The Year So Far Gone:

Well, I'll say it's been a hell of a long time since I did anything on here, and a helluva lot of stuff has happened since the last bit of wordplay was blogged. I guess the highlight event was my victorious campaign in the CrazyFish Rods Fishing Contest hosted by my favorite online hangout, the Fishin Fanatics Forums (link on the sidebar: visit or die!), where the goal was to capture as many different species as possible, both fresh and saltwater, within the allotted time frame, which was 2 months, September 1st to October 31st. I overpowered the nationwide competition, catching 13 species. The variety of freshwater species I took into custody, identified and released were as follows: Salvelinus fontinalis, Lepomis macrochirus, Pomoxis nigromaculatus,Perca flavescens , Ameiurus nebulosus , Esox Niger, Micropterus dolomieui, and Micropterus salmoides. The saltwater species that I conquered were as follows: Paralichthys dentatus, Micropogonias undulatus, Mustelus canis, Mugil cephalus , and Pomatomus saltatrix.
What I received in recompense for my two months of ignoring wife, home and family in pursuit of this once in a lifetime contest was custom spinnerbaits by SmallJaws Lures and Boudreaux Baits, custom crankbaits by Carolina Chips Lures and Bodega Bay Lures, topwater poppers from TClark Lures, custom handpoured plastics from MyMomIsBecky Baits, tungsten weights and clips from Parasite Weights, tubes and jigs from Vertical Lures, a tackle organizer from Cooks Goto Tackle, lure/rod protectors from LureTamers, and the piece de resistance, a full handmade custom rod by CrazyFish Rods. In the associated picture, you can see me with some of the spoils I hve received up to this point. In the following days, I will go more indepth into the past 6 months, as alot of fishing was done, and as a bonus, a lot of catching too.































(above portrait of the victorious Supreme Overlord Himself hoisting the vanquished prey, a 70lb Carcharhinus obscurus horsed into submission with a skimpy but scrappy little Abu Garcia 6500C levelwind reel with NO power handle spooled with 30lb Sufix Siege Mono attached to an Ugly Stik Tiger rod.)

Dialed In!

Well, it's been a while since the Hardcore Fshin blog has been updated, but fear not, piscine voyeur, I have been busy catching more big bad micropterus dolomieui from 3 lbs up to 4.13 lbs, micropterus salmoides up to 4 lbs, and even the odd esox niger. I've fished the Nock, Lake Galena, Lake Marquette and Memorial Lake in Lebanon county. My Luck has been pretty good, of course it's a wide gap between time spent fishing and time spent actually catching, which is why it's called fishing and not catching. I haven't gotten skunked in a while, and the fish I've caught around here are nicely sized. When I was in Harrisburg for work training for two weeks, I took the F.U.C.K.ing boat, and pretty much fished every evening after training until dark. Most of the fish I caught up there were 1-2 lbs, small in comparison to up here, but then again, the lakes are quite different structurally, especially Memorial Lake, which was shallow and very weedy. The best fish I caught up there wasnt even a bass, it was a hammerhandle esox niger, who just completely exploded on a top water lure. I tell you top water fishing is a blast when theyre biting, they usually hit the lure hard, with a big splash and commotion. I can't wait to get a sizeable micropterus dolomieui on a top water lure, it will most likely be freakin awesome.

Always Look on the Bright Side/Reversal of Fortune

I had planned to go out to the Nock on Friday due to the fact we were working extremely close to it lately. Woke up on Friday with a sinus headache that only got worse throughout the day. Exacerbated by the fact that we worked through lunch, by the time I was off work I wasnt feeling too hot. Instead of going straight to the Nock, I decided to take my time at lunch, get some cool air into my system and mellow out first. Well, I think it did a world of good. I decided to go off the cuff, and fished an area completely opposite to what I had been fishing lately. Lo and Behold, my personal record 5.9lb micropterus dolomieui came almost right on cue. Then a 4.9lb. Then a 4.8 lb. Then a 3.11 lb. Then for a lite afterthought, a 2 lb micropterus salmoides. It was quite a great end to a day that had started very poorly, to say the least. I had cast fruitlessly for a while with a spinnerbait, and decided to change to my confidence bait, a senko worm. Basically first cast, I wasnt really paying attention as I had drifted in a touch too close to the shore, and my line started moving with a mind of its own. That got my attention immediately, and I set the hook, and Kabaaam, my drag starts screaming out, and then this huge bronze brute jumps about 2 feet out of the water, and the fight was on. When I finally got it to the boat after a few minutes, I was adrenalized and amazed at the size and beauty of the fish. When I held it up into the light, it was surrounded by a golden sheen that almost glowed. It will truly glow in my memory for a long time to come. I got some pictures of the fish I caught that day, and they were developed THE NEXT day.
They turned out great. Anyways, I went out today again with a friend of mine. And again proceeded to start off with a white spinnerbait. I had a few hits right off the bat, but nothing that stuck, until a 3.13lb micropterus salmoides hit it, and I was on the board again. A couple of casts later, I had a small reel backlash that snapped my line and sent that lure flying up, up, up high into orbit, then down, down, down, into the deep blue abyss, never to be heard from again. As I didnt have another white spinnerbait, I went to my confidence bait, the lowly do nothing senko,
and proceeded to catch another 4 micropterus dolomieui, ranging from 4.12 lbs to 3.9lbs, and missing another three or four hits. It's days like these that are awesome, and makeup for the skunk days, But even the skunk days are better than doing anything else.
(Above image of the Overlord's personal best 5.9 lb micropterus dolomieui)

Fish in a Barrel

I went out on my yearly FatherInLaw/SonInLaw trout fishing expedition on the Tohickon on Wednesday. They had stocked it on Tuesday, and I wanted to make sure that it had been stocked, as the last year, we went prior to it's stocking by mistake, thinking that all trout streams are stocked prior to opening day, which proved to be untrue. So, on Tuesday after work, I went and proceeded to catch and release about 25 trout, mostly salmo trutta but there were a few oncorhynchus mykiss mixed in. I was using red mealworms for the most part, and they seemed to work very well. I didn't have any issues with my respooled reel either.I worked all my usual riffles and eddies that I have figured out over the years would hold trout, and had a nice old time. Things were looking good for Wednesday morning. Wednesay morning rolls around, I pick up some coffee for the Old man (he's 72) and I and proceeded to meet him at his "spot". His legs are going, so he can't walk too far, so his "spot" is within easy access of the road, but in a less than ideal location of the stream, in comparison to the areas I have success with. It is slower, and there isn't really much structure for the fish to hold on. I got to the spot first, and began fishing, with little success. I use a trout float, with about 1.5 feet of leader to the hook, and a splitshot or two for eight, and try to keep the bait just above the bottom, looking as natural as possible with the flow of the creek. My FatherInLaw, on the other hand, likes to bottom fish, using just splitshot and a leader,which in most cases would be successful, but this year it just caused him grief, as the bottom was all weedy and snaggy due to the creek being low. after 3 hours of hard fishing, I had caught 5 trout, 3 small ones, and two decent sized (11 inch) salmo trutta. I also caught a bunch of lepomis macrochirus which are a sideproduct of using mealworms, as they wont usually hit a spinner, but love mealies. Anyways, my FatherInLaw gavce up without even catching a lepomis macrochirus, whihc is quite unfortunate, but a refelction of his choice of location and fishing styles, and his set in his ways refusal to change to a more effective tactic. After he left, I switched to a spinner, I only have three trout ones, a silver kastmaster, a gold phoebe, and a black and gold mepps, and proceeded to catch 5 more salmo trutta after another 2 hours of hard fishing, mostly on the gold phoebe. I don't really see what the real big deal with the stocked trout fishing. They will die off in about 8 weeks if not taken to creel, and though there are many stocked, i would personally like to see less stocked if it would mean larger size. Even more preferable, I would like to see more emphasis put on other fisheries, but I guess the PA Boat and Fish Commission makes most of their licence dues from the very casual trout fisherman, who only goes out on opening day and a few others.
Ah well. I'm about half done my roll of film of fish pictures, I'll have quite a few to post when I finish the roll. I'm actually hoping to get the wife shopping this weekend for a digital camera. Wish me luck!

Exorcism of the Gremlins

Well, it's been a week or two or more since the Supreme Avenging Overlord has updated the blog, completely due to the fact that I havent taken the F.U.C.K.ing boat out due to inclement conditions, and other factors, such as the duties around the home front. I took the F.U.C.K.ing command vessel out to Lake Galena two weeks ago, the water had been drawn out to fix the dam last fall, and since the winter has been less than overly precipitous, it hasnt come ven close to it's normal level yet, I'd say it's about 15 feet below normal. Let's just say, it takes a real hardcore fisherman to struggle to put the boat in at launch ramps that are obviously made for higher water levels. And struggle even more to get it loaded onto the trailer after fighting some heavy winds with only a trolling motor. Another note on the trolling motor is to next time get one with a little more balls. The one I have now is the one rated for the boat, but in a headwind, or on the river, it'll be a headache and a slow and scenic ride if you know what I mean. I did capture a small micropterus salmoides, a 17 inch stizostedion vitreum, and a pomoxis nigromaculatus though, and read many large fish on the fishfinder that I'm assuming were morone saxatilis encamped at 32 feet.
Yesterday and today, (04/15 and 04/16) I also ventured out, this time to the Nock, where it was windy yet again. I have to say I don't care much for fishing in the wind, as it is a pain the ass to detect strikes, but my boat handling is improving slowly but surely. Yesterday, I captured 3 micropterus salmoides one of them being a 3.5 lber. It was a really nice morning, foggy to start, few other boats around. After I got home, I decided to head out to catch some of the trout the state has stocked in the Nesh. Going out on opening day is always an adventure, but I avoided the real hordes that show up early in the day. I caught 5 trout, 4 being salmo trutta and one an oncorhynchus mykiss in about an hour and a half, and missed alot more strikes as I was fighting major line twist on my spool, and I was getting extremely annoyed when I couldnt cast where I needed to because of it. Needless to say, that line has come off, and I've respooled with Sufix Elite. Hopefully it works better.
I also went to the Nock today, but all I caught was a bad case of windburn as it was blustery as hell. I just anchored on a protected area off a point, and experimented. Obviously the fish were at Easter dinner somewhere else, as I had one light bite the whole 6 hours I was on the water. I also tested the livewell for the first time, it leaks abit, it will need a bit of caulking, just another one of those pesky gremlins that I'm finding out about as my experience with the boat gets better. I'd also like to lower the bunks abit, for better shallow water launching, and I need to find a solution to the rod storage problem. When I have a fishing partner on the boat, space will be at a premium.

Initial Thoughts Upon the F.U.C.K.ing New Boat

I've been out about 3 times so far, twice to the Nock and once to Towhee. The catch rate hasnt been to phenomenal as of yet, but it's still early in the season, the water temps are cold, but warming slowly but surely, and the fish will be starting to become more active as they do. As for the F.U.C.K.ing boat itself, everything runs as it should, I think in the somewhat distant but near future, I will switch to a trolling motor with autopilot, as it woold give me more of my attention to fishing, than to maneouvering the boat to keep it in a straight line, especially in the wind. The console is a great option, but it's drawback is that there is less deckspace, and when I have all my stuff on board, it seems to get a little tight on space, with the pfd's, the net, the boat hook, the anchor, spare clothes, lunch kit with my water and snacks (prevents dehydration and keeps me in my obvious tip top physical state), whatever tackle boxes I have on deck etc etc. And having 5 or 6 rods close at hand doesnt make the space situation any easier to deal with. Why 5 or 6 rods you ask? You can only use them one at a time you say? Well, each rod has its own particular purpose. A crankbait rod, a spinnerbait/topwater rod, a senko/worm rod, a dropshot rod, a jig rod, an ultralight rod for crappie and perch, and when I'm on the Nock, and a striper rod, on the chance that I see them feeding actively. All are rigged with my choice of lures for the day. So when I need it, I can just pick i tup, instead of re rigging or re tying. I'm sure over time, I'll figure out a good system for everything, but until then, it's just trial and error until they find their spots. I also have to really make an effort to remember my pee cup, it would make that part of on the water time much easier, much easierthan leaning overboard, trying to keep your balance so as to avoid taking a premature soaking in both human AND fish wee wee.

No Such Thing As A Bad Day's Fishing

A spur of the moment decision on Monday morning (sunshine sickness) resulted in my calling off work to go fishing at the Nock. As my friend and co worker El Barto so insightfully brought up later, it was bad for my karma to do so.
I got the boat to the ramp area, and was doing my usual (if you can can the second time ever 'usual') thing to prepare it for the water, ie: putting the seats in, mounting the fishfinders, putting my rods in etc. While I was doing this, two guys came over who were fishing off the docks when I first arrived and we started talking, somewhat distracting me from my task. They left, and I drove the down to the ramp, and backed it into the water to launch it. I got out of the truck and started towards the boat, and I heard a little burble, bubble, burble coming from the back of the boat. Needless to say, I had forgotten to put in the drain plug. I pulled out the boat, and emptied the smll amount of water that had gotten in, and made a mental note to put the drain plugs somewhere more noticeable next time.
Anyways, on the water it didnt get much better, hence the bad karma. The only piscine contact I had all day was right at the start. I cast my trusty crappie crankbait into a brushpile, and as I was wearing my polarized oakleys, I could see a decent fish go for the bait. well, I was eager beaver and set the hook too early, and ended up hooking a nice twigfish. Then the wind picked up. I'm still not too proficient at boat control using the trolling motor, and so half my attention was on that, and half on my casting. My first mishap I cast the crappie crankbait into some brush in about 1 foot of water. So, of course having forgotten my boat hook at home (more bad karma) having used it to reach for the bungee cords under my boat to tie down the sexy new boat cover, I had to use my net to pole over to the sticker bush and extract the lure from the middle of it. A few prickles later and some swearing, I was back to fishing. I move to another area, I cast, my lure again goes into some trees. I pull on it to get it back/out. I comes back at 80 mph, misses my head by about 4 feet, and the ensuing trail of sufix braided fishing line proceeds to get wound around me, another rod I had sitting on the deck, the console, and the reel on the rod I was using. I take a minute to look up from the untangling, and the wind had pushed the boat so that the trolling motor was pulling me straight to shore, and the shore was fast approaching. I drop the rod and line, and hit the foot control of the motor to turn, so the boat started doing circles in the middle of this cove. Also, the lure was still in the water, and I had to practically dive to pull it out before it and the line got wound around the trolling motor. Needless to say, I was frustrated and pissed, and the wind wasnt helping matters. A couple of more episodes like that followed, and after 6 hours of fruitless fishing, I gave it up, and headed in. As bad as it all sounds, I still wouldn't trade a day like that on the water for a good day at work anyday. (no offence to Team Kennedy and co-workers.)
(Above image of a Ictalurus punctatus captured in 2005 at Lake Galena by the Supreme Overlord)

Feeling Up My New Girl at the Nock

The virginal voyage of the new F.U.C.K.ing boat was a complete success. I had no difficulty putting her in the water, getting her started, or running her where I needed to go. I began the day at the Nock by just tooling around, getting the feel of her, and seeing that everything worked right. I felt like a 15 year old kid feeling up his first girlfriend, as I was a little nervous, and a little awkward in my boat handling. It was especially apparent when I tried out the trolling motor for the first time. I was all over the place, if anyone was watching, they surely had to assume I was drunk. After figuring out, like feeling up a chick for the first time, that subtlety was the key, my boat handling was much better. I spent alot of time just marking different spots for future reference that I thought would come in handy once the bite starts to heat up with the rise in water temperature. When I decided to fish in earnest, I moved away from deep water and into shallower bays and flats, where I proceeded to break in my boat by catching a really beautiful esox niger. I was fishing my crappie lookalike crankbait through the weed beds as they were a few degrees warmer than the surrounding water, and voila, the fish practically caught itself. it was a pretty short fight, but very welcome. When I lifted it out of the water for the first time, the sunshine hit it right, and I have to say, it was probably the most beautiful fish I've ever caught. The greens in the link pattern were almost luminescent they were so bright, and the pattern itself was very defined. I took a few pictures of it, when I get the film developed, I hope they do the vibrant colors justice. I weighed it, 3.5 lbs on my digital scale, and then let it go, a perfect example of CPR (catch, photo, release) in action. After that, my day was made, and I played around a bit more and experimented, and caught another esox niger, this time a little guy, and a decent micropterus salmoides, at 2.2 lbs.
I got the F.U.C.K.ing boat onto the trailer with no problems, and took her home, where I backed her into my "hard to access driveway on main thoroughfare" with no problems.
All in all, a great day, though I didn't accomplish one thing I had planned to, which was take some sexy centerfold pics of my new toy to show whomever visits this blog. That will have to wait for next time. And the naming of the shrew is still up in the air.
(Above image of a captured and released emerald bejeweled esox niger.)

F.U.C.K. or "Fishing Unit of Considerable Karma"

Admiral's log; Stardate 0309.730
In two days, Saturday morning to be exact, I will finally put the
"Fishing Unit of Considerable Karma" (or F.U.C.K. for short) in the water, and she still has no name. I will have to break a bottle of MOLSON Canadian brew upon her bow as per tradition and good luck. Tommorrow morning will be spent at Cabela's getting a few very neccessary items, and the afternoon will be spent toying with and messing around on the F.U.C.K.ing boat, doing last minute prep work: ie mounting the fire extinguisher etc. I dont think one can be too prepared in terms of safety, especially when the lack of safety will entail the unlucky person to becoming fish food, instead of the fish becoming the food.
Whoever coined the term "B.O.A.T.=break out another thousand" was a visionary and utterly truthful individual. The F.U.C.K.ing boat cost me bookoo bones, and just getting all the neccessary extraneous parephenalia and assorted peripheral items is adding up to be another K. Im having to become a free agent at work and leave Team Kennedy (ChristPunchers forever) and turn to the specialized crew to make the extra bones to pay for this increasingly expensive habit. As my wife so truly put it, this summer her marital status will in essence be "married but single" (still married enough to "christen" the F.U.C.K.ing boat though hehe.)
I just hope that this spring, summer and fall will be a good one weather wise, I'll have to offer up a few scandanavian vodkas up to Thor and whomever else is in charge of the weather. God knows that if I offered a polish vodka up, the polsi gods would make a real mess of it.
As for the naming of the boat, I was either going to name it after the wife, ie: Miss Kim, or after a goddess of the sea. It's a sexy boat, as my wife is, but the name "Miss Kim" lacks the neccessary attitude that both she and the F.U.C.K.ing boat possess. As for the goddesses of the sea idea, my ideas are:
a)
Eos (Greek) - Goddess of the Dawn, Mother of the West Wind
b)Tiamat (Mesopotamian) - In Babylonian myths, Tiamat is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves
c)One of the Valkyries (Norse) - The Valkyries ("Choosers of the Slain") are beautiful young women, mounted upon winged horses and armed with helmets and spears. Some of the Valyries are Brynhildr, Göll, Göndul, Gudr, Gunn, Herfjoturr, Hildr, Hladgunnr, Hlokk, Hrist, Sigrdrifa, Sigrún, and Svafa.
d)Aegle (Greek) - (renowned as the most beautiful of the Naiads) The Naiads were nymphs of bodies of fresh water. The Naiads presided over rivers, streams, brooks, springs, fountains, lakes, ponds, wells, and marshes. The Naiad was intimately connected to her body of water and her very existence seems to have depended on it. If a stream dried up, its Naiad expired. The waters over which Naiads presided were thought to be endowed with inspirational, medicinal, or prophetic powers. Thus the Naiads were frequently worshipped by the ancient Greeks in association with divinities of fertility and growth.
Im kind of leaning towards Aegle, or Eos.
(Above image of the Overlord at the Nock with another fine specimen of Micropterus salmoides)

Stratagems and Fanciful Thinking

The future is wide open. Last year was the first year I was able to fish on the water courtesy of a few friends in Pennsylvania, and a few things came to light almost immediately. Firstly, to be successful fishing the lakes in the area, especially the Nock, you must be flexible, and be able to discern patterns of fish movement, and their relation to water temperature and weather conditions. Secondly, I got a little frustrated by not being the 'captain of the ship' so to speak. One friend in general was stuck in the 'pound the shoreline' mode, even in the face of obvious signs that different tactics were neccessary, obvious signs like no bites, no hits, no fish etc. This first year as the Admiral and Supreme Avenging Overlord of the "Bass and Other Desirable Fish Species Expeditionary Catch and Release Force", my first priority will be to get the lay of the land, so to speak, to do alot of guerilla-style fishing, hit and run tactics with the aim of finding prime habitat and locations of the enemy, unhindered by restrictions of superior officers, as it were.

The main target species are the Northern Black Bass, other wise known as the Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), and the Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieui), with secondary but no less welcome species like the Tiger (Esox lucius x Esox masquinongy)
and Pure Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) , the Chain Pickerel (Esox niger) , the Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), the Striped Bass Hybrid (Morone saxatilis x Morone chrysops), and the Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus).

(Above image of The Admiral himself at the Nock, with a 4.5 lb Largemouth Bass)

Dryland Training

And so the journey begins, or should I say continues, having previously existed outside the digital medium, but begins is an accurate enough term to describe the more public documentation that will follow on this blog. As of this moment, I have a brand spanking new 16 ft War Eagle 648 LDV sitting in the none too adequate shelter of my driveway, just begging to be taken out and fished. I plan to, beginning this very upcoming weekend. I spent a ton of time and effort getting this boat the way I want it, rigged for maximum hardcore fishability, maximum trickout factor, and maximum enjoyability for me, which, in the end, is what it boils down to. Pictures will be posted when I finally get some taken of the boat, (hopefully a new digital camera is in the works in the somewhat near future). I will show some pictures of past piscine conquests in the next few days.

Anyways, to make this initial blog entry somewhat less longwinded than it very easily end up, I just spent bookoo bucks registering my boat and trailer this past weekend, and still have to make a hopefully not too expensive trip up to Cabela's for some additional but very neccessary items for the boat, to make it fully usable when I take it out. My dryland training this week before I actually hit the h2O this weekend (rain or shine) consists of respooling a couple of reels, assembling everything I need for the boat, making a checklist for at the launch ramp, and most importantly, finding a suitable pee cup, you know one of the highest rates of fishermen drowning is falling overboard when leaning over the gunwale to take a piss. Besides, I dont really want to spray any friendly fire on my boat due to some unforseen wind shift hehe.

(Above image of the Supreme Avenging Overlord himself conducting night operations at the Nock, acquired target: 4.3lb Largemouth Bass.)