FLATHEAD weekend!!!

[FASTEDDIE29]

Hit the river with Andre and friend Friday night for a little fishing. Andre made an entrance as always taking a fall into the water as soon as he got down to the spot, lol! Its all good buddy, perfect night for a swim anyway. Myself, Andre and Alex had a few solid run offs but not much was landed. I did manage 1 Invasive Flathead during the daylight hours weighing 5-6 lbs.
http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/Mobile%20Uploads/962a908f-d826-4d99-8b7f-508ca4285c5a_zpsdmvg38kr.jpg

Saturday, took the day off from fishing to do some much needed stuff around the house. No pics of that crap, lol!

Sunday, woke up early to go make bait and managed to put 20 Blue Gills in my bucket in around 30 minutes. Headed out to the spot earlier than planned knowing Andre and Alex were there. I get to the spot around 230 and its complete mayhem with picnics and BBQ's as far as the eye can see. There had to be 100 people hanging out within 1/2 a square mile. 5 wave runners, hot dogs, bathers, tanners and a group of guys climbing a 30 foot tree to dive into a 10 foot deep hole. No fish would be caught with the water all churned up. Andre and Alex leave. The massive groups of picnickers leave. Shortly after, around 7 pm I got railed by a Flattie. Fish was fighting very aggressively. I got her in after a short battle. First Flathead of the night went 9 Lbs 1 oz. YEA BUDDY!!! Land another smaller Flathead around 3-4 lbs 10 minutes later. Those would be the only fish of the evening for me. All in all a fun weekend on the river with some crazy people. TIGHT LINEZ!!!
http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/Mobile%20Uploads/4950d2ff-28c1-4c92-a34e-9a6137615f5d_zpsexnmadwv.jpg

http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/Mobile%20Uploads/a994c4ed-cec9-4c07-9538-17fe905c9dc4_zps38jxv04t.jpg
:D

[Andrushkin33]

Ha ha,

I knew it. Cant leave you alone for a minute.

Good job buddy, good job indeed.

Andre

[FASTEDDIE29]

Andre, you wouldn't believe how fast the crowds cleared out. It was like someone waved there magic wand and made everyone disappear. I was the only guy out there last night. It got real quiet on the river. As soon as the water settled down the fish started to eat. Crazy place man!

[Chrisper4694]

Hey, make sure you leave some for me! Nice fishing buddy!

[JDTuna]

Nice flatties dude! I'm going to give them a shot one of these days.

[Eskimo]

.

That's awesome.

If Fish & Game actually succeeds in extirpating Flatheads from the river, I think you're going to miss them.


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[HerringKing]

Killing Me!!! I'll be up in 2 weekends. Hope there still around.

[Delawareriver]

Killing Me!!! I'll be up in 2 weekends. Hope there still around.

Ain't going anywhere, September and October the big fish start feeding more as the water cools,

[Mark B.]

This week a Delaware River angler brought a 43 lb. flathead to NJ FW Fish Lab, Lebanon. That’s the largest we've documented. He claimed to have caught 6 others up to 20 lbs., & has caught them as far up river as the Water Gap.

[bigfishy]

Any pics of that beast Mark????

[Mark B.]

Tried to attach photo, but couldn't.

Send me (mark.boriek@dep.nj.gov) an email & I will forward photo.

Mark

[FASTEDDIE29]

Here's a pic of the 43 lb Flathead next to a 22 inch Bowfin for all the fellas that were asking for a pic. I'm guessing this Flathead was caught further south than where I fish. I say that because the angler caught a Bowfin in the same area. Great looking fish without a doubt. Photo courtesy of Mark B. over at the Lebanon lab. Thanx for the pic!
http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/t599/fasteddie2927/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsgactpbpu.jpg

[Mark B.]

I forgot,..........angler said he caught it from his boat near Belvidere, NJ.

[Eskimo]

Here's a pic of the 43 lb Flathead next to a 22 inch Bowfin for all the fellas that were asking for a pic. I'm guessing this Flathead was caught further south than where I fish. I say that because the angler caught a Bowfin in the same area. Great looking fish without a doubt. Photo courtesy of Mark B. over at the Lebanon lab. Thanx for the pic!



That catfish is amazing!

I agree. I'm not sure the fish was really caught in Belvidere if he was concurrently catching Bowfin. That's more of a South Jersey thing.

From the videos I've seen posted on Youtube, the Flatheads seem to be doing well in the Schuykill River area.

Thanks for the picture Mark.


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[Mark B.]

I’ve known the angler for years. He was fishing from his boat @ Belvidere.

And, Bowfins are present in the river, from the tidal freshwater through NY State.

In the mid-1990's PA mistakenly stocked Flatheads in Blue Marsh Reservoir which flows to the Schuylkill R. Yes, they are established there, & have since moved in to the main stem Delaware R.

[Delawareriver]

From my experience bowfishing I can definitely say there are large flatheads as far north as the water gap, I saw a eat 35lb flathead in the Belvidere section two years ago that could definitely be this fish. With that said out if a couple thousand hours looking at fish in the clear water of the Delaware while bowfishing I have never seen a bowfin in the delaware north of the tidal section but have seen them in Columbia lake so very possible of a bowfin in the area just extremely rare in my opinion

[Mark B.]

Angler with the same fish.