Me and my wife had an entire week off from work the week of September 9th. Needless to say we decided to spend it fishing. Overall it was a pretty good week. We mostly caught small bullhead and sunfish (bluegills, pumpkinseeds and greens). I did manage to hook into three rather large fish, two that I suspect were carp and one I suspect was a channel catfish. The carp however threw the hook and the channel broke the line. I also managed to hook into a pike who I almost had on the shore but the swivel busted and the pike swam off with my lure. Here are some pictures of some more note-worthy catches.
Day 1: A small channel catfish that my brother in law caught.
Day 2: An attractive bluegill. If I had the tank space I would have kept him
A little snapping turtle who was just bobbing around right off shore, I managed to pluck him up with no problem at all.
Day 3: A snow goose who has been hanging out at the lake (Seneca lake). It's very odd, they don't breed or even winter here. The only time I see them is when they are migrating. It won't fly so I can only assume it cannot and thats why it's there in the first place. I'm not 100% on my ID because it's so out of place but had I seen it in the spring feeding in a pasture with other geese I would have no doubt about it.
Turkey flock, spotted on the way to another fishing location. The location would be a small cattle pond within the Finger Lakes National Forest.
The oddest catch of the week, an adult snapping turtle. When I first hooked him I thought it was a large clump of weeds. While reeling it in I realized it was much to heavy but it didn't put up virtually any fight. When it broke surface I thought it was a dead muskrat or something once living (it has happened before). When I finally had it on shore I realized what it was. I have caught painted turtles before but never a snapper.
As you can see I did not hook it in the mouth. The hook is in the neck.
I tried to distract him with a branch. My plan was to remove the hook while he was holding on to the branch but he would always let go shortly after grabbing it.
I eventually got him off. I used the same branch, placed it under the weight on the hook and quickly pushed back against it. The hook came out and after a brief rest the turtle went back into the water.
A bit later in the day my wife caught this bluegill. I would consider it a pretty nice sized bluegill for this pond and for most the places I fish in general. It has great color at least.
Switched from earthworms to lures after the turtle incident. The lure of choice was a Jitterbug. Not long after the switch I caught this guy.
I continued with the Jitterbug and two more largemouths attempted to grab it and failed. It was getting pretty dark out by the time this guy decided he wanted to have a go at it. The highlight of the week no doubt.
Forgive my foolish smile, I had never caught a bass this large and never expected it from the tiny pond I was fishing.
It looks much more impressive with my wife holding it.
Day 4: Finally, the last catch of the week. Fairly small by pike standards but not a bad end to my vacation. He was caught on a Trophy Tail Jr.
Day 1: A small channel catfish that my brother in law caught.
Day 2: An attractive bluegill. If I had the tank space I would have kept him
A little snapping turtle who was just bobbing around right off shore, I managed to pluck him up with no problem at all.
Day 3: A snow goose who has been hanging out at the lake (Seneca lake). It's very odd, they don't breed or even winter here. The only time I see them is when they are migrating. It won't fly so I can only assume it cannot and thats why it's there in the first place. I'm not 100% on my ID because it's so out of place but had I seen it in the spring feeding in a pasture with other geese I would have no doubt about it.
Turkey flock, spotted on the way to another fishing location. The location would be a small cattle pond within the Finger Lakes National Forest.
The oddest catch of the week, an adult snapping turtle. When I first hooked him I thought it was a large clump of weeds. While reeling it in I realized it was much to heavy but it didn't put up virtually any fight. When it broke surface I thought it was a dead muskrat or something once living (it has happened before). When I finally had it on shore I realized what it was. I have caught painted turtles before but never a snapper.
As you can see I did not hook it in the mouth. The hook is in the neck.
I tried to distract him with a branch. My plan was to remove the hook while he was holding on to the branch but he would always let go shortly after grabbing it.
I eventually got him off. I used the same branch, placed it under the weight on the hook and quickly pushed back against it. The hook came out and after a brief rest the turtle went back into the water.
A bit later in the day my wife caught this bluegill. I would consider it a pretty nice sized bluegill for this pond and for most the places I fish in general. It has great color at least.
Switched from earthworms to lures after the turtle incident. The lure of choice was a Jitterbug. Not long after the switch I caught this guy.
I continued with the Jitterbug and two more largemouths attempted to grab it and failed. It was getting pretty dark out by the time this guy decided he wanted to have a go at it. The highlight of the week no doubt.
Forgive my foolish smile, I had never caught a bass this large and never expected it from the tiny pond I was fishing.
It looks much more impressive with my wife holding it.
Day 4: Finally, the last catch of the week. Fairly small by pike standards but not a bad end to my vacation. He was caught on a Trophy Tail Jr.
