Creek Chub Thread

[silverfox]

Muskie escapees from Marsh Creek love the PFBC stocking program!

My muskie spot is just downstream from a trout stocking spot. I've tied up a few 10" - 12" yellow deceivers for them.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I'm just glad something likes the taste of stocked trout, they're definitely unfit for human consumption.

At this point, purely out of annoyance at some of the less environmentally informed, I don't want anyone to catch stocked trout anymore and am glad when other factors snatch the trout's birthdays*. At this point I am contemplating the harvest of all stocked fish I catch up until I hit my legal limit, using the meat for the housecats that now total 4 in number, and sending the remains to Brown Rainbow farms in Lancaster, a wholesome family operated farm that shares my fishery management ideologies and the safe and ethical disposal of stocked fish, turning bland tasting fish into tasty vegetables.

*snatching birthdays is Seagal speak for... well I don't actually know but I think it's synonymous with the acting of killing. Seagal often tries to put a twist on a catchphrase that ends up just being jumbled nonsense. I appreciate his creativity though.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I'm just glad something likes the taste of stocked trout, they're definitely unfit for human consumption.

At this point, purely out of annoyance at some of the less environmentally informed, I don't want anyone to catch stocked trout anymore and am glad when other factors snatch the trout's birthdays*. At this point I am contemplating the harvest of all stocked fish I catch up until I hit my legal limit, using the meat for the housecats that now total 4 in number, and sending the remains to Brown Rainbow farms in Lancaster, a wholesome family operated farm that shares my fishery management ideologies and the safe and ethical disposal of stocked fish, turning bland tasting fish into tasty vegetables.

*snatching birthdays is Seagal speak for... well I don't actually know but I think it's synonymous with the acting of killing. Seagal often tries to put a twist on a catchphrase that ends up just being jumbled nonsense. I appreciate his creativity though.

I think i know owner/operator of browns and rainbow farms lol

 

[troutbert]

At this point, purely out of annoyance at some of the less environmentally informed, I don't want anyone to catch stocked trout anymore.

Fishing for wild trout does nothing to benefit wild trout. It harms their populations. Wild trout populations would do better if we all fished only for stocked trout and left the wild trout alone.

 

[Mike]

I never tried them or prepared them. Probably had ground bones. I know people cooked them in cakes. When streams froze over they would have "sucker drives". They would beat on the ice and spear gig them in the open water areas. They would get hundreds back in the day. I recall as late as the 60s maybe later.
I have had cod cakes as my father would mix flaked cod with mashed potatos and brown them in a cast iron frying pan. Serve with dash of hot sauce or whatever. Serve with a cold beer. Very good.
Smelt are rolled in corn meal and fried bones and all. One of my favorites.

In preparing fish cakes with American Shad, I just bake a 20” female with head and shoulders removed (shoulders too bony) and with caudal peduncle cut off (also a bony site on shad). I bake it as if I were preparing to directly eat it, but instead I then let it cool and proceed to pick the meat from the bones, place it in some bowls, then go through it (the bowl of meat) twice more looking for bones I missed. The picking meat from the carcass and bones from the bowl takes 20 min per fish and provides enough meat for 6- 8 thick fish cakes. No grinding of bones/meat necessary and no long baking period either. If I had difficulty filleting suckers or was losing too much meat, I would handle them the same as I do the shad.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Fishing for wild trout does nothing to benefit wild trout. It harms their populations. Wild trout populations would do better if we all fished only for stocked trout and left the wild trout alone.

Fishing in general isn't beneficial for the fish. We are scaring them, making them expend energy, and removing them from their comfort zones. I'm not sure what point you are trying to make here. Are you stating that the stocking of fish somehow preserves wild trout? That's a poor argument.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

On Oct 27th I went to my favorite fallfish stream for the second time that week and the second time this year (I've been wanting to preserve it for @Fish Sticks so that when he finally comes down to SEPA, although I don't know why he'd come here, the stream would be relatively unmolested). I caught my biggest chub to date not to be confused with a fallfish or dace, this one has an olive body with a black stripe running down it. It was about 7.5 inches and fairly fat. I was stoked. As far as fighting power goes I was glad I had my 6wt out that day and Hatch 7 with several hundred yards of backing. I eventually got it in. The fish that day seemed to prefer a hot purple flash nymph (fallfish, chubs, and dace) do seem to like the gaudy stuff. One thing I have noticed that is strange is that fallfish will take both nymphs in my rig but chubs and dace will always hit the point fly. Not sure what the science is behind this. Maybe a chub league member could explain it to me. I finished up on my favorite pool that may or may not be on private property and landed a beautiful 14 inch fallfish on a chartreuse mop fly. Things picked up on that pool when I made that change and I even caught a white sucker, a good indication I was making proper depth.

My one regret was that I went with the good ol' bobber rig, thinking that most fish would be hugging bottom. For fallfish this was not entirely the case and I had a few swipes from some true beauties that were probably 15s. Man I wish would had a hopper on, that would've CLEANED house! To all other chubbers, good luck with the fishing and get out there! Now's a prime time to nymph em!

 

[Fish Sticks]

On Oct 27th I went to my favorite fallfish stream for the second time that week and the second time this year (I've been wanting to preserve it for @Fish Sticks so that when he finally comes down to SEPA, although I don't know why he'd come here, the stream would be relatively unmolested). I caught my biggest chub to date not to be confused with a fallfish or dace, this one has an olive body with a black stripe running down it. It was about 7.5 inches and fairly fat. I was stoked. As far as fighting power goes I was glad I had my 6wt out that day and Hatch 7 with several hundred yards of backing. I eventually got it in. The fish that day seemed to prefer a hot purple flash nymph (fallfish, chubs, and dace) do seem to like the gaudy stuff. One thing I have noticed that is strange is that fallfish will take both nymphs in my rig but chubs and dace will always hit the point fly. Not sure what the science is behind this. Maybe a chub league member could explain it to me. I finished up on my favorite pool that may or may not be on private property and landed a beautiful 14 inch fallfish on a chartreuse mop fly. Things picked up on that pool when I made that change and I even caught a white sucker, a good indication I was making proper depth.

My one regret was that I went with the good ol' bobber rig, thinking that most fish would be hugging bottom. For fallfish this was not entirely the case and I had a few swipes from some true beauties that were probably 15s. Man I wish would had a hopper on, that would've CLEANED house! To all other chubbers, good luck with the fishing and get out there! Now's a prime time to nymph em!

DAMN you hit the DC LoC Native species Grand Slam! A creek chub, a fall fish, and a white sucker!!

Hard to do with how tough the sucker bite can be sometimes. I have seen both fall fish and creek chubs come up in the column to nail size 6-8 streamers. Suckers wouldn’t move off the stream bed if it was on fire alternatively in my experience. Still looking for holy grail of catching northern Hog Sucker on fly. Been seeing some monsters! May be in downing town early as hell on Turkey day if Mrs. Fish sticks lets me leave early and fish.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I didn't count the sucker because it was hooked in a way that would indicate it would not be able to eat said fly. It was hooked on the outside of the lip with the point pointing towards the mouth. If this had been a live insect the fish would not have consumed it, so I didn't count it. I hold myself to stringent rules being a buy-the-books professional chub angler, I'm not some truck-chasing hack!

Fallfish seem to feed in the mid and upper parts of the water column, which makes for fantastic fishing, ESPECIALLY during hopper season when they'll roll on d*** near anything that touches down. My biggest, a fat 18 incher took a Morrish hopper. Chubs seem to hang towards the bottom as well as dace. Suckers too (obviously) although I did have a strange occurrence in 2020 while on the Tully where the suckers were feeding up top and I had some takes at my indicator. I tied on some kind of sulfur and tossed it about but couldn't get an eat. Due to their poor eyesight it seemed odd that suckers would attempt to surface feed though I suppose with enough activity they could just push their snouts out and let the bugs wash in, which is probably what they were doing. The Tully is an abysmal place to fish for trout, but an excellent sucker fishery. I lost a few 2+ footers. Had to stop when that happened to regain my composure. Sometime, when you're in town, we can hit Stolen Sun and I'll tell my sucker war stories.

Never seen a hog, but I'd probably faint from excitement if I did, so targeting one of those is certainly out the question!

You just tell the misses that when T-giving roles around that ya need a bit of time on the water and come down to my favorite fallfishery. When you see these puppies you may mistake them for baby tarpon!