TWIF (This Week in Fishing) June 4th - June 10th

Saturday, June 4th:

Hurray the weekend is here! Time to party - well as much as I party. Friday evening I was invited to a colleague's for a get together. It was really enjoyable as I got to just shoot the breeze with a friend as well as make a couple new ones. This morning I woke up early, not on purpose, but decided to head to St. Mary's State Park. I have to admit the fishing was kind of slow with the soft plastics, with only a couple of bites. I did manage one small pickerel before I decided to switch things. I had spotted a few fish trying to hit my float so I tied on a Rebel Crick-Hopper. It's a floating bait, with pretty small hooks, maybe size 10 trebles. I paddled along the shoreline making casts to within 5 feet of shore to about 2 feet of water. If give it a twitch or two and usually something would hit. I ended up with 5 species, including a golden shiner, which I didn't know occupied the lake. My best catch of the day was a nice 14 inch largemouth, which might have weighed 1 & 3/4 lbs. From there I headed to a couple of graduation parties as well as a soccer game for my youngest son. (His team tied.)

Sunday, June 5th:

According to most forecasts today's weather was supposed to get pretty nasty in the middle of the afternoon. With the forecast looking bad I took the kayak down to Lake Lariat. I thought I'd try the same Rebel lure, but it didn't pay off at all. I had a couple of follows on it but nothing hit it hard enough to get caught. So I switched to Johnson's nymph, bright green, and was able to catch a half dozen, mixed between bluegill and crappie.

This afternoon our sons were attending an end of the year youth group gathering at one of the local parks, King's Landing. The park sits along the eastern side of the Patuxent River. My wife and I took the kayak, as well as the dog, for a short while and of course I brought a small rod. With the stained water I tied on a white Rooster Tail inline spinner. We made our way to one of the creeks off yo one side. I made cast along the side of some lay downs as well as some of the slower moving pools. No bites at all, so this part of the post is in the interest of full disclosure. Interestingly on the paddle back our dog got a little antsy as we approached where we put in and decided to swim the last 75 feet or so.

Sunday's fishing adventure didn't end at King's Landing. After the kayak with my wife we headed back to the house while the boys went back to the church for food and games. Of course they needed to be picked up and I had some time. I took the drive to the middle of the county and gave Sewell Branch a try. I had the same while inline spinner tied on and I gave it a couple of casts. On one cast as it came by the base of a tree that was partly in the water it got hammered by a nice yellow perch.

I released it and made a few more casts to no avail. I switched to a small green and white jerkbait that I found one day hanging on a tree limb. Once again a couple of casts and I was hooked up with a bluegill that had made a swipe at the bait. It was released as well and I headed back to the church to pick up the boys.

Wednesday, June 8th: Another Wednesday evening soccer practice and another trip to that small creek. I tried another smaller inline spinner, this one green and chartreuse, as well as the same jerkbait. I had a couple of hits but no hook ups. Just how it happens sometimes.

Thursday, June 9th:

My wife and I took the day off today so that we could run down to Salisbury to my mother's house. The family is trying to get the house ready to sell and we thought we'd do our part in helping. My Prius was also down there so taking two people down meant that we could get it home in St. Leonard. With it being a school day my wife had to get back to southern Maryland that left me on the Eastern Shore by myself. After lunch with my sister and her husband I drove over to see mom, who is doing about the same. After that I headed by the house to check a couple of things and then headed to the creek at Leonard's Mill. Before getting into kayak fishing like I have I would bring my sons, when they were much younger, here and we'd catch sunfish. I figured I'd give it a try. As luck would have a I was able to catch two small fish, one a bluegill and the other a green sunfish I believe. Then again it may be a hybrid is some sort. I'm going to ask the Maryland Dept of Natural Resources which it might be. If it's a hybrid I'll let you know.

Friday, June 10th: Bright blue skies as I walked out of school this afternoon. I had a few things to do at home and then I was going to head to the river. A check of the tides made that thought obsolete so I drove down to the lake at St. Mary's. Fishing was very slow as I was trying the shady spots. In fact I only managed to catch one pickerel and one small bass on a green nymph. But at one time as I was at one end of the lake I turned and looked. It appeared that I had the entire lake to myself. It was then I was reminded of why I enjoy fishing so much. It's not the size of the fish, or how many I catch, even though I really like those parts. It's the time on the water in the beauty of creation that I really love.

Until next week - Tight Lines!!

Editor's note: The fish I caught in Salisbury on Thursday was not a green sunfish. Upon receiving word from the Dept Of Natural Resources fisheries - I caught a "redbreast sunfish" (Lepomis azurites). I've probably caught them before but at least now I know I can add it to my species list.

TWIF (This Week in Fishing) May 28th - June 3rd

Saturday, May 28th:

Whether it's the official or unofficial start of summer Memorial Day weekend is here, and I got a chance to spend it on the Eastern Shore. I woke up early this morning and drove over to Powellville. I had been on Adkins Mill Pond once before and I thought I'd give it another try. At first I paddled into the upper reaches, back among the cypress trees. I didn't have much luck there but it really was a pretty location. So I turned around and headed towards the the main part of the pond. I made my casts just outside of the lily pads and got a couple of nibbles. The first fish I caught was an 8 inch golden shiner. From there I continued along the pads and caught a few crappie. My last cast of the morning got nailed and pulled towards the bottom with at a quick pace. I thought I had hooked up on a nice pickerel until I got it to the kayak. I had actually caught a 13 inch bullhead catfish. Eight fish total spread between four species all one a silver speckled Arkie tube.

My day at Adkins Mill wasn't over. Saturday evening my sister asked if I was able to help with an issue at her house in Ocean Pines. Adkins Mill is about half way between Salisbury and Ocean Pines so I left a little earlier than I needed. I spent about an hour and a half paddling around and caught another dozen fish split between bluegill and black crappie. Upon leaving I was greeted with a terrific sunset.

Sunday, May 29th: The weekend continued into Sunday of course and I spent two hours back on Leonard's Mill. I switched baits to a green nymph soft plastic bait by Johnson's. It was suspended under a float and it paid off with a nice handful of bluegill. But once in a while I'd give it a really nice twitch, or even drag it through the water. It was those quick drags that attracted hard hits from some really nice chain pickerels.

I ended the morning with 4 pickerel and 8 bluegills. All totaled I ended up catching just over 40 fish while down in the Salisbury area.

Monday, May 30: The weekend continued into Monday this week giving that it's Memorial Day. A day from school and a few things to do around the house and then a chance to try another spot. I drove over to Nan's Cove on the Patuxent River since it was pretty close to the time for high tide. Looking back on it I wish I could have been a little earlier or a little later since the water wasn't moving very much and there was much wind to create a current. Nevertheless I tied on a small silver Arkie spinner and added a bluish and green tube on a 1/32 oz jig head. Making casts along the shoreline I was able to catch a good number of white perch. All of them were no bigger than 7 or 8 inches so I let them go to swim again. The same bait was pretty effective on Tuesday after school despite I was fishing low tide and needed to stay towards deeper water in the small channels in each part of the creeks I tried.

Thursday, June 2nd: Graduation Day - well for the seniors at the school where I teach it was Graduation Day. But for me it meant a little extra time on the water at Lake Lariat. I paddled out from the launch a little before 1 pm and spent about two and a half hours trying to catch a couple of fish. Middle of the day, with not much of a breeze - fishing was very slow. In fact I just managed to six total and none of them terribly big. I decided to try a different bait on the small Arkie jig. Instead of a tube I used a small one and a half inch bright green nymph under a float. Again nothing on the larger side but I did catch the nice 13 inch bass in the photo. This coming weekend my family has been invited to a couple of graduation parties so I'm not sure how much I'll be on the water. I'll let you know next week. Until then … Tight Lines!

TWIF (This Week in Fishing) May 21st - 27th

Saturday, May 21st:

Well the rains came back this morning. Too bad for the students attending prom this evening. After getting a few things done around the house this morning I took the opportunity to head to a local pond. I had a Bobby Garland soft plastic on a 1/4 oz jig. I made about a dozen casts when this nice 11 inch crappie locked on. After releasing this one I stayed for another 30 minutes or so but didn't have any more luck.

Sunday, May 22nd: More rain, more stained water - another chance to try out a spinnerbait, especially since the jig wasn't working. I tied on the same 1/4 oz spinnerbait that I have used before while at one of the private ponds I frequent. I made one cast and began to reel it in when the lure deflected off a branch laying in the water. Not more than a second after it bounced off a largemouth latched on. I was in pretty confined quarters, with tree limbs and brush around me so as I fought it to shore I had to change the angle of my rod and he spit the hook. I made another cast to the same location and this time another largemouth grabbed hold and wouldn't let go. Fortunately for him I did let him go after a photo of course.

Sunday's fishing wasn't over. My youngest son was invited to a birthday party at the pool in Prince Frederick so I decided to drive him up there and see if I could find anymore fish. I started at the creek mid county, Sewell Branch. With the recent rains, the water was a little higher that normal and much more mocha colored. I tried a bright color tube on a small jig but wasn't getting any bites. I walked down a little further so that I could cast into an eddy and there I got a few nibbles. But alas nothing bit hard enough to get hooked. I switched over to a small, maybe 3", green and white jerk bait figuring that I might entice a pickerel to bite. On the third cast I felt it get hit and start to run off. I set the hook best I could and reeled in a white perch, my first at that location. I released it and decided to try another spot.

Now to keep things honest on here, I said that I would "log" all my attempts at fishing for the week. Therefore I have to include these so I can still be on the "up and up." Since the party was going a little longer that I expected I took the walk out the to pond in the Hughes Memorial Forest. Man had it changed. Last Sunday while I was there about half of the pond was covered in duckweed. One week later - it was completely covered. I didn't have any really heavy gear with me, so I decided to try a frog across the surface, but I didn't get any takers. I also decided to hit a small pond in Prince Frederick along Prince Frederick BLVD. At times I have caught bluegill, bass and black crappie there, but recently it has looked like the water level has dropped enough that it, the pond, may be on its last legs. I decided to use a small, 1 & 1/2" grub from Zoom. I had several bites and even a few takes on the lure, but unfortunately I didn't get any of them to shore. Oh well - at least there is still life in there. Maybe another time…

Tuesday, May 24th:

I got out of school this afternoon and decided to head down to Lake Lariat. I made a pit stop on the ride down to pick up a hand rivet gun. (More on that a little later.) I thought I was going to have more time but I'm not sure that would have helped anyway. I got several bites but I didn't get any really good hook ups. I did manage the one crappie in the picture before I needed to head back home due to a problem with my wife's schedule.

Friday, May 27th:

The week ended with a visit to the Eastern Shore. I had gotten out of school early on Friday to attend a luncheon for the Washington Post's "Teachers of the Year." I made the drive down to Salisbury and ended up at Leonard's Mill around 6:30 or so. I quickly changed from my dress clothes and hopped on the kayak to spend a little time unwinding. Or should I say winding for a few fish? I had a pretty good experience using one of those same tubes and caught about 10 fish, spread through five different species. The best fish of the day was probably the last cast as I was about to head back under the Rt. 13 bridge towards the launch. I made a cast along the shore near a few rocks. Not two seconds after the bait hit the water a very nice largemouth latched on for a very nice fight. It was a very nice way to end the day, and a great way to start the Memorial Day weekend in Salisbury. Tight lines!

TWIF (This Week in Fishing) May 14th - 20th

Saturday, May 14th:

The sun came out in earnest this morning. To say that it was a glorious beginning on the day would almost be an understatement. The air temperature to start the day was in the mid 50's with bright sunny skies. Unfortunately sometimes during those bright sunny days the fish don't always cooperate. Despite all that my time on St. Mary's Lake was very enjoyable. I paddled around with my tube and jig making casts. I ended up with four fish, split evenly between largemouth and chain pickerel.

Later the same day, after a soccer game for my son and a nice dinner I took the kayak once again. I drove over to Nan's Cove which boasts a very nice roll out kayak launch. Nan's Cove sits on the Patuxent River, which separates Calvert and St. Mary's Counties. I go over to the river more in the summer time for bottom fishing for croakers and spot. But I also like casting a small spinner bait, some call them a "Beetle spin." As I reeled it in I could feel small tugs from the baitfish. But as I went by one retaining wall I felt a better pull and reeled in a small white perch, my first of the season. I'll wait another week or so and then go back and see if the perch have really shown up.

Sunday, May 15th: Once again the sun was out this morning and I hit Lake Lariat. The wind came up as well but that just kept me moving, sometimes faster than I wished. I didn't get a whole lot bites and I had 4 or 5 bass spit the hook when I had them near the kayak. (I have to put some thought into that - I prefer a smaller jig so I can catch panfish as well as bass.) In fact my best fish of the day were the first and last of the day, a 12 inch largemouth and a 10 inch crappie.

After some fun with the family on Sunday I took the opportunity to take a little walk to a small pond. One of my former students is a Maryland Dept of Natural Resources officer now and he told me about a small pond on the "Bennett O. Hughes Memorial Tree Farm" property. It was about a 10 minute walk back to a small pond. It looked pretty typical for our area, but with loads of duckweed. I took to casting a 1/4 oz jig with a Powerbait grub. I ended up catching one bluegill and had a couple of other bites. I'll definitely go back again.

Tuesday, May 17th: Another mid week spell of fishing, much like the others the last couple of weeks; a private pond, casting a jig with a Bobby Garland monkey milk shad soft plastic, as well as a black and yellow grub from Zoom. Results were similar to other weeks as well with a couple of crappie and a largemouth being caught. The part that made things interesting was while I was reeling in my first crappie. When the fish was about 6 ft from shore, an osprey swooped down within 18 inches of the surface of the water in an attempt to steal my catch. It freaked me out! Not sure what I would have done if it had, but man what a story it would have been. Either way it was a pretty awesome sight to see.

Thursday, May 19th:

The last two days at school have been filled with testing. Senior finals, national assessments, I walked by one colleague and heard him mention "It feels very soul sucking" or in other words everyone is pretty drained. But as I got home my wife mentioned that it was a gorgeous afternoon and that I should head out. As I've said before "If my wife asks if I'm going fishing she might have inside information and the fish just may be biting." I took the kayak down to Lake Lariat and paddled around for just over two hours. I ended up with about a dozen fish, mostly black crappie. But I did get five species due to catching a nice 19 & 1/2 inch channel catfish. I've caught a few down there before and I always enjoy the fight while on the kayak.

Until next week…Tight Lines!

TWIF (This Week in Fishing) May 7th - 13th

Saturday, May 7th:

I woke up Saturday morning "Gung Ho" wanting to put the kayak on the water. To say that my hopes were dampened would be a horrible play on words but it was true. It was raining again. I went out to the living room and fixed a small breakfast and looked at the weather report. It predicted that the small showers we were having would be done around 8 am. So I went ahead and loaded up the kayak and drove down to Lake Lariat. Only a very slight drizzle was falling when I paddled out from the launch and about 15 minutes into my time it stopped. I made my way along the shoreline casting a 1/32 oz jig with a silver and white tube. It payed off well as I was able to catch a good mixture of fish. One largemouth I caught, the biggest of the morning, had a pretty big cut just behind its spiny dorsal fin. I figure he was able to escape an eagle's or an osprey's talons.

Sunday, May 8th I headed down to Salisbury for Mother's Day. I drove down the night before and "hit the hay" pretty much after I walked in the door. After breakfast this morning I headed out on Leonard's Mill Pond. I was hoping to catch a golden shiner again but didn't get any. Even though I didn't get a shiner I was able to get a good mixture of bass, pickerel and bluegill. (

The first largemouth I caught was 16" long and had to be 3 lbs. I was casting the same tube on that 1/32 oz jig which paid off well since every fish I caught was on the same bait. The last fish I caught this morning was a nice chain pickerel. I made a cast along the shoreline near a small tree top that had fallen into the water. A couple of twitches and a very nice 21" pickerel locked on and the fight was on with loads of fun on the small spinning rod.

On a side note I also spent an hour or a little more today just paddling from one location to another; not in an aimless manner but from one set of GPS coordinates to another. As I have mentioned in previous blogs I used to do a lot of geocaching (link to gc.com). Well another geocacher had placed a series of geocaches, "Gilligan's Island" inspired. I went around and found 5 of them each named after a character from the show. Small containers with a log sheet to sign, but some of the best caches I've done in a long time. It was about the experience and not a bunch of numbers. (But that's a discussion to be had on another blog.)

Monday, May 9th: With the drive down to Salisbury on late Saturday night, and Mother's Day on Sunday, I took a day off from work and stayed a little longer. I had decided to try a new body of water about 15 minutes east of Salisbury called "Adkins Mill Pond." Having read about it on the Maryland DNR website I thought it'd be fun to try a new spot. I put the kayak in around 7:30 and spent about two and a half hours paddling around and casting my little jig. The area was really pretty with the bald cypress trees surrounding the pond.

The pond itself is probably pretty typical for the eastern shore being home to many warm water species like bluegill, black crappie and largemouth. I caught about a dozen, a mix of bluegill and crappie, most of which on the smaller side. As mentioned it's always fun to explore new water and I fully intend to come back. Hopefully the rains will hold off this week so I can get back out later.

Tuesday, May 10th: Tried a private pond on Tuesday that I had tried before. No luck whatsoever casting a jig with various colored grubs. I saw a couple of fish break the surface so I switched to a Rebel Pop R. One fish hit it but alas didn't take it in enough to get hooked. I did do my part environmentally by picking up a few aluminum cans.

If we don't care who will?

Wednesday, May 11th: Given a little time while my son was at swim practice I took to a small pond. I've been pretty successful at this location and today wasn't any different. I used a 1/4 oz jig with a Bobby Garland sexy shad soft plastic. I was able to catch 3 or 4 crappie; smaller ones so I released them to swim again.

Friday, May 13th: With the sun coming out this afternoon I headed to the same small private pond I frequent. I decided to try something different by throwing a spinner bait. I had a white double tail grub as a trailer. Id let it sink a little and then reel it in slowly. One crappie hit it pretty good which really help my week end well. Until next week ... Tight lines!

TWIF (This Week in Fishing) April 30th - May 6th

This week's fishing adventure began Saturday morning around 9:00 on St. Mary's Lake about 40 minutes south of here. Overcast skies, a slight breeze and air temperatures in the mid 50's, I thought conditions were terrific for a morning of fishing. I had three rods rigged three different ways but went with the trusty tube and 1/32 oz jig. It paid off with a little over a dozen fish, mostly largemouth bass. I was able to catch five different species, including a small chain pickerel as well as a small, maybe 5 inch, yellow perch. That's the greatest number of species ever at this location.

Sunday morning: May is here and the rains came with it. I had planned on putting the kayak on the water but with the showers we received made that a moot point. Anyway that didn't deter my desire to wet a line. I started at a small private pond, one I've mentioned before. I decided to try an orange Powerbait grub on a 1/8 oz jig. It paid off with a couple of bass, both about 14 inches. On the ride home I tried another pond a couple of my students told me about. I had a few nice takes, but only got one to shore, a nice crappie.

After warming up at the house for a little bit, I decided to drive up to Sewell Branch, the small creek in the middle of the county. It's my one spot in Calvert County where I can target chain pickerel. And today I was able to get two really nice ones. Casting to old trusty silver and speckled Arkie tube I hooked into a 22" and 23" fish. Not one between 22 and 23 inches, but two different fish.

Tuesday, May 3:

Middle of the week and getting a chance to fish is always fun. The convenience of Tuesday's attempt was wonderful. My youngest son had a track meet in Charles County. Literally across the street from the school is Tilghman Lake Park. It has a pond, with a small pier that stretches out about 60 ft or so into the water. I had a small yellow and black Zoom grub tied onto a 1/32 jig. I made some casts along the edge of some vegetation and reeled in slowly. On the third or fourth cast my lure got hit close to the pier. I made sure it was hooked and reeled in a small black crappie. It was the first fish I've caught at this location so I was pretty happy. More later I hope.

Friday, May 6th: To say that it's been wet in our area is an understatement. We've had rain each day this week and you can really tell when you look at the smaller bodies of water. The water itself is almost a mocha color which really has made fishing kind of tough. Standing on shore you better be throwing something with some flash if you want to attract any attention. Today while my oldest son was at swim practice I hit a private pond with a Panther Martin "Vivif Style Spinner Minnow." Imagine a normal inline spinner but with a soft plastic swimbait as a trailer. The blade did the trick as I was able to catch a nice largemouth as I swam it along the shoreline. Hopefully the rains will stop soon and I can get the kayak back out. Until then … Tight lines!

TWiF (This Week in Fishing) April 23rd - April 29th

Saturday April 23 Fishing took a backseat for a little while today. I spent the morning between a roadside cleanup with the National Honor Society I sponsor and some yard work that needed to be done. But around 3:30 or so I gave the creek at Sewell Branch a try. I tried an inline spinner, as well as a smaller Rapala jerkbait. Not much luck, but I did "catch" one small bluegill. Actually foul hooked him so does that even count as a catch? More tomorrow.

Sunday, April 24th: after church in the morning I grabbed the kayak and headed down to Lake Lariat. Bright blues skies, a slight breeze with temperatures in the mid 60's or so, it was gorgeous. Casting the same small jig and tube as usual I was able to catch quite a few panfish. I ended up with about two dozen fish in total, with most of them being bluegill and crappie. In fact while I was snapping a photo of one nice crappie my bait was in the water and another smaller crappie took it and ran. I did manage to get a "slam" when the last fish I caught was a very pretty red ear sunfish.

Some people like to call them "shellcrackers" since they predominantly eat small snails and mollusks. Until later in the week...

Tuesday- primary Election Day in Maryland and my school system had inservices. With a little later start I tied a Rebel Pop R onto one of my rods and headed to a small private pond. Casting along the shoreline paid off as I caught a nice largemouth as he hit the lure once and then inhaled it on the second hit.

It was like reeling in a drift sock since the bait was sideways in his mouth.

Later Tuesday, after my meetings were completed, I took the kayak down to Lake Lariat. We had a pretty strong breeze so fishing was a little difficult. (I was wishing the entire time that I had an anchor.) I made my way along the bank and caught another good number of panfish. Nothing really big, but it was time on the water which is always fun.

Whohoo! It's Friday and I have been blessed. I was asked last week if I'd be able to do some announcing at a school softball game. Due to the cool and damp weather the game was postponed which left me with taking my oldest son, walking the dog and an empty afternoon. Of course I took the kayak down to my current favorite spot, Lake Lariat. I spent a couple of hours paddling around the lake casting along the shoreline. I figure it's close to time for the fish to really start spawn because I caught a few bass but not any big ones. I also caught quite a few panfish, some really nice crappie and bluegill. One of the last "species" I caught was a "red eared slider." To the fish nerds out there - we know that isn't a species of fish, it's actually a turtle.

He grabbed onto my tube and really had it stuck in the roof of his mouth, as you can tell from the photo. Not wanting to harm him, I grabbed my pliers and grabbed hold of the jig. That caused him to bear down even more and even draw his head into his shell. But I've seen what can happen so I did my best to remove the hook.

Fortunately I was successful in getting it out, and he swam off. I've seen dozens of turtles while I've been on the water in that area. Today was the first time I hooked one. I guess I can add it to the species list. Until next week... Tight lines!

Also for those keeping score at home - which means ME - I have caught 375 fish so far in 2016 with the greatest percentage (37%) of them being black crappie. I've also caught ten different species as well. (I told you I'm a real "fish nerd.")