No fish were caught in the writing of this post

Well I guess I should add to the title of this post - "not yet hopefully."

I'd like to take a little bit and tell you about something I've been doing recently regarding "fishing tactics or techniques." As I mentioned in my "2016 Year in Review" post, I've been spending some time at the bench trying to learn how to "tie flies." My setup is very crude in the fact that I am using a utility clamp and ring stand from my classroom. I don't have a bobbin or a "whip finishing" tool. But I think my creations, as I like to call them "Mr. Ugly Flies," are at least functional. I know that they work as I have caught fish on them. So let's talk about my latest project.

A couple of weeks, maybe even a month by now, ago I was paddling back to the launch on Lake Lariat. As I came across the main portion I spotted something sparkling in a tree limb, just above the waterline. I headed that way to find a "Booyah" spinnerbait minus the plastic skirt or any other trailer. I brought it home and placed it on my fishing bench. Monday night, when I couldn't get to sleep, I headed down to the bench and took a little sandpaper to the hook itself to remove most of the rust. After that I grabbed some thread, I'll remind you I'm a beginner and haven't gone out and bought expensive supplies yet, and I laid down a base trying to raise up the area just behind the head. I continued the thread base back until the point of the hook began to be a problem.

Now as mentioned in the "year in review" post, I still had a little bit of buck tail given to me by a student. (And I've got a story about that for later.*) I figure most bait fish have a light colored underbelly; so I used the last bit of the white tail for the underside of the spinnerbait. Now I'll admit that I may have used too much thread on making sure the buck tail stayed in place. But as I've mentioned I'm a beginner.




After I had the buck tail in place I cut a couple of pieces of "Flashabou" from the package and added them. I tried to fold them over so that I'd have two strands on each side. Once again it was difficult to work with them as I was also trying to keep the wraps tight and other material from getting in the way.

The "Flashabou" is a silver tinsel type of material so I hope attracts some attention. It's hard to see in the photo but again I hope it helps.



At that point I turned over the bait, remind you a spinnerbait, so that I could add some chartreuse "unique hair." I cut some off of the stock and did my best to tie it in so it covered most of my thread on the later half of the hook.

I cut it so that the ends of the chartreuse and the white match. But I may go back later to try and add a little shape by curving the white to the chartreuse.

Not having true "head cement" I used a touch pick to apply a couple of small drops of Super Glue. And I left it there to dry. I'm not sure when I might use it for the first time. In fact I'd love to see it in action under the water. But I'll keep everyone posted on how well it works. Until then... Tight Lines!

* As a footnote, or the story I mentioned: As a teacher I have spoken to multiple students who I know are "outdoorsmen" shall I say. I have mentioned that I would be willing to pay them a nominal fee if they brought me the tail of a deer that they harvested this season. Unfortunately they have either forgotten or haven't taken any deer. One day a former student who I know well walked by and asked if another student had brought one by recently. My answer was "Not yet, and I need some tail." Now I'm a 48 year old man working in a public high school. That wasn't the best expression to come out at that time, especially in the middle of the hallway. Fortunately, or at least I think fortunately, no one else heard it. Or at least I can say I don't think they heard because I still have my job. Enjoy your time on the water everyone...

This weekend's fishing adventures

Until my opportunities to fish become more frequent, I am going to put the "This Week in Fishing (T.W.i.F)" posts on the back burner. But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try and update the blog here and there.

This past Friday, January 20th, would have been my father's 87th birthday if he was still with me. He and my grandfather used to take me fishing on Virginia's eastern shore for flounder during the summer. Friday was also a two-hour early dismissal for our school system since we just finished the second marking period. Swim practice had been cancelled for the day, giving the team a nice day off before the championship season starts. Despite the temperatures in the upper 40's and the slight drizzle, I decided to take the 10 minute hike out to the pond in the Hughes Tree Farm. Armed with the same small Arkie jig and bright green soft plastic "Hot Worms" I was able to catch a half dozen bluegill.

Saturday, I woke up and saw that the weather conditions had not improved very much. It didn't matter though. My plan for today was to get some things done around the house; cleaning the pellet stoves, some of the boy's laundry as well as straightening up the basement some. After that, just after lunch, I was going to head down to Lake Lariat with the kayak. The morning went fine and there wasn't any rain so I set out on the lake.
As I left the finger of the lake coming out from the launch I spotted a bald eagle flying away from me. There is a pair of eagles that have a nest along the lake and I see one, if not both, each time I paddle out. Today I came around one small bend and got a good look as one flew off. Its wingspan looked like it was at least 6 ft across. They really are beautiful birds. Unfortunately as you can see from the photo, I didn't get terribly close for good pictures.

As I paddled along I was using a 1/32 oz Arkie jig with a 2 inch copper tube.
I really like the tube and jig combination since it seems to catch both panfish as well as bigger ones like largemouth or pickerel. Today it paid off with a a couple of small, 9 inches or less, bass as well as a couple of bluegill. But the best fish of the day, and the year so far, came on the paddle back towards the launch. I made a long cast along one shoreline and allowed the bait to fall. After a couple of seconds I reeled in the slack line, as I was drifting towards it, and felt that it was heavy. A nice yank and I was fighting my biggest largemouth of the year. Measuring 14 inches, it wasn't a monster by any means, but it was nice to get a bigger fish this time of year. After releasing it I began my paddle back to the launch.

To end the weekend I had an errand to run to the industrial park in the mid county. There are two small retention ponds right at the entrance. I've spent a little time there in the past, predominantly in the summer. It holds bluegill as well as some largemouth. Today I had a small jig with the Berkeley 1 inch minnow. I didn't get many bites but I did managed two small bluegill in about an hour.

Considering the overcast skies and drizzle for much of the weekend I was pleased with how I did. Next weekend should be a lot less since I have a wrestling tournament to work. So until next time...Tight Lines!

A quick Fishnerd moment in closing: 19 fish since January 1st - most of them being bluegill.

Bennett O. Hughes Memorial Tree Farm

Well, we are midway through January and I haven't done much writing recently. Much of that comes down to the fact that until today I had only caught one small bass at the private pond that I like to frequent. Also for a couple of days there was a good inch to inch and a half of ice on most of the water in our area due to a cold spell. Not knowing enough about ice fishing, I didn't dare to even try. But today all of the water is open and I headed out for a little bit. I started at the same private pond and managed to catch on nice size crappie. I caught it on a 1/32 oz jig with a Bobby Garland "monkey milk" baby shad. I thought that I wouldn't have much more time until my wife let me know that the serviceman for the washer wasn't coming until after lunch. So I decided to give another location a try.

The Tree Farm

Last year in May, I tried a location that a former student, now an officer in the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources, told me about: the Bennett O. Hughes Memorial Tree Farm. Located off of Clay Hammond Road, a little east of Prince Frederick, MD, the area was donated to Calvert County in 1986. Today it serves as an example of a tree farm to demonstrate sustainable forestry. Mr. Bennett Hughes, himself, once served at the State Department as a Forest Advisor. He moved to Calvert County in the early 1950s and purchased the wooded area which is now home to the tree farm. The area has multiple hiking trails that allow visitors to see the area. Just recently some tree are being harvested.

About 10 minutes along one of the trails you come to a small, maybe one to one and half acre, pond. There is an earthen dam as well as a drain leading out of it. I figure that the pond is home to the typical species of bluegill, crappie and largemouth; but in all honesty I have only caught bluegill there. The pond itself is prone to "duckweed" which grows to be quite thick, so I will probably only visit in the winter and early spring months.

Today I was using a "Gulp Minnow by Berkley" in the black shad pattern on a 1/32 oz Arkie jighead on a small 5'6" spinning rod. I had the baits suspended about 3 feet under a float. I would make my casts out and slowly bring it back in towards me, pausing even few cranks of the handle. I ended up catching three bluegill, with the largest being just about 6 inches in length. I returned all of them to the water, and plan on making the walk out here multiple times after school, once the swim season is over.

On the way back to the car I stopped off to pick up a few pieces of trash that had been left behind. A couple of them were along the shoreline and as you might be able to see, had been there a while.

Until next time - Tight Lines!!

2016 Year in Review

I thought I would take some time here at the beginning of 2017 to reflect on my fishing experiences of 2016. I'm going to show some statistics, talk about some of the new fish I caught as well as "brag" a little about what I was able to do. So bear with me as I reminisce.

2016 Statistics

As I have said multiple times I am a Fishnerd. I am also a science teacher so I like numbers. The screen shot below is just a portion of the spreadsheet I have to record my fishing adventures. 2016 was a very good year for me. I know that other anglers caught more or even bigger fish than me, but I was very happy with the fact that I caught just over 1,400. Of those 1,400 fish, just under 28% of them were bluegill, but I was able to get 24 different species over 2016. I will say that I really enjoyed catching as many chain pickerel that I did. On the light tackle that I use they are a blast to reel in, especially when I'm on my two person kayak and a fish is able to turn me or even tow me for a little bit. You might also be able to see that Lake Lariat, in the southern portion of Calvert County, was my top producing location with over 28% of the fish I caught coming from there. It actually averaged out that I caught about 10 fish per outing on Lake Lariat. It also might mean that I need to try a few different spots. But when I can get there in about 15 minutes, and fish for a couple of hours and then get back before dark after school - I think it's a nice place to continue to try. That and I've probably only explored a third of the lake itself. Now being a Fishnerd I also like to catch different species and the location where I caught the most was Hunting Creek in the middle of Calvert County. At that one small tributary I have caught eight different ones, including a couple of new ones.

7 New Species caught in 2016:

This past year saw me catching a few new species. In fact I was able to catch seven new ones in total, at least since I've been seriously thinking about them. Fishing for me has always been about a mystery.
Where am I going to try today?
What technique might get a fish to bite?
If a fish does bite what kind of fish is it?
They are the questions that race through my mind. And what a neat experience for that last question to be something new! I also had the chance to fish some new water this past year. I was told about a couple of small ponds here in Calvert County. I also found out about a couple of spots like Adkins Mill (in Powellville, MD) and Williams Mill (in Delmar, MD) became a couple of favorites to hit when I was on the lower Eastern Shore.

Trying something sort of new - the "Mr. Ugly Fly"

As 2016 progressed, I began trying something a little new, for me at least. But to really tell the story correctly I have to go back two school years. A couple of years ago I had a student who I knew was an outdoorsmen. He spoke more about hunting than fishing, but he was a really nice young man. One day after we had completed what we were working on in lab, I mentioned to him if he got a deer that season that I'd like to have the tail to try to use for making "buck tail" jigs. Time went by, and then last school year, the same young man walked by me in the hallway one day and handed me a plastic bag with paper towels wrapped around something. Come to find out it was a tail. I took it home and left it with my fishing stuff for about 6 months. Fast forward to the beginning of the current school year and I brought home a ring stand and a utility clamp to use as a "vise." Now every once in a while I spend about a half hour, usually when I can't get to sleep very quickly, and I put a small jig, most often a 1/32 - 1/8 oz, in the clamp. I then, using regular sewing thread, I tie on some of the hair. I don't have a bobbin tool, nor do I have a "whip finisher." But to be completely honest I think that the resulting "flies" have been producing. I have used them in small creeks, on the shore of my favorite ponds and even the kayak. I have included a plastic grub, or baby shad style trailer, and on a Beetle Spin lure. And they have been catching fish; bluegill, crappie, white perch, and largemouth. I even got an 22 inch pickerel on one back in November. I'll probably picking up a true vise and try tying some more, but for now the "Mr. Ugly's" as I like to call them are working.

Citation fish caught:

Back in the middle of August, just before I had to head back to school for the new year, I had a little time on Lake Lariat. I was paddling along one shoreline and made a cast into about 4 feet of water. My line went tight and I hooked up with my first "citation" fish. While it wasn't a true "monster" I have to say that it was neat getting a fish big enough to qualify. Here's a link to the original post from that day if you're interested in reliving it with me. Catching a citation fish has to do with being in the right place at the right time and getting the right fish to bite. Thank goodness that one did.

Update on "Fish Across Maryland (FaMD)

My original intent of this blog was to keep track of my quest to "Fish Across Maryland." In 2015, I set out in hopes to catch a fish in each county in the state. While the first year went well, circumstances back home made it next to impossible to travel around the state in my quest. I still have this as a pretty high priority but I have to put more thought into bringing it into being. I did pick up one county, Harford County, back in September of 2016, which brought the count to 10 counties as of now. The official list is:

Anne Arundel .... Calvert .... Charles .... Harford .... Howard ....
Prince George's .... Queen Anne's .... St. Mary's .... Wicomico .... Worcester
And here's a "cheesy map" of how it looks at this time.

In 2017

As 2017 has begun, many people are making New Year's Resolutions. I have even seen a few resolutions, related to fishing, in my feed on "Twitter". But in all honesty I haven't settled upon what I really want my focus to be this year. I know that I'd like to put more effort into my "Fish Across Maryland" quest. While I am happy with 10 counties, I'd like to increase that by at least 3 or 4 this year. I'd also like to put better effort into hunting down new species. A year ago or so I picked up an extendable fixed line pole and have yet to catch anything with it, so I'd like to give that a try as well. And while I can always say: "I'd like to catch more fish than last year" I don't want that to be a focus. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I used to be heavily involved with geocaching. It was the idea of a streak, finding a different cache each day for a particular number of days, that ruined it for me. Also "the want" to just go out and find more - really didn't help at all. I never want fishing to become like that, so numbers really aren't the driving force.

Have you heard?

I'd like to close this post with a "plug" if you will for my favorite podcast: the Fishnerds. It's billed as show about "fish, fishing and eating fish that is always interesting, usually funny and mostly true." I really think if you enjoy fishing and haven't at least given it a try - then you don't know what you are missing. Give it a listen!

Here's to 2017 - I hope that it will be just as fun as 2016! Tight lines!!