Beachwood -- a little warmer on a cold day

[Mark]

John Veil and I tried the water at Beachwood Park this morning.

The water was mostly free of ice but there were some areas frozen. Here's my jig and Mr. Twister sitting on some very very cold water:

P1020520.jpg

John had a lot more pullage than me but I was very pleased with this yellow perch -- my first of the year:

P1020509.jpg

Then I was surprised by a white perch:

P1020512.jpg

Valentine's Day seems a little early for a white perch to be far up a tidal river in the shallows. But I'm not complaining. I caught two more white perch and no more yellows. No picks either.

The water was high and falling. The key was painfully s-l-o-w retrieves in 5 to 6 feet of open water. The fish were not on structure or shorelines.

My last visit to Beachwood was 13 January. I caught nothing then on a much warmer day. I tried to launch there one other day since January and the river was iced over. This time I walked down the long path to make sure the water was clear before unloading my kayak and gear and taking it to the water. I was pleased to get out and even more pleased to actually catch some fish on a cold day.

[DanMarino]

Nice going guys. Yellow perch sure are good looking fish.

[J.A. Veil]

The two previous times I met Mark at Beachwood we were stymied by ice covering the entire river near the launch. I feared the same today with last night's temps below 32 deg. But other than a few floating patches of slushy ice in the middle area, the river was clear near the launch. As we headed farther upstream, we encountered a full ice blockage. Fortunately some fish were biting in the section immediately downstream from the ice. I managed 15 yellow neds, with the largest at 12". I had a frisky 20" pickerel that leaped a foot out of the water -- they don't normally do that in Feb. Mark and I kept at it for over two hours until our hands were too cold to continue.

yellow perch - beechwood.jpg

[supfisher01]

Nice job fellas and congrats on the first fish of the year Mark! I'm going to be trying out the fishless Severn again soon. Hopefully I can provide some good news after the trip.

[Mark]

Nice job fellas and congrats on the first fish of the year Mark! I'm going to be trying out the fishless Severn again soon. Hopefully I can provide some good news after the trip.

Thank you.

Good luck in your familiar waters. You've done very well elsewhere.

[Shady]

Nice! I almost went there today too, but decided to try new waters. My first time in Tuckahoe creek didnt disapoint

[AintMisBehavin]

A cold day indeed. You guys probably lasted a couple of hours longer than I would have. My hands don't do well in the cold weather at all. Nice catches for you both!

Gregory

[yakscientist]

Are you guys itching to get out there again soon? I will probably take off work Thurs and Fri this week, I've got a lot of OT hours saved up, and would like to fish at least one of those days, possibly once more over the weekend too.

[Mark]

Are you guys itching to get out there again soon? I will probably take off work Thurs and Fri this week, I've got a lot of OT hours saved up, and would like to fish at least one of those days, possibly once more over the weekend too.

Not sure. I will let you know here if I do.

[cryptotek]

Nice! I almost went there today too, but decided to try new waters. My first time in Tuckahoe creek didnt disapoint

Mind sharing where you launched? I was thinking about trying out of Hillsboro tomorrow. Thanks!

[Mark]

I launched into Tuckahoe Creek from here a couple of weeks ago:

http://webapps02.dnr.state.md.us/MDP...?PKintKeyID=81

A few photos of the launch and the trip upstream:

P1020471.jpg P1020474.jpg

There is a lot of downed wood as you go far up the creek:

P1020482.jpg

This is a shot on the way back to the launch.

P1020483.jpg

A few folks were fishing from shore for yellow perch near the bridge on my way out but they had departed by the time I got back.

[cryptotek]

I launched into Tuckahoe Creek from here a couple of weeks ago:

http://webapps02.dnr.state.md.us/MDP...?PKintKeyID=81

A few photos of the launch and the trip upstream:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20948[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]20949[/ATTACH]

There is a lot of downed wood as you go far up the creek:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20946[/ATTACH]

This is a shot on the way back to the launch.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20947[/ATTACH]

A few folks were fishing from shore for yellow perch near the bridge on my way out but they had departed by the time I got back.

Thanks for the info, Mark! Did you catch anything while you were there?

[Shady]

I launched at the same spot, but fished downstream. I caught a dozen pickerel up to 21", half dozen yellows up to 11" and a 15" bass

[Mark]

Ryan,

You did much better than me.

Congratulations.

[Mark]

Thanks for the info, Mark! Did you catch anything while you were there?

Just one pickerel on a fly.

C.jpg

I should have gone in Ryan's direction!