The Brook Trout

Family: Salvelinus

Diet: Mayflies, leeches, worms, crayfish, and minnows

Average size: 1-5 lbs

World record: 14lbs 8oz

The Brook Trout, besides it's name is a Char, a very close relative to True Trouts. Besides being my favorite fish, is one of the only native trouts of Chars in New York (The other being the Lake Trout). In fact, there are no native trouts in New York State since the Lake Trout is a Char, too. It genarlly lives in small, swift, brooks (hence it's name) of New England. 80% of its diet is insects, and the other 20% is random things, such as worms and leeches. It is known for being one of the most beautiful fishes in North America. It has been introduced into Northern Europe. It tipically lives in unison with the more populous and tolerant Brown Trout, Which also lives in cold, swift rivers. It is generally smaller, too. It is very sensitive to habitat change, and is genarlly the first to go if a creek is polluted. In the Saquoit Creek, A river about 20 miles away from our house, almost all the native Brook Trouts have been killed by pollution from a meatal factory

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Brook_trout_1918.jpg
A drawing of a Brook trout

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A Brook Trout caught in Wyoming

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A Brook Trout

The Black River Canal and More...

I'm sorry, I guess it wasn't the last post of the year! But I think this one will be the last. For A biking trip, we biked along the Black River canal. The canal is called black because the is so much iron in the water that it makes it look black! Same with the black river. Since we biked along the canal I figured I could go fishing in it once and awhile. Early on our fishing attempts were futile and in vain. We had given up all hope (and a few lures). We figured it was too late in the season. Finally about 7 1/2 miles into our 30 mile trip we came to a pond.It looked good for fishing so I cast my line out. Michael said he wouldn't go fishing unless I caught a fish. Within two casts I was reeling in a member of the Esox family and Michael was sprinting for his poleThis is a Chain Pickerel, or Esox niger. It is similar to the carnivorous Northern Pike, or Esox lucious (get the pun), but a little smaller. This one here is an average sized one. They feed on everything they can get there mouths on. There have been reports of them biting wader's legs!After the sprint for the pole Micheal reeled in a humongous pickerel! I have never seen one so big before! This is about the size of a northern Pike! Love the face!Another pickerel caught by me. Good size, but when I tried to take a picture, It went nuts! That's what's happening in this picture. Someones a little picture shy! Note the color of the water in the background. After that catch we continued on along the trail and eventually merged into the Black River. The Black River has a variety of environments, ranging from rapids. The part of the river we fished in happened to be rapids, as you see here.A nice size brown trout Michael caught. Such a pretty fish.A smallmouth bass I caught. As you see we're using spinner bait. After another 15 miles Our trip was concluded, BUT......Micheal's pictures from his Florida trip came in. Down in Florida he caught a Tunny Tuna. Little compared to other tuna, Tunnies generally range from 7- 10lbs. This one Michael caught was 15lbs! Sorry about the poor picture quality. This is a picture of a picture, since he used a disposable camera.

The Ending Season

As winter approaches, the fishing season ends season ends. Today I made my last fishing attempt. As it rains and pours, the fish go to the deeper part of a body of water, and become mostly inactive. Trout are for the most part active, but their season ends in September, when they breed. Perch and sunfish can be fished for all year. Later in the year you might find some posts from Ice fishing for perch. I'm sorry I haven't made a post in a very long time, but then again, we haven't gone fishing in a very long time.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/YellowPerch.jpg

Some Yellow Perch

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A Bluegill

Fly Tying

Well, as you all know, I some times fly fish and sometimes just plain old "fish". It mostly depends on the area, such as if I have enough space to cast or do I have the right flies to catch the fish that live there. This post will be about tying, or making flies.A Buzzer Larvae that I made. Pretty darn simple.A Green Highlander That I made. Yes, I know it is not a real Green Highlander fly, It is just a Mickey Finn bucktail streamer modified to look like a Green Highlander.A "real" Mickey Finn streamer I made.A Mosquito Dry Fly I made. It rests at the surface so when a fish comes along, It jumps out of the water to get the fly. Pretty spectacular. That is one of the beauties of fly fishing.The largest fly in my arsenal, A fly popper. The head is made of cork so it floats at the surface. When you pull on the line it dives, making a popping sound. I didn't make this one, along with the others, but with this one the tail feathers came off, so I tied some bucktail on. We found a case full of them in the garage.Another popper. This one has frog legs on it.And a 'nothern!This next part is a step by step gallery of tying a fly. I tried to take a video, but that didn't work out to well.... The fly I am tying here is the purple panther streamer, a design I made myself.Step 1: Tie on black tread.Step 2: Wrap It around to the back of the hook. This makes a nice structure to put your materials on.Step 3: Tie on wire tinsel and grey floss.Step 4: Wrap floss and tinsel up to head.Step 5: Tie on purple bucktail.Step 5: Tie on grizzly hackle.Step 6: Wrap hackle around head.Step 7: Snip off access.The materials needed
Left to right:
Top row: Hooks, wire tinsel, grey floss, black thread and bobbin.
Middle row: cement, whip finish tool, scissors.
Bottom row: Exacto knife, purple bucktail

The American Shad

Family: Clupeidae

Diet: plankton, shrimp, fish eggs, very rarely other fish
Average size: 5.9-7.9 lbs
World record: 11lbs 4oz

The American shad is one of the most popular anadromous fishes in North America. Every year shad swim hundreds of miles upstream to spawn. I have never caught one because shad fishing is illegal in NY State. What makes this fish so popular is its numbers, its strength, and its size. Here is a picture from the internet:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Dentonshad1904.jpg

A watercolor drawing of an American shad.

The West Canada Creek

Today we went fishing in the West Canada Creek. The fish that live in this body of water include brown trout, rainbow trout, and smallmouth bass. Today we only caught 2 brown trout, and right about now they are being cleaned.

The brown trout. Top one caught by Michael, the bottom one caught by dad. You can see the discoloration on their heads and bodies. I was using my fly rod and reel and used various lures. I hooked the most fish, but lost every one of them. Michael and dad where using spinner bait (seen in "Bass Along the Mohawk").

Bluegills

I went fly fishing in my uncles pond with dry fly and caught a bunch of bluegills. They may be small, but they have a fighting spirit and are fun to catch on a fly rod. I caught about 10, but I could've caught more because I went fishing for only a 1/2 hour. Here is a few that where worth taking pictures of.This is one of the biggest bluegills I have ever caught. And take a look at that ear! (the ear is the flap that hangs off the gill. No it is not a real ear.) It was early dawn.An averaged sized bluegill. I lost the original bait I used, so here is the closest thing I have to it; a large mosquito dry fly I made myself.

Bass Along the Mohawk

For a fishing trip, we decided to go fishing in the Mohawk river. The Mohawk River is the source of water for the Erie Canal. It's average depth is about 5 feet, but reaches 8 feet in some places. It is well oxygenated and has a moderate speed, making it the perfect Smallmouth Bass river. Most of its population includes Smallmouth bass and Shiners, but its population also includes Tiger Muskellunge, Walleye, and Largemouth Bass. Here are some pictures of the trip.The Mohawk RiverThe kind of bait we used: spinner-bait. The rotating blade reflects light and attracts fish. An all-around good bait which can catch anything but bottom-feeders, and my personal favorite.

A 12" Smallmouth I caught. This is just the beginning.A little one Michael caught.A nice 15"4 1/2lb bass Michael caught. He had a lot of luck in the beginning. Note the huge tail fin.This explains why there such good fighters.Another little one. 10" and 1lbAnother nice 14" 4lb smallmouth.Another 10", 1lb bass, this time caught by me. Where do these little guys keep on coming from!?The 2nd biggest fish I caught on this trip was a minnow. A 14" 3 1/2lb minnow. This is a Shiner. It is a member of the minnow family, along with the carp.The trophy of the day. A 16" 5lb Smallmouth Bass that dad caught. He lost a lot of fish earlier on, including a 20"! The biggest smallmouth I have ever caught. 15 1/2" and 5 lbs. Half of my pole was bent in the water. Pound for pound, the Smallmouth Bass is the best fighter of all the fresh water fishes that live in North america. It was had to see due to it's very dark coloration.

Catfish

I was fishing for bass in the pond at night when I hooked this big feller.A nice size catfish if I do say so myself. Man, these fish fight like there's no tomorrow. I don't know how long he is, or how much he weighs. I'd say about 16" and 4-6lbs. I caught him at night, as you can see. I used the small jig I showed you earlier. I'm surprised that a catfish would go for an artificial bait. I caught another bass while I was at it but the camera didn't work. Here's one Michael caught.

The Brown Trout

Family: Salmonidae
Diet: insects, newts, crayfish, other fish, frogs, leeches
Average Size: 1/2 lb-2lbs
World Record: 41.45lbs

The Brown Trout, A close relative of the Atlantic salmon, is a popular game fish in both Europe and North America. It was one of the immigrants that arrived to North America in the 1880's. The baits I prefer to use are spinner baits or mosquito flies. I would show you some pictures of some I caught earlier in the year, but those are all ready developed and deleted to save up space on the camera, so here are some pictures of some off the internet:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Browntrout029.jpg

An average sized Brown Trout http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/Browntrout050.jpg
Brown trout swimming in a creek