Fish Across Maryland Continues

June 26th - school has been out for a week now and my life has been just as busy. This week I have been playing chauffeur to my two sons. With my wife being an eleven month employee of our school system, and I being a ten month, and the fact that our two sons had two different places to be on three different mornings this week, I have put many miles on the car. But truth be told I wouldn't have it any other way. Despite the amount of driving I have been doing I have had a chance to get out on the water for some fishing. Surprisingly though all of my fishing this week has been freshwater on Lake Lariat in southern Calvert County. But I'll save stories about those trips for another time.

This entry is about getting the chance last week, June 21st and adding another county to my quest in trying to catch a fish in each county of the state of Maryland. That day I took some time to drive over to the Myrtle Grove Wildlife Management Area in La Plata, MD. The area is home to shooting ranges, trails used for hunting during season, and two ponds/lakes that are home to many species of freshwater fish. (Although I only caught a couple of them while I was there.)

I put my kayak on the water and began to paddle around the outskirts of the pond. We had had a big rain storm the evening before so the water wasn't very clear. I figured the edges would hold small bluegill or crappie since I don't care about the size of the fish I catch for the challenge. While paddling past a small group of lilypads I made few casts and pretty much got hit each time. Eventually I was able to get one to take my bait completely and I reeled in a small bluegill.

I spent some more time in the area trying to catch a couple more, but unfortunately nothing would take. I began to paddle back until I got to the launch and had to wait for another angler to load up his kayak. I decided to try a small Matzuo crank bait. A couple of casts and I noticed that I was getting more grass than hits. So I repositioned the kayak into a slightly deeper area and made another cast. As I reeled it in it was hit by a small little bass.

Again to me size really isn't important. I unhooked it and returned it to the water to bite again.

This brings my count of Maryland counties to eigth: Calvert, Charles, Howard, Prince George's, Saint Mary's, Wicomico and Worcester. The year is almost half over and I am not even half way finished, but again I don't have a limit on time that I want to achieve this goal. I just want to give it an honest effort. Until next time … tight lines.