TWIF (This Week in Fishing) July 25th - 31st

Monday, July 25th:

In case you haven't heard it has been very hot in Maryland the last few days. In fact the last three days have all reached 100 degrees. Extremely hot temperatures make it really hard to even want to get the kayak on the water. Hence I waited until evening to head to a pond. I tied on a 4/0 hook with a slip sinker. I slid a green finesse worm on the Texas rig and cast it out. I ended up connecting with three bass, each of them biting as the bait fell. The fall may have been right after the cast, or after a twitch to free it from some grass. I lost one nice fish as it swam into some branches of a fallen tree on the shore. I tried keeping the tension on the fish as it seemed to stop right at the base of the branches, but unfortunately as I waded into the water I noticed the line wasn't shaking. It had shaken free but I know that he's in there so I'll be back.

Wednesday, July 27th: It's Wednesday. Tuesday came and went without any real attempts to catch anything; mainly due to the heat. That coupled with the last summer swim meet of season- fishing was pushed to the back burner. That evening I also received news from my sister that our mother had passed away. So in truth - fishing itself will be taking somewhat of a backseat.
Now when my father passed away a few years back my sisters thought that I should write the obituary. I guess that meant that I get to write mom's as well. In an effort to get some information as well as photos for a slideshow I headed over to the eastern shore to meet my sister in Easton. I left a little early in hopes to use a little time to get a different county in my "Fish Across Maryland" Quest. I began in Chestertown in Kent County. I found a small park along the Chester River. It's a tidal River and probably host to several species. But alas I came up way empty since I had brought small spinning rod and nothing in terms of bottom fishing. I did try to cast one of the small spinner baits that I use for catching white perch. But again I had no luck.

Still having some time before I had to meet my sister I headed to another spot. Just off of Rt. 50 is the Wye Mills Lake. According to the Maryland Dept of Fisheries the lake was formed during colonial times and is a "standard bass/bluegill lake." Knowing this, and with the heat of the day, I figured I'd use a small grub style bait. Casting along the shoreline I was able to hook up with two bluegill.

I tried a Texas rigged worm for a few casts but didn't receive any bites. It might not have been as fruitful as I hoped but it does give me another place I'd like to try.

The ride home that evening afforded me one more chance to stop and make a few casts. I know about a small pond located just as you get off of Rt 50 before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It is located within "Terrapin Beach Park." I've stopped here before when I just wanted to make a few casts. I have caught small crappie and bluegill and I know that it probably holds largemouth. I stopped and fished from probably 40 minutes or so with no a whole lot of luck. I did catch one small bluegill, but to be honest I was more excited by the wonderful sunset I was able to take in. With everything that has happened in the last 24 hours I needed to know that God was looking out over me and my family. I'm taking last night's sunset as him saying "Don't worry, I'm here!"

Friday, July 29th:

We had quite a thunderstorm come through on Thursday evening and it dropped the morning temperatures a little. I took the opportunity to grab the kayak and head over to the river for a couple of hours before high tide. I tied on that small spinner and a silver tube and had a bit of success reeling in about a dozen and a half white perch. All of them were smaller than 7 or 8 inches so they were released. Tomorrow Michael has an invitational swim meet so fishing may be finished for the week.

Sunday, July 31st:

I guess I was wrong about fishing being finished for the week. Back in Salisbury, back on Williams Mill for a little bit this morning. I came in last night and was on the water around 7:15. I had a small green nymph under a float for the first bit. Things started kind of slow with only a few bluegill taking the bait. After some paddling around I made my way back a little further into the pond. I made a few more casts and caught a nice 10 inch black crappie. After about an hour I tried another area trying to find a nice size panfish to bring home for lunch. I made one cast into a small opening in the vegetation and got a nice bite. I went to set the hook but came up empty due to my jig was gone. Not sure what it was but it happened two more times during the morning. Having my fill of panfish I tied on a bait that I received last summer. The Bipper is a hard plastic, shaped like a frog's head, with a hole where the line can pass through. I tie a 4/0 hook and placed a crawl on it as a trailer. All together it resembles a frog on the surface. It paid off with three nice bites, and hook ups: 2 largemouth and a crappie. That was a big surprise- a crappie on a top water lure. In all honesty that was my second biggest surprise of the day. At one point while paddling around I was trying to tie a new jig on the line when about 40 ft from the kayak an otter stuck his head up and snorted at me like "Get out of my area." Too late with the camera, he seemed annoyed, so I left the area.

Later this evening I drove over to Schumaker Pond, the much cleaner portion near The Ward Museum. Standing on the small pier they have there I didn't get any bites. But since the kayak was on the car I decided to give it a try for about an hour. The jig wasn't getting any serious bites so I tried a crankbait, "Firetiger" pattern. I ended up with a smaller, maybe 15 inch, chain pickerel. Always fun to catch, very slimy to unhook- it was a nice way to end the day. Until next week - Tight lines!