Spruce Run hybrids 7/21/13

[Bicey]

Sorry this is a little late, but I've been working my butt off fixing AC's because of the heatwave.

Fished 6am-1130am. Between 6 and 9 I landed 9 hybrids including 3 doubles. 9 to 1130 I only caught 3 and nothing after 1030am. Smallest fish was 21". All these fish were caught on live bait with downriggers.........from 8' to 15'. Water temp.was 86 to 88°. There were a lot of boats in the area I was fishing and everyone got along just fine....I think. I wish I could fish during the week, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

I saw other boats landing fish, including a guy who stopped to ask me if I was marking any fish. I told him to start drifting right where he was and as I did one whacked my starboard downrigger. After I landed time fish I looked and saw his buddy reeling one in. For some reason as I get older, I enjoy watching people hook into some Hybrids.....this wasn't always the case;)

Where any of you guys there on Sunday? If so, how did ya do?

[zhitoman]

you guys catch and release?

[Bicey]

Yeah......I may keep a fish or two the whole yr, that said these fish probably live 7 to 8 yrs.

[gnuisance]

I guess someone fishing in a yak without electronics would have a hard time targeting SR Hybrids? Sounds like you have it dialed in

[kcritch]

That's a great morning of fishing there dude....nicely done! Love the Hybrids. Have not hit SR yet this year...just too much stuff going on. It really is a great fishery. And that is some warm ass water....86-88 degrees is crazy.

[Skunk City]

I guess someone fishing in a yak without electronics would have a hard time targeting SR Hybrids? Sounds like you have it dialed in

If you have a smart phone, download the Navionics freshwater app. GPS based with depth charts of lakes and rivers (including Spruce Run). I believe its about $10, and it has saved the day a few times when the fish finder battery crapped out. Lets you mark waypoints to come back to. Basically the same as the Navionics card for the fish finders but WAYYYY cheaper ($180 vs. $10). It has helped me IMMENSELY on the bigger, deeper lakes, especially jigging and trolling dropoffs, ridges, and contour lines.

[Eskimo]

If you have a smart phone, download the Navionics freshwater app. GPS based with depth charts of lakes and rivers (including Spruce Run). I believe its about $10, and it has saved the day a few times when the fish finder battery crapped out. Lets you mark waypoints to come back to. Basically the same as the Navionics card for the fish finders but WAYYYY cheaper ($180 vs. $10). It has helped me IMMENSELY on the bigger, deeper lakes, especially jigging and trolling dropoffs, ridges, and contour lines.

Thanks for the information. I just looked it. Here is the link:
http://www.navionics.com/en/mobile-pc-app

That app covers the following NJ lakes:



New Jersey
Amwell Hunterdon NJ
Assunpink Monmouth NJ
Budd Morris NJ
Canistear Reservoir Sussex NJ
Clinton Reservoir Passaic NJ
Colliers Ocean NJ
Cranberry Sussex NJ
Delaware Warren NJ
Echo Passaic NJ
Furnace Warren NJ
Green Turtle Passaic NJ
Greenwood Passaic (NJ), Orange (NY) NJ
Hopatcong Morris NJ
Little Swartswood Sussex NJ
Mercer Mercer NJ
Merrill Creek Reservoir Warren NJ
Monksville Reservoir Passaic NJ
Musconetcong Morris, Sussex NJ
New Wawayanda Sussex NJ
Parvin Salem NJ
Prospertown Ocean NJ
Round Valley Reservoir Hunterdon NJ
Ryker Sussex NJ
Sheppard Pond Passaic NJ
Spruce Run Reservoir Hunterdon NJ
Swartswood Sussex NJ
Turn Mill Pond Ocean NJ
Union Cumberland NJ
Upper Greenwood Passaic NJ
White Warren NJ
Wilson Gloucester NJ

[jimmythegreek]

Nice job bicey, way to get em. Im tempted to make a trip down there just to see how ur wipers compare to ours at LH. I was out on LH sun morn and killed them there too. From sunrise til 7ish the wipers were pushing bait up to the surface and the birds were working them. Was epic fishing, if I had it on video u would think it was raritan bay. Ive been told that a flashy umbrella rig works very well for thermoclined waters like SR, the kind that have spinner blades halfway down the arm, wipers love em. LH was 82-83 and NO thermocline whatsoever, not even a hint.

[FASTEDDIE29]

Sounds like a great morning of fishing. That's phenomenal hybrid action!!!

[Bicey]

I guess someone fishing in a yak without electronics would have a hard time targeting SR Hybrids? Sounds like you have it dialed in

You can definitely catch them from a yak......SR is not that big of a lake and there's a lot of hybrids. I've been fishing SR since my late teens, so I know where they are season to season. My grandfather taught me everything I know........HE dialed them in for me!

[Bicey]

Nice job bicey, way to get em. Im tempted to make a trip down there just to see how ur wipers compare to ours at LH. I was out on LH sun morn and killed them there too. From sunrise til 7ish the wipers were pushing bait up to the surface and the birds were working them. Was epic fishing, if I had it on video u would think it was raritan bay. Ive been told that a flashy umbrella rig works very well for thermoclined waters like SR, the kind that have spinner blades halfway down the arm, wipers love em. LH was 82-83 and NO thermocline whatsoever, not even a hint.

Sound awesome! I had them pushing bait 2 weeks ago but they weren't busting on top. Man..........you really got me pumped to go to LH. From what I hear yours are consistently bigger than ours over here. A guy i know told me if i started fishing LH that I wouldn't go back to SR.
My largest at SR is 9lb 8 oz. 29 inches. IMO, at SR the best fighting ones are in the 22-24" range.

I may have to try an umbrella rig........I see a lot of guys in the south using them for pures and hybrids.
I've been begging my wife to get a gopro, but at this point its a nogo! Would be cool to make some vids of hybrids in action.

BTW did you fish the hybrid tourney?

[kcritch]

I've been begging my wife to get a gopro, but at this point its a nogo! Would be cool to make some vids of hybrids in action.

I heard that sometimes those GoPro's just jump into your shoppping cart and you never even realize it until the credit card bill comes in....and by then it's probably too late to return it becasue somehow it came out of the box and all of the packing material and the receipt disappeared. I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me with fishing gear of all kinds......and sometimes even alcoholic beverages! Just sayin.

[Jigman13]

I have a GoPro HD 2. Had it for like 2 yrs and still havent used it. I need to get some footage soon.

[Bicey]

I heard that sometimes those GoPro's just jump into your shoppping cart and you never even realize it until the credit card bill comes in....and by then it's probably too late to return it becasue somehow it came out of the box and all of the packing material and the receipt disappeared. I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me with fishing gear of all kinds......and sometimes even alcoholic beverages! Just sayin.

Yeah that happened with my downriggers and my lowrance hds. Crazy how that happens
:cool: . But sometimes it happens to the wife too and.. I have to install a new kitchen floor lol.

[Bicey]

I have a GoPro HD 2. Had it for like 2 yrs and still havent used it. I need to get some footage soon.
Those cams are pretty sick......the quality of the picture is ridiculous, and you can mount them anywhere.

[Jigman13]

Those cams are pretty sick......the quality of the picture is ridiculous, and you can mount them anywhere.

Maybe I'll use it this weekend. Had it with me on my tuna trip earlier in the week and it never made it's way out of my bag :confused:

[jimmythegreek]

Sound awesome! I had them pushing bait 2 weeks ago but they weren't busting on top. Man..........you really got me pumped to go to LH. From what I hear yours are consistently bigger than ours over here. A guy i know told me if i started fishing LH that I wouldn't go back to SR.
My largest at SR is 9lb 8 oz. 29 inches. IMO, at SR the best fighting ones are in the 22-24" range.

I may have to try an umbrella rig........I see a lot of guys in the south using them for pures and hybrids.
I've been begging my wife to get a gopro, but at this point its a nogo! Would be cool to make some vids of hybrids in action.

BTW did you fish the hybrid tourney?

LH is a tuff nut to crack when u first start fishing it, I hated the place years ago couldnt catch squat on the regular. The majority of the hybrids are 3-6 pds. and they kinda school based on year class. When u find em bigger like 5+ thats when u eventuall get some big boys, altho w all the wipers Ive got I never got one over 9lbs. I lost a monster sunday morn boatside that was 10+ all day long, in the action of chasing the birds/bait i never retied my leader and snapped off a big flutter spoon on 15 floro netting it. Would have been my PB for sure looked like a legal saltwater striper I think it had more purestrain DNA than usual, didnt have the football shape was on the long side. And the other big problem w LH is the herring, LH supplies MOST of this state w bait in the shops, the fish are very keen on what they will eay, artificials dont do as well as herring, the place is LOADED w bait, I get baitballs on my sonar the size of pickup trucks everytime Im out w fish following them, and thats prob the reason ours are bigger too. Trolling is tuff cause of the weeds, the powerboats rip vegetation going in and out of slips and u get BIG balls that just float in clumps, so I pretty much search using sonar/GPS find some life and setup and drop bait w line counters. I dont anchor I have a Ipilot terrova I jsut spot lock and it hovers me within 10 feet of the spot I lock. This also allows for some movement of the boat/bait when the TM fights current/wind to get me back to the locked spot. I usually jig a binsky if I mark em down deep or toss a stickbait/plastic if up a little high in the water column. I have some umbrellas I sue for smallies that Im gonna try, I wish I had them sunday I woulda loved to nail 2 or 3 at once on it. And yeah the 4-6 pd class fish fight the hardest, the big ones make hard first runs down deep then just play u when they come up, the mediums make many runs they dont give it up til they are in the net

[jimmythegreek]

I dint fish the tourney my girl sold her house and I had to move her into a new condo over last weekend :( This years fish were smaller than years before, bunkerdunkers kid won it w 7 and change, last year BD and son got 1st + 2nd both close to 10pds. Plus LH isnt like SR, u rly cant sit out there all day between memorial and labor day, the pleasure boat traffic is unreal, until u experience it first hand u wont understand. The best action is on the main lake spots, esp the points, fishing the back bays isnt as good unless u rly find them chillin in a spot. I usually get to my boat dock around 530 so Im at dows for herring and fishing before 6, old man jim or laurie is there early on weekends. even at 7am there are waterskiers and jetskis cruising and they have no respect for guys fishing, u get waked constantly and im in a 19' walleye boat. By 9ish or so ur getting pounded and Im off the water, in SR u dont deal w any of that. The boat traffic turns them off and it gets tuff to catch them, even tho u will still mark them just like early in the am. After september it becomes a fishermans paradise, theres no better place to be IMO than LH

[GetANet]

AMEN TO THAT!!!!! FALL ON HOPATCONG=PRICELESS!!!!!
Fished SR last night and got the ever living Sxxt kicked out of me!!!! Was heading north wasn't sure whether RV or SR but James from Behr's Bait and Tackle hooked me up with some herring (waited a few for me after hrs!)
So the decision was made, got to the lake about 8:00pm and was already kinda windy but launched anyway. Marked quite a few fish and set up, wind was starting to really crank so moved into a cove to get out of the wind some what still marking fish but I guess my herring bouncing up and down two feet didn't look too appetizing so bagged it at 11:00pm As I came around the point into the main lake whitecaps like Raritan bay. Glad to get out with no issues! Was wondering, I acclimated my herring but still had issues with them dying, fished two with a splitshot between 6-10ft down and one free lined Not sure what was up with that???? Also marked a lot of fish deeper than that, both big and small which I don't understand cause I thought they were all around the thermocline????at

That's my report for the night, unfortunetly gotta skunk ONCE in a while!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!

[Bicey]

GET A NET.....when I was there Sunday thermocline was around 20 ft. Maybe a little deeper. I caught my fish from 8 to 15'. So maybe you weren't deep enough, but I think they probably weren't hungry. Nice to hear James hung around for you. He seems like a good guy.

[Bicey]

Great info jimmy.......Thank you! I have the power drive with ipilot.....spotlock is awesome. I use it a lot on PA. Lakes when I net bait.

I have been told not to bother with LH after 9am in the summer, but I never new that weeds were such an issue. Maybe I'll wait til september to hit it up.

[kcritch]

Maybe we need to do a meet and greet at LH in the fall??? Say late Sept....we could do a multi species deal there for sure. Just a thought but what a great place with plenty of space, a type of fish for everyone here, and if timed right not many other people on the water.

What say you?

[jimmythegreek]

if ur doin good at SR keep on the place and master it. the fall up here is killer, like Getanet said its priceless, see his avatar pic? haha thats his monster in the back of my little boat we killed em that day too. And I had the same problem for the first time last weekend w herring, they have soft lips/faces all of a sudden even tho they looked healthy, I lost a bunch getting stolen from my hooks and a bunch dieing quick for no reason, theres absolutely no hint of a thermocline yet on LH. All the herring u guys are using comes from laurie at dows its LH bait. And Kcritch we talked about it last year but never did it, for sure this year we will. Come late september into october the thermocline is off the lake once it turns and its hybrids, eyeballs galore, even a muskie if you put some time in ;)

[GetANet]

Kcritch, sounds like a great idea!!! Lake Hopatcong Hybrids in the Fall!!!!
Yea baby!!!!! I'm a little disappointed in the fact that alot of the meet
& greets are so far north. I know a lot of the crew is from up that way but this could be a little more accessible to us guys in central and a little further south. Great lake plenty of room and tons of fish if you want to run it or help with it let me know cause you got it!!!! I think a lot of members would be interested in it... What do you think ??? WHO is potentially interested is it??? It's like a disease once you catch one your infected for life!!!!!!

[kcritch]

Kcritch, sounds like a great idea!!! Lake Hopatcong Hybrids in the Fall!!!! Yea baby!!!!! Great lake plenty of room and tons of fish if you want to run it or help with it let me know cause you got it!!!! I think a lot of members would be interested in it... What do you think ???

OK for sure.....I'm out of town this weekend but I'll put up a post next week and suggest some dates. In the meantime if anyone has any suggestions or wants to help out with it let me know. Jimmy you are disignated as technical consultant for sure.

[jimmythegreek]

sometime in October is best, its a ways away but there are only a few pleasure boats out there and its safe for the yak and small boat crews, plus the lake turns by mid oct and the fish are all out in deeper water headed to their wintering grounds. Thats when the true beauty of LH comes out, the hybrids, eyeballs, muskie and pretty much everything else is on the herring out in deep water down deep, and u rly dont know whats on the end of your line unless u have experience w how the fish acts when hooked, otherwise its pot luck til u get a glimpse of it boatside.

[GetANet]

Your on the money again my man!!!! Oct would def be better.
Wishin my whole summer away!!!!!!