TWIF (This Week in Fishing) August 8th-15th

Monday, August 8th:

Can we say "Slooow?" Not sure how else to describe my fishing this morning. Once again I woke up early, so I decided to drive down to St. Mary's Lake, where I spent the better part of two hours. I got a total of four bites, combined between throwing a Carolina rigged worm and my small jig with the nymph. I caught one bass and one small bluegill. Not sure if it was presentation or the weather conditions. Whichever it was it just wasn't happening for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tuesday, August 9th:

After the disappointment from yesterday I chose to go over to the Patuxent this morning. When the white perch are in they rarely don't bite. There was just enough current, since the tide was starting to fall, that they were active. The trusty Beetle Spin paid off with just about two dozen fish. But they were all small ones so I released them.

This evening I drove down to Calvert Cliffs State Park. I thought I'd try casting a plastic worm for an hour or so. I tried a ShakyHead jig and a Carolina rig. I got a couple of bites and hooked up with one small fish. But as I tried to haul him out of the weeds he shook off. I did get to see one of the "locals" while I was standing on the side of the pond. A beaver entered the water and swam the length of the pond. He looked at me as he went by but didn't really "say anything." No snorts, no tail slapping he just swam by.

Thursday, August 11:

This morning I decided to take the kayak over to Tilghman Lake Park in Charles County. I'd fished there once before, before my son's track meet, back before the end of the school year. This time I had the kayak though. I had loaded it up the previous evening and when I got to the park, after the 40 minute drive, I offloaded. But if you look at the photo attached you might notice something is missing. Yeah that's right I didn't have a paddle! The lake isn't terribly big and I had forgotten a paddle before so I went ahead and pushed off.*
The edges of the pond had pads, they looked like small lily pads, extending between 8-12 ft from shore. It was pretty matted together so I gave the Bipper bait, rigged weedless as a frog, a few casts. But it didn't entice any bites or even anything that looked it was followed so I put it aside. The jig with the green nymph paid off though. Casting just outside of the pads, i.e. cover, the bait would sink and would occasionally be hit. The bluegill seemed to like it and it even brought a few small bass to the boat as well.

* In case you're interested in how I made my way around the pond. I ended up using my "bump board." Since it extends, and comes apart, I separated it into two halves and used it. Unfortunately at one point I accidentally pushed a little too hard and cracked it. Now I need to find another.

Friday August 12th:

Man what a defense 25 hours makes! This morning I returned to Tilghman Lake with a paddle. I was about an hour later than I was the day before and man were the fish tight lipped. I really didn't get many bites at all. I was trying the same tactics as the day before but not much happened so I didn't try to grind any more out of the location. I just tucked my tail between my legs and headed home.

Saturday, August 13th: To be completely honest I'm not sure how fishing is going to go for the next few days, or into the week. Yesterday morning I woke up with a very sore neck; to the point where I could barely turn my head to look over my shoulder. And it has persisted until at least Monday, when I'm writing this post. Anyway if I can turn my head to the side very much it means I really can't drive very far which kind of puts a kibosh on taking the kayak very far. Never the less this evening after dropping my son off at the movies with his girlfriend I stopped at a local pond for a few casts. On the first cast of the green finesse worm produced two things.

The first thing that happened was I hooked up with the nice largemouth in the picture. The second was I found out something had happened to my spinning reel and it almost seized up completely. Not sure what truly happened but I was able to get the fish in, snap a photo and release him. I then turned back for the car to go and find a new reel. Until next time ... Tight lines!