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...

[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!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Tons of Smallies in the river. They get alot of pressure. I personally target them late fall and february march. So many spots, runs, riffles and eddy's on the Big D. Like stated above the fish have to adapt to constant changes in the river. This river happens to change a few times a year, every time it floods. Most guys that dedicate there fishing day to Smallies on the Big d start at like 4 am during the dog days of summer. I prefer midday into the evening on a blustery fall day. TIGHT LINES!!!

[Eskimo]

Originally Posted by jigman90

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

The Columnaris Virus took a bite chunk out of the Smallmouth Bass population.
Here's a newspaper article about it if you want to read about it:

http://www.nj.com/times-sports/index...e_smallmo.html

I think the people saying that there isn't a problem with the Smallmouth population just don't remember how good it used to be on the river.

I used to fish the section up by the Delaware Water Gap every weekend, but don't much anymore because of the drop in the population of Smallmouth Bass over 8 or 9 inches.

I fished the area of the Delaware around Poxono boat launch Saturday. Again, all small bass. The only big Smallmouth Bass I saw all day was at the end of a stringer. Some Russian guys fishing from an inflatable Sea Eagle raft-type thing with a outboard motor were taking a relatively big one home along with EVERY other fish they caught that day.

[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!

[jigman90]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

The Columnaris Virus took a bite chunk out of the Smallmouth Bass population.
Here's a newspaper article about it if you want to read about it:

http://www.nj.com/times-sports/index...e_smallmo.html

I think the people saying that there isn't a problem with the Smallmouth population just don't remember how good it used to be on the river.

I used to fish the section up by the Delaware Water Gap every weekend, but don't much anymore because of the drop in the population of Smallmouth Bass over 8 or 9 inches.

I fished the area of the Delaware around Poxono boat launch Saturday. Again, all small bass. The only big Smallmouth Bass I saw all day was at the end of a stringer. Some Russian guys fishing from an inflatable Sea Eagle raft-type thing with a outboard motor were taking a relatively big one home along with EVERY other fish they caught that day.

wow everyone who fishes the Big D should read JB caspers report wow very informative maybe this is what has happened to the smallies but were have all the other fish gone?

[beezer]

I fish the Delaware around Shohola and above and I have noticed the SMB are smaller but still abundant.

But we catch lots of walleyes, rainbow and brown trout.