Rain Rain, Go away. Fished with my Brother Anyway!

 My brother and I have been planning an overnight float for months that was supposed to occur this past weekend.  Well, as usual, mother nature didn't cooperate.  Storms moving from the gulf up the east coast the days leading up to our trip had me scouring the USGS water data <http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt> and weather forecasts all week trying to pick the most favorable float.

Sidebar - The USGS water data is probably the single most important internet resource I have in determining where to go fishing.  It also saves me a huge amount of time and frustration by not attempting to fish rivers that are in bad shape due to rain or high/swift due to unscheduled dam releases.  Additionally, some of the flows log temperature data, which is great for predicting local river fishing patterns. 

Back to the trip ... We decided to bag our overnight.  I was trying to figure out a way to salvage the weekend and actually do some fishing and I suggested that we try a small flow near Raleigh.  The rain didn't hammer it and I've fished it in the spring where other rivers were pure mud and this one was in good shape.  We took a small gamble and planned to meet at the put-in at 7:30. 

The gamble paid off.  I arrived about 7:15 and scouted the water.  I was pleasantly surprised to see stained water with 18"+ visibility.  We launched and starting throwing topwater right away.

Brother caught a small bass within 10 min of launching and followed it up with a nice sunny, both on a Pop-R.  We caught several bass in the morning and brother caught a nice white crappie.  We switched positions in the canoe for the afternoon and I took full advantage.  I started off after lunch with the biggest fish of the day (3.5 lb largemouth), caught on a simple small white curly-tail grub on a plain 1/4 oz lead jig-head.  I was actually trying to catch some more crappie, but I'll take it!

The rest of the day was spent tossing the buzzer and I finished with close to 20 bass on the day.  I'll never get accustomed to seeing a viscous topwater strike near the boat.  I had several on the day and man are they startling and exciting! 

Great weather and good times on the river ... quality time with my brother.  He walked away with my MH spinning rod/reel because he liked it so much.  At least he paid me :)

Late Summer Smallies in MD

This past weekend, I drove the family up to Maryland so we could spend some quality time with inlaws.  As usual, my wife and I had an agreement that I could get out in the canoe during our visit.  I ended up fishing Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. 

With recent rains, the Potomac basin was very swollen.  In fact, the Monocacy and Potomac both hit flood stage about 10 days prior to my arrival.  I was eyeing the gauge all week and thought my efforts to fish would be futile.  Without anytime to scout the Monocacy, I decided to try a new spot first that I thought would have relatively clear water.

On Friday I fished the Patapsco river downstream of the Liberty Reservoir.  I arrived around 3 pm with intentions to float downstream to the confluence with the uncontrolled fork of the Patapsco and paddle back up.  I didn't quite make it down to the confluence due to very shallow conditions and lots of rapids.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect in terms of bass species or size, but I did expect to see some smallmouth.  The water proved to be very clear.  In fact, a little too clear for such a shallow and skinny river.  I was easily spooking fish and had a tough time fooling them with my offerings. 

I landed about 10 bass (one tiny smallie), and handful of small sunnies, and lost my best fish (a largemouth) just before dark on a black strike king minibuzz.  All the fish I landed were small, but it was a very scenic area with lots of deer and steep rock outcroppings.  Below are a few shots of the Patapsco.

I was able to scout the Monocacy on Saturday and decided to fish it on Sunday.  I launched around 7:30 am and floated about 5 miles of a section I hadn't fished.  The water was up about 2 ft, but was surprisingly "clear" with visibilty around 18-24".  Current was swift and my anchors got considerable use. 

I enjoyed this section of the Monocacy and will definitely fish it again.  The state has prohibited taking black bass from the lower Monocacy and I was hoping to catch a few nice ones.  I landed about 10-12 bass, all smallies, and most were very small.  Caught them on a buzzbait, rebel craw, and a rootbeer flake yamamoto cuttail worm. 

The bigger fish caught were hanging in the middle of the river in swift water downstream of shoals and were caught on the rebel craw crankbait.  Along with the smallmouth, I saw many birds of prey, herons, and a wiley fox.  Below are a few shots of my best fish during a relaxing and scenic day on the Monocacy.

Lastly, I had something happen at the get-out that has never happened to me.  As I was unloading the boat, a game warden pulled up to the parking area, made her way down the ramp, and requested to see my license.  Thankfully, I remembered to bring my 3-day I purchased at Wallyworld on Friday morning.  She also checked my pfd and we talked for a few minutes about their challenges in keeping the local non-english speaking anglers from continually breaking the law.  It's hard to imagine that I've never been stopped since I was 16 yrs old.  The only time I've seen a warden was on the James where my dad got stopped, and I think I was ~10.  Word to the wise, it can and will happen one day, so be prepared!

-Jeff

Couple of Firsts Down East

Last week I was on vacation with my inlaws in Atlantic Beach, NC.  I took my canoe and made contact with some locals so I could sneak off and fish here and there. 

After my redfish experience in Sneads Ferry, I was eager to try to catch one from my canoe.  I fished Queens Creek near Swansboro, NC with Brad (a fellow NCAngler).  We were targeting redfish and flounder and I got skunked.  Brad caught one short flounder and a few trash fish.  The only thing I "caught" were a few baitfish in my cast net and a mild sunburn.  I did enjoy the area and would love to try it again in the Fall. 

Later in the week, I met up with Brad and a few other local kayak anglers and we fished the White Oak River.  I started out targeting bass and caught a few small ones.  I quickly realized the predominant fish in these waters is longnose gar.  We anchored up in an area were they were busting everywhere and I got a lesson in gar catching techniques.  After 30 min or so, I caught and landed my first gar while intentionally targeting them.  I've caught one before but it was accidental while bass fishing.  Here are a few shots of the White Oak River.  It's very scenic.

On our way back to Raleigh from the beach, I stopped at a small creek on the Neuse river with another group of locals.  Our mission was to land a bowfin.  We were successful and I caught a few nice bass along the way. 

I don't think I'll be converting to a "bowfin angler" anytime soon, but it was fun to check that species off the list.

-Jeff

Back for More Striper!

I was torn between chasing smallmouth or going back to the river I fished a month ago to see if the striper were still around.

I probably should have gone for the smallies as I haven't caught many this year.  However, it's tough to argue with success. 

Conditions
Ambient:  95 F (HOT!)
Water Temp: 88 F
Water was very clear with ~10 ft visibility

The shallow areas of the river exposed to sunlight were covered in hydrilla.  I started off in a small channel looking to snag a largemouth.  With the superclear water I decided to throw a buzzbait with my spinning reel and 10 lb braid because I could throw it very far and not spook the fish.  I only caught 2 (including the one below) this way and headed back to the main river.

I then headed to the striper zone to see if they were still there from my last trip.  I pulled up in the area and 3 guys in a john boat were fishing where I wanted to anchor up.  There were also 4 or 5 people fishing from the opposite bank.  The boat left shortly after I pulled into the area and I went to work.  I caught 2 striper here on a Bomber Walkie Talkie right in front of the spectators.  I didn't see anyone else catching fish.

I floated downstream into a deep area with current.  I started bombing casts out into the open and caught 4 more striper including these guys. 

Paddled back to the put-in area as the sun was setting and went back to the buzzer.  Caught a few largemouth around some shallow rocky areas before a T-storm moved in and drove me out.

It was a good afternoon/evening of fishing and I managed to avoid getting struck by lightning.

-Jeff

Annual Family Beach Trip

My family takes a week beach trip to a North Carolina beach every year.  This year we went to Topsail Island for a week of fun and sun.  I manage to take a few surf rods each year and I usually charter an inshore boat for a day of fishing with my brother and at least one other person.

I'd read online about some people catching pompano and whiting (sea mullet) from the surf around Topsail using sand fleas.  This year I surf fished here and there, mostly in the early morning and caught one pompano, one whiting, and ~8 small sharks.  My camera didn't make it out to the beach, so I snapped a few of both fish before I filleted them along with my little helper.

We made it out one day on an inshore charter targeting topwater redfish in the New River inlet near Sneads Ferry, NC.  I brought a 6'6" MH baitcaster setup, one of my bass rods, specifically for this type of fishing.  I also brought a Bomber high-pitch Walkie Talkie (looks like a large Zara Spook).  We had a tough time finding the reds and only managed to get one small school to strike our topwater lures.  I caught the first one on my own rod and lure, the guide hooked another and handed the rod to my brother.   Both fish were netted and those were the only redfish we saw all day.  Photo is just before they were filleted back at the beach house.

We continued to search for good water and were fishing a small cove next to a grass marsh.  I got a big strike on my Bomber, set the hook, and before you know it the drag was screaming!  This fish took a few good runs and also made multiple attempts to shake the large plug from it's gnarly teeth.  We netted the fish and it was a big inshore blue (est @ 10-12 lbs).

The fishing wasn't stellar this year, but I had a good time hanging with the family.

Topwater fishing for redfish at the coast was exciting.  Makes me want to go back and target them again, maybe from a canoe.

Striper, Largemouth, and Goats ... Oh My!

My friend Mack called me a last week and asked me to reserve the following Friday for a fishing trip.  I told him I could go, but I'd have to take a vacation day.  We spoke on Wednesday to discuss our options for a trip and Mack suggested a river I'd never fished before.  I was skeptical to say the least as I wanted to make the most of my vacation. 

After checking river data and weather, I agreed to Mack's suggested locale.  Mack brought along a friend (Mike) and we all met at the put in around 6:30 am to shuttle cars. 

We launched around 7:15 am and made a short paddle upstream to some riffles under the bridge.  Along the way, I landed my first fish of the day, a nice largemouth on a Super Spook.

Mike mentioned that he saw some schooling stripers in the pool above and we headed up to try and catch a few.  I'd never caught a striper until today and man was it a good time!  After an hour or so of steady action, we pulled anchor and headed downstream and continued our streak of stripers for another hour or so.  All in all, I caught about 20 stripers today, most in the 2-4 lb range.  I caught two around 5 lbs and all but one came on a "walk the dog" type topwater lure.  I lost two lures to big fish that never made it into the boat, but that's a small price to pay for a morning filled with hot topwater striper action.  Here are a few shots. 

We continued downstream in hopes of catching a few largemouth.  The water was relatively clear but deep and I tried a few different lures (soft swimbait, lizard, frog) before settling in on the buzzbait.  I ended up throwing the buzzer most of the day and caught about 20 largemouth in total.  Here are a few of the fish, including a chunky 4 lber, which was the biggest largemouth of the trip. That fish hit my buzzer within 5 ft of the canoe at ~2 pm near a rock in the middle of the river and within sight of our take out.

Lastly, while passing a large island in the river, we came across something I'd never seen on a float trip.  A goat was standing on the river bank of the island surveying our fishing skills.  There was plenty of other wildlife seen, mostly herons and muskrats, but we also saw an eagle, an osprey, geese, and comorants. 

  

Today was topwater heaven and Mack gets credit for making my vacation day one to remember.  He also took some nice photos.  Thanks man!

-Jeff

Inlaws and Smallies!

Made the long drive up to Frederick, MD to visit the inlaws this past weekend.  In return for doing all the driving, my lovely wife granted me two half-days of time alone with my trusty Old Town 119. 

I fished this area last fall and landed one my biggest smallmouth ever (see previous posts), so I was anxious to get out and do a little more exploring.  The river conditions were prime.  No rain in weeks as the rivers were calming down from spring torrents. 

I set out in the evening on my first adventure on the Potomac near Tuscarora, MD.  I paddled my buns off against the current to get up to some promising looking shoals amidst the islands.  Within an hour or so, I landed my first smallie on on a chartruese strike king minibuzz.  I also threw a t-rigged purple Yum grub, which was a very hot lure for me last summer on one of the best smallie rivers in NC.  Landed the bigger one below on that Yum grub.

Keep going upstream, parked on a nice shoal, and threw the buzzer in a slow pool behind the rocks.  On the 3rd cast, I got a big strike by this guy below and landed him on my light action spinning rod.  Good fight with peeling drag.  This would be my best fish of the weekend.  Turns out I hooked him in the back, but he seemed to be no worse for wear.  Well worth the paddling.

I managed to get back to the launch just before sundown and loaded up.

My second outing took me back to the launch of my float last Fall just after daybreak on the Monocacy river, a Potomac tributary.  My plan was to paddle upstream a mile or so and explore.  I started in a nice shoal with rocks and pools.  This area gets plenty of pressure from waders with excellent access and I only managed one small bass here.

I paddled upstream and continued to get strikes on my buzzbait.  Landed a few small ones.  I also caught bass on my t-rigged grub, 4" lizard, and rapala J-9

The most interesting event of the entire weekend was a determined owl that made 6 attempts to swoop down and snatch my buzzbait from the surface.  I've never seen anything like this before.  This guy was hungry and no grown man in a canoe was going to scare him off a potential meal.  If only I had a camera mount!

 I didn't hook anything except smallies, which is a little rare considering I often catch sunfish with my mini buzzbait and rebel cranks.  In fact, the only other species I saw were carp and catfish on the surface.  Overall, the fish weren't huge, but I had a blast catching smallmouth in the Potomac basin and plan to fish it again when I'm back up in the area.