Made Moon Blog

KILLENS

Some of the best ponds during the heat, day or night, have been Millsboro, Killens, and Canal pond.

First of the closest ponds to both upper and lower Delaware is Killens in Dover. Killens is located right off rt.13. Turn left onto State Park Road, follow the road around the curve, past the main park entrance, and about a mile and a half down the road is the pond. It has parking for about six to eight trucks with trailers, with an adequate launching ramp. Killens is a state park, and they also rent boats and cabins, but you will find little competition for bass except on the weekends.

Most of Killens is one to five feet deep at the shoreline, except in the extreme upper end, where it is just inches deep. The lake has an Island in the center with some wood cover and grass. It drops off to six feet quickly on the channel side (main lake), and is about three feet on the right side. This is a particularly good area to work in the day with “Senko’s” in four and five inch sizes in black and watermelon on a 3/0 WG hook, with eight and ten pound test line. In addition, clacker type buzzbaits produce bass in the three to six pound range many times in this area, even in the bright afternoon sun. A Tournament Frog, or “Sumo Frog” is a good choice for the pads especially in the daytime heat. The action will be slower, but you can connect with some big explosions through the grass and pads at times. A Tournament Frog is the best choice of topwater, and a 1/2 ounce in black works best all around. Vary the retrieve, both day and night, sometimes letting the frog sit after hitting the water, as long as thirty seconds, then use a few quick hops. If this doesn’t produce, try working it very fast and pausing only once, on the way back to the boat. This is especially effective in large pads.

Jigs in black and blue take their fair share of nice bass from here also, but you must be extremely accurate and quiet in your presentations or you will not connect. The bass will be in the heaviest of cover, lying in wait for a slow moving, crippled bait to come overhead.

“GO AT NIGHT”

Fishing at night when the water cools to seventy or seventy-five degrees, is the best time to connect with bigger bass now. Explore the shallow water right at the drop-offs on the left side of the lake with buzzbaits cast to the main channel edge. Do not be afraid to experiment with some older, forgotten baits, such as a “Devils Horse”, or similar prop baits. They work wonders sometimes in highly pressured lakes.

MILLSBORO POND

Millsboro Pond is in Sussex County, Delaware, in the town of Millsboro off Isabella and Main Street. It has room for only a few boats, and the launching ramp is very shallow, you can get off all right, but getting back on the trailer can be real tricky. Most of the lake is shallow, with lots of grass. It has several Islands, but the bass go to shallow water at night in the upper end. Buzzbaits are best, but Tournament Frogs work well also, in the day and night. Several bass have been caught in the three to six pound range in the past at night, using the frog and Senko’s mostly in the day. Cast the buzzbait wherever possible at night, it is worth removing the grass. Use Senko’s by the lower end of the lake in deeper water in the day, and do not forget to let them sit a long time, raise the pole once or twice, and then cast again. Use these techniques and bring plenty of insect repellent, and you will connect with some lunkers, and many others in the two to three pound range.

CANAL POND

Canal Pond is located by the railroad bridge in the C&D Canal area. Turn right under St.Georges Bridge and follow the road to the pond. It has beautiful structure, pads, and has a deep shoreline with a deep hole. This was where a few years ago, the thirty pound landlocked striped bass was caught. There are some real Lunker largemouth’s still there also. You will need a small cartop boat to fish it, but it is worth the trouble of getting in. It is about thirty acres of real good drop-offs, and structure, where bass up to nine pounds have been caught. Please remember to practice Catch, Photo, and Release so we can all enjoy the bass fishing there for a long time to come. Senko’s and four inch straight tailed worms work best throughout the year in watermelon and green. At times spinnerbaits and frogs will work, but this is a plastics lake.

Noxontown Lake

Noxontown has long been known for producing big bass. In the late seventies and early eighties largemouth of seven and eight pounds were not uncommon to hear of each week.

Since that time, with all the recreational and tournament pressure, its big bass numbers seem to have declined, or have they?

The answer is no! They are still there, just older and wiser.
This was proven when I caught a 10.16 pound largemouth bass in 1999 in Noxontown, just ounces short of the state record.

That bass was featured in a full page article in the News Journal paper, in Bassmaster Magazine Lunker Club, North American Fisherman, and Bass Pro Shops Master catalogs.

The trick to getting these larger bass to strike is to fish the lake at low pressure times during the weekdays, and employing some western techniques such as swimbaits off the deeper points. Just because they are northern strain bass and aren’t 20 pounds, it doesn’t mean they don’t want a big easy meal.

Follow these tips and tactics in these Delaware Lakes and Ponds this year, and you will catch the trophy of a lifetime!

The swimbaits and other big bass baits are available at Delaware Tackle in Wilmington, or on the web at www.delawaretackle.com

Steve is the 1998 Big Bass World Champ/De and in the NAFC Hall Of Fame. His site is http://www.reeltimeanglers where you can talk with him live.

For many people, fishing is the perfect sport. Not only is fishing challenging, but it is a wonderful way to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily living. Perhaps you are a person who enjoys heading out to a lake, pond or stream to spend time fishing. If that is the case, you may be interested in finding sources and resources for cheap fishing supplies. Certainly, if you are like most people, you don’t want one of your favorite past times to be responsible for busting your budget.

When it comes to finding cheap fishing supplies, the Internet can be a very useful and reliable resource. There are a number of websites on the Net that have been established specifically to cater to people who enjoy fishing. These sites offer a wide range of different supplies and equipments. Many of these sites offer their wares are discounted prices.

In addition to websites dedicated exclusively to catering to people who love to fish, you might want to visit one or another of the different auction sites on the Net as you search for cheap fishing supplies. These sites oftentimes have quite a selection of different types of cheap fishing supplies. By taking the time to shop around, you likely will be able to find just about everything you need when it comes to fishing supplies by surfing to the different Internet based auction sites.

On occasion, one or another of the overstock sites that have sprung up on the Net may also be of assistance to you in your hunt for cheap fishing supplies. The availability of cheap fishing supplies at these sites can be rather seasonal. In other words, you likely will have better luck finding lower cost fishing equipment and supplies in the late fall and winter months. Indeed, at these times of the years, many of these overstock sites have quite a selection of fishing gear.

There are a number of resources in the brick and mortar world that can be helpful to a person seeking cheap fishing supplies and equipment. Quite like the overstock sites on the Net, a person generally can obtain some real bargains on fishing supplies and equipment at many sporting goods stores and outlets on a seasonal basis. In the late winter and fall months, many of these stores will put their fishing supply and equipment inventory on sale.

Finally, there are a number of different mail order companies that regularly have discounted and cheap fishing supplies available for sale. From the convenience of your own home, you can telephone a toll free number and have the supplies and equipment sent to you in no time at all.

By taking the time to shop around on both the Net and in the brick and mortar world, you will be able to find the cheap fishing supplies that you seek. In no time at all, you will be set to spend many a pleasurable hour fishing.

Shell Gellner is the webmaster at http://www.rifles-n-rods.com.
A Great Source For Discount Sporting Goods!

Hi Lee Palm/Red Rooster crew(San Diego - California).. Keep my rail spot cool for me - won’t you?

Fishing Report from Nassau Bahamas (8-10-2000)(Thursday)(Air Temperature 92 degrees. Water temp. - mid 80’s degrees). Clear skies, no wind and burning hot sun. Caught two Yellowfins in the 60-pound range that almost sent me to the hospital.

Caught 2 YFY on Thursday - fishing “solo” aboard my WellCraft Scarab that had just been repowered with two 225 Evinrude fichts (cost was $28,000 including the installation).

Both YFT went about 70#s each (83 pounds of filet). Drift fished with fresh/frozen squid to start. Began fishing at 9:30AM and quit at 2PM.

As I arrived at the US Navy’s AUTEC buoy 10 miles offshore (a practice area for the US Navy’s nuclear subs - which show up on the surface now and then)(the AUTEC buoy is in 6,000 feet of water) Capt. Robbie New (from Trinidad) of the “Little Trick” was just starting to fish.

For the first hour all I managed was a 2 pound jack - that I later used for bait.

Robbie was having no luck either, but we saw several 50# YFTs come high out of the water several times, so that kept us anticipating.

At around 11:00 AM my bow rod with 80 pound test line and 80# green Berkley trilene leader, with a small Mustard circle hook on the end (with a 100# test Sampo swivel in between) went off.

I had just seen a big YFT fly through the area minutes before, and I was thinking I had him or his cousin - for sure. The line screamed out, and the fish ran deep. Everything pointed to a YFT, but after about 10 minutes I saw a 25 pound foot shark on my line, hooked right in the mouth with the circle hook.

Leaving the shark on the line in the rodholder, I sat down for a drink of water - out of a gallon plastic jug in my cooler.

Cut him loose, I thought to myself. But, then I remembered how many YFT’s I’d caught using shark as bait, and went to take another look at him. He was a good 4 feet long. Normally too big to bother with, but the fishing was slow, and I decided to take him.

Even though I knew he would thrash about crazy-like when I gaffed him, I decided to go for it, but I missed my 5-foot long fishbox, and watched him go bonkers on my deck, as I hustled to slide him into the Scarab’s 2-1/2 foot deep fishbox.

By 12 noon I switched from “squid” to the fresh jack for bait on all three of my poles. By now, the shark was dead, so I dragged him to the stern and started to filet him - throwing bits and pieces of shark meat overboard - with plenty of blood being washed overboard with my saltwater thru-hull washdown pump.

I filleted one side of the shark, took the skin and cut it into 5 pieces, and through it over the side. All the time - washing the blood and guts overboard. I cut the shark’s giant liver into small pieces, and watched them float on the surface - as I slowly drifted along towards to AUTEC Buoy.

Within 5 minutes of cutting into this shark, the bow line went off - “screaming”. This time I knew it was probably a YFT. The fish had hit the 80# test trilene line on a 5-1/2 foot Palm Beach tuna rod, held in a Perko side mount rodholder.

I immediately scrambled about for my harness and playmate belt. Several times the YFT would stop his run deep, and I’d reel the line in fast to make sure there was no slack in the line, and smiled when I felt his weight again on my pole.

But, it was 95 degrees in the sun, and I was about to expedience something in 8 years of YFT fishing (and over 350 caught and landed), that was going to make this no ordinary day on the water.

After picking up the rod and snapping into the harness, I began the slow process of bringing him to color. I was grateful he had picked the rod with the 80# test line, as the other two reels (Shimano graphite a Penn 30W) had 50# test Trilene (Big Game) line, and fighting a YFT on 50# test line is a completely different ball game.

Fifteen minutes into the struggle, my thumb (on the reel) got an awful cramp, and actually stuck to my palm. I couldn’t understand why this was happening, but kept going - attempting to shake off the cramp.

A few minutes later the cramps spread to my forearm - then up to my biceps. I’m 220 pounds, a former HS All American swimmer, and 4 time NY State gold medallist, so I’d been through tough workouts, but this was something I never dealt with.

Even my legs were cramping up. There was no wind, no cover from my bimini top, and it was 95 degrees in the shade. It all added up to one thing - “Heat Exhaustion”.

To cool off I tried stepped into a 5-gallon bucket of saltwater, but this didn’t help one iota. My feet were also too big for the bucket.

In addition, I was getting unusually tired - FAST. HEAT EXHAUSTION had set in, and was challenging me like “The old man and the sea”.

It took me 55 minutes to land this 70-pound YFT, but I finally got him in the boat. Boy, was I relieved.

Usually I wash all the blood off my boat immediately upon landing a fish, but this time I went to the stern, turned on the saltwater pump, sat on my cooler, and just let that saltwater run over my head for 5 minutes. I finished off about 3/4 of that gallon jug of water too.

As I slowly headed back in the direction of Capt. Robbie’s “Little Trick”, the cool air hitting my Toronto Raptor NBA Jersey (#14 worn by Vince Carter) made me feel much better, but I still wasn’t 100%.

By the way, you might want to purchase one of these NBA “Jersey’s sometime. You’ll know why the NBA uses them. They are 1000 times cooler than anything cotton or other material. I have a Laker’s #34 too. My favorite.

I waved at Capt. Robbie, as I passed slowly off his stern, and he shouted - “I thought you were fighting 2 YFT, you were gone so long.”

Anyway, I set up again to try for another (YFT).

Now I’m using white shark chunks on all my hooks, and chunking with the fresh shark - as the lines are let out.

About 45 minutes later, the stern line goes off - screaming. This is my Penn 30 International with no leader and 50# Trilene line - no swivel. Christ, I said to myself, why did this fish do this to me?

The hook on this line was only a #4 Mustard live bait hook - that you can buy 50 to a package for under $10 at Wal-Mart or K-Mart.

This was going to be a whole new “ballgame”. I’m going to have to be “gentle” on the drag - or he’ll bite through the trilene, or pull the hook.

As it turned out, I eventually got this YFT to color after over one hour. I experienced the same cramps as before, and at one point - on this fish - I thought about “giving up”.

It wasn’t the fact that I get $6 a pound for the fillet (from my restaurant friends) that kept me at the rail, but the thought of cutting a YFT off was out of the question.

After gaffing this 70# YFT and pulling him over the gunwale, I trolled by Robbie (who stayed until 7PM and caught not a one) and waved - saying I’m going home.

True Story.

THE END

Capt. Solo - aka Tom Azzara
Boat - “the Taxman”
Nassau, Bahamas
British Commonwealth territory
(not part of the “East Coast”)

Tom’s Fishing Gallery.

http://endtaxes.com/images/gallery.html

Take a break, and check out these pictures from the 6th annual Billabong’s fishing tournament held in Nassau, in the sunny, tax free Bahamas.

click onto (or browser it) below….

http://endtaxes.com/images/gallery2.html

From: Lee Palm Long Range Sportfishers

TRIP #14; August 6th to August 11th 5-Day Trip:

The second of the three back-to-back 5-dayers in the Red Rooster III’s summer schedule once again provided outstanding fishing for her passengers. Chuck Melber of Agoura CA led the way with a 84.1 lb. bluefin tuna to take the jackpot, followed by a 79.8 lb. bigeye for Justin Christensen of Newbury Park CA and a 73 lb. bluefin for Joe
Stickles of Orange CA. “It was good consistent action throughout the trip” noted captain Andy Cates. “Some days seemed wilder than others of
course, but looking back on the trip I’d say that there was good consistent fishing the whole way through.”

The trip fished as far down as Guadalupe Island for some excellent grade yellowfin, but the albacore grounds closer to home yeilded limits of the longfins and a good take on the bigger bluefin as well. “We had some really exceptional moments,” noted co-captain Jeff DeBuys, “but none
quite as surprising as the second-place jackpot bigeye landed by Justin . When we got that puppy to color we knew we had found
some quality fishing for our guys. It was definitely a notable fish, and in the end it added nicely to our trophy bluefin count.” This,
combined with the quality-sized albacore had by all, gave the Rooster yet another in her long string of exceptional long range adventures.

FISH COUNT: LIMITS OF ALBACORE, 52 BLUEFIN TUNA, 49 YELLOWFIN TUNA, 45
YELLOWTAIL AND 1 BIGEYE.

Thomas Azzara
New Providence Estate Planners, Ltd.
54 Sandyport Drive
P.O. Box CB 11552
Nassau, Bahamas
Fax/phone: (242) 327-7359
e-mail: taxman@batelnet.bs