TWIF (This Week in Fishing) October 6th - 16th

Much of the month of October I'm going to have to be in school. Not for teaching, per se. I mean I still have my teaching job. But a couple of evenings each week I'm going to be sitting in class for recertification purposes. (I was stupid and waited until almost the last minute to get them done.) Nevertheless I still intend to get out occasionally to catch a few fish.

Thursday , October 6th: This afternoon, after soccer study hall, I headed over to the small section of Hunting Creek I like to frequent. I spent 45 minutes or so trying different baits and only caught one bluegill. I did hook up with one pickerel but it got off about 15 ft from shore.





Friday, October 7th:

Since the football game I needed to video was going to be on Saturday night this week, I got the opportunity to get home after school at a pretty reasonable time. I drove down to the jetty at Flag Harbor with a few shrimp. Long casts parallel to the jetty produced the most fish. But there seemed to be a sweet spot about 20 ft out from the jetty itself where the bit the most. Any further off than that - Nothing. I caught five species, including a few white perch- my first at this location this year. But I had to share this photo of a 7 inch puffer. He inflated so much I had to snap his picture. I also loved his green eyes in the picture as well.

Saturday, October 8th: This morning we found ourselves in the midst of rain, not really large amounts of it, but still rain from the outer bands of Hurricane Matthew. I still wanted to give fishing a try so I drove up to Hunting Creek knowing that I'd be back in the woods so slightly protected. Not much was biting so I only caught 1 smaller bluegill. I did hook up with three pickerel but unfortunately each of them shook off. It just wasn't my morning.

That afternoon I had to head back up to Prince Frederick to record a high school football game. I left the house a little early so that I could stop by the private pond I like try now and then. I had a little more luck there catching a crappie and a couple of largemouth. The thing that really made my day was that each of the fish I caught were on a small 1/8 oz jig that I had tied some buck tail onto. I also put a black and yellow grub on it as a trailer. It was really neat catching fish on a lure I made.

Sunday, October 9th: With the rain from Hurricane "Matthew" stopping in the morning I had a cleanup at the high school to take care of. After that I drove up to Hunting Creek to see if I could catch a pickerel. Unfortunately with the recent rains the water was moving much to fast for me to be able to really have a good chance. So I tucked my tail and headed back to the house.
(Photo of perch on dock) After watching a little Sunday afternoon football with my son, and an early dinner, I drove over to Nan's Cove to try for a little while from the pier. The tide was on the way out but I was still able to catch about a half dozen white perch using the same setup I use at the beach, shrimp of small hooks. Not much size to any of them but it is nice to feel the tug on the other end.

Friday, October 14:

Most of the week has passed and now it's Friday. Once again I had to film a football game so instead of going right home after school I drove over to a small pond. I brought a spinning rod with another, larger, buck tail lure I had tied. It also had a coffee colored 2 inch grub as a trailer. I only fished for 40 minutes or so but I got a couple of really nice bites. The modest success in having with my hand-tied lures is really making me want to try more.

Saturday, October 15:

Weekends are made for enjoyment! After a stadium cleanup with the NHS students I got back home and did some things around the house. Once that was all finished I headed down to Lake Lariat. We had bright sunny skies with temperatures in the mid 60's. I also believe there was a high pressure system sitting on top of us so fishing was slow. I managed to catch five fish in total, split between bass and bluegill. But none of them were very large. I headed home after about two and a half hours so that I could a few more things done around the house.

Sunday, October 16: I had most of today to myself. After church my oldest son had to work and my wife and youngest son went to the Redskins - Eagles game. I looked up the tides over at the river and saw that high tide was going to be around 3:00 or 3:30. I took to the water around 1pm and spent the better part of two hours paddling along the shoreline casting a small Beetle Spin with a 1/16 oz jig that I had dressed with buck tail.

I found fish in various areas mostly in the shady parts. All totaled I caught about a dozen and a half 6 to 8 inch white perch. I gave the small pieces of shrimp a try for a little while, but the wind combined with the tide had me fouling my hooks with sea grass.

When school starts back up on Monday I'll have study hall with the soccer team so my time fishing will go down. Thank goodness we have the weekends! Until later ... Tight Lines!! Sent from my iPhone