On one day of the year the Dogon people of Mali can fish in the sacred water of Lake Antogo. At the height of the drought we witness a spectacular frenzy: two thousand men rush into Antogo Lake to catch the fish trapped by the evaporating water.
I know this has nothing to do with Round Valley, but I just had to share it!
My friend Chris and I headed out to Round Valley Reservoir on Saturday morning to do a little ice fishing. The main lake is not frozen over and hasn’t been for a handful of years but the smaller “swimming” side is, so that’s where we fished. We met some other friends and even the now-famous state record eel eating Vasily showed up!
Nice size Round Valley Bucketmouth!
The ice was 3 to 6 inches deep, however there was a layer of snow and slush on top of it which made a pit in my stomach every time I took a step and sank a little. The last year we were ice fishing at Round Valley, the ice was 12 to 18inches thick so this was a little hairy.
We started around 9am and by 10am had 20 holes drilled with about 10 tip-ups working and some guys jigging. Remember that you are allowed 5 working holes per person by law and your tip ups must have your name and address on them.
All our tip-ups were fished near the bottom (12 to 30 feet depending on which hole) with a live large shiner hooked just under the dorsal fin. We caught two Chain Pickerel and one Largemouth Bass with these tip-ups. The Pickerel were caught shallow and the bass was caught deep.
Jigging everything we could think of produced nothing and at about noon we had enough and packed it in. We had a great time but be very careful out there if you go ice fishing at RV, the ice isn’t that great this year. The other side of the lake if you are curious is still open and I spotted two boats out there trolling.
File this report under Better Late Than Never! Got this report via email back on December 30th! It’s an email account I rarely check so I apologize for the tardiness. Though Hunter had fished Round Valley before, he had never caught a trout. December 30th would be the evening that young Hunter Whitehead burst on the scene. On this night he caught the 22inch 4pound Brown Trout you see below. He returned the next day to catch another Brown and a Rainbow!
Even the State Parks people stopped to check out his catch!
Name: Hunter Whitehead (16 year old from Kingwood)
Bait: Berkley Gulp 3′ white minnows (which of course he is out of & we can’t find anymore!!)
Method: jigging…..dude, we don’t do no stinkin bobbers hahaha
off the rock wall by the cement boat launch
Time: 3pm to 5pm
Just got back from GSOSS in Edison NJ with the wife and kids. Here’s a quick recap of what we saw, liked and wanted more of.
There was a Torque kayak being sold by The Pond Hopper Kayak Fishing Trips people for ~$2300. The yak was loaded with fishing gear like a downrigger, rod holders, fish finder, tackle boxes and minn kota electric trolling motor.
I already own a boat, but if I didin’t… I would have been going home with this thing. It’s amazing.
My kids loved the live animals and panning for fossils and gems by the Cold River Mining Company. My wife liked the Hound Dogs and beef jerky stand of all things. In the end I bought one item. A reversible fleece balaclava for $15. We all would have liked a better food selection, I think Harolds could have set up a food stand and made a killing.
As mentioned in my 2010 fishing recap, I want to give away a lure of the month here at Round Valley Fishing. Well the dream has become a reality my friends! Our first sponsors have stepped forward and committed to giving away some quality lures this year.
Professional Bass fisherman and lure maker Rich Caro will be giving away one of his Wake Baits in May and one of his Crank Baits in October. Every bait is hand made and hand tested. Check out Catchem Caro Baits now.
Fish Sense Inc. will be giving away one of their Binsky blade baits in April. Fish Sense President Stephen Carey is the first angler from NJ to enter a bass into the Texas Lunker program. The Binsky lures have been used with great success on Bass and Laketrout and we look forward to his article in April Comment on the article now for your chance to win.
Vinnerbaits is our June 2011 Lure of the Month sponsor. Vinnerbaits is dedicated to the sport of bass fishing with the fisherman in mind, “we provide tournament quality lures at a price everyone can afford”. This Roselle Park, NJ lure maker will be giving away one of their tournament quality bass baits.
Readers: To win a bait, simply leave a comment in the Lure of the Month article when it is published. A winner will be chosen randomly from all the comments received. Winners must be registered users of RoundValleyFishing.com, use a valid email address and live in NJ, PA, or NY. If you are chosen and I can’t get in touch with you, another random winner will be selected.
Lure makers: If you would like to get involved in our giveaway email me: robert at roundvalleyfishing dot com. I look forward to hearing from you.
