John Sheehan's Blog (33)

SQUIRREL TAIL  JIGS

   I have been fishing simple Squirrel Tail Jigs since November 2009 and although I haven't counted the number of fish  they have  caught ,let's just say scores of fish !August 2017 I fished them consistently and reawakened the realization of how well these little guys attract many species of Fish. Examples of  a large variety of species have been caught on 1/8th ,16th and 32nd oz. Jigs .I tie them up usually with Black…

Fishin' Goals

X 1)Catch fish every month of the year and archive with photos and calendars.

Bluegill ,Yellow Perch, Crappie and Largemouth Bass are achieved.

 X 2)Catch Pickerel  in December( x achieved Dec. 2014 Shepherds lake) , February (Acheived) and (March)* acheived March31 2016, 17" Pickerel still need February to complete the Pickerel …

Seasonal Lure  choices for Northeast New Jersey Fishing

 I usually progress through the year something like this: Hard water into ice out through March into April ;mostly Jigs tipped with live bait progressing to spoons .Spinners ,Crankbaits , plastic worms and Topwater plugs in the warmer months and as late Fall/early Winter  appears ,I'm  back through spoons to Jigs again .

 This monthly list reflects what has worked…

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/lakes/shepherd.pdf

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/lakes/waywayanda.pdf

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/lakes/pompton.pdf…

This year (2013) ,in June and then again in October and November  , I've tried tandem jig rigs a few times . With and without added spinners, they've  worked on Crappies ,Gills, Yellow and White Perch . With dropping temps in Fall,fish food is perhaps more scarce and yet the feeding activity level of the predators is still in high gear .This makes for a competitive feed and prime time for tandem rigs. Indeed, the only time I ever caught two fish at the same time on one lure was in October .…

Brother Greg and I are hankering to go wading and flyroddin' in a few small rivers soon .We want to target Smallmouths and Red Breasted Sunfish in particular . Never caught a Smallie  on a flyrod . I have some ideas on what I think would work but I'm just guessing  ;Mickey Finn ,beaded nymphs,Marabou streamers , Feather Streamers, Hopper ,Crayfish, and Hellgrammite imitations and Poppers .Any ideas out there from folks that are experienced with Flyrodding Smallies or other species I might…

Black caterpillars with spikes and red feet laying dead in my boat  and in the driveway under some trees. Any Entomologist friends out there that can ID these .? Maybe Mourning cloak  :…

Apparently a 25 mile stretch of Canadian shoreline on Lake Erie is littered with dead fish and birds. Theories proposed are Lake Inversion and a possible Manure dumping .Some type of toxic spill may be a third reason. Blue green Algae is a possible 4th reason.

 Would like to know what really is going on !

Seems to me this idea has been done here before but I searched "Unusual Catches' and it came up empty .I'll post one now and more another time. I would like to see what folks think of as an "Unusual Catch " and see the diversity of photos of their fishing events. This Fish hit a huge spoon and was caught in the mouth . Is it an "Unusual Catch " ? I think so. Unusually Aggressive!…

Caught this dink  today,4/22/12 in a very shallow stream (Ringwood Brook) Took a small worm on a #10 hook. Apparently New Jersey does have Redears but I never caught one before .What do ya think Red Ear (gotta admit it looks like one ) or Pumpkinseed?

Redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus) can grow to 10 inches, and have a long pointed…

http://bigbluegill.com/forum/topics/bank-spots?groupUrl=bank-busters&groupId=2036984%3AGroup%3A198982&id=2036984%3ATopic%3A213461&page=2#comments

  I 've read that like Male Bluegills,Male Pumpkinseeds are brighter more varied color than the Females.I am curious if any one knows if their Opercular size and shape are much different.The Male Bluegill sports a noticebly bigger ,wider and longer Gill flap but does this hold true for Pseeds as well? I'm thinking so but am not sure .

This link states breeding female exhibit more prominent dark, vertical bands;…

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/03/top-10-polluted-rivers-waterways

Closest (to me) river on this list is the Delaware .Consider yourselves fortunate if you enjoy successful fishing from a river not on this list . Haven't fished the Delaware in years but still there are some good fish and cleaner sections than perhaps this study suggests.

In another effort to get folks to TAG their photos , here are  interesting results when one searches

some specific species .A four word Alliteration!! Tag and search and add to this list if you care to.

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/photo/search?q=Bluegills

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/photo/search?q=Pumpkinseeds+…

Mid afternoon shore fishing at a natural non stocked pond ...Females 5",6", 7 "....Males 7,1/2"...hot dog pieces/crawler pieces/both combined ,slip floated @4 ' up tp 2'.

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/albums/shore-fishin-ponds-of-ringwood…