A Rocky Day

I went yet again this Sunday, back to the wonderful yet infamous sucker spot with  three particular targets in mind: The Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, and White Sucker. Rock Bass was first target, and I put on a jig and soft plastic and began casting.

Boom!!!

Second cast, a rock bass flies in and just slams the jig with absolute fury.

 All day I just hammered the Rock Bass, fish after fish. Not tiddlers, either. Every single one was a trophy for NJ, long and fat. Funny thing is, I've only caught 3 rockies in NJ prior to this day... my first being a monstrous 3 inches long. :)

The technique I found out was to use baits larger than the bluegills can take. The stream is infested with 4-6 inch little gills, and they are the most aggressive fish I've ever seen, aside from one massive school of 100+ creek chubs. The jig I used was around 3 inches long, with a 1/4 ounce jighead. Rock basses' mouths in proportion to their body are similar to smallmouth bass, so they had no problem inhaling he lure.

Rockies have been promoted to one of my many favorite fish. They are beautiful and I've heard they're absolutely delicious. These fish would've been perfect pan-size, but I'm a CPR (Catch-Photo-Release) guy. Talking about Rock Bass qualities, these things fight like banshees on steroids. Their battle is equivalent, if not better than a largemouth three times their size.

 Man, these rockies sure are pretty. Check out that bronze coloration and blood-red eyes!

Somewhere in between the Rock Bass, I changed out to a worm, and landed hordes of barbarian bluegills and redbreasts, plus one yellow bullhead that I was really hoping to be a brown.

The suckers had apparently traveled to whatever other parallel dimension they live in. Only got a few glimpses of some today. Pumpkinseeds, a usually plentiful and gluttonous species, continue to shun me throughout the month of June.