Didymo or Cyanobacteria in the Pack?

If you've been fishing the Pack this Summer, you've no doubt noticed the "pea green soup" colored water in July and August.  In fact, only in the last couple weeks (mid-September) has the water cleared up some.  What's causing this green soupy colored water?  Is it Blue-green algae or is it some other kind of algae called, "didymo" or "rock snot"?  In addition to the green soupy color water, you'll notice that as the water drops, it leaves a white chalky residue on the shoreline.  You'd think that if it's green water, it would dry green...NOT bright white.  I'll bet the reason it dries white is because of the high nutrients in the water.  These nutrients (mostly phosphorous and nitrogen) come from the water runoff from farm lands, septic systems, fertilized grass lawns, etc.

What is Didymo?  According to Wikipedia: Didymosphenia geminata, commonly known as didymo or rock snot, is a species of diatom that blooms in freshwater rivers and streams, with consistently cold water temperatures. In late Winter it can form large mats on the bottom of rivers and streams. It is not considered a significant human health risk, but it can affect stream habitats and sources of food for fish and make recreational activities unpleasant. It is considered a nuisance organism or invasive species. The microscopic algae can be spread in a single drop of water.

This makes sense because I have noticed this "rock snot" on my jigs when I was throwing them in the late Spring early Summer when the lake temp is cold.  So, I know the Pack has "rock snot".  But, is this enough to color the water a green soupy color?  I think not.  I actually think that in addition to the "rock snot" there is an infestation of blue-green algae as well...aka Cyanobacteria.

I haven't seen any "matting" on the surface of blue-green algae or the raunchy smell that accommodates it, but I know it's in the Lake.  Is it safe?  I don't know, I don't think the concentrations are as high as they are in other Lakes I've seen.  Plus, I'm sure if wasn't safe, there would be animal life dying and/or people getting sick.  And, I'm sure the EPA would be all over it.  But then again, you wonder whether any news is suppressed as not to create a "panic" of sorts.  The problem with these algae/bacteria is that they CAN become toxic.

I don't want to scare anyone, but bacteria can cause toxins that can cause disease.  Staphlococci are generally found on the surface of the skin. When they invade the body tissue, for instance through a cut, they usually produce a local infection with inflammation and pus. Occasionally a strain of staphylococcus develops that can cause an infection so bad that it starts to eat flesh.  If you don't believe me, contact my friend (and full-time fishing guide on the Pack) and ask him why he only has 4 toes on one foot.  Makes you think huh?

Fish ON! Rob

Lake Wallenpaupack Fishing Report- 9/29/12

A repeat of last Saturday- HORRIBLE fishing!  Again, the Smallies were NOT on the bank.  BTW, when I say "on the bank", I'm talking from 0-10 ft. of water.   I fished from 10-15 ft. and all I was able to pickup was a big-a$$ pickerel and some panfish by jigging.  Air Temp was 54F, water temp 65F.  Winds were out of the Northwest at 10 mph.  Skies were cloudy all day...no sun.  I fished from 0730 to 1130, Penn State game was on at noon. (Beat Illinois)

So, what's going on with the Smallies?  Two weeks in a row the fish are NOT on the bank and hanging out in deeper water.  I heard that the Smallies are actually in 20-25 ft. of water..about 5-10 ft. deeper than what I was fishing.  No wonder I wasn't marking any fish on the fishfinder..or baitfish schools.  They were a tad deeper.

I'll be up again this Saturday to give it another go.  I'll be checking the bank, once again, but not spending any time there if I don't get bit quickly.  No sense in pissin' time away on the bank when they're hanging out in deep water.  I'll know if they are on the bank within an hour.  All I need to do is check a couple spots, with my "magic" bait..ha

If anyone is reading this blog..and wants to share some info..click on the comments section below this post.  Or, you can email me at: mullerrj@gmail.com

Fish ON!  Rob

Lake Wallenpaupack Fishing Report- 9/22/12

Fishing was HORRIBLE on Saturday- at least for me it was.  I woke-up to 20-30 mph winds on Sat morning.  I turned on the Weather Channel and it said winds out of the SE at 7 mph for Scranton/Carbondale. Are you kidding me, 7 mph?  When I got over to Capri Marina at 0800 the winds were at least 20-30 mph out of the SE.  In fact, it was the windiest day I experienced so far this year on the Lake.  The waves were 2-3 ft. out on the Lake.  The skies were threatening..cloudy.  The air temp was 57F.  Water temp was 68F.  After launching I headed over to Briar Hill Summit and fished the bank down into Martin's Cove.  Naturally, there were 6 other boats along the shoreline staying out of the wind.  I think there was a tournament out of the State Ramp.  Nobody was catching a thing (and I was watching them all)..including me...NOTHING.  I switched up baits too and fished deeper..and NOTHING.  I caught a perch and sunfish but that was it..no bass.  From there, I headed over to my cove (Goose Pond Cove) and fished from the Castle looking house on the Point down into Goose Pond creek.  NOTHING.  It started to spit rain a little bit..mostly a fine mist.  From there, I headed across the Lake...and NOTHING.  At that time, 1030, the wind started to subside and the sun started to peek out a little.  But, I was also disgusted..just didn't feel like fishing anymore.  I took the boat out by 1130.  When I got back to the ramp, the 3 other bass boat trailers that were there were gone.  So, I'm sure they were equally as disgusted and left.  Later on in the day, the skies cleared, the winds subsided, and the sun came out.  We didn't get rain till late afternoon.  When it did rain, it came down in buckets for at least 5-10 minutes..and then it cleared up.  That was it, cold front had moved through.  I have NO IDEA why the fishing wasn't better prior to the front moving in.  Normally, when the barometer is dropping the feeding is more frequent.  Well, not for me.

Chalk this one up as the worst day fishing on the Lake all year long.  Hope I don't experience another like it.

Fish ON!  Rob

Lake Wallenpaupack makes Bassmaster's Top 100 List

Just noticed that the 2012 May issue of Bassmaster's Mag listed Lake Wallenpaupack in their Top 100 Bass Lakes in the USA.  That's pretty impressive if you ask me.  The Pack wasn't ranked that high, but in the Top 100 list nonetheless.  Other noteworthy bass fisheries, that I've fished, on the Top 100 list include: Lake Hopatcong, NJ, Susquehanna River, PA, Potomac River, MD, St. Lawrence River, NY, Lake Champlain, NY, Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, and Table Rock Lake, MO.  What was on the Top 100 list that I haven't fished yet, and ranked pretty high, was #14 Oneida Lake, NY and #4 Lake Erie, PA.  Sounds like a road trip to me.  In fact, I'd like to fish them both on the same trip.  Leave on Saturday and fish Oneida on Sun-Tues (3 days), and Erie on Wed-Sat (4 days) and return on Sunday.   I'm sure my friend (and Professional Bass Fishing Guide) Bill Albright knows Oneida well enough to show me around.  But, since Erie is so big and dangerous (it's like the Ocean), I'd have to hire a local Guide out there just to make sure I don't navigate into rough waters and sink the boat.  Don't laugh..going out onto Lake Erie too far and fishing deep for brute Smallies is dangerous if you don't know what the hell you're doing..and you get caught in a storm.  Better safe than sorry.  I'd love to catch a 5 lb. Smallie.  Hell, catchin' a 3 lb. Smallie is loads of fun.  I can only imagine what a 5 is like.

Anyway, here is the list.  How many have you fished?

http://www.bassmaster.com/slideshow/bassmasters-best-bass-lakes

Fish ON!  Rob

Lake Wallenpaupack Fishing Report- 9/3/12

Water temps still in the high 60s low 70s.  Air Temps from 9/1 to 9/3 with HIGHS in the low 80s..partly cloudy, winds from 0-10 mph predominantly out of the East.  Night time LOWS in the upper 60s.  Numbers of Smallies have dwindled in recent weeks but the size hasn't.  Caught a number of solid 2 pounders with a couple weighing 3 pounds.

The water clarity has cleared up some.  Last week the lake visibility was about 1 foot.  It looked like pea soup.  This week, viz was about 3 ft. and just a little green color.  No topwater action at 0630.  The week before, I missed a nice fish (probably a Smallie but could have been a LM) on a Zara Spook next to a dock at 0530.  There's no doubt you'll get a better topwater bite in total dark- in the early a.m. hours.  Catching most, if not all, Smallies on soft plastics (tubes, jigs, worms, etc.)  Threw a crankbait for a while but nothing doing.  Tried drop-shotting for a bit and couldn't pull anything up but Rockies- aka Rock Bass, Red-eyes, etc.  I have yet to find a spot where the Smallies are stacked up in the depths- which I'm sure they are somewhere.  Just haven't found em yet.

Majority of Smallies caught in 6-10 ft. of water near rocks/weeds.  Bites are near non-detectable.  i.e. you better not be chatting with your fishing partner and not paying attention to your rod/line.  I see/hear it all the time when tournament guys pull-in near me.  I feel like saying, "You'd catch more fish if you just shut the hell up and pay attention".  Sheesh..just a bunch of "Chatty Kathy's".  I'm glad I don't tournament fish in local club tournaments anymore.  If you want to get better at fishing, fish the bigger money tournaments with a serious fishing partner.

This summer the mid-section of the Lake as well as the upper end section (near Ledgedale) have been better Smallie fishing in the Summer.  This is NOT the norm of past years.  Normally, the upper end of the lake is only good in the early Spring.  That's because it warms up faster because it's shallower.  Then, the lower end of the lake (near the dam) gets good in the Summer.  I don't know why this year is different.  My friend, and professional guide Bill Albright, said he's been experiencing the same.  What I have noticed, however, is that the weeds have not been growing as well as previous years.  And, you would think it would even be more heavily populated since we had a mild Winter.  In fact, this is the first year in a long time that the Lake did NOT freeze in the middle.  So much for making sense of the fishing..huh?

Fish ON!  Rob

Lake Wallenpaupack Fishing Report- 8/27/12

Fished both Saturday and Sunday.  Both days, air temps in the low 80s, skies partly cloudy, water temp 75F.  Fished from 5am to 10am each day.  Fished with my bro-in-law which is why I was able to post this pic.  Between the two of us, I'd say we caught a dozen legal size Smallies (>12") each day.  A couple 2+ pounders that we didn't get a photo of.  The Lake is "pea green" with a viz about 2 ft. at best. The shoreline has a distinctive white residue from the drying green algae.  I'm wondering why it turns bright chalk white after being green.  Is it from all the minerals/phosphates/etc. in the algae?  I don't know..that's what I'm guessing.

Our fish were caught on an assortment of lures: Pop-R's, jigs, senkos, tubes, Spooks in the early a.m.  I missed a HUGE Smallie or LM on a Jitterbug.  I had him on, but lost him.  Probably because he rolled on the lure and pulled it out of his mouth.  I hate the hooks on the Jitterbug and the fact they aren't connected via split rings which allows them to roll and get off.  Normally, I replace them but I didn't have the chance before we went out.  Oh well.

The majority of our fish were caught in 6 ft. of water with rocks and weedbeds nearby...even though I was marking a lot more fish in 15-20 ft. of water.   It also helped that we were fishing at the dropoffs from 6 ft. to 20 ft.  We didn't catch any fish deeper than 6 ft.  The bite on Saturday was more aggressive than on Sunday.  On Sunday the bigger fish were picking the bait off on the bottom.  They almost wanted it "dead still".  You couldn't hardly detect the pickup..just had to watch your line move or feel slight tension on the line..and you knew it was on.  If I were fishing solo, I would have moved out a little deeper and fished the better structure where I was seeing more fish.  I probably would have drop-shotted for those deeper fish.

The Lake wasn't too crowded this weekend.  I expected more boats but then again, the kids went back to College this past weekend so maybe a lot of family's didn't come up.  I hope it's less crowded this coming Labor Day Weekend but I have a feeling it's going to be crowded because for some..it's the last hoorah for the Summer.  Thank God.  I'll be glad to see them go.  The best time for fishing is in the Spring and/or Fall when there are fewer boats and BIGGER fish are caught.

Fish ON!  Rob

2012 TZX 190 w/ Jackplate

Here's a pic of a TZX 190 from a friend Randy (from Louisiana) I met on the net.  Randy's boat, like mine, is a 2012 Skeeter TZX 190.  However, Randy has some additional items I don't have such as a tandem axle trailer and a 4" Jackplate on the transom.  I'm going to have a JP installed on my TZX 190 over the Winter.  The JP is a good idea on this boat for several reasons: a) you get better performance out of the outboard (less drag=higher speed + better mpg), b) better shallow water boat/trailer loading, c) gives Side Imaging transducer room for a better look/view  and d) puts the engine higher and further back of transom for a better ride and frees cables/hoses from binding on stern deck.  Just a good investment if you ask me.

Good lookin' boat Randy.  Fish ON! Rob