TWIF (This Week in Fishing) October 21st - 30th

Friday, October 21st: School has been going well, and the classes I have to take are doing the same. This week, our school system had an inservice day on Friday. After the pleasantries of that I took some time before the evening's football game to stand on the side of pond. I began with using one of my buck tail lures I had tied. Unfortunately it can snagged and my line wasn't quite strong enough for me to get it back. I tied on a golden jerkbait and began casting again. On one long cast after the lure hit the water, my line felt heavy. I gave it a good yank and brought a small bass to shore. It was about 13 or so inches long but since some rain was just starting I was happy to head back to truck.

A little later that afternoon, after a bite to eat, I headed to a new spot that my school principal told me about. The pond is about the same size as the other I had just tried. I still had the jerkbait on my line so I gave it a few casts. One cast along the shore I hooked up with another bass. This one was a bit larger, maybe 16 inches or a little more. I got him to shore and snapped a picture and then released him back into the pond. I saw a few panfish swimming and tried a smaller lure but the largemouth was the only one I got here. I'll have to try the spot again.

Saturday, October 22nd:

After the stadium cleanup this morning I drove up to the mid county area and stood along Hunting Creek for 40 minutes or so. I brought a Rapala micro minnow that I had added some buck tail to the back hook. On my second cast the line wrapped around a limb that overhung a small portion of the creek. And of course I wasn't able to get it back. After the line broke I tied on a small jig with a green and white tube and promptly caught a nice 7 or 8 inch bluegill. He was released and I began to cast again. On one cast just behind a small outcropping into the stream my line went tight very quickly. I reeled down and set the hook as best as I could. I then spent a couple of minutes bringing in a nice 16 inch chain pickerel. A picture or two and he was back in the water to fight again.

Sunday, October 23rd: I woke up this morning wanting to try a couple of different locations. Little did I think I'd try three different ones. I started at the private pond casting a 1/8 oz jig I had tied with some buck tail. I put a Bobby Garland baby Shad on it as a trailer.

I didn't get a lot of bites and only managed to catch one crappie. Not sure if I just wasn't in the right area, or if the bright "bluebird" skies were affecting the fish but as I said not many bites.
After pretty much failing there I drove up to Hunting Creek in the middle of the county. There I switched to a little smaller jig and was able to catch a few bluegill. Again not the biggest fish I've ever caught, but at least they were pulling on the other end of the line.

To round out the day, and the weekend, that afternoon I took the kayak down to Lake Lariat. There was a little wind on the water so I was pushed along here and there. I was able to pull in behind an outcropping of trees or a small point occasionally. Once again using the smaller jig I came up with a few panfish, just about a half dozen.

Saturday, October 29th; The week is over and there's no stadium cleanup today. In actuality my sister's birthday was yesterday and I was heading to Salisbury for a quick visit. I got started from St. Leonard a little later than I thought I would but nevertheless I was across the Rt 50 bay bridge by a little after 8 am. Knowing I would need to stop for other reasons I decided to hit the stream at Wye Mills. I spotted another pickup truck and figured I was only stopping for a half hour so I wouldn't crowd the other gentleman very much. In that half hour I was able to catch three small crappie and a bluegill using 1/16 oz jig with a Bobby Garland "monkey milk" baby shad.

My goal today was ultimately to get on Williams Mill. I had looked forward to it the entire week. I never would have thought I'd spend 90 minutes paddling around and only hook up with one small chain pickerel. With the "coolish" temperatures I figured the fish might be up higher in middle of the day, but maybe the high pressure had them thinking differently. Either way I was disappointed and discouraged but I'll try again another time.

I had a little more time before I was going to head to my sister's house so I drove over to the Pemberton Historical Park on the western side of Salisbury. The creek was pretty clear and I could see at least 18 inches down. I stood on the shoreline for about 40 minutes using a small red and chartreuse tube from Creme. Again I only managed a handful of bites and caught just two bluegill.
While it wasn't the Saturday of fish catching I had planned I still enjoyed the time out. But more importantly I enjoyed the time of seeing family which was why I made the trip down in the first place. (Plus there's always the ride home the next day 😜

Sunday, October 30th:

On the ride home from Salisbury I decided to stop off one more time in the Wye Mill area. This time, instead of fishing the stream, I put the kayak on the lake itself. As I went around the first bend I realized that this was a location I would want to come to again. The lake looked pretty big and having only an hour or a little more, I knew I wouldn't be able to even really begin to scratch the surface of where to find fish. I tried the wind-blown side but really didn't have much luck. Then I paddled over to the protected side and made my casts along the shoreline. I ended up catching a few bluegill along with one nice size redear. It was a lot of fun trying new water. It also gives me another option for my rides to the lower shore. Now I just need to renew my efforts on "Fish Across Maryland." Until next time... Tight lines!