MY 2014 FISHING JOURNAL



APRIL FISHING



APRIL 1st =
Well it's almost that time of the year again !!
Fishing season.
I am really looking forward to this season. Due to some changes at work I will have more days off to enjoy the sport. I've check all my gear and I'm ready to go, now if the weather will just co-operate......

APRIL 13th =
I had an interesting first day of fishing for 2014. I left home at 7:45 and traveled to the river below Hallton.
Along the way I spotted a gobbler strutting in the middle of a field, he had 7 hens with him but they did not seem to be paying any attention to him. In another field I did see about 6 hens, no males...
I also ran into , really not really ran into ... more like saw running across the road a total of 13 deer. The very first one was standing broadside in the middle of the road and I could immediately see he still had both his antlers. They were about 10 inches long ... a SPIKE !!! I never saw that before this time of year . I ran into the local WCO and told him about it and he said it is not common, but it does happen..
I had only one bite and landed a nice Brook Trout. River was naturally high and FAST. Really hard to get bait near bottom without a lot of weigh, which lead to snags...
Still a fun time !!!

APRIL 14th =
Fished Toby Creek in Brockway after work for an hour and a half. I missed a bite on my very first cast, then fished a couple spots and only had one more bite and landed a small Brown Trout. Still better than working !!!!

APRIL 20th =
Traveled down to the Clarion about an hour earlier than usual, maybe as a result of that time difference I only saw 7 deer and one turkey.
When I got to my spot I was greeted by the sound of several gobblers sounding off. They gobbled for about 20 minutes then it was silent.
Fishing was once again tough, water fast, high and COLD. I did catch another of those NASTY hellbenders, and one sucker. That was it for 2.5 hours.

MAY FISHING

MAY 11th =
Fished from 1pm until 3pm on this Mother's Day. Weather was GREAT, sunny and warm with just a hint of a breeze.
I lost two Smallmouths, I think my hooks were too small and they just pulled out. I also missed 2 bites. I did manage to land a couple fish though !!!
One nice Smallmouth, one Brook Trout, 2 small Smallmouths and a large Sucker. Really enjoy the fishing today. Hope to get out again this week if the rain holds off.

MAY 12th =
One word describes today's trip.... SKUNKED......
have no idea what went wrong today, I did not even get a nibble ..... ????
If I have to "blame" something ....... I'll blame the nightcrawlers ....
everyone around here that sells bait, because of all the rain and cold the past few weeks, is having trouble keeping bait alive. We even sold our bait = buy one get one free = last week...
The dozen I bought today at a different place, were not very active , but looked the best of the few containers I opened before buying ... after sitting in the water for a few minutes they just seemed to melt and fly off the hook on the next cast.
Oh well ... it's been awhile since I was Skunked on the Clarion....

MAY 14th =
I had better luck today at Portland Mills. I landed 2 nice Smallmouths. Only down side was I had to stop fishing a couple times for folks launching their canoes. It took awhile after them for the fish to settle and return. Still a good day of fishing.

MAY 29th =
Journeyed over to Portland Mills early this morning for some fishing. Water was a little high and colored but not too bad. I had a good 2.5 hours of fishing.
I caught 1 Brown Trout, 4 Brookies and landed 2 Smallmouths.
There was a fair amount of trash from the high water and flooding up river last week. But I did enjoy the time fishing and the trash really did not effect fishing. It did "stink" a little though.... LOL

Made an afternoon trip down to Belltown, what a BLAST ..... countless creek chubs... 6 nice sized Rock Bass.. 1 Sunfish ...1 Smallmouth and 5 trout. Fish were hitting half a nightcrawler and some were caught on wax worms.. Had a ball. Don't think I went 5 minutes without a bite.. missed a bunch also.... fished from 3 to 5:45pm ....
Naturally it was one of those trips that I forgot the camera.... so no photos... saw 2 deer on the way home...

MAY 31st =
Fished the same spot at Belltown I fished Thursday late afternoon, only today I went after work so I only fished for 2 hours (5-7pm) Appeared the Smallmouth were not hungry, did not catch any of them but landed 6 Rock Bass, 3 Brook Trout and again.. 1 Sunfish...Also caught another one of those ugly hellbenders !!!!

JUNE FISHING

JUNE 1ST =
Fished 3 hours at Belltown this afternoon. Fishing was not very good. Water is really low already. I did have 1 really big Brown Trout on but it broke my line when I tried to lift it out of the water... BUMMER .. he would have made a nice meal for us .... I also caught a small Brook Trout and 5 Rock Bass. I got snagged ALOT !!!! water was actually too low to fish where I was fishing..... Mid-afternoon continues to not be a good time for me to fish the Clarion ????? JUNE 5th =
I fished the Clarion again today from 10am until noon. Fished at 3 different spots but only had fish biting at the last one in Belltown. Landed 1 Small Smallmouth and a dozen Rock Bass, 3 of which were larger than my hand. Between the creek chubs and Rock Bass I really had a blast, a bite on almost every cast, probably hooked 20+ chubs.... but I did have fun....

JUNE 23rd =
Well the rain finally stayed away long enough for the waters to clear and the river to go down to a more normal level. So off I went to Portland Mills this afternoon for some long awaited fishing. Water was really nice so I managed to catch 3 Trout and 2 Smallmouths. One Rainbow which was on the small side but was really colored pretty, the other 2 were Brookies and only one of the Bass was big. I was and am so happy... finally some fishing, can't wait to go again !!!
JULY FISHING

JULY 4th =
Clarion was a little muddy after yesterday's rains, but it was fishable. Seems that Suckers were the only thing hitting .. landed 5 large ones and a Smallmouth for an afternoon fishing trip. I did enjoy watching all the folks go by in canoes, kayaks, and tubes....

JULY 6th =
Fished two spots I have not fished for a couple years. To get there you have to travel down a mountain on a "road" not much better than a right of way ....
All I could get at the first spot was 3 Brook Trout.
The second spot provide a lot of action, but it was in shallow water with the current which meant LOTS OF SNAGS... but the Smallmouth were in there and hitting.
I could not count the number of "hits" I had and missed, or that ended up snagging.. I know I used up a dozen worms cut in half at that spot.
The bait had to sit still for a minute or two which then meant a "hit" might drag the split shot into the rocks and snag. Floating the nightcrawler did not seem to work, I guess it was traveling too fast ?????
I still had a lot of fun and YES there was the ever present creek chubs too .....
3 Trout and 3 Smallmouths was it for the day...

JULY 7th =
I took a chance and tried fishing between storms. I arrived at Portland Mills at 3pm and it was a light shower, stopped at 3:15pm, I hit the river.
Fished for 1.5 hours before the real storm hit. I landed 2 Rainbows, 1 Brook, a nice Smallmouth, and probably the largest Sucker yet. I left the camera in the truck because of the threat of rain , so no photos. Here's the best part of the day ...
I was reeling in and saw a huge Brook Trout following the worm as I lifted it from the water. I immediately dropped it back in and within a minute there goes the line, as I set the hook it tugged and broke my 4 pound test line.. I knew I should have taken the 10lb reel !!! .....
What a BLAST for 1.5 hours of fishing......

JULY 9th =
Fished in the afternoon at Portland Mills again, water was muddy, but I was there to fish, so I fished...
not a good trip.
Only landed 1 Brown Trout, 1 Smallmouth and 2 Suckers. I had fun even though the fishing was poor at best .....

JULY 16th =
I fished a couple hours at Portland Mills this afternoon, fishing was very slow. I only managed 3 small Smallmouths and another big Sucker. Fishing still beats working though !!!!

JULY 17th =
BAD afternoon of fishing today. I went to my spot at Hallton and landed NOTHING !!!!
I had 2 nice Smallmouths on but for some reason when they turned to make a final run the hook came out both times...
also had two other fish sort of hooked but they too came off before I could see them.
The highlight of this afternoon was when I heard splashing and turned to see a deer walk into the river and start to swim downstream about 200 yards... It was pretty neat to watch..

JULY 20th =
Fished 2 hours at Belltown, fishing was very slow .... only 1 Smallmouth and 4 Rock Bass. I saw a doe and a buck on the way down Callen Run Road. The store was out of nightcrawlers so I had to use small regular worms which lead to MANY Creek Chubs hitting the bait and some getting hooked. I still enjoyed the time fishing.

JULY 23rd =
Well the day started with rescuing a fawn and ended just as it started to rain, fishing the Clarion at Belltown. I did pretty good, 3 Smallmouths, 6 Rock Bass and one large Sucker. And once again I paid the price for using light line on the Clarion. I started to reel in and Bang a full stop... I thought I had snagged. I pulled and pulled and nothing, one more pull and I felt the line start my way. I was pulling as hard as I could and what ever I snagged on was slowly coming my way ... then it happen... I felt that back and forth movement and knew it was something swimming and pulling against me.. then in a flash it turned, pulled and broke the line... DANG IT ... that's it for using light line on the river !!!!!

JULY 24th =
Spent a couple hours at Belltown this afternoon, river was low and the fishing was super slow... only managed 3 small Smallmouths....

JULY 30th =
What a great 1.5 hours of fishing late this afternoon. I traveled to Portland Mills to see how long I could fish before the storms started. I got to fish for about 45 minutes then the rain started. I sat in the truck for 45 minutes and then return to the banks of the river for another 25 minutes of fishing. Fish were really hitting before and just after the rain. I landed 8 Smallmouths and 2 trout. I have caught only 1 Palomino Trout in all my years of fishing and that was about 9 years ago and that fish was only about 7 inches long, that changed today. I finally landed a GREAT Palomino Trout, a 17.5 inch Palomino. A real beauty,.... it will be tomorrow's supper on the grill ....
Just as I was landing it that first blast of rain hit. After it stopped I returned from the truck and within 5 minute I had another large trout on the line. This time I was not lucky enough to land the fish, the hook pulled out of the fish's mouth when it was about 10 feet way, but close enough to see it was a large Rainbow. I also had about 5-6 strikes that I did not get a hook-set.
It was just a wonderful hour and a half of fishing !!


AUGUST FISHING

AUGUST 8th =
I fish the Clarion for 2 hours this evening, (5-7pm), and it was a blast. I landed 4 Rainbow Trout, one Brook Trout and a Sucker. One of the Rainbows was a nice size. Wish I could have stayed later but I did not have a light with me.

AUGUST 9th =
Fished the Clarion after work for 2.5 hours. Had a great time. I landed 5 Smallmouths and 4 Rainbow trout before running out of bait.

AUGUST 18th =
Fished the Clarion again for 2 hours this afternoon (2-4pm). Had a pretty good time for the first hour and fifteen minutes . Landed 3 Rainbow Trout, 1 Brook Trout, and 2 Smallmouth Bass. Worms ran out and for the last 45 minutes I threw spinners and got NOTHING for it ..LOL

AUGUST 19th =
Fished after work, actually later than I have ever fished this spot on the Clarion River. Fished from 6 to 8;30PM. Fish were really active. I landed a total of 12 fish. 6 Rainbow Trout,1 Brown Trout, and 1 Brook Trout. Also landed 3 Smallmouth Bass and 1 Sucker. Had one NICE Smallmouth on but when he jumped out of the water it threw the hook...bummer....AUGUST 27th =
Well I made time this afternoon for some fishing. I was certainly hoping to catch 3 fish either Trout or Smallmouths to make a 100 total for the year. I returned to Portland Mills where I started this year off fishing, for what maybe my last trip for 2014.
The fishing GODS were with me as I accomplished my mission. I landed 2 Rainbow Tour and 4 Smallmouths. What a great year I had fishing . Time to concentrate on deer hunting now...

SEPTEMBER FISHING

SEPTEMBER 29th =
I had a few nightcrawlers left so I thought I would take one more trip to the Clarion River at Portland Mills. I can not believe how low the water level was, definitely the lowest at that spot I have ever seen. Naturally this made drifting the bait almost impossible. I did manage a strike on my third cast and landed a small Rainbow Trout. Stayed for an hour and did not even see a fish in the low water, so I called it a day and another fishing season ended...






2014 SEASON SUMMARY

FISHING TRIPS
Clarion River - 26
Toby Creek - 1


FISH CAUGHT
Trout- 55
Smallmouths - 49
Suckers - 14
Sunfish - 2
Rock Bass - 39
Hellbenders - 2
"Broken Line " - 2


My Journal Section