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It was 31 deg when I came down for breakfast and 37 deg when I left the house to head to the Severn. I launched from the beach at Jonas Green park at 9:30 and headed to a tributary I had not visited since Sept. The strong winds over the past few days had pushed the water out of the river and made for very low water levels even though low tide was still three hours away. Most of the shoreline structure I like to fish there was exposed to the air and not under water.
Large portions of the tributary were covered with thin skim ice, taking other shorelines out of play too. This was the first time this fall that I encountered ice. I had my work cut out for me. Ice creates several problems. This ice was thin enough so I could easily paddle through it, but the noise of the hull cracking the ice would be readily noticeable by the fish. Second, you cannot cast a lure to a desired spot, when that spot is ice-covered. Third, when retrieving a lure, if it encounters a small chunk of ice, the ruins the action of the lure.
In over an hour of steady casting (mostly a paddletail with some occasional throws with a crankbait), I managed two pickerel. Fishing was not easy this morning. I had several four-legged spectators checking me out.
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Large portions of the tributary were covered with thin skim ice, taking other shorelines out of play too. This was the first time this fall that I encountered ice. I had my work cut out for me. Ice creates several problems. This ice was thin enough so I could easily paddle through it, but the noise of the hull cracking the ice would be readily noticeable by the fish. Second, you cannot cast a lure to a desired spot, when that spot is ice-covered. Third, when retrieving a lure, if it encounters a small chunk of ice, the ruins the action of the lure.
In over an hour of steady casting (mostly a paddletail with some occasional throws with a crankbait), I managed two pickerel. Fishing was not easy this morning. I had several four-legged spectators checking me out.
2020-08-11-001.jpg 2020-08-11-005.jpg 2020-08-11-002.jpg 2020-08-11-004.JPG