What's the Catch?

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch? We’re gonna be talking about Snakeheads :what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should want to catch them. 

The Northern snakehead are predatory fish native to Africa and Asia. Their name comes from the fact that their pattern along their bodies resembles one of a snakes. Their head is also very snake-like. They’re an invasive species, being introduced to U.S waters because of people dumping their pet snakehead into a local body of water without knowing they are not native here. Their average length is 33 inches and the average weight is around 15 lbs. 

Fun Facts

• They can breathe for a little on land because of the sacs above their gills which take in oxygen from the air
• It can survive out of water up to 4 days
• They have a big rox of sharp teeth, making it bot possible to golf them by their lips
• They can “walk” on land

With being an invasive species, Snakeheads can be found in Jersey but not as common as other species. Their are still some places that have them. The best places to fin them are under vegetation like lilies, underwater grass, and downed trees/tree logs

Places near/in hopewell

• Harrisonville Lake
• Crystal Lake
• Mantua creek
• Salem canal
• Delaware river

Rods to use

• Medium- light 7 foot spinning rod/ baitcaster

Best line

• 25 lb test braided line

Best live bait

• Worms
• Bluegill cutbait

Best rigs/lures

• Topwater frogs
• Poppers
• Buzzbaits
• Chatterbaits
• spinnerbaits

Reasons why

• Good fight, very strong fish
• Cool looking, looks almost prehistoric 
• Being invasive, fishing for them and getting them out of U.S. waters helps a lot

• @theHVSPN

Episode #7 

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch? We’re gonna be talking about Striped Bass :what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should want to catch them. 

The Striped Fish is a Saltwater Fish found primarily along the th Atlantic Coast of North America. They have sleek bodies and are gray in color. They get their name from the stripes along the sides of their body. Their average length is between 20-35 inches and their weight can range from 5 to 20 pounds

Fun Facts

• Can survive in salt and freshwater
• State fish of Maryland, South Carolina, and Rhode Island
• State Marine fish of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and New Hampshire
• Largest won ever caught on record weighed 124 pounds in 1896
• They can live up to thirty years

Since they can survive in bothy kinds of waters, you can find them almost anywhere. But they usually are still mostly found in saltwater. Stripers move to shallower waters after dark so going on the beach and fishing would be best at night. So unlike other saltwater fish, it can be caught while on land. Going on Kayak as well is a good way to catch them.

Places near/in Hopewell

• Delaware River
• Lake Hopatcong
• Manasquan Reservoir

Rods to use

• Medium power rod

Best line

• 30 lb braid
• 12-15 lb fluorocarbon

Best live bait

• Worms
• Cut bait

Best rigs/lures

• Buck tail jig
• Popper 
• Diamond jig
• Spoon lure

I think that striped Bass are absolutely worth your time and you should definitely consider them when picking your next trip for three main reasons. First it that they are strong fish which give great fights when reeling in. they’re not hard to catch, but I wouldn’t say it’s easy. Second, since they can be found in saltwater and freshwater, you probably don’t have to go far to find them. Lastly, they taste so good. Whether you grill it, deep fry it, whatever, the meat tastes awesome. 

• @theHVSPN

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch? We’re gonna be talking about Carp :what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should want to catch them. 

The Eurasian Carp or European Carp, also known as the common Carp, is freshwater fish native to lakes and rivers of Europe and Asia. They are not native to North America, but they have been introduced to waters here since the mid-1800’s as a heavily farmed fish. They can now be found in local ponds, rivers, and lakes. Two of the big places to find them can be the Mississippi River and the Great lakes. They are bottom feeders, meaning that they swim along the bottom of a body of water and feed what's on the bottom. They are large in size and have large scales, a large dorsal fin, and have two barbels (whiskers) on their upper lip. Their average size can range on average between 4-31 lbs. Adults can be between 16-31 inches long on average. The average lifespan for a common Carp can be up to 20 years. 

Fun Facts

• The history of farming common Carp can date it’s beginning all the way to Roman times
• They are the 3rd most frequently introduced species worldwide
• There was once a report of a Carp living for 47 years in captivity
• The largest carp ever recorded was caught by Colin Smith at Etang La Saussaie Fishery, France in 2013. The carp clocked in at 100.5 lbs
• China is the largest producer of carp, accounting for 70% of the worlds production of the fish

Like I mentioned earlier, now that Carp have been farmed and spread to almost every state and to every country, you can find them almost everywhere.

Places near/in hopewell

• Delaware River
• Rosedale Lake
• Curlis Lake
• WallKill Lake
• Lake Hopatcong

Carp are strong fish and you will need to have a strong rod and line to make sure they don’t break you off or break your rod. They feed more in darkness so going early in the morning or at night will be the most effective time to go fishing for them.

Rods to use

• 6 ½ to 7 ½ feet long medium-heavy action spinning rod

Best line

• 10-15 lb monofilament or braid

Best live bait

• Sweet corn
• Bread
• Nighcrawlers (worms)
• Bugs
• dough baits

Best rigs

•  You can use any rig you want. All I would recommend is that it has some kind of lead weight to keep it on the bottom, and to use an octopus hook.

You should wanna catch these guys for a good couple of reasons. First, they are a good fish if you love a hard fight when reeling in. Like I said earlier, they are strong and will not be easy to catch. Second, they taste awesome. You can cook them any way you want, but I would recommend baking them in the oven and putting some kind of seasoning or glaze on it, kinda like how you prepare a salmon. Lastly, they are bad for ecosystems. They uproot and submerged vegetation when looking for insects, they make water clarity worse, and all this contributes to algae blooms. They also have no natural predators. So the more you catch them and get them out of our waters, the more your helping waters near you or around the world.

• @theHVSPN

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch? We’re gonna be talking about Walleye :what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should want to catch them. 

The Walleye, also known as the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater fish native to the northern United States and almost all of Canada. They are gold and olive in color with a white underbelly. Their mouths are large with sharp teeth. Adult Walleye are usually gonna be between 2.5-3 feet long and weigh around 10-20 pounds. The average lifespan of a Walleye will typically be about 7 years.

Fun Facts

• They get their name their cloudy-looking eye, which is caused by this layer of pigment called the tapetum lucidum that helps the Walleye see in low light
• It is the state fish of Ohio,Minnesota, South Dakota , and Vermont
• A female can lay up to 600,000 eggs a year
• They have their ‘taste buds’ on their lips

They are native to Canada, the Great lakes, the Missouri River basin and the upper Mississippi River Basin, but have been able to be spread to the western and northeastern parts of the United States. These guys prefer cool, deep, and calm waters of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. They are mostly nocturnal and during the day mostly take cover under logs and aquatic vegetation.so the prime time to be catching them is around dawn or at night. It seems to be going nowhere but up for walleye fishing in the state. Walleye fishing in New Jersey has been growing in popularity over the last couple of years. 

Places near/in hopewell

• Delaware River
• Monksville Reservoir
• Swartswood lake
• Lake Hopatcong

Rods to use

• Spinning rod 
• Ice Fishing Rod if ice fishing 

Best line

• 12-25 lb braid
• 6-14 lb monofilament

Best live bait

• Nightcrawlers (worms)
• Minnows
• leeches

Best lures

• Jig and grub tail
• Blade baits

Best rigs

• Slip bobber rig
• Jig rig

Walleye are great fish for a couple reasons. One, they are pretty cool looking fish. They have this beautiful coloring to them and the fact they have teeth I feel gives them a lot of character compared to other species. Two, the fight they put up when reeling in is one of the best. They’re an aggressive fish and will hit your bait hard and will make your time worthwhile. Three, most of the places they’re native to are some really pretty locations. The areas around the great lakes, both big rivers, and canadian wilderness are breathtaking views make catching them great because even if you catch nothing, you got to see all those pretty nature and relax. Lastly four, they are considered one of the best tasting fish. Putting them in a beer batter and frying them is the most popular way to cook them.

• @theHVSPN

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch? We’re gonna be talking about the Rainbow Trout:what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should want to catch them. 

The Rainbow Trout is a freshwater fish native to North America. They get their name because of the beautiful coloration on the sides of their body. They also are a part of the same family as salmon. These guys average length is around 20-30 inches and weigh between 8 pounds. The average lifespan is around 3-4 years.

Fun Facts

• Biggest Rainbow trout ever caught: 48 lbs caught by Sean Konrad on September 5th,2009
• They always end up returning to their birth place
• They can lay thousands of eggs at one time
• There are fifteen subspecies of rainbow trout

Historically, Rainbow Trout have lived in rivers in lakes west of the Rocky Mountains, most densely populated in the Pacific Northwest area of the country. However, thanks to Trout being a very popular fish for farming, they’ve been able to spread to pretty much the whole country by stocking local lakes, rivers, and streams.

Places near/in Hopewell

• Stony Brook Creek, Pennington: Rosedale park
• Aqueduct next to the Delaware river, Titusville
• Molders fishing preserve, Monroe Township
• Musky Trout Hatchery, Asbury

Rods to use

• Spinning rod
• Fly fishing rod
• Ice fishing rod if ice fishing

Best line

• 4 lb test line
• Monofilament or fluorocarbon

Best live bait

• Worms
• Crawfish
• Crickets or grasshoppers
• Bread
• Corn
• Salmon eggs
• Trout nuggets

Best lures

• Rooster tails
• Fly jigs
• Jig and grub tail
• Spoon lure
• Jerkbait

These guys are totally worth your time for several reasons. they’re super fun to catch. They put up enough fight to make catching them a challenge which makes you wanna keep coming back and trying again. They are some of the prettiest looking freshwater fish. Not every fish has the same reputation of being admired for their looks. Also where you find them can bring you to see beautiful places all over the country. In addition, they taste really good when you cook them. I personally would recommend using some cajun spice on some trout filets.

• @theHVSPN

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch?  We’re gonna discuss: Catfish, what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should wanna catch them.

Catfish are a type of ray-finned fish. There are many different species of catfish and can be found pretty much anywhere in the world except Antarctica. They get their name from the barbels on their face, which look like cat whiskers. To make this episode more interesting and less time consuming, we’ll just be talking about the ones I'm most familiar with, that being the Channel catfish and the Blue catfish. Both are extremely common, with the Blue catfish being the most plentiful in the country. Both also can grow to be extremely big, with the blue in particular being able to reach over 100 lbs!

Fun facts:

• Average Blue catfish length: 25-46 inches
• Average blue catfish weight: 83 lbs
• Average channel catfish length: 22 inches
• Average channel catfish weight: 3-10 lbs
• Biggest blue catfish ever caught: 143 lbs, 57 inches
• Biggest channel catfish ever caught: 58 lbs, 48 inches
• They don't have scales like other fish, they have something that is very similar to human skin
• They have taste receptors all over their body
• Their bottom dwellers, meaning they eat whats on 
• They taste delicious to eat when deep fried

Both of these types can be found in Lakes, ponds, and reservoirs all around the State of New Jersey.

Even if you're not fishing in Nj, if you find a new spot and want to check it out, I would recommend throwing out a line for these guys. You never know if they could be in there or not

Places in/ near hopewell

• Rosedale lake: pennington
• Curlis lake: hopewell
• Beaver pond: Yardley PA
• Delaware River

Unlike other types of fish, trying to catch them using plastic baits isn’t that effective, you gotta go old school. This means nothing but live bait. These guys are bottom feeders and will almost eat anything, so trying to find the right bait for these guys won’t be hard. Since they are bottom feeders, you’ll want to rig up with some kind of weight to have the hook on the bottom of the lake/pond.  For rods, you want a strong medium-heavy action rod with a 12-20 lb test of either braid or monofilament line. For hooks, I would recommend octopus hooks, their rounded shape and barbed tip makes it much easier to hook into these guys. 

Best rigs

•  Slip rig: you can either use an egg sinker or bell sinker, it’ll just be your preference. Will not affect your ability to catch these guys

Best baits

•  Liver
• Worms
• Crawfish
• Frogs
• Live bait/ cut bait
• Hotdogs
• Really could be any type of food or meat

These aren't the prettiest fish around, but they make up for it in their size and strength. With how big these guys can get, you expect a challenge when reeling them in. They are just all around fun fish. I feel that any type of fishermen could catch them, there isn’t a big skill needed to catch them like other species. They’re also cheap to get bait for because you can just pull some worms from the ground or get a pack of hotdogs from the fridge, so they won’t kill your wallet with a trip to cabelas or dick’s.  

•  Caravan By Oliver Tray on Soundcloud

• @theHVSPN

Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network 

You are listening to What’s The Catch? the podcast with your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch?  We’re gonna discuss: Panfish, what they are, where to find them, how to catch them, and why you should wanna catch them.

Panfish are small freshwater fish that are native to North America. They get their name from being small enough to fit into a frying pan. There are many types of fish considered panfish.There are 38 species in the panfish family, so to make this quicker and not drag on, I’ll be talking mainly about Bluegill and the Green Sunfish since those are both the most common found in Hopewell and other areas close. What I can say from personal experience is that they do taste really good.

Fun facts:

• Average Bluegill length: 7.5 inches
• Average bluegill weight: 2.6lbs
• Average Green Sunfish length: 3 to 6 inches
• Average Green Sunfish weight: 1.2 lbs
• Biggest bluegill ever caught: 4 lbs, 12 oz, 15 inches
• Biggest Green sunfish ever caught: 2 lbs, 2 oz, 14.75 inches

Places in/near hopewell

• Rosedale park: Pennington
• Delaware river 
• Washington crossing state park: Titusville
• Delaware and Raritan canal state park: Princeton
• Tyler state park: Newtown PA

My favorite spot:Rosedale park, spillway 

P.S, you can catch these guys pretty much all year around. 

I would say summertime is the best time, but with being able

To ice fish for these guys, that’s also a fun option

Best type of fishing rod

• Spinning rod because panfish are easy to catch

My favorite setup

• Small hooks from eagle claw
• One split shot for weight
• Bobber

Best real bait

• Bread
• Corn
• Worms
• Bugs 

Best plastic bait 

• Plastic curly tail grub on a jig hook 

Ice fishing setup

• You can use the same setup as regular fishing. Using a jig or live bait is fine. If you use live bait, just don’t use the bobber. Also you will need an ice fishing rod, it's the same thing, just smaller. 

Panfish are easy to catch so they are good for little kids or beginners at fishing. It’s also just fun to sit near a pond and catch them all day. It's not big, but it’s still entertaining. The best reason is that you can use pinfish as live bait to catch bigger fish. If you're trying to catch big catfish, I would recommend first going out and getting some bluegill. You can take the bluegill, cut them in half, then put them in the hook as bait for the catfish. 

Outro:

Well that’s gonna do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening, I’ll see you soon in the next episode of What’s The Catch. Until then, I'm your host Andrew Rowan. Have a great day. 

• Caravan By Oliver Tray on Soundcloud

• @theHVSPN

Thank you for tuning into What’s The Catch? The podcast I'm your host Andrew Rowan.

In this episode of What’s The Catch? For the first episode ever, the catch of the day is gonna be: Bass, everything you need to know about the species, how to catch ‘em, where you can catch ‘em, and why you should go for these guys on your next fishing trip.

The Bass is a common species of freshwater and saltwater fish native to North America . It is one of the most popular game fish to catch. They’re so popular that most fishing tournaments consist of catching bass. They are personally my second favorite type of fish to catch. They’re are different types of bass, but we’ll focus today on the Largemouth and smallmouth. Fun facts:

• Types of bass: largemouth, smallmouth, rock bass, peacock bass , and black sea bass
• Average largemouth  length: 10-20 inches
• Average largemouth weight: .5 to 4.5 lbs
• New jersey State largemouth record: 10 pounds
• Average smallmouth length: 12- 18 inches
• Average smallmouth weight:1 to 4 lbs
• New jersey small mouth state record:7 lbs, 2 oz
•  largemouth US record: 22 lbs, 4 oz caught by George perry in 1932 in southern Georgia
• smallmouth US record: 11 lbs, 15 oz caught by David Hayes in 1955 on the border between kentucky and tennessee

Before we can talk about lures and baits,we need to figure out what kind of rod to use. Spinning rods work just fine but I would recommend a bait caster if you have the money.for line, i would recommend anytype of line between 8-12 test lines. You can go with monofilament or fluorocarbon, either is a great choice For largemouths, I would recommend if you intend to use a hook and plastic worm, I would say go with a wacky rig or texas rig. If you intend to use a hard plastic, I like to use a crankbait or a buzzbait. For smallies, these lures may work too but if you want the best results, I’d say get a jig.whether it be a hairy jig or tube jug, smallies will love them.  All of these choices are perfectly fine to use. You could use a real worm and a bobber if you wanted to.

Before you go find a spot, you gotta think about when is the best time. I would recommend fishing for these guys at night because they feed more at night and there's less anglers with you. The best seasons to catch them in Jersey are the spring and fall. Also largemouths are more active in warm water while smallmouths you can catch in cooler water but they still like to be on the warmer side. Bass fishing isn’t as strong in Jersey as other states, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find good spots. You can find them in most lakes and stocked ponds. There are tons of places to catch them in Hopewell, but I'll just name a few. Some local areas You can catch them in rosedale lake in rosedale park, curlis lake next to the mercer meadows equestrian center,Hunt lake near Orlando’s Cafe just to name a few, and in the canal next to the Delaware river. I wanted to include the best spots for North and South Jersey, so I've picked one spot for each. For north jersey I went with Monksville reservoir, and for south I chose Union Lake in Millville. If you have time to go to PA, I'd recommend Neshaminy State park in Bensalem. 

Segment 4: why should you want to catch them?

I would recommend bass to both beginners and experienced anglers. Both smallmouth and largemouth´s put up great fights when reeling them in and itś always a blast. Also when you get that new personal best of let's say a 8lb or 10lb bass, the excitement is like nothing else.

• Caravan By Oliver Tray on SoundCloud

• @theHVSPN

What’s The Catch? Is a student-run podcast that examines all the aspects of the sport of fishing. Join podcast host, Andrew Rowan, as he breaks down different species of fish, what bait/equipment to use, and where you can catch them.