I fished on the last three days (Sun, Mon, and Tues). I did a double header on Mon. I stayed on the water from 1.5 to 2 hours on each trip. After that my hands got too cold to continue.
On Sunday I fished in a Severn tidal pond. The water was high and rising, and the sun was out. I caught 12 pickerel on paddletails and had many other casts with grab-and-drop or follows.
On Monday I did my "U pond trip". I started at shallow Urieville Community Lake. I have not done well there on my last few visits and may stop going there for a while. I cast minnows, paddletails, and a spinnerbait all around the lake without a bite. I was headed to the ramp after 1.5 hours and made a cast to a spot nearby. I had my only bite and catch of the trip -- a 13" largemouth that let me avoid a skunk.
I relocated to Unicorn Lake after lunch. The sky was grey, and the wind had picked up. I fished there for nearly 2 hours and caught 15 pickerel -- all on minnows.
This morning I fished in Weems Creek along shorelines that had produced well for the past two months. The water was mid-depth and falling. Today's bite was quite slow. In 1.5 hours, I caught just 5 pickerel, and 3 of those came in the same general spot in a 5-minute period.
Although I have made this point before, I want to emphasize it again. In any water body, the fish seem to hang out only in certain small subsections. Putting aside the poor catch in Urieville, this phenomenon was very obvious in the two Severn spots and in Unicorn. It takes some water time and lots of casts to figure out where the fish are. This winter, they have stayed more or less in the same small sections since fall. I devoted most of my energy to fishing in the places where I had found them before. But that can change at any point when environmental conditions or some other factor causes them to move or re-disperse.
Another point worth noting is that even a quiet kayaker can disturb the fish. When I cast along a shoreline and find a few fish, I wait half an hour and go back to the same spot again. I rarely catch many fish on my second pass. If you are fishing in an area where another angler had been earlier that day, you may find fewer fish than you would expect. I don't necessarily have the same experience when trolling, however.
On Sunday I fished in a Severn tidal pond. The water was high and rising, and the sun was out. I caught 12 pickerel on paddletails and had many other casts with grab-and-drop or follows.
On Monday I did my "U pond trip". I started at shallow Urieville Community Lake. I have not done well there on my last few visits and may stop going there for a while. I cast minnows, paddletails, and a spinnerbait all around the lake without a bite. I was headed to the ramp after 1.5 hours and made a cast to a spot nearby. I had my only bite and catch of the trip -- a 13" largemouth that let me avoid a skunk.
I relocated to Unicorn Lake after lunch. The sky was grey, and the wind had picked up. I fished there for nearly 2 hours and caught 15 pickerel -- all on minnows.
This morning I fished in Weems Creek along shorelines that had produced well for the past two months. The water was mid-depth and falling. Today's bite was quite slow. In 1.5 hours, I caught just 5 pickerel, and 3 of those came in the same general spot in a 5-minute period.
Although I have made this point before, I want to emphasize it again. In any water body, the fish seem to hang out only in certain small subsections. Putting aside the poor catch in Urieville, this phenomenon was very obvious in the two Severn spots and in Unicorn. It takes some water time and lots of casts to figure out where the fish are. This winter, they have stayed more or less in the same small sections since fall. I devoted most of my energy to fishing in the places where I had found them before. But that can change at any point when environmental conditions or some other factor causes them to move or re-disperse.
Another point worth noting is that even a quiet kayaker can disturb the fish. When I cast along a shoreline and find a few fish, I wait half an hour and go back to the same spot again. I rarely catch many fish on my second pass. If you are fishing in an area where another angler had been earlier that day, you may find fewer fish than you would expect. I don't necessarily have the same experience when trolling, however.
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