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

The Beggining

This is my first blog. My name is josh despite what the blog name says. I love to fish, and I do it often . It is the beginning of August, so I have done a lot of fishing this year. As for starters here are some pictures of some fishing I did in my pond today. In my pond we have black bass, large mouth and small mouth, and sterile channel cats. The bass don't grow very big due to genetics and habitat, but the channel cats, which are 13 years old, are of good size, but are harder to catch.

The pondA small jig that I used. The tail is designed so that it moves the jig downward. Interesting way to make a small jig stay near the bottomA little bass. I managed to land this one even though he jumped several times. I've lost a lot of bass in the pond because they jump a lot. Same thing relates to all bass. I've heard that when they jump you bow to them. It loosens the line so that when they shake no pressure is pushing the bait outward. Sorry about the poor picture quality. It was a sunny and windy day out.A little red devil spoon. A spoon is good for lake trout and pike. Here is the bass I caught with it: