October 22 Fishing Report

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Robert Ivan

Chris, Bill and I got a super late start and wound up at the dock at 3:30am. Air temperature was 38 degrees and water temp was 63 degrees. We double anchored in 35, 45 and 55 feet of water. Our greatest success came at 35 feet where we caught Rockbass after Rockbass. At one point we were joking it was the same fish, but who knows.

rockbass

We toughed it out till daybreak and it got down to 31 degrees at one point, brrrrr! Night fishing is DONE, we were the only boat out there.

Sun Up - Time get coffee

After the sun came up we tried jigging for lakers, but the wind was so strong we couldn’t keep our lines vertical enough to contact the bottom. We were using a Krokodile, Hopkins, white bucktail, Kastmaster and Binsky. After a couple hours of fighting the wind we called it a night/day.

Leaves are changing color - Fall is here.

Back at shore, there were a decent number of anglers in the cove between the two boat launches. Almost all of them were fishing the bottom for Rainbows using a variety of baits, shiners, worms, powerbait. I know of one fella that caught a 16inch rainbow using powerbait.

Photos courtesy of WoodallPhotography. Stay warm out there!

October Lure of the Month – Henrieta Crank Bait by CatchemCaro Bait Co.

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Robert Ivan

~~Comment on this article to qualify for a chance to win this beautiful hand crafted deep diving crankbait.~~

Congratulations to ~~“JHennings”~~Anthony Everts, as the winner of this month’s lure giveaway. Thanks again to CatchemCaro Bait Co. for their continued support. This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for participating. Stay tuned as we head into the cold cold months ahead. Maybe i’ll give away heated socks!

CatchemCaro Crank Bait Henrietta Deep Diver

This is a huge crankbait, cellphone for comparison. This bait will dive 8 to 12 feet.

CatchemCaro baits are completely custom, hand-made from poplar wood and dressed with all stainless steel hardware. The lips are hand made from Polycarbonate and each bait is hand painted and protected with two coats of an epoxy clear coat finish. Each bait is tested by CatchemCaro owner Rich Caro at Spring Lake, CA near his home, to ensure they all run true before being packed to ship all over the globe.

The Henrieta Deep Diving Crank Bait was designed and first produced by Rich Caro in July 2010. The bait is named after Rich’s grandmother. Each bait is hand painted with 12 different colors and protected with two coats of epoxy clear coat. Each bait is tank tested and trued so they run as designed. These crankbaits come in four different size lips, two round lips and two coffin lips:

100 series medium round lip dives 4 to 8 feet.
200 series large round lip dives 8 to 12 feet.
300 series small coffin lip dives 6 to 10 feet.
400 series large coffin lip dives 10 to 14 feet.

Rich uses a 7 foot medium/heavy action rod with 10 to 25lb test line. These big baits catch big fish so always be sure to have your drag set correctly. The Henrieta is 5.5″ long, 3/4″ wide and 2″ tall, sports 3d eyes, 2/0 VMC hooks, 40lb snap rings and stainless steel hardware.

Contact or Buy online:
Rich Caro
CatchemCaro Bait Co.
www.catchemcarobaits.com

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CatchemCaro Bait Co. will be giving away one Henrieta Deep Diving Crankbait this month to a very lucky RoundValleyFishing.com reader! For a chance to win simply leave a comment below. One winner will be randomly selected on November 1st. The winner will be contacted with their email address on file, so make sure you utilize your correct email address when commenting. Good luck and Tight Lines!

Possible NJ State Record Largemouth Bass Caught and Released

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Robert Ivan

In a freshwater fishing forum on StipersOnline.com a member by the name of scoobydoo has posted a claim (with pics) of catching and releasing a possible NJ State record largemouth bass.

You’ve got to see the picture of the bass, at 25″ length and 19.5″ girth, it looks like a big carp laying across the fisherman’s thighs. The fish was caught on a Lunker City Salad Spoon. Location is undisclosed.

The current NJ state record largemouth was caught by Bob Eisele in Menantico Sand Wash Pond in Cumberland County in 1980. The 10 pound, 14 ounce largemouth was taken on a homemade bucktail with a yellow Mr. Twister.

Fishing Live Herring Under a Slip Bobber

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Robert Ivan

As the Summer goes on, the water temperature of Round Valley Reservoir gets hotter and hotter. As of today, the water surface temps were in the high 70′s and by August it will be in the 80′s. That’s just too hot for trout who prefer water temps in the 60′s… so where do the fish go? They go down to cooler water.

How do slip bobbers work?

An effective way for shore fisherman to target deeper fish in the hot summer months is to use a slip bobber. Unlike traditional bobbers which clip directly onto your fishing line, slip bobbers allow your line to pass through them until a stop hits a bead at the top of the bobber.

Slip Bobber Bobber Stop and Bead

Because of the design of slip bobbers you can cast a rig set to any depth. Ten, twenty, thirty feet deep? No Problem. On the flip side, casting anything longer than 6 feet with a traditional bobber is almost impossible.

Terminal Tackle:

On the end of the line I like to use a size 4,6 or 8 circle hook. When your hook is far away from you and deep, it is much easier to hook your fish by reeling in line on your circle hook than setting a traditional hook by swinging your rod high.

About 2 feet above the hook I like to put a small splitshot to:

Keep the herring down.
Prevent the slip bobber from falling on top of my hook.

Bait Presentation

Hook your herring (or shiner) through the back right where the dorsal fin starts. In the water the fish will be vertically suspended under the floating bobber. I’ve used this rig with worms too and have caught Rainbows and Smallmouth on it.

This Rainbow fell to a slip bobber and worm combo.

Once you cast your line out, pay attention to your bobber just like you would any other bobber. If it goes under completely, wait about 5 seconds, point your rod tip at the bobber and reel in fast. As soon as you feel tension on the line begin raising your rod tip up as you continue to reel.

Conclusion

Using this technique you will catch rainbows, browns, and bass all summer long. So the next time you are shore fishing, bring a few extra rods and remember to try out different depths and baits.

June 26, 2011 Fishing Report

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Robert Ivan

Fishing at Round Valley slowed this weekend. My buddy and I got out on Sunday at the crack of dawn and by 8:30am the bite was finished. We caught bluegill on phoebes and Rapala (even a double header!). We stuck around til 11:30am drifting herring but only managed to drift from one side of the lake to the other.

One fella in caught several Lake Trout from his kayak, but that was before 8:30 as well.

I recommend getting out early or fishing before and into dusk, but who knows it may have just been this weekend.

If you were looking to get out and just enjoy the lake then it was an awesome day. Saw lots of folks on kayaks, pontoon boats, and shore fishing all enjoying the day.