 4 largemouth bass fishing with live minnows on a chartreuse bucktail. He was fishing both sides of the pipes. A few guys were up fishing the Neshaminy Creek at the mouth picking up largemouth bass with nightcrawler along the rocks of the jettie. The cove is also been good for largemouth bass and crappies fishing the piling with minnows and jigs. In the Trenton Area at the power plant the shad fishing has been really good for the bank fisherman inside the cove. The have been using allot of spoons and darts. The boats have been staying right outside the cove picking up shad also. And I even heard of a couple of herring caught there last Sunday. Now that was only a couple. Up at the bridges they are dead sticking spoons and picking up some shad also. None of these guys have seen any stripers as of yet. Now at Yardley they are starting to pick up some shad along the islands with shad spoons and darts. A bit further up river at Bull's Island and above they are still picking up some good catches of walleyes. John was up there on Friday last week along the wall boating 5 fish up to 5 pounds. And talking to the guide who is still catching 10 or better fish each trip out. He has had several fish over 8 pounds this year. Most of these fish are being caught on minnows, nightcrawlers, bucktails, twister tails and crankbait.
Now Rohm Haas is getting better and better each week with the bass starting to move into the shallow water to spawn. A few guys were up early in the week fishing plastic worms along the edges picking up some smaller bass. They then switched off to rattle traps and started to fish off shore and found a few 3 and 4 pound largemouth. Up at Fairless Hills the fishing for perch, crappies has still been very good with minnow, wax worms, meal worms, twister tails and spinners. And they have been picking up some pike up there with large spinners and minnows. Roosevelt Lake this week was slow for bass but they said the crappie fishing really picked up and some bigger fish started to hit. Ray was down fishing with trout magnets and 2 inch twister tails picking up over 50 fish one day. He had several 13 to 15 inch fish this week. The Poquessing Creek right by the falls with nightcrawlers brought a few nice bass for one of our customers. He was up a couple different times and caught fish each time. He said there are allot of suckers starting to move in the creek and most are staying below the State Road Bridge. Charlie was just in telling me that fishing the upper Tohickon was really good for a mix of fish. He was up looking for trout but did much better on rock bass, bluegills and even smallmouth bass. He did pick up 2 rainbows in the mix. Most of the fish he said were caught on spinners and jigs. The Perkiomen is another place I talked to guys that headed up for trout and found the fishing better for panfish and small smallmouth bass.
Saltwater action had not changed much the past couple of weeks. Winds have still been blowing a gale and most off shore trips have been keep at the docks. But when they do get out there has been some good sea bass, cod and ling fishing. They are also picking up a few tile fish up north. The Delaware Bay has been very good for stripers but so far most of the fish have been on the smaller side. Talking to one charter boat captain yesterday who has been fishing the rips, Cape May Point and up the bay has been catching allot of 20 to 25 inch fish. Now they have been catching some fish to put in the box but most of these fish are just legal. A few customers were down fishing off Fortasque on Monday picking up a bunch of stripers on clams and bloodworms but again they did not have a legal fish. Reeds beach is one of the only places that I have heard of any keeper fish taken. Here last week they had several fish 30 to 33 inches caught on clams.
Quick update. John just called me from the creek at 10 Friday morning telling me the creek is just a little higher than normal and a bit off color. He had caught 17 fish up to that time. So if we don't get any heavy storms this weekend may still be good to get out.

SUMMER Hours
Monday 6:00 am to 7:00 pm
thru
Friday 6:00 am to 7:00 pm
Saturday 5 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday 5:00 am to 4:00 pm
 
#43 ·
Brinkmans Bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.
Friday May 2, 2008

Finally got to Trenton on Tuesday and I should have stayed at home. We got there a bit late but fishing at the bridges, above the bridges, at the marina and the power plant boated me nothing. There had to be 10 boats fishing for over 2 hours and I only seen one herring and one perch caught the hole time. So we came back down river and picked up some clams and frozen herring and headed out of Linden Avenue. We had a very windy day and the river was rough so the bites were hard to pick up. We fished for about 4 hours and only caught 3 catfish. All were about 4 pounds. Wednesday Helen decided to stay home again so I got a late start. I was on the river by lunch time with frozen herring, clams and bloodworms. As soon as I got to my spot I picked up 4 catfish 2 to 4 pounds. Then I hooked a big striper and while fighting this fish my other rod went down with a big fish. I had to reach over and break that fish off or chance loosing both fish. I landed a 42 1/2 in 40+ pound striper. My second big fish of the year. I was so excited I sent the rod back out without checking the leaded and 5 minutes later I hooked another big fish that broke me off in the first minute. When I checked the leaded it was all nicked up. I caught one other 25 inch fish and for the next 3 hours I only caught catfish. I ended the day with 3 stripers and 16 catfish. The weather is looking much better for next week so I hope this will be the week for more fish and better herring fishing.
Now everyone I talk to is catching plenty of stripers. A customer was just in that fished yesterday with his son picking up one 36 inch and another 43 inch striper with big 8 pound catfish. He was fishing fresh herring right over by the Rancocas Creek. John was up at Trenton yesterday only picking up one striper and several catfish on live and chunk herring. He was able to pick up 40 herring in several hours of fishing. And I saw a picture of a 50+ pound striper that was caught down below Chester on a strip herring. This fish was 48 inches. Frank was out with fresh clams on Monday catching 2 fish over 36 inches between the Tacony and Betsy Ross bridges. He also caught over 20 catfish up to 8 pounds. Another customer was out in front of Station Avenue last weekend landing two big stripers 35 and 38 inches. They picked them up on cut herring. And off the shore at Station Avenue and Camrac Street a few bigger stripers were caught this past week on herring and bloodworms. I seen a picture of a 41 inch 35 pound fish taken on a live herring. Talking to several guides that have been fishing at Trenton all telling me that fishing over all has been slow. Bait has been a hit or miss thing and when they do get bait most of the fish have been 20 to 30 inches. It seems that most of the big fish have not gotten that far on the river as of yet. The shad fishing has still been very good at Trenton and they have caught shad as high as Narrowsburg this past week. At Trenton allot of the shad have been caught on sabiki rigs and spoons. The best sabiki has been the red hooks if you are just looking for shad. Spoons colors have been chartreuse, orange and pink. A few guys were up over the weekend fishing at New Hope picking up 25 shad on darts and spoons right below the wing dam. Cal was up to the water gap picking up several shad fishing just before dark each day over the weekend. He fished during the early part of the day foe smallies and walleyes only catching a few fish on minnows, jigs and spoons. The first couple of shad have shown up at Callicoon a week ago but most of the better fishing is yet to come in the next month or so. Several other reports on the river for smallies all have been quite slow. Kevin was up fishing right below Regilesville only catching a couple of smaller fish on minnows. He has been out the past couple of weeks looking for fish moving in to spawn but only has caught 10 to 14 inch fish. John has been fishing out of Bryan telling me the same with smaller fish along the wall. He has been catching most of his fish on Zoom grubs. He was up above Point Pleasant but did nothing in the fast water. Yardley a customer was up fishing on Sunday with minnows only catching a few catfish and one carp. He was right were the creek come out of town. And the lower river a few guys were over to Dredge Harbor picking up a few smaller largemouth bass by the pipes with plastic lizards, plastic worms and grubs. A few guys have been taking advantage of the Neshaminy Marina being closed fishing along the docks for bass and crappies. They are catching fish with plastic worms, grubs, jigs, minnows and worms. They are also catching bass and catfish with nightcrawlers along the jettie. Drifting a nightcrawler under a bobber or with a split shot with the tide has been working the best.
The saltwater action has been good up and down the coast for bluefish but that has been pretty much it. They have been getting blues from Sandy Hook down to Cape May. The fish have been hitting more on the beaches than off shore. Guys have been fishing mackerel, mullet and herring on top and bottom rigs. They have also been throwing allot of Kastmaster, Gator Spoons, Krocks, Cripple Herring and bucktails. Blackfish closed now so if you want to go off shore you will be sea bass fishing. That has been pretty good but most guys are saying with the rough water the past couple of weeks most boats have not gotten out. The fish they have been catching are 2 to 3 pound fish. From time to time they will catch a cod or pollock. Now if you are looking for cod you have to head to Massachusetts. The Helen Ann boat was out last Friday and the customer that were out said the fishing was the best. The all caught 10 to 30 pound cod with allot of big porgies to fill the coolers. Most guys said the porgie fishing has been the best ever this year. They have even caught a few tile fish on these trips also. Down in the Delaware Bay there is allot of smaller stripers but everyone is saying a keeper is hard to come by. Bug Light this past week a few guys were out looking for bass but only caught smaller bluefish. At the rips several boat were out catching plenty of 20 to 28 inch bass. Here they have been using allot of bucktails, jigs and clams. A few guys were at Reed's Beach this week and they did not have a good trip. 4 guys fished all day on Sunday with clams, mullet, bloodworms and mackerel not catching a fish. They did have a couple of run offs but again never hooked a fish. The upper end of the Chesapeake Bay has been very good for stripers al the way up to the flats coming out of the Susquehanna river. Here they have been catching fish from 15 inches up to 40 pounds. One customer was up the Mullica river just below Colin's Cove picking up a few 20 pound stripers with live herring. The caught their herring up at May's Landing and took them back to the shore looking for big stripers. Over the weekend they had 4 keeper size fish for 3 guys with a few throw backs.
Now with the stripers in the river allot of guys are not fishing the lakes in the area. Charlie again told me that Rohm Haas has still been very good for 1 to 3 pound bass on plastic worms, plastic lizards, rattle traps and spinner baits. One customer was up picking up 6 fish in an afternoon all 12 to 14 inches. He caught them all on power worms. He friend was up the next only catching 2 fish but one was 4 pounds. He again was using power worms. The shopping center lake a few guys were up only catching a few bluegills with worms. The ponds down the street allot of fathers last weekend took kids down and they all caught bluegills and catfish. I heard a club put allot of catfish in the last pond after a tournament a couple of weeks ago. Noxamixion Bob and his wife were up catching allot of largemouth bass with buzz baits early in the day. They were up on Wednesday catching most of the fish before 9 when the wind came up and made the quite fishing. They had allot of 14 to 17 inch fish. They talked to several guys that were fishing off the docks saying the catfishing has been real good with chicken livers and nightcrawlers. Fairless Hill for crappies and perch has been real good using wax worms, meal worms and small jigs. These guys have been fishing each morning for the past couple of weeks. The Poquessing Creek there has been allot of largemouth bass moving in from State Road up to the falls. They have been using nightcrawlers, minnows, shiners, spinner baits, plastic worms and spinners. Most of the fish have been 13 inches up to 4 pounds. A few guys have been down Station Avenue and Linden Avenue trying to lure herring in with spinner baits and from time to time they land a nice largemouth bass. One smallie was caught last week over 3 pounds. Several smaller tournaments have been held on Penn Warner and they have caught some real nice largemouth and smallmouth bass with a few really big northern pike the past week. Fred was up throwing a big Mepp's spinner picking up a 42 inch northern last Friday. And Buzz has been wading the shore line at Penn Warner catching allot of bass 2 to 4 pounds with rattle traps, spinner baits and spoons. Remember these lakes are private. Down south jersey only one report back from Lake Lanape with this customer picking up several 15 to 20 inch pickerel with 4 inch white and yellow twister tails fishing the shore line. He was looking for bass but only caught pickerel.
Trout fishing has still been very good over at the Pennypack creek. One of the regular trout guys came in on Sunday with a 5 pound palomino caught at Solly Avenue on a trout magnet. Ray has been fishing off of Woodward Avenue catching 3 to 5 fish each day on chartreuse power baits and wax worms. He said everyone is still doing very well from there to the Boulevard. Up at Pine Road they are still getting allot of fish just below the parking area in the first hole. I had several guys tell me these fish are hitting spinners, jigs and meal worms the best. Up at Lamaur Park they had the big kids tournament last weekend and there are still allot of nice size fish in this section. Up here they have been fishing with wax worms, meal worms, nightcrawlers, power baits and spinners. There are a few bigger fish in this section of the creek that were stocked for the tournament and never caught. Now for really big fish the Stoney Brook up by Norristown is the place to head. The fishing club up there stocked for a tournament and again allot of fish were never caught. I know one customer picked up a 8 pound rainbow last Thursday and he said there are several bigger fish swimming around. He heard they even stocked a few 10+ pound steelheads that were never caught. The Wissahickon was restocked this past week and most guys that went down caught plenty of nice rainbows. Minnows, meal worms, wax worms and power baits have been catching the most fish. The last trout spot I heard anything from was French Creek in Chester county. This customer was down fishing with flies picking up a few 15 to 18 inch rainbows on weighted nymphs. He said there were several other guys bait fishing and most were doing very good.
Well that is all I have for you this week. The weekend is looking like a 50 - 50 mix for the weather so get out and enjoy the better days.
Bill
 
#44 ·
Brinkmans Bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.
Friday May 9, 2008

For weather this was one of the best weeks I have had in quite some time. And it was nice to head to Trenton and catch some herring. Helen and myself were in the water by 6:30 Tuesday and caught our limit of herring by 8:30. We also had a couple of shad hooked but lost everyone of them. Other boats were catching herring and I also seen 5 or 6 shad caught. So we had our bait and we headed down river to do some striper fishing. The river was 60 degrees but full of junk that I still don't know where it all came from. But we started right away catching catfish and stripers. This day we had 9 catfish up to 6 pounds and 8 stripers up to 29 inches. I did go back out later in the afternoon by myself and picked up 3 more stripers 33, 18 and 15 inches with a few more catfish. The next day Helen was sick so I meet up with John and we went back out here. We fished several spots catching catfish and one striper each spot. I took John to 5 of my favorite spots to boat 5 stripers and several catfish. So I left it up to him for the next spot. Across the river we anchored up and started catching catfish right away. One smaller striper 22 inches then came the monster. I hook up and landed another 40 + pound fish. It measured 43 1/2 inches and was between 40 and 45 pounds. Again the biggest striper that I have caught. Can't wait till next week to see if the streak keeps up. We fished several other spots but only caught catfish. I think by the end of the day we had 8 stripers and 15 or so catfish. All the fish were caught on chunk herring. I was hoping to get out again that day but Helen was so sick I stayed home and after looking at the weather I'm really glad I did. The wind picked up and it got real nasty Wednesday night.
Other reports on the Delaware. John on Tuesday was up fishing next to me for herring and instead of coming down river he stayed up and fished between the bridges. He had 5 stripers up to 28 inches and caught them on herring and bloodworms. H was back up on Thursday saying the herring bite was real tough. But they got the bait they needed and headed up to fish. Not the best day only landing 3 stripers and a few catfish. The biggest striper was 25 inches. Kenny Elwood was out Monday having one of the best days I heard this year. He picked up over 25 stripers and had 9 over 28 inches. The biggest was 40 inches. All these fish were on herring. He was back to on Tuesday catching a few smaller fish and several catfish. I was anchored next to him when they hooked up a big fish but after 15 minutes the fish won the battle. Wednesday he was back out and the last I talked to him he had a few smaller fish. Jim was out fishing over the weekend catching a few fish but he did have his biggest in the mid 30 inches. He did catch a few smaller fish and on Tuesday night he anchored up next to me to catch a smaller fish in less the a minute before it all came to and end. Mike was down fishing the lower river on Sunday by Petty's Island with chunk herring and clams. He fished for several hours with 3 other guys in the boat. He picked up 40 catfish and 12 stripers. The biggest catch were 10 to 12 pounds with most of the stripers 15 to 31 inches. He had a couple of bigger fish on but never landed them. The last customer Eric was down fishing a mile or so below the airport. He said he had over 50 stripers up to 20 pounds using bloodworms, herring and fresh clams. He did have allot of 12 to 18 inch fish mixed in. And he said all the catfish and white perch you wanted to catch. Now off the bank Station Avenue has still been very good with a couple of big fish caught each day. One customer had a fish 48 pounds last week. Up under the Burlington Bristol Bridge has been another really good spot with several 15 to 25 pound fish caught on clams and herring. The airport at the U P S building has been very good but they have been catching allot of smaller fish here. Down below the Fairmount Dam has been pretty good for stripers, shad and even a few herring. The guys fishing with live herring and shad bodies lures have been doing the best on bigger fish. I know of a couple of 20 pound fish taken. They are also catching allot of smaller fish on chunk baits. The shad have been either caught on snagged on bigger shad darts.
Well other than stripers trout have still been one of the next best things to fish for. The Pennypack creek has been really good for several guys this past week. Dave told me that fishing early in the day or late in the evening catching 10 to 20 fish is not a hard thing. He has been fishing allot with minnows. John was over on Tuesday at Welsh Road picking up 12 fish with spinners and bead head flies. He even caught 1 smaller palomino with a fly. A couple of guys have been fishing the pool at Woodward Avenue and catching a limit each day with meal worms, wax worms and power baits. Up at Lemur Park a few guys went up this week looking for a bigger trout but everyone told me that most of the fish they caught were 10 to 12 inches. They picked allot of the fish up on minnows and wax worms. One customer was over to the Wissahickon telling me that most of the fish have been hitting olive wooly buggers just below the fast water. He has caught 5 to 10 fish each afternoon. Another guy was over with power bait and worms catch a few trout and bluegills. Now allot of guys have been fishing Levittown Lake has been all right for trout but most guys are saying the bass and crappies have been biting much better. The bass have been hitting plastic worms, spinner's, spoons and minnows. The crappies have been hitting small jigs and minnows and what trout are being caught have been on power baits, wax worms, meal worms and minnows. Core Creek has been very good but if you are looking just for trout you are going to have to work hard for a limit of fish. Jay has been up telling me that crappies, bass, perch and giant catfish have been hitting minnows, meal worms and wax worms. A few other guys have been fishing the upper end catching allot of crappies, perch and a few trout. They have been using wax worms under a float. The trout fishing up the mountains has been very good with most of the streams being extremely low and most of the fish have been pooled up. Guys that were up turkey hunting last weekend all did very well on rainbows and brook trout with wax worms and meal worms.
Other spots has been Fairless Hills with allot of crappies, perch and bass caught in this lake. One customer told me fishing the shore line he did very well with smaller fish till he found a hole with some largemouth bass. Several other guys have been out fishing in this lake catching plenty of bass, pickerel and small muskies. Rohm Haas has been the same with allot of smaller largemouth bass hitting plastic worms, lizards, rattle traps and spinner baits. Most of the guys I talk to from this lake have not gotten any real big fish in several weeks. Most of the fish have been 1 to 3 pounds. I even know one customer that fished with large shiners and shad and only has had a few hits but no hook ups. The Poquessing creek this week was good but not for largemouth bass, these guys picked up allot of catfish and smaller stripers down below the State Road bridge. They were fishing with bloodworms, nightcralwers and chicken livers. Several guys have been fishing the Pennypack Creek between Torresdale Avenue and State Road saying there are allot of carp held up in the deeper holes but they have not been hitting. One guy picked up a few smaller fish with corn but he said there are fish 20 to 30 pounds swimming around. They have also picked up several catfish and stripers in this spot also. Larry told me after a day of fishing the river at Yardley for shad he went over to the lake in town and fished the shore line with spinners and twister tails catching a few crappies and bluegills. He did see a few largemouth bass but they were not hitting what he had. In the river he caught several shad with spoons between the islands below the railroad bridge. The shad fishing has been very good from Yardley up river to Narrowsburg. The water gap several guys did very good over last weekend with spoons and smaller darts. A few guys were up to Marsh Creek having good days on smallmouth bass and yellow perch. They were fishing minnows drifted on the bottom. They also seen another fisherman land a nice 35 inch 16 pound musky on a live shiner. Several guys have still been fishing up at Noxamixion doing very good on both largemouth and smallmouth bass with jigs, spinner baits, plastic worm and lizards and lip less crankbaits. Allot of the bass are now moving into shallow water for spawning. The crappies, perch and bluegills have been hitting well around the docks and any wooden structure you find around the lake. They have been hitting minnows fished under a bobber, twister tails, marabou jigs and spinners the best. Roosevelt Lake has not changed with allot of smaller panfish still hitting worms and twister tails. The Susquehanna flats have been really good striper fishing most for the lure fisherman. These guys have been fishing allot of rattle traps, long crankbaits, shad bodies and slug o's to catch the most fish. I know of several 20 to 30 pound fish taken in the past week. And talking to several guys numbers from 15 to 40 fish per boat is not un common.
Saltwater action in the Delaware Bay has not been real good. Most everyone I talk to has had trips canceled due to bad weather or just bad fishing. The upper bay they are getting allot of small stripers on clams and bunker but I have not heard of any keepers in a week or so. Now down at Reed's beach a couple customers were down last weekend only catching 2 smaller stripers and one skate. They were using fresh clams. Further down the bay again allot of smaller stripers with a few drum fish mixed in. But even the drum fish have been slow so far. And the Cape May rips have been the same story with allot of smaller stripers hitting clams, bunker, diamond jigs, Hopkins and bucktails. If you are heading to the shore bluefishing has been really good close to shore and off the beaches and jetties. This has been really good all up and down the coast. Allot of 4 to 6 pound fish moved in over the last week. Mullet, mackerel and herring for bait has been working the best with spoons and jigs the best for artificial. Further up the coast in the Raitian Bay there are some bigger stripers hitting on fresh bunker with allot of 2 to 6 pound bluefish mixed in. Down south in Maryland the croakers are moving in. Some good numbers of fish were caught the past couple of weeks. Up north in Massachusetts the boats are still going out for porgies, cod and pollock. Ever customer that has been up there has brought back coolers of fish. If you do go up some of the bigger codfish have been caught on 16 to 21 ounce diamond and Viking jigs.
A few guys are starting to head to the Susquehanna river and have been doing real good on bigger smallmouth bass. They have been fishing the deeper pools below the Duncannon bridge and up at Clemson Island. Now they are not getting big numbers but some guys are catching 10 to 20 fish each trip with most fish 15 to 20 inches. They are also getting some good numbers of 3 to 5 pound walleyes mixed in. They have been doing best with live minnows, shiners, bucktails, twister tails and Rapala's. Still on the Delaware I have not heard of any good smallmouth bass fishing as of yet. Again several customer have been going up and only a few fish have been taken. And even the ones caught have been on the smaller side. John again was up to Byron last weekend and only picked up 6 bass and 1 walleye. The largest bass was 15 inches. Now if you are looking for better smallmouth bass fishing I had one customer take minnows up to the Perkiomen at the prison and have a very good day. He picked up 16 fish up to 19 inches. He said the biggest had to go over 4 pounds and on this creek that is a monster smallmouth bass. A few guys have been fishing the upper Neshaminy picking up a few small bass but this creek with be getting much better in a couple of weeks.
Well that is all I have for you this week. I hope everyone will get your mother out fishing for mothers day. If you do good luck.
Bill
 
#46 ·
Brinkmans Bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.
Friday July 25, 2008

Fantastic week on the upper river for myself and Helen. We were up on Tuesday and fished from 11 till 2 only catching 4 smallmouth bass 10 to 12 inches. Then we went up river another mile to where we never went before. We had to get out of the boat and walk it through the shallow water but it was well worth it. This section of the river was between 1 and 5 feet of water and in 3 hours we picked up another 31 smallmouth bass, 4 stripers and 1 walleye. But the size was the most impressive thing. The stripers were all 15 inches and the walleye was just 17 inches. The smallmouth bass were all 14 to 17 inches. Here they were all hitting Zoom grubs in watermelon, pumpkinseed and cotton candy. We stayed so long in this section come dinner time we had to run all the way down without fishing. So after dinner we had a couple of hours. We did not want to head to far up with several storms floating around. And in those 2 hours we picked up 7 more smallmouth 1 to 14 inches and 1 catfish about 3 pounds. The river conditions were almost perfect with the water temperature about 80 with the water clear and just a little on the low side.
Other guys fishing the upper river. John was up the end of last week fishing the Bull's Island section picking up 15 or so smallies. They had one 17 inch, one 15 inch and the rest were down to 12 inches. I think most of their fish were caught on grubs. Jay has been up river wading the Washington's Crossing section not having a good year. He has been catching a few fish each trip up but only a few. I said the catfish have been hitting the best. He has been using minnows. Several guys have been drifting the Frenchtown to Byran having pretty good trips. Tom and his son took a canoe through this section last Monday picking up 35 bass and 9 catfish. They caught most of the bass on grubs, minnows and leeches with the catfish hitting leeches and nightcrawlers. One other group did this drift in canoes and tubes picking up over 50 fish between the 4 of them. They did everything on minnows. John has been fishing the deeper water at Byran late in the afternoons catching 10 to 15 fish each trip. He has been throwing tubes, grubs and senko worms. Charlie was in the fast water above Lamberville this week fishing a fly rod with poppers. He caught over a dozen smallies up to 16 inches. He was down fishing the mouth of the Tohickon but with the low water he only picked up a few smaller fish. Chet is another fly rod fisherman that was out Tuesday night picking up over 25 bass with white and black poppers. He said most of the fish were 10 to14 inches. A few guys were up to the Water Gap last weekend picking up several stripers with live eels fishing the 80 bridge at night. They did throw allot of surface lures but only caught the fish on eels. During the day they fished grubs, crayfish, hellgrammites and minnows picking up plenty of smallies and catfish.
The lower river has still been very good for catfish, stripers, perch and largemouth bass. The catfish have been hitting river herring, shrimp, chicken livers, bagels and nightcrawlers the best. Stripers have been on the smaller side 12 to 16 inches and have been hitting bloodworms and shrimp the best. Both of these fish have been hitting in 10 to 25 feet of water with fish finder rigs or top and bottom rigs, 2 to 3 ounces of lead with a size 2 or 1 hook. Bridges and creeks seem to be some of the better places to start. The largemouth bass fishing has really been very good for the few guys that are out doing it. Kevin was out fishing back in Dredge Harbor Tuesday afternoon picking up over 20 fish 10 to 15 inches. He was fishing the back barge and pipes with 4 inch slider worms in purple/fire tail. Rick's been out on the main river catching some bigger fish on open river structure. With plastic and crankbaits he has been catching some fish up to 17 inches. Chuck took his bass boat down to the C & D canal this week looking for some bass or stripers. He fished in the river and also in the mouth of the canal with rattle traps, Bomber Long A's, striper swipers, Atom poppers and sassy shads. He said it was a long run for only a few fish. He did catch one largemouth bass close to 4 pounds on a popper but other than that fish he caught 4 more largemouth bass all small and 7 stripers all under 15 inches. Down in the Salem cove some guys have been down fishing bloodworms catching good numbers of smaller white perch and all the 10 to 15 inch stripers you want to catch. The last report from the lower river was a customer that went up to the Trenton power plant fishing the river section with cut herring and clams picking up 9 catfish up to 5 pounds. He did fish the cove but found the water to warm for even the fish to take.
Other smallmouth spots. Charlie when not on the river hits the Tohickon and upper Neshaminy Creek. This week he was over to Tyler State Park catching several smaller bass and a mix or rock bass and bluegills. He was fishing a yellow crickhopper, tiny torpedo's and 2 inch twister tails. He did fish the Tohickon but saw little action. The Perkiomen has been one of the better places to head in past years but this year most guys are still saying the fishing is slow. A couple of guys were up to Collageville on Monday and Wednesday picking up 20 to 30 fish each day. Most of the bass they had were under 12 inches. they also had several bluegills and rock bass mixed in. These guys were using minnows and leeches. Down stream a bit by the prison a customer has still been getting some bigger fish with leeches. He said on average he has been catching 20 to 30 fish each trip with half of the fish 13 to 15 inches. He is also catching allot of big bluegills and rock bass on the leeches. On the Neshaminy several guys have been fishing Tyler State Park and Playwicky park catching plenty of small bass. Minnows, leeches, nightcrawlers, small twister tails and poppers have been working the best. Down the creek at Hulmeville Road they are still doing pretty good on carp with corn, carp baits and bagels. Some of the guys have been catching a few fish 10 to 15 pounds. There are allot of catfish hitting here on corn, bagels and nightcrawlers. They do catch allot of bass here but the guys this week were not fishing for them.
Other local spots. Alex has been down fishing in Salem for carp catching plenty of fish and some decent size fish. He had fish 8 to 15 pounds last week and had over 100 pounds for the two of them. These fish were all caught on carp baits. Alloway Lake a customer was over last Saturday fishing with his son. They had a real good day on largemouth bass, pickerel and crappies. Fishing with minnows and nightcrawler they ended the day with 8 bass up to 14 inches, 88 pickerel up to 17 inches and 3 crappies up to 10 inches. They did try several different lures but said the fish were hitting on bait only. the Poquessing this week a customer picked up a few bass above the pipe. He was fish with 6 inch Creme worms in natural color. He said all the fish were small and were caught on the high tide. Levittown Lake this week for John was fair for largemouth bass. He was up on Wednesday morning fishing with plastic worms along the shore line. He picked up 4 bass up to 12 inches but his best fish was bluegill close to a pound. He said it was 10 1/2 inches and just as big around. All the guys fishing up at Fall's Township have been doing very good on largemouth bass, bluegills and crappies. The bass guys have been picking up most of their fish on plastic worms fishing the shorelines. One customer was up fishing the upper end with black plastic worms catching 10 fish up to 17 inches. he also hooked and lost a couple of pickerel on the same worms. Jimmy was up fishing his 4 inch power worm catching 9 bass one morning and 4 a couple of days later. He said most of his fish were 12 inches. A few other guys were up throwing minnows under a bobber catching crappies and perch. They said real early in the morning has been the best for crappies. Several guys were heading up to Noxamixion but I only heard one report back. This was from Jack that was up fishing Monday morning. He was along the dam for several hours only catching a few bass but decided to fish the shoreline back to the ramp. Throwing spinner baits along the rock he caught another 3 fish. Rounding a point he notice the fish finder with a school of fish so de switched over to jigs and chatter baits. Well the school turned out to be 2 to 3 pound smallies and hit both the Arkie jigs and chatter baits. He ended up landing 9 more fish. Rohm Haas has been a alright place to head for largemouth bass. Anthony picked up 3 bass on plastic worms this past Tuesday. He said there were several other guys up fishing and everyone was catching a few bass. Charlie has picked up bass each morning but said most every fish he has taken this year has been small. A customer that was over to the Pennypack looking for bluegills had a real good day with his son fishing with meal worms and jigs. He picked up over 25 bluegills and also caught 2 rainbow trout. This was in the Boulevard area. Another customer was up at Pine Road looking for trout during the evening hours. But he only picked up a few smallmouth bass up to 10 inches. He was fishing small crayfish and leeches. John down in Union Lake had a real good day on pickerel. He was fishing for largemouth bass with his usual plastic worms not catching a fish. So he hooked up a live shiner under a bobber and just let it drift along the shoreline. He ended the day with over 20 pickerel up to 18 inches. He talked to one of the wardens who was telling him of a 10 pound largemouth bass taken early in the week. He weighed the fish at 10.3 pounds 24 1/4 inches. Caught on a live golden shiners. Stone Tavern was Richie spot to head on Sunday. He worked the shoreline with spinner baits, buzz baits, Rapala's, Rebel poppers and plastic worms. He fished most of the morning catching several 2 to 3 pound bass and 15 to 20 inch pickerel In the afternoon he found a sunken tree loaded with panfish and took out his ultra lite with 1 and inch twister tails and tubes and caught fish the rest of the day. The Schuylkill river below the dam has still been pretty for walleyes fishing the evening hours with minnows, shiners and shad tails. Up above the dam at Flat Rock the guy have been doing pretty good for catfish and carp bottom fishing with worms, carp baits, bagels and chicken livers. And further up river in the Gladwyn area the smallmouth bass fishing has been good with minnows, shiners and leeches. Kevin was up on Tuesday catching over 30 fish himself. He had several fish over 14 inches. Up at Green Lane a customer was up fishing the bridges. he was fishing with plastic worms, rattle traps, spinner baits and rubber skirted jigs. He did not have a great day but did catch 3 smaller bass and one 32 inch northern pike.

The saltwater action has still been a big hit or miss thing. The water temperature has been going up and down so much the fish don't know what keeps hitting them. Flounder has been what most guys have been going down for and the fishing has been very good for numbers of fluke but getting keepers is another story. Fred was out of Sea Isle picking up over 45 fish with only 4 keepers. Cal was out with six guys in Barnagate Bay picking up over 75 fish. These guys only had two fish over 18 inches. They said a flounder strip on a bucktail was the hottest bait but most of the fish landed were 16 to 17 inches. Several guys have been fishing out front with a few bigger fish but here again most are getting 20 or so fish before a keeper. Josh was out to the Cape May reef picking up 32 fish with 5 keepers. But these guys did have 3 fish over 22 inches. Some of the biggest flounder are showing up in the old grounds into he Delaware Bay. Here fishing big bucktails, chrome ball or top and bottom rigs with 10 to 16 ounces of lead has been working the best. I know of three different fish over 8 pounds taken last week. The drum fishing has seem to shut off finally. The Candyman made a couple of tuna trips this past week catching several big bluefin on the first trip and 3 yellow fin and one dolphin on the second trip. But both time on the return they stopped off and wreak fished for sea bass catching a limit each time of 2 to 3 pounds. Up in Breele and Barnagate they have been still doing very good on night bluefishing trips. They have been doing much better on A 47 jigs with green or red tubes than with bait. Most guys are catching 10 to 15 six to ten pound blues. The mud hole up north has been very good for bluefin tuna trolling green machines, zukers, cedar plugs. and tuna clones. Up in the Raitian Bay the big blues and stripers are still hitting chunk bunker, herring, bucktails and spoons. The big schools of bunker have seem to disappeared but the bass are still around. The flounder fishing up in the bay has been pretty good but again here the numbers are good but the keepers are far and few between. Now off the Highlands some bigger founder are being caught on large strip squid, strip mackerel and bucktails. Now surf fishing has sill been very good for kingfish from Brigantine down to North Wildwood. Bloodworms and Fish Bites have been working the best on a top and bottom rigs with small hooks and floats. One of the best things down the shore has been the crabbing. Dividing Creek has been one of the best places to head. Doc was down last Sunday catching 65 monster blue claws. He said it was the best day he has had in years. Up in Waretown they have been doing very good also but here there are some smaller crabs. The Chesapeake has still been very good for spots and croakers. These guys have been still filling coolers of fish with bloodworms and fish bites.
 
#47 ·
Brinkmans Bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.
Friday September 12, 2008

Well I hate to tell you this report is going to be short and sweet. With the storms over the weekend and the one they threaten on Tuesday there has been very little business and few reports coming in. With them calling for afternoon thunder storms on Tuesday I was going to head up the river but the change of storms coming in early and all afternoon we decided to cancel the day out. We did have one bad storm around 10 in the morning but that was it for the day. I was kind of pissed but nothing you can do about the weather men! Next week I have to work so I won't be able to get to the river again for a couple of weeks.
Now JR has been up fishing the Byran section of the river catching smallmouth bass and walleyes. He has been picking up most of his fish on grubs both casting and trolling. He has caught walleyes up to 21 inches and some decent smallmouth bass. Jack was up on Saturday at Frenchtown picking up 20 smallies up to 15 inches on minnows. He was wading the bridge. Two other guys were fishing the Yardley section of the river Sunday and they caught some bass but did best with catfish. Fishing live minnows they picked up 20 cats just below the creek coming out of Yardley. The last report I had from the river was on Monday with this customer catching 11 bass on fly rod poppers just below the New Hope wing dam. He said the fish were all under 14 inches and were hitting white minnow poppers the best. Now JR called down from the river yesterday and said the river is about 2 inches higher and off color but still fish-able.
Out on the main river I had several guys still catching plenty of catfish and small stripers fishing with shrimp, chicken livers, bloodworms, nightcrawlers and bagels. Station Avenue Jim picked up 5 catfish up to 2 pound. He caught all his fish on shrimp. Several guys have been fishing Rhawn Street and the Frankford Arsenal all doing well on cats with shrimp. Some guys say they have had day with 3 to 6 fish per man. Only one customer was out this week looking for stripers. He took bloodworms and herring and fished down below Petty's Island. He said the river was muddy with allot of small pieces of grass collection on his rigs. But in 4 hours he caught 10 stripers up to 16 inches and 2 catfish. John was out Thursday picking up 4 largemouth bass and one catfish on crankbaits and plastic lizards. He fished from Dredge Harbor down to the Tacony Bridge. All the bass were under a pound. Rick was out on Monday bass fishing the Neshaminy Marina catching 2 largemouth bass along the rock jetties with rattle traps. He also had 2 white perch and 1 catfish.
Now the last week of flounder was a bust for the weather. I don't think the weather was all that bad but no one that I know was down. I even talked to a couple of guys that had trips canceled due to the hurricane. Now talking to Fred of the Candyman things have not been all that good off shore the past couple of weeks. He was out chucking for tuna only picking up a couple small yellow fins. Coming back in they hit a few of his better spots looking for sea bass but had very little success. One trip he picked up 15 sea bass 1 to 3 pounds and the second trip they boated 25 fish up to 3 pounds. Now both of these trips they had four fisherman. Up in the Delaware Bay there are still several guys picking up some croakers and small flounder but the best thing in the bay has been the crabbing. Still everyone I talk to has been catching 40 to 70 keeper crabs out of Dividing Creek. The kingfishing last week was slow with the big surf but Timmy was down fishing north Wildwood on Tuesday having a great day before the storms chased him home. He was out fishing at 6 in the morning and by 9:15 he caught 12 kingfish, 1 croaker, 2 snapper blues and 1 weakfish. But a major storm came through and that was it. he was using mullet, bloodworms and squid. John fished off Harrah's pier last week picking up some keeper flounder, a few throw backs with a mix of other smaller fish. Now even the boats up north have had some slow trips for sea bass. A customer was out of Barnagate with 25 other fisherman. They were out 20 miles and the total sea bass count was 57. They did pick up some decent ling and porgies to make up the fish count. Now I hear that the Chesapeake has dropped off this past week on the croakers and spots. But with all the storms around not many guys are making the trip down.
Just got done talking to a customer that was up to Churchville last Sunday having a great day on bass. He was fishing some where in the back with live minnows. Between three of them they picked up over 12 bass up to 3 pounds. Jim was back up a couple of times to Fairless Hills having good morning with largemouth bass. This week he found power worms in purple fished with a slider head working the best. Stan was also up to Fairless Hills on Monday picking up 4 bass and a bucket full of crappies and bluegills. He was fishing live minnows and worms. Several guys have been fishing the Neshaminy Creek in the Tyler State Park and Playwicky Park sections still catching plenty of smallmouth bass, rock bass and bluegills. Minnows, twister tails, spinners and top water lures have still been working the best. Charlie was out to the Tohickon a couple of times this week not having much luck. He was out on Sunday only catching a couple small bass with poppers. Back out again on Tuesday evening with plastic worms, twister tails and poppers again only catching a few smaller fish. He stopped off at the river but found it off color. Sam and his wife were up to the shopping center lake last Friday only catching a few crappies and bluegills on meal worms. They tried throwing lures for bass but did not have any luck. John never got down to Union this past week and he just told me with the storms forecasted for this weekend he won't be going again. Several guys were out to the Susquehanna River last week all doing very good on smallmouth bass from Harrisburg up to Clemson Island. They all said that minnows, crayfish, hellgrammites, grubs, tubes and surface lures have been working the best. But this past week I don't know anyone that went out. Ron was in this morning and told me he is still doing very well on panfish and bass in Roosevelt lake. He is still picking up most of his fish on grubs, trout magnets and meal worms. Fishing the Schuylkill River below the art museum has been very slow unless you don't mind catching small stripers and catfish. He has been down several nights looking for walleyes only to catch 10 to 15 inch stripers on curl tails. Once the sun comes up fishing worms on the bottom has been the best for 1 to 2 pound catfish.
Well I'm hoping for a few reports when I get online but for over the counter information this is all I have for you this week. Lets just hope the weather and fishing both get better in the near future.
Bill
 
#48 ·
Spring Hours in Effect

Monday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Thursday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday 6:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday 6:00 am to 4:00 pm

New Striper Regulations. Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass. January 1 till March 31 / June 1 till December 31 (Two fish limit 28 inches or bigger.) April 1 till May 31 (Two fish limit 20 to 26 inches. These regulations are now in effect. From Pennsylvania line upstream to Calhoun Street Bridge. Fishing off the banks on the Pennsylvania side only. Boat fisherman it is good from bank to bank but you have to launch from the Pennsylvania side of the river. From Calhoun Street Bridge upstream open year round two fish limit 28 inches or bigger.
 
#49 ·
Fishing report (brinkmans)

Thursday 2, 2009

Well the new striper laws went into effect yesterday. You know can keep 2 fish between 20 and 26 inches. Now this is a Pennsylvania law so if you are fishing on the jersey side or taking a boat out on the jersey side you have to stick to the closed season. Myself I got out for a couple hours on Tuesday and had another great weather day but the fishing was a bit slow. We anchored in front of the Rancocas Creek and fished for about 4 hours. In that time I picked up 2 white perch both about a pound, 1 catfish about 4 pounds and also a small striper about 14 inches. That was it. All the fish were caught on bloodworms. Now we did have chunk herring and one whole herring out all day without a hit. The river is up to 47 degrees and has a bit of debris on top. Now after the rains they are calling for this week I don't know how the river will look by the weekend.

Now over the weekend the striper fishing did pick up. Up off Station Avenue they did catch a couple more keeper size fish. I know one customer fished all day and landed 4 fish with 2 being 29 inches. He said they also caught about 5 more keepers that day. The biggest was 33 inches. Off Linden Avenue I still have not heard of even a striper caught. They are catching a few catfish but so far that has been it. Off Rhawn Street it has been the same with a few catfish but no stripers. Down off the Arsenal they caught allot of catfish with the tournament and did have several stripers mixed in. Now down of National Park a customer picked up a nice 38 inch fish about 26 pounds. He also had several fish 20 to 25 inches. He said there was about 20 guys fishing and he seen over 30 fish caught during the day. And across the river at Fort Mifland guys picked up several keeper fish with a bunch of smaller ones. Same reports from behind the UPS building but here they said all the fish were throw backs. Paul called me from down river and he caught his first keep fish this week. He also had several smaller fish all caught on bloodworms. So it looks like all up and down the river the striper fishing is picking up and I think a couple more degrees the fish should really pick up.

Now the upper river has not changed much this week. They say the level is back down and the guys are back out fishing off the wing dam. Now that is prior to this rain we are getting today and on Friday. The guys fishing off the New Hope wing dam have been catching shad and walleyes in the fast water with some smaller smallmouth bass in the back waters. The shad have been hitting chartreuse, pink and orange spoons. Most guys are fishing them behind 1/4 ounce of weight. The walleyes have still been hitting minnows, jigs, bucktails, twister tails and Rapala's the best. The smallies have been hitting minnows and grubs. Now some better shad fishing is being done from boats in front of the Washington's Crossing bridge. They are also catching them at the Yardley wing dam and at the bridges at Trenton. All these places they have been picking up the fish on spoons. Now some good walleye fishing is being done up river out of Byran. Guys have been doing their best along the wall and up river in front of the bridge abutments. Here they have been throwing allot of chartreuse grubs, Rapala's in black and silver and gold and black, minnows and nightcrawlers. They are also doing allot of trolling with chartreuse crankbaits. Now Charlie was fishing the mouth of the Tohickon picking up a couple smallies this past weekend with leech imitations lures. He said a couple of the fish were 16 to 18 inches.

Trout are being stocked this week for all the local trout waters. The Pennypack and Wissahickon are getting fish today. I think the Pennypack is getting around 8,000 fish with the Wissahickon picking up 3,800. Core Creek and Levittown Lake are both being stocked with about 3,000 fish each. Now some of the best baits for trout are usually meal worms, wax worms, earthworms, nightcrawlers and power baits. Some of the best lures to use are Rooster Tails, Tsunami spinners, Panther Martins, Blue Fox spinners, C P Swings and Kastmasters.

Guys fishing south jersey have still been doing very good in the lakes and rivers. Still allot of guys have been down fishing Lake Lenape doing very good on pickerel, bass and perch. The bass have been hitting spinner baits, plastic worms, Rapala's and lizards. Pickerel have been hitting the Rapala's, spinners and grubs. The best for the perch have been live minnows, meal worms, smaller grubs and spinners. In the river the perch have moved out with just some pickerel hitting. But the herring are starting to show up along the wall which means they will be a week or so before hitting the upper Delaware. Down in Union a customer picked up a nice 22 inch largemouth bass that weight around 6 pounds. He picked that up on a 10 inch power worms. He also caught another 12 largemouth bass and 14 pickerel on other assorted lures. Some other guys were down fishing Union targeting crappies, perch and bluegills. They were up the upper end fishing around the weed beds and in the mouth of the feeder creek. They picked up over 100 fish between three fisherman. They found 2 inch twister tails working the best pitched along shoreline. Colors were white and chartreuse. Down along the Salem Canal they are still doing very good on white perch, stripers and carp. The stripers and perch have been hitting bloodworms with the carp biting corn and carp baits.

We have not been getting many reports back from the lakes up in this area. I think most of these guys have been fishing for stripers. But up in Rohm Haas the couple guys are still saying the fishing has been very slow. They are catching some smaller bass with plastic worms and rattle traps. Up in Noxamixion the few guys that have been fishing have been hitting the docks for crappies and bluegills. The have been doing very good around the marina with twister tails, small jigs, wax worms, minnows and trout magnets. John was up a week ago fishing the upper end catching a few smaller largemouth bass with spinner baits and suspending crankbaits. The guys are still doing good on crappies up at Fall's Township but again the numbers have dropped off from weeks ago. The fish have been hitting small minnows, wax worms and jigs. The bass are picking up hitting plastic worms along the shore line. Jim was up early in the week catching 7 largemouth bass up to 16 inches on purple and watermelon trick worms. Several guys are still doing very good on suckers in the Poquessing and lower Pennypack creek. But in the Pennypack they are also catching a few catfish and carp. The suckers and catfish have been hitting worms the best. Carp like usual are being caught on corn and carp baits. A few guys have been hitting the art museum looking for stripers saying the only thing they been catching is a few walleyes and hickory shad.

The only saltwater action I have heard this week was from the upper Delaware Bay for stripers. These guys are still fishing Fortasque and Reeds Beach. They have been fishing allot of bloodworms and clams picking up stripers 20 to 33 inches. Most of the fish have been throw back but most guys have been able to catch a keeper each trip down. Now several guys were heading out for sea bass but I did not talk to anyone that got back as of yet.

Well I know this is short but I want to get this posted before I get to busy to type it. Good luck to all the trout fisherman heading out and for the striper guys it is getting closer to the big fish heading up.

Bill

Starting for the 2009 season we are introducing a mail order business for those who can't get to our store. The link to this sight is http://brinkmansbaitandtackle.com/mailDisclaimer.htm For anyone who know how much inventory we carry you know this will be a process that takes a little time. But if there is something that is not on this sight just call us up and we will see if we have it in stock. We can also do any special orders but this will take a little longer to get to the customer. We hope this will be a big help for some customers.

FISHING REPORTS

4-1- Glad they changed the striper season. Today I was able to catch my first legal fish. I hooked up 5 fish total and had two fish 24 and 25 inches I was able to take home and clean. Nice the state took care of the fisherman that support them. Zack

3-30- Billy, fished up in warren lake yesteday and had a great day on bass. We were working the shallow side of the lake with shallow diving crankbaits. The best colors were crawfish and perch pattens. The fish were all on the small side but the action was great. We had three guys in the boat and we landed 19 fish and lost at least another 11. Not a bad day for this time of the year. Chuck

3-29- Wanted to let you know the bass are starting to pick up in the upper river. We were up in front of the slide just below the neshaminy creek yesterday. What a great day we had. We were out using bloodworms, herring, shrimp and nightcrawlers. Well the only thing that was working was the bloodworms. We picked up 11 stripers 4 catfish and 5 white perch. The stripers ranged from 2 to 7 pounds. The cats were 1 to 3 pounds. Perch were really big fish, not able to use as live bait. I was jigging for herring down here for close to 4 hours and never caught anything but grass. See you in a couple days. Fred

3-27- hey a big fish was taken the other night off station avenue. I was up there fishing for several hours when this fish was landed. They measured it at 38 inches adn weighted 23 pounds. The fish was caught on a bloodworm. Now myself I have caught 4 fish so far and all the fish have been under 26 inches. I can't wait till next month when we can keep a fish like that. But you kn ow what will happen all the big fish will show up. Saw my first white perch the other day down at the arsneal. I did not catch it but I did see it caught. I guess the bloodworms will be eaten up quicker when they get up here in numbers. Wayne

3-26-This report is coming back from Graveling Point. Twenty five guys were fishing early today most fishing with bloodworms, sandworms, clams and eels. From what I could count there was 17 stripers caught with 6 keepers. For me I got to watch all these fish caught. I did not have a hit in seven hours. Not sure what I was doing wrong but most of these guys were out casting me by fourty yards. They were all using 11 foot rods with big surf reels and breakaway rigs. I know I will be down next week for a new outfit. Also do you know what a breakaway rig is. Kenny Yes we do carry a few rigs by breakaway. Two different with floats and two without. We also have plenty of surf outfits. Bill

3-24- A little windy yesterday but we did get out off shore. It was a tough ride home but was worth the trip. I ended the day with my 25 sea bass, 2 cod and a couple ling. All the sea bass were 3 pounds. The fish were really hitting strip mackerel on top and bottom rigs. The biggest fish caught was a 23 pound cod and there were two sea bass over 6 pounds. All these fish were caught on silver jigs. Next time I'm taking some jigs. Stan

3-22- Well caught my first two stripers this morning. I was down off Princeton Ave and was fishing with bloodworms, clams and herring. Both stripers came on bloodworms. One fish was 23 inches and the other was just short of a keeper. There were three other fisherman there most of the day and all together we had 7 sripers, 3 catfish and 1 perch. That guy sent the perch right back out and did have a good run off but never did hook up the fish. All the bass were all undersized. Next week will be keeper week. Frank

3-21-Hi Bill I was in on weds 3/18 and picked up 2 dozen nightcrawters and I fished the Neshaminy falls area with no luck the water is still to cold maybe this good weather will warm it up soon,I heard a 5 lb smallie was caught on the upper river. SMITTY

3-21- Fortasque is really picking up for bass. We were down early to day and everyone was doing very good. Bloodworms is the bait of choice and most of the fish caught were 22 to 31 inches. Most everyone had at lease one keeper except us. We had all small fish. We are going to head down the bay tommorrow.

3-18- Stop in the shop on my way down sea isle city back bay for stripers and catch and release flounder someone forgot to let the fish know I wanted to catch them, no takers. Small schools of herring in the bay they tore through my bloods. Temps still to low 3 days of above 60 weather should jumpstart it. A bit windy but all in all great trip. Marked some decent fish on sonar so it's gone to start soon. Oh solid reports of herring beginning to stack up in Delaware bay. It's almost that time.!!!! Live clams, fresh squid, bloods & storm plastics. Drifted/ancored/drifted.

3-17- fished tacony with bloods incoming water nothing water temp on the flats where 56 but the channel it was 46 but still fish able i will try again tomorrow on out going water

3-12- Went out yesterday and caught allot of crappies. I was fishing a farm pond up by Willow Grove and it is loaded with largemouth bass but only the crappies were biting so far. I did see about 12 good size bass swimming the shore but I used everything in my box and they would not give it a second look. The water tempature is 49 degrees. I think a couple more weeks the bass are going to turn on. Can't wait. Mikey

3-10- I know Churchville is off limits but I was able to get down to the bridge the other day and had a blast on perch and crappies. Since no one fishes here anymore I even caught some really nice size crappies. Most of the fish were caught on jig-n-minnows but also did pretty good with chartreause sassy shads and road runners. I wanted to fish the rocks for bass but did not want to push my luck. Parking is the big problem.

3-10- Billy, I picked up my first striper this morning. We wer fishing money island down in the mouth of the Delaware river and Delaware Bay. It was only 26 inches but that first tug on the line felt so good. Tell you customers that if they are fishing the lower river and Delaware Bay to make sure they have their Delaware license. They have checked me three different times already this year. Any bloods yet?? Pete YES bloods are in. Bill

3-7- Did very good last couple of days in the lower river. Now we have not seen a striper caught but we did catch 17 catfish, 14 white perch, 6 carp. Most of the catfish have been hitting clams and chicken livers but we also caught several of them on hot dogs. The perch have been hitting bloodworms and nightcrawlers the best but again shiners have been good also. Carp have been caught on nightcrawlers and Van-do Carp bait. Hpe some stripers show up soon. The bloodworms are way to expensive to feed catfish and perch. When do you think the herring will show up and are u guys going to be selling them this year?? Alan Herring are just showing up in the Delaware Bay and down in Maryland. So I would say up here maybe the middle to the end of March. Now for selling them I have to hope all the dealers fill their freezers up fast so we get some. Time will tell. Bill

3-4-Yesterday I was up checking out Fall's Township Lake. Now I did not fish but was seeing what all the talk was about. Well it is a great looking spot and as clean as can be. Well I talked to several guys that have did some fishing early in the day and they all said a few panfish were being caught on small hair jigs fished in 10 to 15 feet of water. Just wanted to let you know what I heard.

3-4- Well the weather sure is not helping the striper run. I was down fishing off Fort Mifland yesterday on that nice 25 degree day. The winds blew and the river was really rough. It may have not been to bad if we were alloud to build a fire but here you can not. We fsihed with bloodworms, and last years herring. We made it four hours and did not have a hit. There was 4 other crazy guys there also fishing and none of them had a bite either. Well I hope next weekend will be better. Dominic

Little Al's Fishing Tournament
September 26 2009 7 am to 1 pm Entry fee $10.00
Prizes First place $200.00 Second place $50.00 Third place $10.00 All catch and release Longest legal fish takes all cash
Frankford Arsenal 5601 Tacony Street Phila PA 19135 Walk up entry.

Little Al's Fishing Boat Tournament
September 27 2009 7 am to 2 pm Registration 6:15 am to 8 am
Entry fee $20.00 First place $500.00 Second place $200.00
Catch and release Longest fish takes all cash
Frankford Arsenal 5601 Tacony Street Phila PA 19135
Boundaries Tacony Bridge to Betsy Ross Bridge

Little Al's Fishing Tournament
October 24 2009 7 am to 1 pm Entry fee $10.00
Prizes First place $200.00 Second place $50.00 Third place $10.00 All catch and release Longest legal fish takes all cash
Frankford Arsenal 5601 Tacony Street Phila PA 19135 Walk up entry.

Little Al's Fishing Tournament
November 142009 7 am to 1 pm Entry fee $10.00
Prizes First place $200.00 Second place $50.00 Third place $10.00 All catch and release Longest legal fish takes all cash
Frankford Arsenal 5601 Tacony Street Phila PA 19135 Walk up entry.

FISHING TRIPS

Korr Productions PO Box 28139 Phila PA 19131 215-291-0638
Cape Cod, North Carolina, Eastern Shore and many more places
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Informations at Brinkman's Bait and Tackle or Call Mr. Korr direct

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#51 ·
Brinkmans Bait and Tackle
Linden Ave
Philadelphia Pa.
Friday September 12, 2008

Friday May 15, 2009

Was able to get out both days this week and had a different week of striper fishing. Last year we were just knocking the fish dead pretty much all day long. This year we have been catching fish but have to move several different time to catch a couple fish each time. And so far all this year we have been dealing with allot of small little bites with no hook ups and this week we had over 15 good fish hooks with fights from 5 to 20 seconds and then the fish just shakes the hook. I can take all of the smaller bites to be eels but the run off have been hard hits with no fish. But on Tuesday we headed to Trenton early and fished for herring. The bite here was also a little different. The first hour of fishing there were no more than 20 herring caught between the 10 boats fishing. But the last couple hours the fish picked up and we were able to get out 70 fish limit. I headed right up above the bridges and made one quick anchor to find the current so strong it was hard to keep the baits in the water. So we decided to make a couple drifts to see what we could do. We the water was low but running quite fast. The first drift only took a couple minutes to get back to the bridges. We did hook up one good size fish that fought for a little over a minute and again just shook the hook. Not wanting to bust my motor up we headed back down to Linden Avenue. Here we fished for 5 hours to land 7 stripers, 10 catfish and a couple of eels. The biggest striper Helen caught was 38 inches about 25 pounds. A real nice fat fish. We also caught 3 slot fish and 3 fish just above the limit. Three of the catfish were 6 to 10 pounds. The next day I really did not want to get up to early so I did not head to Trenton. I still had bait from Tuesday so John and myself headed out to fish around the Rancocas. The first time we anchored we put 2 slot fish right in the live well and then the bite went pretty much dry. So we started the moving process and picked up a couple fish here and there. By the end of the day we had 6 stripers, 10 catfish and 2 eels. The biggest stripers was 28 inches with 3 slot fish. Most all the catfish were 6 to 8 pounds with one really big fish close to 10 pounds. All the fish were caught on chunk herring.
Now I'm not the only guys catching stripers. Kenny was out each day this past week. Each day he has been running to Trenton for bait and then coming back he stops at different spots to fish. On Monday he picked up over 30 bass up to 40 inches. Tuesday he caught 20 or so fish up to the mid 30 inch. Wednesday he only caught 15 fish and most of these fish were all under 30 inches. Jim has been out each day and has had some good luck. Monday he picked up 8 fish and all the fish were 24 to mid 30 inches. Tuesday he caught 6 fish up to 30 inches. Both these guys fished until dark and both said as night came in so did the eels. Jim had them holding the bait right up to the boat before leaving go. Both these guys were fishing herring. Jack was down fishing below the Tacony bridge on Sunday picking up 24 stripers, 9 catfish and all kinds of white perch. He was fishing with bloodworms, clams and herring. Most all the stripers came on herring and clams with the perch just tearing up the bloodworms. He picked up 8 slot fish and 8 fish were over the limit. Now further down river by the airport and the UPS building they have still been doing very good catching plenty of slot fish with bloodworms. Now here they are catching allot of white perch and catfish also. Herring is working good but they are still doing best with bloodworms. Up by the turnpike bridge the river guides are still catching plenty of fish from 20 to 40 inches. Here they are fishing chunked and live herring. Marty was fishing buoy 80 on Tuesday catching 15 stripers up to 36 inches. He fished all live herring. Talking to allot of the guides on Tuesday they all told me the fish are still up in the bridges but most of the fish now are 20 to 28 inches. Fishing chunk baits will catch you the most fish but if your looking for some bigger fish it still pays to live line the herring. I even talked to a customer that was up to Yardley fishing live herring right below the railroad bridge catching 11 bass on Sunday up to 39 inches. He is catching enough herring up between the island to fish with and even is picking up a few shad with the sabiki rigs. He also did a little shad fishing right below the wing dam on Saturday but had no luck at all. He said the shad have been hitting the sabiki rigs much better. Even further up river some of the local guys are doing very good on stripers in the Lamberville section of the river. Here herring and eels have been working the best right in the rocks along the jersey side of the river. Several of these guys are catching 5 to 10 fish each trip out with fish 25 to 40 inches. Pete was up on Monday in a heavy wind catching 8 stripers all on live eels. His smallest was 24 inches with the biggest 37 inches 26 pounds. He lost so many fish with the boat being blown all over the river.
Now the upper river has really turned on for smallies. Several guys are starting to fish the rivers and streams. A few guys were up to Bull's Island fishing with live minnows, nightcrawlers and grubs catching plenty of 12 to 15 inch smallies. The have been doing best in the deeper water below the walk bridge. A report back from the 29 wall at Byran. This customer was up on Sunday catching 17 smallmouth bass, 2 stripers and 1 walleye. All the fish were caught on live minnows. He said the smallies were all decent size. The walleye was 21 inches and both stripers were 13 inches. One customer was up to the water gap looking for for shad. He did pick a few shad up fishing the evening with shad spoons. But during the day he found the smallmouth bass fishing much better. He was fishing with grubs, Rapala's, spinner baits, spinners and shiners. He fished both Saturday and Sunday catching over 60 bass between the 2 days. He said most of the fish were 10 to 14 inches. Jerry and Keith took a trip out to the Susquehanna river over the weekend and had a great trip for smallies. They said with all the rain the river was off color but it was high enough that getting around was no problem. The caught most of the fish tight to the shore lines and around the islands. Best lures were rattle traps, buzz baits and sputter bugs. They picked up 26 fish on Saturday and 19 fish on Sunday. Most all the fish were 15 to 19 inches. They took bait with them but found out after several hours later the the loud lures were working the best close to shore. The customer that was out on Saturday saying the creek was too high to fish. So he headed up to Green Lane and had a good day fishing for bass and crappies. He took the minnows and fished them under a bobber right below the bridges. And Charlie was up fishing the river at Point Pleasant picking up 9 smallies and 2 walleye on Tuesday. He was back up on Wednesday catching 15 smallies, 1 walleye and 4 catfish. He caught most of these fish with shiners and crayfish. He tried several different lures both days but found the bait to work best. The Neshaminy at Hulmeville Fall's they have been doing real good on both smallmouth and largemouth bass. These guys have been fishing minnows, nightcrawlers, grubs, spinners and crankbaits. A few guys are starting to fish the upper Neshaminy Creek at Tyler State Park catching allot of smaller bass and rock bass. Minnows, worms, grubs and spinner have been working best. The Schuylkill river above the art museum has picked up for smallmouth bass, catfish, carp and stripers. Gary was up later in the week fishing at Flat Rock Dam with minnows, chicken livers and nightcrawlers. He picked up several smallmouth bass 8 to 12 inches, 8 catfish up to 4 pounds and 2 small stripers. Early in the week the river was really muddy but it has cleared up since. When it was muddy he managed to catch a few carp with corn. But he said he had to chum up the fish before fish each spot.

Other spots in the local area. Ron was telling me that Roosevelt Park has been real good for bigger crappies and bluegills the past week. He was been fishing twister tails and trout magnets under a slip bobber. He had several crappies 12 inches this past week. The Poquessing was pretty good for Eddie. He was up fishing Creme natural worms catching 3 largemouth bass up to 3 pounds. He said there are allot of fish up by the falls but these fish would not hit anything. He picked these 3 fish right under the State Road bridge. Lower in the creek a customer was down fishing with chicken livers catching a bunch of smaller stripers and catfish. The Pennypack has still been very good for trout. Several guys are still doing real good at the Roosevelt Blvd with power bait, wax worms, meal worms, earthworms and spinners. They are saying most trips over each guy is catching 3 to 10 fish. Most every trout has been 10 to 14 inches and all are rainbows. Up on Veree Al picked up 9 trout all with small twister tails tipped with wax worms. He said he was fishing for one palomino that just would not hit. And Welsh Road has still been very good. Roman was out on Tuesday catching 15 fish with wax worms, yellow power bait and C. P. Swings. He said there are still plenty of trout left in the creek. At Core Creek the trout fishing has been slow. Now they are still catching a few fish but most guy are still doing best with crappies and perch. Jay has been doing best off the dam with minnows, wax worms and trout magnets. He is catching crappies, bass and a trout from time to time. Levittown Lake has still been very good for trout and on this lake the largemouth bass fishing has turned on. The trout have been hitting wax worms, meal worms, power baits, kastmasters and minnows. The bass have been hitting plastic worms. Up at Fairless Hills the crappies and bass are still hitting in good numbers and some bigger fish were caught this week. The crappie fisherman have been doing best with minnows, meal worms and twister tails. The bass fisherman have been doing good with plastic worms, spinner baits, crankbaits and spinners. Jim who is a big bass fisherman picked up 9 fish on Tuesday and another 5 on Wednesday. In all these fish he has 3 fish over 3 pounds this past week. His best baits have been Senko worms fished wacky worm style and power worms fish in a carolina rig. Noxamixion has been picking up for largemouth bass. John was up on Saturday fishing the deeper water with spinner baits picking up a few fish. So he headed up the upper end and found the fish hitting grass frogs in the rising vegetation. Here he boated 7 bass up to 19 inches. Several other guys were up just fishing the dock and shoreline catching some crappies, perch, bluegills and bass. Most of these guys were fishing minnows and nightcrawlers. A couple of guys were up to the Delaware Canal this past weekend looking for a few carp. They did catch a few carp with corm meal but also did pretty good with largemouth bass. They caught them all on nightcrawlers and said most of the bass were 10 inches. The carp they picked up were 18 to 22 inches. For the Penn Warner members some real good bass fishing is going on. Several of the guys have been fishing club tournament doing very good on crankbaits, spinner baits, plastic worms and jigging spoons. Several bass 3 to 5 pounds have been caught the past couple weeks. They have also seen a few bigger northern's 10 to 15 pounds. These fish were caught on spinner baits, spinners and spoons. Larry was up fishing Penn Warner last weekend having a great day with crappies, bluegills and walleyes. He was fishing with minnows, twister tails and meal worms. Between himself and his couple boys they landed over 30 crappies up to a pound, 5 walleyes up to 18 inches and all the bluegills you wanted to catch. One customer got a couple hours of fishing at Churchville before getting chased. He was back fishing by the railroad track with rattle traps and spinner baits. He picked up 5 bass most around 2 pound with the biggest a 19 inch 3 1/2 pound fish. He said there are allot of bigger fish working the shoreline but they won't touch a thing.
The saltwater action has really been picking up. Flounder even know they are closed have been hitting in big numbers and some really big fish. The back bays of Sea Isle and Wildwood have been a couple of the better places. Fred said there are plenty of state police and wardens around to keep everyone honest. Now the Delaware Bay has been hot for drumfish but this week they have seemed to go into a spawn mode and have pretty much shut down. I talked to 5 different groups that were down and not one fish was taken on any of the trips. They all said there were plenty of sharks to keep everyone happy though. Now they are still getting allot of stripers in the bay. The upper bay has been best for bigger fish with the rips being great for smaller fish. Up the bay they have been using allot of bunker and in the rips clams, bucktails, shad bodies and eels. George was out of Buoy one catching 4 keeper fish last Friday all with fresh bunker. His biggest was 22 pounds and the smallest keeper was 12 pounds. He also had 9 throw backs. Now several boats were out to the rips and all the report back were good. Most guys were catching 5 to 8 fish each. They are catching some keeper but most fish have been throw backs. There were a few smaller drumfish picked up in the 20 to 30 pound class. And even a few nice flounder were caught. Alex has still been heading to the Brandywine Light catching nice blackfish. The limits are low but most guys have been catching limits of 3 to 5 pound fish. And a few smaller sea bass mixed in. Out front of Cape May a few boats are still fishing for sea bass with allot of 2 to 3 pound fish being caught. The best fishing has been up north. Off Sandy Hook the striper bite early in the morning has been very good. They have been catching most of the fish with clams. Now in the evening there has been a good run of 6 to 10 pound bluefish. These fish have been hitting mackerel, mullet and metal. Off shore the boats have been doing real good with stripers. Here they have been fishing allot of bunker, clams, metal, shad bodies, umbrella rigs and bunker spoons. Here they have been doing good on fish up to 45 pounds. Up in the Hudson River I had a customer pick up two stripers 42 and 44 inches. Both fish were full of eggs and weighed between 40 and 45 pounds. These fish were caught on herring. His guide has been catching between 25 and 40 fish a day with most of the fish 30 to 40 inches. Up in the Raritan Bay a few guys have been doing very good on stripers and bluefish with herring and bunker. Chris had one day with three guys picking up 19 bass and 14 bluefish. The bass ranged from 22 to 36 inches. The bluefish were all 5 to 8 pounds. He is catching all his fish on bunker chunks. He said the bay has been loaded with fresh bunker the past 6 days. Snagging the bunker and fishing them alive has brought several real big fish but if your looking for numbers chunking the up has been the best. Ralph has also been up in the Raritan catching plenty of bass with live herring. He spent allot of time catching herring in the Delaware and penning them up where he keeps his boat. He has been taking out 2 to 3 fisherman a day catching numbers of 15 to 30 fish each trip out. His biggest this past week was 41 inches 27 pounds. Now off Sandy Hook this past week there was a 50 pound black drum picked up on a fresh clam. Now drum are not usually caught this far north. A few guys were in the Highlands picking up stripers with clams and bunker. They said most of the fish being caught have been 25 to 30 inches. These guys caught over 15 fish Tuesday night and only had one keeper.
Now with the rainy weekend I only talked to three different guys that fished south jersey. One group was on Union Lake catching pickerel and bass. They were fishing with live minnows drifting the shoreline. Between 3 guys they landed 10 pickerel and 4 largemouth bass. Nothing big to talk about. The second were guys that were fishing the Salem Cannel. These guys were down fishing for white perch and stripers with bloodworms. They did very good catching limits of big white perch. They all caught a couple smaller stripers but all had to be released. there were a few catfish mixed in. The last report came from Spruce Run. This customer was up fishing the upper side of the dam with minnows, nightcrawlers and mealworms. He picked up a couple smaller trout with the meal worms fishing them on a slip sinker rig with a marshmallow. Other than the few trout he picked up a couple smaller bass with minnows.
Well that is it for this week. The weather is not looking all too good again for another weekend. But there is nothing you can do about the weather other than putting on rain gear and just heading out. That was a hint to get as many people out fishing as possible. Good luck,
Bill
 
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