Tuesday am Prospertown redemption.

[Ol Pedro]

After two outings to Prospertown with only one trout, two sunfish, one yellow perch, two micro bass, and one pickerel I was begining to think that I lost my trout mojo. Had to take grandson in at 5:30 am for a job road trip so I threw the rods in the truck after I parked the car at home, set up my bottle of coffee, kissed Betty goodbye and off I went. About halfway to the lake I reached for my coffee but it wasn't there! Oh well to late to turn back.
Pulled in the lot around 6:40 (late for me) at Prospertown with only one guy on the dam. Decided to forgo the waders and just fish the dam. Put out one rod with powerbait and started to work a crappie jig under a cast bubble. After three or four casts with the jig the bait rod starts to bounce. I trip on a brush stump trying to get to the rod and almost go for a swim. Get the rod and it's game on. One trout on the stringer. Set out a second rod and use the open bail/small stick so the fish won't feel the weight. Started to rerig the crappie rod to a castmaster and the first rod starts pulling line. Stuck the castmaster in my teeth with the hook facing out and strung my second trout. Now line is trailing off the second reel. I spit the castmaster in my bucket as the third trout tries to catch air. Land the third trout but lose the treble . Set down the rod and rig the castmaster. I cast for a while with no love. Tie on a treble and put out the other bait rod.
I move one rod up the bank and then the other. I get three pickups and miss all three. Go to smaller sticks and get two in a row. Waiting on my last fish and see commotion by my stringer. Troy the monster bass is trying to eat one of my trout! Grandson named her last season when she grabbed someone's trout and broke the four lb test leader. I watched her from the top of the dam stalk and try to eat another fisherman's trout on my last outing. I moved the stringer and tied it off closer to the bank. Got my last trout at 8:15. Home at 8:35.
No trout on lures or nymphs this year. Powerbait on both long and short leaders worked best for me. Hope to hit them one more time. Thinking about getting a large trout finish swimbait for Troy to play with. I it's cool to see such a large bass in a lake that was drained just a few years ago. No real bird life today. Only the local geese and a vulture. I'm blessed just to be out there.

[robert.p]

Nice job on catching those trout! Sorry about your coffee mishap, but glad it didn't stop you. Just curious, what type of powerbait did you use?

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by robert.p

Nice job on catching those trout! Sorry about your coffee mishap, but glad it didn't stop you. Just curious, what type of powerbait did you use?

Rainbow and chartreuse.

[foggy notion]

Did you know that several years ago when the DEP drew down Propertown Lake to fix the dam, they netted all the fish...including one that would be the new state record for this specie....and put all of the netted fish into Gropps Lake in Yardville. I don't know if and how many of these transplanted fish survived, but there could be a NJ state record bass swimming in Central Jersey.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Nice report and sounds like a fun morning!

Funny how that Bass targets people's trout stringers. I've seen it in FL all the time. A certain boat pulls in and the dock and the Tarpon start swarming waiting for them to clean their fish and throw them some scraps. They definitely get trained over time and know the signs of an easy meal coming.

We fish down in Boca Grande every spring on a boat know for Tarpon and the captain is constantly shadowed by Sharks waiting for a Tarpon hook up. He's convinced the sharks know his boat.

I guess since you named the fish it wouldn't be right to fish for him but it is tempting

[Ol Pedro]

Gerry, we had a bunch of 15lb+ bass at San Vicente res. in San Diego in the late 80's early 90's that targeted Rainbows. We watched them herd the trout into the shallows and blast them up on the bank. Some of the locals hand made trout sized swimbaits and crankbaits to fish for these monsters. They would fish them all day hoping for that one big bite.
I hope Troy the Queen of Prospertown continues to reign the lake an,d has many heirs to the throne.

[thmyorke1]

great read, love posts like these

[Gerry Zagorski]

Originally Posted by Ol Pedro

Gerry, we had a bunch of 15lb+ bass at San Vicente res. in San Diego in the late 80's early 90's that targeted Rainbows. We watched them herd the trout into the shallows and blast them up on the bank. Some of the locals hand made trout sized swimbaits and crankbaits to fish for these monsters. They would fish them all day hoping for that one big bite.
I hope Troy the Queen of Prospertown continues to reign the lake an,d has many heirs to the throne.

How cool!

[cruiser1234]

Nice!