TWIF (This Week in Fishing) September 19 - 26th

Monday, September 19th:

Wow what difference a week makes! Last week this time I wasn't thinking about fishing due to being back in school. This week school is in full swing; I'm in a rhythm with it so I had a chance to head down to the shoreline after dinner. Using the small pieces of shrimp on the #4 long shank hooks, I made long casts along the side of the north jetty. After a few seconds on the bait sitting on the bottom I'd feel a small tug and if set the hook. If I didn't get a bite I'd reel in 10 or 15 ft of line and try again. It was productive as I caught a half dozen fish or so within an hours time. I actually caught my first speckled trout, two of them, of the year, maybe 8 or 9 inches long each. On one cast I felt a very nice hit and set the hook as fast as I could. As I reeled the fish in I knew I had something different on the line as this fish definitely pulled much harder. In fact this guy pulled a little drag as I got it closer to shore. I got it on the shore and was delighted to see that I had caught my first ever red drum, or as some call them "redfish." It was probably about 17 inches long, which is an inch too short to keep. I wouldn't have kept it anyway as it was just too fun to catch. It had a total of three spots and was just a gorgeous fish. I released it and made a few more casts and caught his little nephew or niece, a small black drum. I'm definitely coming back for the next couple of weeks to try some more and get a chance to unwind.

Tuesday, September 20th:

Tuesday evening my youngest son had a soccer game in the central part of the county. I followed him up there to see how they did. Unfortunately they didn't do very well, due to inexperience, but they play with positive energy and attitude. After his game I headed a little south to get him dinner. I stopped off by Hunting Creek for a few casts. I used a small jig with a curly tail grub and caught a bluegill. I also caught a nice 20 inch chain pickerel while there. Bad photo but a nice catch nonetheless.

Wednesday, September 21st:

This afternoon I took the kayak down to Lake Lariat. I had the time and thought I'd give it a shot. I paddled out with three rods, one with a small crankbait which didn't produce any fish. I had another with a Texas rigged worm which didn't get any bites either. So it boiled down to using my small 1/16oz jig with a green nymph. It paid off with a nice load of bluegill and a couple of largemouth.

Saturday, September 24th:

Wow is really all I can say. My trip to Salisbury this time was to help with moving the last of the things in my parents house out. We spent the entire afternoon loading up a trailer so that another family could be blessed. I got in the previous evening in hopes to get up early and get on the water. And that's exactly what I did. I put the kayak on Williams Mill just after 7 am and began casting the gold colored jerkbait. I made one cast close to a set of lily pads and it got hit. This fish pulled a little drag and it took a couple of minutes to get it to the boat. Come to find out I had hooked a nice 12 or 13 inch bullhead catfish. It was the first catfish I'd caught in this location so it just tells me more about the diversity in the pond. The jerkbait didn't produce many more fish, maybe one crappie, so I switched over to my usual jig and soft plastic. That bait brought in a nice mixture of fish, including several bluegill, and crappie. I was even able to bring in a bass and a pumpkinseed which gave me five species for the morning.

Sunday, September 25th:

My trip to Salisbury was a very fast one. In fact I don't think I was even in town for 24 full hours. I returned home to southern Maryland to be with my family. Late that afternoon I took a rod down to the bay for an hour or so. Small hooks and little pieces of shrimp helped me catch about a half dozen fish, split between five species. I got another speckled trout, just nine inches long, along with a couple of southern kingfish. I also hooked into a 20 inch American eel. It put up a terrific fight and wasn't the easiest fish to get off the hook. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos to share here.

Monday, September 26th:

For my last fishing entry for September I had more of the same from the evening before. Just after dinner I headed down to the shore at Flag Harbor. Again I was able to catch a hand full of fish using the same technique as before. ("If it ain't broke" right?) Nothing was very big but I did enjoy reeling in two northern puffers at the same time.

As you may have noticed, with the start of the school year and my obsession with getting graded papers back to my students as fast as possible, my fishing exploits and also my time to write about them is limited. While I will strive to update my blog with what I'm doing, the posts themselves will just be coming less frequently. Don't worry I'm still going to be honest. But I'm just going to slow down with the updates. I may also be sharing some photos of what I've been doing evenings when I can't get out. But more on that later. Tight lines!! Sent from my iPhone