fishing the big D

[jigman90]

Fished Sunday evening and caught 2 smallies one good one about 3-4 lbs fishing slow, for the most part tons of shad fingerlings!
Fished last night with out a bite thought it might pick up with the upcoming storm today but no good not a bite tons of shad fingerlings!
the scarey point of the last couple of nights is no smallies even busting on the shad! dont know if there is so many shad that the smallies arent chasing them or our smallie population is just down that bad! the fishing has gotten so bad this year and the smallie #;s have decreased very bad in our strech of the river since a high in 2004
Our River needs help from either NJF@G OR PA. FISH COMMISSON every time i talk to them they tell me there is no problems well if you live on the river and fish like i do you know there is problems!
well very soon it wouldnt be my problem as im moving south as soon as the house is sold!
Anyone want to buy a house along the big D contact me!

[bigfishy]

You may be 100% rite abot the lower populations....Not sure because i don't know your section of river....You have to remember that these are native fish that adapt to every and any change to their enviroment...That being said i would lean more towards, the fish in your section have most likely relocated to suit their needs.( whatever that may be- water temps,water quality, or more than likely , the need for specific food items...) Crayfish make up a huge percentage of the smallmouths diet, as well as many other insects and crustations....But the quality sized fish, 2-6 lbers need a healthy supply of every size crayfish....Not sure just my 2 cents

Its not my handle on this site, but on others its smouthaddict...
To say the least i am a student of the smallmouth....I have been a flyfisherman, mainly for native trout, for about 25 yrs....In my strong opinion,river smallmouth bass can be just as spooky and elusive as your most educated wild trout....They can be very aggressive and at times easy, but they can also be river ghosts....especially on smaller waters...

[jigman90]

Originally Posted by bigfishy

You may be 100% rite abot the lower populations....Not sure because i don't know your section of river....You have to remember that these are native fish that adapt to every and any change to their enviroment...That being said i would lean more towards, the fish in your section have most likely relocated to suit their needs.( whatever that may be- water temps,water quality, or more than likely , the need for specific food items...) Crayfish make up a huge percentage of the smallmouths diet, as well as many other insects and crustations....But the quality sized fish, 2-6 lbers need a healthy supply of every size crayfish....Not sure just my 2 cents

Its not my handle on this site, but on others its smouthaddict...
To say the least i am a student of the smallmouth....I have been a flyfisherman, mainly for native trout, for about 25 yrs....In my strong opinion,river smallmouth bass can be just as spooky and elusive as your most educated wild trout....They can be very aggressive and at times easy, but they can also be river ghosts....especially on smaller waters...

You are right the crayfish and helligermites are all but gone!
the Fall Fish, Yellow Perch, Largemouth Bass are gone!!
Rockbass and Sunfish are very low in amounts
at our dock in the 1990's you could always catch sunnies and rockbass and there were places were you always caught them! there GONE I do a lot of snorkling in the river in the summer and the total amount of fish are so low its amazing!!
my stretch of the river I fish is from below Portland Pa. to just above Belevedere NJ
I fished this section of the river heavy since 1989 and have fished the big D since the 1970's so I know some of the river and its in big trouble! and ive heard story's from my father-in -law about what a walleye fishery it once was but i never experinced it!

[Skunk City]

Originally Posted by jigman90

You are right the crayfish and helligermites are all but gone!
the Fall Fish, Yellow Perch, Largemouth Bass are gone!!
Rockbass and Sunfish are very low in amounts
at our dock in the 1990's you could always catch sunnies and rockbass and there were places were you always caught them! there GONE I do a lot of snorkling in the river in the summer and the total amount of fish are so low its amazing!!
my stretch of the river I fish is from below Portland Pa. to just above Belevedere NJ
I fished this section of the river heavy since 1989 and have fished the big D since the 1970's so I know some of the river and its in big trouble! and ive heard story's from my father-in -law about what a walleye fishery it once was but i never experinced it!

There are a few guys who do really well with Walleye in the Delaware. FastEddie is one of them. He picked up a few last week, check the last few pages of reports.

As for the Walleye fishery in the river, the state stocks more there then anywhere else in the state. The numbers for 2012 obviously arent out yet, but in 2011, it received roughly 820,000 Walleye. States link here: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2...ing_wall11.pdf

[dboyd101]

that's quite a bit of fish.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Originally Posted by Skunk City

There are a few guys who do really well with Walleye in the Delaware. FastEddie is one of them. He picked up a few last week, check the last few pages of reports.

As for the Walleye fishery in the river, the state stocks more there then anywhere else in the state. The numbers for 2012 obviously arent out yet, but in 2011, it received roughly 650,000 Walleye. States link here: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/2...ing_wall11.pdf

Thanx for mentioning me Skunk City. Walleye are definately doing well on the river. I fished the river 6 times for eyes this year so far and went 5/6 on the WALLEYE. Only got skunked 1 time this year going for eyes. 3 trips had over 10 eyes per day and its not really the best time of year to fish for them yet. TIGHT LINES!!!

[shucker]

When was that Big D skunking .....Oh yeah when I went

[Skunk City]

Originally Posted by jigman90

Fished Sunday evening and caught 2 smallies one good one about 3-4 lbs fishing slow, for the most part tons of shad fingerlings!
Fished last night with out a bite thought it might pick up with the upcoming storm today but no good not a bite tons of shad fingerlings!
the scarey point of the last couple of nights is no smallies even busting on the shad! dont know if there is so many shad that the smallies arent chasing them or our smallie population is just down that bad! the fishing has gotten so bad this year and the smallie #;s have decreased very bad in our strech of the river since a high in 2004
Our River needs help from either NJF@G OR PA. FISH COMMISSON every time i talk to them they tell me there is no problems well if you live on the river and fish like i do you know there is problems!
well very soon it wouldnt be my problem as im moving south as soon as the house is sold!
Anyone want to buy a house along the big D contact me!

Interesting post Jigman...

What kind of lures/bait were you throwing at them?

[beezer]

I'm up by Shohola and we've been catching them like crazy.

[tycomps]

that an english black lab? I've got a five year old, swear she's part fish!