~*~ Spruce Run Weekend ~*~

[Andrushkin33]

Ahhh crazy weekend finally behind. Barely had any sleep but all the fishing was worth it.

Location: Spruce Run

Days fished: Friday night, Saturday day and Sunday Night

Bait Used: Shiners, fatheads, nightcrawlers and chicken livers.


Friday Night from 8pm till 11:30pm

My pike wrestling friend being upset that he didn't catch any night before convince me to go again.

I kept on fishing shiners while he decided to use chicken livers. Night was great and barely windy.

First 4 white catfish were bagged so already my friend was making up for the night before.

Hybrid Special:
http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah123/Andrusha_Gil/IMG_1177_zpsz9oq0ema.jpg

Just when we were about to go home his line starts screaming and tipping over. Being close to the rod I have hooked the beast. and let him handle the fish. That bastard managed to take about 75 yards of the line while making a run for it. A short time later 24-25 inch hybrid with a solid mass of about 6lbs was reeled in. It was a beauty of the fish and on that we decided to call it a night.

Saturday day - that was a family outing with significant others and kids tagging along. BBQ was set, lines were dropped and beautiful day was enjoyed by all. Still managed to land a 30 inch pike which was the only fish of the day. Fish was hooked and landed by friends 8 year old son and his excitement was priceless. He handled the beast like a pro, carefully reeled it in, giving the fish some slack when it was making a run for it and all around like a true professional. Was standing next to him just in case and my jaw was hanging out watching him working the beast. NO words to describe it, you just have to be there to understand the full magnitude of it.

Kid with his supreme catch:
http://i1379.photobucket.com/albums/ah123/Andrusha_Gil/20150418_191235_zpst0hcob8n.jpg

Only thing I ended up with on that day was my first sunburn of the year.

Sunday night fished from 6pm till 11pm

Now yesterday the wind was kicking our ass. Could not keep the bobbers in place so switched to the worms and chicken livers.

First fish to fall prey was a stockie brown. How he managed to make it to the place where we were I have no idea but he did. He took the worm and was happy with it. Since fished of the bottom took me awhile to realize he was on.

Short time later chicken livers started to work their magic and 3 ore hybrids were hooked of 3,4 and 5 lbs

After tripping on rocks while trying to get the last one I decided to call it a night.

Word of caution to all. Check yourself for ticks. I was thinking it was still too cold for them to be out but managed to find two of them on me last night.

Will be updated with pictures once I receive them.

Tight lines to all

Andre

[AndyS]

Would be nice to have a photo of the brown trout since they haven't been stocked in there in about 10 years.

[Andrushkin33]

If they did not stock them then its probably a wild one.

Just assumed if was a stockie based on the size.

Andre

[Jigman13]

Were the hybrids, pike, and brown kept or released? Wild browns come from the feeders... I've caught and released some pretty ones around there in the past.

[Andrushkin33]

Jig,

To tell the truth only trout and 2 hybrids were released.

Pike was a kept to be stuffed for the kid. Pike was a male.

2 Hybrids and catfish were kept for consumption.

Andre

[Jigman13]

That's a pretty cool 1st to have mounted, for sure. I've never caught whites in there... Only channels. I've been tempted to try eating a brid... Just never mustered up the gusto to slash ones gills to bleed out for the table!

It's funny... On the ocean, I am certainly more meat-minded vs my mentality on the lakes and rivers of NJ. I go from dexter to st Francis lol...

[Andrushkin33]

I would of been a right thing to teach the catch and release but just wanted the kid to remember this moment.

If it would be a female than story would be different.

As far as fish keeping. Lol I usually keep those that others do not. White cats are tasty and don't have that nasty smell to them like the channels do.

Hybrids are tasty as well but I would still rank crappies better tasting fish then them.

And pickerel ... oh man just love to pickle those suckers and they are amazing.

Trout being released most of the time even though they taste great as well. Carp and Salmon usually get smoked to be enjoyed later.

Usually 85 to 90 percent of the fish I catch I release.

Andre

[FASTEDDIE29]

Another great weekend of catching Andre. Your a machine! That's just AWESOME that the kid got to land that Pike. Love seeing the kids catch always! Sounds like some time well spent on the water. Great catching man!!!:D

[Andrushkin33]

Eddie,

Totally man. Couldn't find Dale even though I was looking for him.

Reports from the boats coming in were mostly mixed. Some had an ok day and others got skunked.

Andre

[RyanMac14]

Good weekend andre. I ended up not getting out at all unfortunately. Glad you're still tearing it up

[Andrushkin33]

Thanks Ryan,

Funny thing Boss told me on Friday night that he has to come to work on Saturday so I don't have to. Made plans on the spot and then he calls me on Saturday looking for me to come and work.

Sorry Boss man .....gone fishing .....

Andre

[Eskimo]

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Wow - you've sure been putting your time in on the lake. I haven't been there yet. Have they filled it up yet?

Prepared correctly, you may be correct that White Catfish (a species of bullhead) is superior in taste to Chanel Catfish.

As for hybrids, they taste delicious, but I release all of them these days because:
A) They contain a hellacious amount of neurotoxic and carcinogenic chemicals in their flesh. At this time, the DEP recommend only eating one meal a month to lessen your chance a getting cancer or suffer subtle deleterious effects on your neurological system.
Ref. page 63: http://www.nj.gov/dep/dsr/fishadvisories/2013-final-fish-advisories.pdf

B) Those hybrids mean so damn much to some people, I don't want to be the one to kill them. Every evening during the summer and fall I see the same people trolling for them. I want to see those dedicated hybrid anglers do well and be happy.



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[GetANet]

Andre, was great you got the kid hooked up!!! Nothing wrong in my book with taking an occasional fish to mount if it was that special or a few to eat.
Yea I was there all day saturday but not in my boat! LOL!!!
KKritch and his wife Donna invited my daughter and myself out for the day so I was kinda incognito so to say. We trolled for a while and the switched over to lures and shiners under slip floats. Wind really didn't help us much but Ken landed a largemouth and his wife caught a nice 15 inch crappie. I also heard rumors of a another hybrid being caught. The majority of them are still sitting in 60 ft of water on the bottom. We marked some big schools of them but they are not biting yet. I think as the water temp starts to rise the bigger schools will break up and they will start biting a lot better. I was thinking about going back up on sunday with my boat but I was too sunburned and beat up from saturday that I decided to pass. Gotta put the time in to catch and it's only gonna get better as time goes on. And Jeff , if I remembered correctly I am one of those trollers who has a true passion for those striped kamakazi maniacs and try to treat each one with a mother's love!!!!!

[Andrushkin33]

Eskimo,

Still not completely filled. Less then it was a year ago but much more than it was in the summer.

To me fishing became my drug and I can clearly say I am hooked. I was not going out much last year and thanks to all of you here on the site wanted to get out more and more. Last year pikethron turned me from lurker to a regular here and it was one of the best choices ever made. Finally found a sweet place to call home.

Dale,

Lol those rumors were true. I have talked to couple of the guys that claimed they came up with one hybrid when they came up along with a bass. And sunburn, man that's been killing me since Saturday as well but mostly because I have passed out for couple of hours next to my rod.

The ones we landed we landed at night in the general area when we had a meet and greet there for ice fishing. Just love that first hit. They hit like thunder and try to disappear like smoke. Line screaming is the sweetest music to my ear.

Was a first time I got anything out of the Spruce on live bait. Now I got to turn my attention to Round Valley and go hunting for whatever took my line of last year in the fall.

Andre

[Eskimo]

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And Jeff , if I remembered correctly I am one of those trollers who has a true passion for those striped kamakazi maniacs and try to treat each one with a mother's love!!!!!


Yes you are!


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