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I have been able to fish quite a bit so far this year. Part way through the winter I looked back at my reports and realized that I had caught at least one fish every week so far this year. Once I started thinking about that, it has become somewhat of a quest for me to keep the streak alive.
I have been unable to use my kayak since May 1 while recuperating from some medical work. I snuck in last week's fish on Monday before undergoing the work. However, this week was a challenge. I was not allowed to use the kayak to get to some of my favorite spots. Yesterday afternoon, I visited several tidal creeks and coves along the Severn where I could get at least minimal shoreline access. I waded up to my knees and cast small lures for perch. The bite was not happening at the places where I fished.
Today, I had a three-hour window to try again. This time I decided to go back to basics. I pulled out my ADC book map for Anne Arundel County and looked for ponds or stream crossings in Crownsville, Crofton, and nearby areas. Once I found something promising, I went to Google maps to get an aerial photo. I ended up visiting four spots -- three small ponds and one stream crossing. The fishing was slow, but I did catch three species that I had not yet caught this year.
The first stop was a road crossing over Bacon Ridge Branch. The stream was only about 10 ft wide, and the water was running very muddy (the color of orange clay). There was plenty of submerged branches and vegetation that presented snag hazards. On the first two casts, I felt what I thought were nibbles. I kept throwing my 1/8-oz jighead with a chartreuse twister tail across the stream and swam it back. Eventually, I had a hookup. The fish was an 8" silvery minnow with big scales. I believe it was a fallfish. My camera would not fire up when I tried to photograph the fish, so you have to take my word for it. That little fish took the pressure off.
I drove a few minutes away to a small pond in a park in Crofton. The shallow pond was chock full of submerged vegetation that made working a lure difficult. I saws load of small bluegills that came over and bit the tail of my twister tail and later a 2" Gulp minnow. I was unable to get them to stay on the hook.
I drove to another pond in Crofton, which was mostly covered in lily pads. I was unable to fish most of that pond because I had no weedless lures with me. I lost my last 1/8-oz jighead. I dug into the handful of tackle I had put in a small fanny pack and found an unweighted plastic jighead that contained some rattling beads. I put a Gulp on that and was able to keep it near the surface. I was able to connect with some really tiny bluegills (see photo below -- my camera did work later in the trip).
In my final half hour I visited a little park called Patuxent Ponds park on Conway Rd/Patuxent Rd. On my first cast, I hooked up on a small crappie. That was my final fish of the day, but it did represent my third species. There are several connected ponds at that location -- I only had time to fish the nearest one.
It is great to know that there are options other than my usual ones that can be visited in a pinch.
I have been unable to use my kayak since May 1 while recuperating from some medical work. I snuck in last week's fish on Monday before undergoing the work. However, this week was a challenge. I was not allowed to use the kayak to get to some of my favorite spots. Yesterday afternoon, I visited several tidal creeks and coves along the Severn where I could get at least minimal shoreline access. I waded up to my knees and cast small lures for perch. The bite was not happening at the places where I fished.
Today, I had a three-hour window to try again. This time I decided to go back to basics. I pulled out my ADC book map for Anne Arundel County and looked for ponds or stream crossings in Crownsville, Crofton, and nearby areas. Once I found something promising, I went to Google maps to get an aerial photo. I ended up visiting four spots -- three small ponds and one stream crossing. The fishing was slow, but I did catch three species that I had not yet caught this year.
The first stop was a road crossing over Bacon Ridge Branch. The stream was only about 10 ft wide, and the water was running very muddy (the color of orange clay). There was plenty of submerged branches and vegetation that presented snag hazards. On the first two casts, I felt what I thought were nibbles. I kept throwing my 1/8-oz jighead with a chartreuse twister tail across the stream and swam it back. Eventually, I had a hookup. The fish was an 8" silvery minnow with big scales. I believe it was a fallfish. My camera would not fire up when I tried to photograph the fish, so you have to take my word for it. That little fish took the pressure off.
I drove a few minutes away to a small pond in a park in Crofton. The shallow pond was chock full of submerged vegetation that made working a lure difficult. I saws load of small bluegills that came over and bit the tail of my twister tail and later a 2" Gulp minnow. I was unable to get them to stay on the hook.
I drove to another pond in Crofton, which was mostly covered in lily pads. I was unable to fish most of that pond because I had no weedless lures with me. I lost my last 1/8-oz jighead. I dug into the handful of tackle I had put in a small fanny pack and found an unweighted plastic jighead that contained some rattling beads. I put a Gulp on that and was able to keep it near the surface. I was able to connect with some really tiny bluegills (see photo below -- my camera did work later in the trip).
In my final half hour I visited a little park called Patuxent Ponds park on Conway Rd/Patuxent Rd. On my first cast, I hooked up on a small crappie. That was my final fish of the day, but it did represent my third species. There are several connected ponds at that location -- I only had time to fish the nearest one.
It is great to know that there are options other than my usual ones that can be visited in a pinch.
. Last year I got a huge map from dnr that highlights all the areas that one can cartop launch at. I should dig that up to find some new launch areas this year.
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