camping at Bass River SF

[BobNJ1979]

hello all,

headed to bass river state forest for 2 nights of camping. haven't been there since I was 12. We stayed in the lean to's. this time, we'll be tent camping. i remember there being really good night time cat fishing there.. does that still apply ? I had a pickerel on my line as well (once), but he got off.

we will be bringing a canoe. and will probably explore the lake and maybe do a little fishing. is there one better side of the lake to cat fish from ? i'll have a real novice fisher-woman with me, so i'm hoping she catches at least one

also, are the hiking trails any good ? says they vary from 1 to 3.2 miles.

thanks all. cheers.. Bob

 

[woodjin]

Here is a good size Pickerel I caught there:

I think I recall catching catfish there also. Just watch those horns. Have a good time.

 

[RednekF350]

If you want your novice fisherwoman to have a good shot at nailing some pickies get your hands on some live minnows.

There aren't many close-by places to buy them but I would seriously consider taking a run to Scott's on Radio Road http://www.scottsbt.com/fishing/report.htm in Mystic Island or Chestnut Neck on the Mullica http://www.chestnutneckboatyard.com/ Chestnut Neck might be a twenty minute run from Bass River SF.
Call first and make sure they got'em . Scott's is posting "low" right now for minnows.

I prefer to buy them at the shore if at all possible because they are hardy and local as opposed to what a lot of the inland stores sell. Plus, shore shops sell by the pint, not by the measely dozen.
Most little inland stores advertising live bait buy from Mikes Bait and their minnows usually have frequent flyer miles logged on them.

For cats, I like a gob of chicken liver on a 2/0 baitholder on a fishfinder rig.
Night crawlers work well too.
Scott

 

[BobNJ1979]

redneck - thanks for the tips. since about age 21, i haven't been able to fish w/ live minnows.. i'll use dead cut bait, or lures, but the minnow thing to me just doesn't work. i end up not enjoying the fishing.

we'll try our hands at cat fishing saturday night. i forgot about chicken livers.. will definitely get some... is a baitholder hook the one w/ the big "bow" shape ?

for cats, i used to use these things called "Strike King's Catfish night crawler links".. looked like little cut up pink hot dogs, but stayed on the hook great.. and worked very very well too.. haven't seen them in stores for ages.

 

[RednekF350]

When using minnows I only liveline. The minnow isn't artificially suspended under a bobber.
Works like a charm.
This is a baitholder style hook:
http://www.snlcorp.com/Webpages/e_c_stock_hooks.htm
The barbs on the back of the hook shank held hold gob baits and worms on the hook.

I used to have a ball of rubberized string to hold on chicken livers but it is hard to find. You just wrapped around the gob a couple of times and the string would stick to itself.
Without the string, you just have to run the hook through the liver as much as possible and cast gently.

Page 8 in the catalog below has your Strike King Links in 6 flavors.

http://www.strikeking.com/catalog/2008/SKL2008Catalog.pdf

 

[Seven Bridges Angler]

Also for bait check out any of the places down south green street. Right off rt 9. North from bass river, right near a wawa. Or even down Great bay blvd (seven bridges) there are a few bait stores down that way. I really like the first place on south green street, really nice people run that. It's a real small shop, also erics marina. We used to have out boat there they are really nice people. They usually always have what you are looking for. That small place is open usually a little earlier then the rest, i can't remember it's name but it's like a big out house. Ok a little bigger than that but it's really small.

 

[ICANOE2]

Minnows are the #1 bait for Pickerel and Catfish love them too.
I used to use chicken livers for cat fishing but have found shrimp to work better, and they are cleaner than using bloody chicken guts.
Get some raw medium shrimp and peel them. You can use them whole or split them and get two baits.
Fresh cut hearing or perch work excellent as well.
Good luck fishing...............Mike