I used to snag suckers in the spring to render down for coon bait in the fall.  My friend Randy and I would go down to the Walnut Creek railroad tubes. The hole was a lot bigger and deeper back then. Even now if you look up at the top of the eastern tube you may see the remnants of a rope that we used to swing on, and we would jump off the top of the tube into the water. They have since extended the bottom of the tube so I would not recommend that.

Anyway, we would snag suckers with a big white rooster tail. There were so many of them that they would swim in a big circle-a sucker whirlpool the whole way around the hole. I would cast the rooster tail to one end of the pool than reel in real fast and let it drop in among the suckers and then give it a rip.  On one cast, I started to reel in fast when this funny looking chrome thing shot up out of the depths and grabbed my lure! That was my first experience with a spring run steelhead. Legally caught, landed, and he is still mounted on my wall 30 years later.

I am thinking it was in late April. Back then you were not supposed to be on the streams before the opening day of trout.  I have the date on the picture if I can find it.  My pap paid to have it mounted for me at Kunkles on Brown Ave.

My daughter snagged a beer can through the pull tab once.  She said "it's not really fighting, but heavy."
 
As kids we would go to the foot of East Ave and snag mooneyes all day long.