Dingman's Ferry at the Delaware River

It was late afternoon on March 15th when my wife returned from work.  She had a bounce in her step and a smile on her face, one could sense spring was knocking on our door.  With a wink and a smile, my wife gave me the green light to head west with the Sun and see how far Spring is from waking the Delaware River from her winter slumper.  I didn't pause, I just reached fro the front door.  I packed the car with my shore casting gear and donned a grin that the Grinch would have stolen if had seen me driving West; car window down.

Unfortunately, upon my arrival and to my dismay, Dingman's Ferry was still frozen over.  It was clear to the eye where the backwater and deep holes lay as these areas were still covered with a slim cover of ice.  And I have no doubt in my eye the walleye I seeked, were active and feeding beneath those slim covers of ice.

But getting near the water and making a few cast sure did feel good.

Keep it or Release it?

The walleye spawn season is upon us, when those big females begin the circle of life.  So should John have released the potential Washington State state record upon netting the fish?  

Article: John Grubenhoff Sets Washington State Record

2014 Fishing Goals

There is a thin line between New Jersey and Pennsylvania and it is buried beneath the cool, clean water from New York.  This cool, clean water from New York races with a swift current and prances along the rocky shoals; reminding us what beauty really is and the natural dangers mother natural possesses, all at the same time.  This simple line, cutting through eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains, I have come to know as the Delaware River; I have found no greater gift in the State of New Jersey than her mystifying shorelines and the wonderful fishery she is.

Walpack Bend

To that, I spend these cold winter months outlining all the things I yearn to accomplish this coming season of 2014... and here they are in descending order of difficulty:

6. Fish the Walpack Bend.  From boat or from shore, it does not matter but I want to see this.

5. Spent one day fishing Silver Lake for Perch

4. Land a 5 pound largemouth bass

3. Land 20+ Smallmouth from the Delaware this year

2. Land 6 walleye this season.  (2a) one from Monksville Reservoir and (2b) one from Swartswood Lake

1 Land a Delaware River Grand Slam; 3 walleye (18+ inches each) and 5 smallies (12+ inches each).

November Walleye Fishing on the Delaware

November 16^th, 2013

Water Temperature was 41.5 to 42 degrees

Water Clarity was 16 feet

I hit the Delaware River Saturday (2013-11-16) evening from 3:30 PM to about 7:00 PM.  There really is something beautiful about the Delaware River in the fall; the fall foliage, the low seasonal gage level of the river and the clarity at which her water flows.  In 16 feet of water, I could see my jig bouncing off the bottom; hopping and skipping over the dark colored shale.

One of the more challenging aspects of fishing in November is trying to figure out the walleye pattern for the fall turnover.  The old adage is true, I am here to say, “What works in the summer, does not work in the fall.”  For late summer, my go to tactic is the bottom bouncer with a fire-tiger Colorado spoon and a worm harness.  I struck out in late September.  This weekend I was going to try something new; an orange & yellow 3/8 once jig tipped with a shiner.

It was a slow evening.  The walleye would not cooperate.  I did get a hookup after dusk though and there was no doubt it was a walleye.  The light hit, the constant head shaking and the slow rise from the depth of the river.  Call it intuition, call it experience, but during the retrieve I never felt like I really got a good hook-set.  Sure enough, before I saw the fish at the surface, he spit the bit.  I don’t think it was a big fish and most likely was under 18 inches, but it sure would have been nice to see him.

In the end, a bad day fishing beats a good day of work.

New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife - Walleye Stocking Program

For those of you who are just as interested in New Jersey Walleye as I, here is the stocking program over the past 5 years for the New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife Page.

Walleye Stocking Program

The Bell - Gives up a 2-Pound Walleye

As I have searched the Delaware for walleye, I may have found my favorite walleye fishing hole.  The spot is just north of the Milford, PA bridge where a creek enters the Delaware.  There, I found a nice 25 foot hole in some backwater and hit the bottom with a lindy-rig, baited with a nightcrawler.  This hole has no significant landmarks (unlike Dingman's Bridge or the Milford Bridge) and the bend in the river is a long, bending arc; I thought it resembled the bottom of a large bell...and thus decided to name it "The Bell".

 The creek entering the Delaware River, now know as "The Bell"

I departed Saturday morning before sunrise and pushed off from shore about 6:30 AM.  I was armed with  a 3/8 once weighted bottom bouncer and a fire-tiger Colorado spoon Lindy rig...rigged up with a large nightcrawler.  I paddled the kayak around the mouth of the creek and there was a significant drop from 6 feet to 12 feet just downriver of the creek that was holding lots of fish and lots of big fish!  The current was a bit more swift, as my paddling did not result in much upriver headway.  Given the feedback of my fish finder, I was going to give this little spot a go.  After about three drifts over this spot (fish finder lighting up like a pinball machine each time), I got zero hook-ups.  That is the funny thing about a depth finder (fish finder), it tells you if fish are down there, but not what kind of fish they are.  Those big fish could have been carp, catfish, musky or God knows what else, so I moved on.  I paddled up-river along The Bell and eventually found a nice 20 to 25 foot hole.  Not shortly after, in about 16 feet of water, I got a hook-up!  I immediately know it was a walleye as the fish at the end of my line was holding steady to his position and shaking it's head - instead of going on a typical epic smallmouth run.  As I got him closer to the boat and off the bottom, he made a small run and took some line off.  My hopes were high for a possible 5-pounder!  I decided to let him fight a little more before bringing him next to the kayak and try the balancing act of holding a pole and a net within the confines of my kayak.  I saw a couple of nice flashes under the surface and my heart may have skipped a beat.  I pulled out the net, brought the walleye towards the kayak and scooped him! As I did, I saw him open his mouth to show his rows of teeth ... as he barely fit into my net.  My immediate thought was, 'this was a big fish'.  

I put the walleye on the stringer and chose not to measure him, thinking he easily cleared the 18 inch minimum. However, when I got to shore and measured him, I was shocked to see he was only 19.5 inches. After my initial thoughts of some disappointment, my next thought was, 'I may need a bigger net' when I come back to this spot!  

Two of my daughters (Dagney and Lillian) holding the fish.

My favorite photo technique, asking my 6-year old daughter to put her hand on the cutting board for perspective.  Almost looks 30 inches now, heh?

Delaware River Was High and Muddy

I was entertaining guest this weekend, so I could only get out for a few hours on Sunday.  The fall afternoon was wonderful and I was hoping to snag some smallies on a 4-inch wacky rig.  I fished from about 2:00 to 3:30 and didn't even get a bite.  The water was high and muddy and the there were lots of leafs in the water. The Gage Height at Port Jervis, NY was about 5.3 feet.

I did get to try my neoprene waiters and they are a great addition to my arsenal of fishing.    I got a pair of Field and Stream (with no boot) waders and some accessory boots which go on over top the wader socks.  I figured I could still use the accessory boots in the Summer without wearing the waders.  There are some locations I fish on the Delaware that are just sooo rocky and potentially dangerous.  But even in the winter, these waders should keep me warm in the winter months, should I choose to fish the winter months.

I hear a lot groaning and moaning when the Delaware is high and dirty and my voice can now be added to the list.  I am still hoping for a few more good weekends to catch some more walleyes, as I think the bite will be good up to late November.

Swartswood, Day 2

My wife allowed me to go out a second time last weekend and I headed out late Sunday afternoon.  I started paddling out around 5:00 PM and had most of my action before 7:30.  This time I decided to fish with some medium size minnows on my lindy rigs.  The water temperature was still very high, teetering around 84 degrees.  I went back to my same spot but this time elected to slowly paddle up and down the bank and I tried to stay in about 15 to 20 feet of water.  It didn't take me long and I hooked up with a 22 inch pickerel.  It was an amazing fight and a lot of fun!  He hit my minnow in about 16 feet of water and when he hit it, it felt like a big log at the end of my line.  That is, until he started moving.

It was no more than 20 minutes later and I hooked up with another big fish.  This one was significantly bigger and he just played around with me, letting me pull up from the depths until he got within 5 feet of the kayak.  At which time he would take off and we repeated this dance another five times for over 6 minutes.  I never got to see him, but whatever he was he had some teeth because he bit through my lindy rig liter right above the hook.  I don't believe there are any northerns or musky in Swartswood Lake, so it was either a bigger pickerel or a large walleye.  I want to say it was a bigger pickerel based on how he initially struck my lindy rig and how strong he was when he went on his runs; there was not a lot of head shaking on his side of the line.

Swartswood Results

My first trip out was early Saturday morning and I started paddling out around 4:15 AM.  I left the boat ramp in Swartswood State Park (by the beach) and headed straight out and made a right to fish the rocky drop off.  There is nothing but rocks here and some significant drop-offs along this 200 to 300 yards of coast line.  I exclusively fished a lindy rig worm harness with a a full night crawler.  I found some structure in about 12 foot of water holding fish but did not get any bites until the sun came up.  When the sun did come up, all I was catching was giant sunfish.  I began drifting in 15 foot of water and covering more ground, but I was militant in my effort and around 9:30 I finally landed my first walleye in the State of New Jersey.

He was 16 inches, a nice catch but too small by New Jersey State regulations, so I let him go for another day.  It has been a long time since I felt this satisfied in catching a fish, these walleye are really elusive.