Some Blue Marsh fish

[z06]

Here's a few from Blue Marsh. It took me about a decade and over 400 trips to crack that nut. Under decent conditions, I can be reasonably assured that I'll have a good day up there anytime I want.

My two most productive times are July/ August nights, and when the water gets 50 and below. In the summer, the more boat traffic during the day, the harder they'll turn on at nite. Sad to say, my 2 largest fish out of there were taken when I didn't have a camera on board.

The guy in the blue shirt under the bridge isn't me, but a very EX partner. I was both shocked and amazed that I let anyone pull a fish like that one out from behind me.

And to the peanut gallery, all fish were released alive. Most of them back in the lake, a few in my pond.

Threw in a snapper pic as well. I saw this old girl way up the Tulpy, jumped in fully clothed to get her. It's just about the biggest PA snapper I've ever caught, and I've caught several dozen.

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[aswallace911]

man those are some pigs great work man. i love blue marsh ive only ever been there 4 times and two out of those four times i caught a three pound smallie, plus my uncle and i get to run the big motor up there, i think what makes me like it is its a tough fishery and when you figure something out its all the more rewarding, again really really nice fish!

[z06]

thank you for your comment, glad you liked them.

I spied the Smallie you posted, nice one for only four trips to what used to be known as "the Dead Sea" If I recall, that lake was impounded in '78, and for the first 6 or 7 years, fishing was extremely tough. When it appeared on our club schedule, jaws dropped to the floor, and guys got weak in the knees. I remember winning two tourneys back then, each with a single decent fish.

That lake really started turning the corner in around '92, when for the first time, you'd actually start catching dinks. The best sign a rebounding lake can have.

For most of my fishing, I like shallow water slop & junk fishing, and power fishing. Spinny rods and weenie baits just ain't my thing. But up there, the Fly-N-Rind rules!

You can catch fish beatin the banks, and I catch a lot that way, but the key to that lake lies in deeper waters. It's a heck of a lot more time consuming, but the rewards are significantly greater.

[fletchnd1]

I caught two Snappers about twice that size out of a small creek in central PA called the Swatara. One was in a little oxboe lake and the second was sitting in the shallows with water rushing over him mouth WIDE open. Snappers were literally 3' wide. Didn't pic them up, I guess I felt like keeping my fingers that day. Great memory though!

[z06]

Common or eastern snappers are listed in both the Audubon Field Guide & PFBC publications as having near maximum carapace length of 18-19 inches. Carapace width is usually 4/5 of it's length. If you say they were 3' across, then the turtle , or whatever you saw was 4' in length? ;D

I've been handling these critters for 50 years, I would guess that one in the pic at about 20", maybe 35 lbs. As far as snappers go, it was huge. My livewell measures 22" across across the lid.

They have an Alligator Snapper (the largest freshwater turtle in the US) at the Philly Zoo. His carapace length is only 32 or 33". I've looked him in the eye before, he is truly gargantuan.

That's about all I'm gonna say about that story.