Tweet
I visited three freshwater locations on the eastern shore today and caught 7 different species.
The first location was far upstream on the Choptank. I spent more than an hour casting small twister tails and shad darts from several shoreline spots. I managed 1 hickory shad, 1 river herring, and 3 tiny white perch.
Next I drove to Smithville Lake and launched my paddle kayak. I fished the lake for about 3 hours. I looked for shaded locations close to shore with overhanging trees or areas where there was a defined narrow channel among the trees and lily pad fields. I quickly caught crappie, largemouth bass, and pickerel. As I was almost ready to head for the ramp, I caught my 7th species of the day – a fat bluegill. My total catch at Smithville was 3 pickerel, 4 bass, 3 crappie, and 1 bluegill. None of my fish were huge, but I was really happy to get that variety. Most of the bites came on a 2” twistertail on a 1/16-oz jighead. I caught one bass on a small spinnerbait and another on a paddletail.
On my way back to Rt 50, I launched at Martinak State Park. The ramp puts you into Watts Creek, a freshwater tidally influenced creek. I had no success there, and did not stay long.
The first location was far upstream on the Choptank. I spent more than an hour casting small twister tails and shad darts from several shoreline spots. I managed 1 hickory shad, 1 river herring, and 3 tiny white perch.
Next I drove to Smithville Lake and launched my paddle kayak. I fished the lake for about 3 hours. I looked for shaded locations close to shore with overhanging trees or areas where there was a defined narrow channel among the trees and lily pad fields. I quickly caught crappie, largemouth bass, and pickerel. As I was almost ready to head for the ramp, I caught my 7th species of the day – a fat bluegill. My total catch at Smithville was 3 pickerel, 4 bass, 3 crappie, and 1 bluegill. None of my fish were huge, but I was really happy to get that variety. Most of the bites came on a 2” twistertail on a 1/16-oz jighead. I caught one bass on a small spinnerbait and another on a paddletail.
On my way back to Rt 50, I launched at Martinak State Park. The ramp puts you into Watts Creek, a freshwater tidally influenced creek. I had no success there, and did not stay long.
Comment