Fishing for necessity so now Mr. Whiskers is in deep trouble

Jerkbait comparison -- Yo-Zuri 3DB (top) vs Lucky Craft Pointer.
Which is best at putting fish to table?  Read below.

Because of this Covid-19 thing, the Maryland DNR has ruled with an iron fist that there is to be no recreational hunting, fishing or boating.  If you participate in any of those activities, you must be doing so because you want to put food on your table.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." -- Jesus H. Christ

It's OK to gather in masses to walk, run and bike and other essential activities on trails next to a river, but if you're fishing by yourself with nobody in sight along that same river, you better be fishing for food.

So that's what I did today.  Showed up at 7:30 a.m. before anybody reported for essential activities like biking and jogging and walking.  I picked out the best corner-parking space to suit up with a quickness and hit the river.

I've caught plenty of smallmouth bass on this river but I've also hooked catfish, trout and sunfish.  Those would certainly be tasty -- I've wanted to slap a catfish on the smoker for awhile.  Gut it, fill its innards with spices, onions, peppers, etc., and roll coal!

My dilemma is that I don't know how to fish for catfish.  From what I've read on the internet, chicken livers are great for enticing them.  But in these dire times, it doesn't make sense to use food to catch food.  Considering I have an arsenal of lures that have caught catfish (and trout and panfish) in the past, why not use those.

Where all the catfish hang out.  Or maybe not.

Where do catfish hang out?  On a recent fishing show, the presenters sought out logs and other river debris where the catfish parked waiting for chicken livers and other baitfish.  I found an ideal spot this morning where a downed tree created a dam that looked like a good spot for Mr. Whiskers (or maybe trout and sunfish that taste good and are by no means recreational to catch).

Catfish are bottom feeders, and with that in mind, I started off with a Z-Man Finesse TRD worm in chicken liver brown.  I made a few casts, snagged the lure, changed to another Z-man worm that was a purplish chicken liver brown.  Mr. Whiskers was being deceptively clever.

Soon it became apparent Mr. Whiskers (and delicious sunfish and trout) were not going to cooperate in this area with my quest to put un-recreational food on the table, so I moved to another spot.

And another.

And another.

And another.

Some fish nudged the lures (literally watched a fish do this that I didn't feel through the rod) and had a few bites.

Dang illegal (sub 12 inches) bit a Z-man worm.

I switched lures and tried just about everything but a topwater (even though Mr. Whiskers does in fact enjoy smashing topwater lures on occasion), but the fish must have caught on to the social distancing.

(Side note:  I should learn from my friends Kirk and Adam how to use a bow to hunt essential deer.  I saw two does this morning that stood there ripe for the pickings.)

(Side note 2: Also, ducks.)

(Side note 3: Also, geese.)

Eventually after a few hours, I meandered back upriver to a spot, tossed a Z-man worm in a greenish chicken liver color and a fish hit!!  Oh man, dinner for tonight!  Fire up the smoker!!

Unfortunately, it was just a smallmouth bass that wasn't even legal to keep.  It was my first fish of the year, though.

This is the same picture from the top of the page.  My DINFOS
training tells me to "break up the text" to make it more readable.
And here we are.  Yo-Zuri on top, Pointer on bottom.

The day was kind of productive in that I can write about Part 2 of my 10-part installment on jerkbaits.   You might remember last time about the Bomber Long A.  Today I packed a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 in a chicken-liver-flavored minnow pattern, and a Yo-Zuri 3DB with perch coloring and a hint of chicken liver.

The Pointer 78 runs shallow and has a slow rise. The action is good and not erratic --- it's close to a Rapala Shadow Rap, but is slightly shorter and has a more rounded body.  One of those lures to keep along with the Rapala -- sometimes it will work better, or the other one will tempt the fish.

Next was the Yo-Zuri.  It is similar in size to the Rapala Shadow Rap but has a fancy mylar tinsel tail on the rear treble hook.  It runs deeper than the Pointer 78 and suspends wherever it ends up in the water column.  The lure immediately went down and just stayed there. It could almost be worked like a jig -- especially in this shallow river -- scraping the bottom while not floating toward the surface.

Casting practice

Jerkbait comparison: Bomber Long A vs. Rapala Shadow Rap.

I social distanced myself away to fish a river for smallmouth bass for the first time this year.  Surprisingly in my "secret spot," I encountered a guy walking his dog.  I've seen maybe two or three people ever here, and this one time where everybody should be hunkering down in their houses, somebody is out and about.

After almost 80 degrees on Friday, the weather had cooled off a bunch, which I was afraid might affect the bite.  Water was fairly clear and 50 degrees and skies were mostly sunny.

I started off with a Bomber Long A jerkbait (see below) and a Z-Man Finesse TRD worm and didn't have any bites or follows.  I snagged a couple worms on the bottom and switched to a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper figuring it would be easier to control it, i.e., not snagging it.  Still nothing, so I moved to another section.

After a few casts, I felt a hit on the Little Dipper, set the hook and started reeling.  The fish jumped -- a smallmouth, maybe 10 inches -- but got off a few feet before I could land it.  But an almost-fish on the first fishing expedition of the year is still better than nothing.

After awhile, I switched to a Rapala Shadow Rap.  No bites on that, but a smallmouth did follow the lure back.

I called it quits after around two hours.  It was one of those things where it felt like the fish were almost ready to cooperate before a spring smallmouth frenzy if water temps would only climb a few degrees.

I've mentioned a few times about buying a bunch of jerkbaits in ... jeez, 2018 ... and comparing the different lures.  Today I packed a Bomber Long A, and first impressions were ... I wasn't impressed.  I like jerkbaits that suspend in place on the pause, but the Bomber rose to the surface too fast.  To me the standard on jerkbaits is the Rapala Shadow Rap, and it's not just because I caught my biggest smallmouth on one.  Using the standard jerk-jerk-pause and count to five, and the Rapala barely rises up.

Maybe next weekend will require more social distancing.  Also in two weeks, Karen and I are going to fish with Jason Shay of Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions.  Pennsylvania says hunting and fishing is "essential" during these times for providing food, so the fishing trip won't ge canceled.

2019 is thankfully over (year in review)

Google Overlord Big Brother was kind enough
to track the fishing trip in August on Rainy Lake.

Last year was tough for fishing.  For whatever reason, the smallmouth bite on the Potomac and Susquehanna was pretty bleak.  I simply stopped fishing the Potomac.

However on the Little Patuxent, it was business as usual -- typical average of about one fish an hour after the weather warmed up.  I keep meaning to try winter fishing but usually chicken out.  Late winter or early fall trips have never been conducive for catching smallmouth.  And then trout stocking starts, so there are suddenly people fishing when I usually have water all to myself.

The good thing about poor fishing is that I didn't run out of fishing lures.  I'm still well stocked on Z-Man worms and Reaction Innovations swimbaits.  And one of these days I may do a review of the handful of different jerkbaits I've acquired.

2020 marked my first ever trip to Canada during our Wyoming-to-Maryland road trip.  Even though I spent four years stationed at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in da Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I had never been to Canada.  Karen and I fished on Rainy Lake with Rainydaze Guide Service and caught a few smallmouth bass and walleye.  We never actually set foot in Canada, just fished across the border after launching from Minnesota.

Google (AKA, Big Brother) e-mailed me a "Google Maps Timeline" for my activity a week ago covering my activity in 2020.  Kind of cool and creepy at the same time.  The map above shows the fishing trip on Rainy Lake.  I didn't realize at the time we had ventured that far north!

I actually keep a log in Excel, and last year I caught 66 smallmouth bass, 10 failfish, six walleye, six largemouth bass, five sunfish and two trout.  In past years, I've landed 100+ smallmouth.

Hopefully, smallmouth fishing is better this year on the Potomac and Susquehanna.  I've seen some information here and there of people already catching smallmouth on the Potomac even though winter is supposed to be tough going. 

Karen already booked my "birthday trip" with Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions on April 11.  I'm also trying to figure out what to do for our "road trip" this year.  Smallmouth fishing in Oregon? Washington state? Idaho?  All three?  Stay tuned!

Shoot some guns, rob some banks, catch smallmouth bass

My first smallmouth bass from Red Dead Redemption 2.

And now for something completely different, I'm going to talk about video games.  Well, just one -- Red Dead Redemption 2.  Yes it was released last year, but I just got it, so it's new to me.

Having played Red Dead Redemption, I was anxious to try out the sequel (actually, RDR2 is a prequel, but better than the Star Wars prequels).  But at the time it came out last year, my Xbox went Tango-Uniform, and I didn't have the motivation/funds to waste money on a new console.  Over the last year, I casually looked for deals but didn't find anything to my liking.  Finally a pre-Black Friday online deal popped up from a box store, and I splurged for a pre-Christmas present.

This time, I went for a PlayStation 4 because ... I don't know.  It was $50 more expensive than an Xbox that was on sale.  Maybe just for a change from the Xbox, even though I had a PS1 and PS2 in the past.

The console came bundled with three other games, but I wanted to play RDR2, so I bought that, too.  It has been an amazing game so far.  A nice upgrade from the "original" Red Dead Redemption (which was a follow-up to Red Dead Revolver, which I never played).  The visuals are stunning and the missions have some variety (such as a balloon chase involving shooting a rival gang on horseback as they chase one of your gang members).

So what does a shoot-em-up game that's basically Grand Theft Auto in the old west have to do with fishing?  Because one of the activities in the open-world format is fishing!  And, yes, there are smallmouth bass, as you can see by my screenshot from above.

Lurking in the waters throughout the game are also muskies, northern pike, largemouth bass, trout, gar and sturgeon among others.  Even Mr. Whiskers makes an appearance.  Fish from shore of a lake or river, or grab a boat or canoe.  There are also Legendary Fish to be discovered throughout the waters.

After completing the mission "A Fisher of Men," fishing is unlocked in the game.  A fishing rod is part of your carried items, and you can select to use it after reaching the shore of a lake or river. Rig it up with bait or lures, which can be purchased in a bait shop or general stores (the latter have limited selections), and cast.  Reel in slowly, let the bait or lure sit, or twitch the rod to attract fish.

If you catch a fish, you have the option to harvest it for food (cook it on a campfire or bring it back to camp for your crew) or throw it back.  I've thrown back every smallmouth bass so far, just like in reel life.

YouTube screengrab of the Legendary Smallmouth Bass
from a user's walk-through of catching all the legendary fish.

It's extremely easy to actually entice a fish to grab your lure or bait.  The hints on bait selections -- cheese, corn, bread, worms, crickets -- say they are specific for certain types of fish.  Also, there are two lures -- either lake or river.  But it seems as if the fish bite on almost anything.  I caught a muskie with a cricket!  There are special lures just for the "legendary" fish, but other than that, it seems as if a fish clamps on the other end on about 90 percent of casts.

The most difficult thing is actually reeling the fish in.  You have to rotate the "R" circle joystick, and it's really slow.  Then the fish fights, and you have to stop reeling or the line will break.  The bluegills and perch are pretty easy, but as the fish get bigger, so does the length of the fight.

Anyway, it's an interesting diversion for the winter months.  I'm just at the beginning of the last chapter missions, so it will be fun to explore some more when the main story is complete.  I haven't tried playing online, so I don't know how fishing plays out there.  Maybe there are fishing tournaments to compete against online players?

Maryland DNR stocks 2,000 juvenile smallmouth bass in Upper Potomac

Maryland DNR stocked 2,000 juvenile smallmouth bass
on the Upper Potomac on Oct. 25. (Maryland DNR photo)

Good news for the Upper Potomac smallmouth bass fishery.  The Maryland DNR released 2,000 juvenile (four- to five-inch) smallmouth on Oct. 25.

"Staff were able to transport the fish back to Maryland and stock them at points along the river from Brunswick upstream to Dam 4.  These sections of the river have experienced low smallmouth bass recruitment due to high spring flows for the past several years."

The fish were brought in from an out-of-state hatchery, which I'm guessing is an answer to a failed attempt earlier this year to get actual Potomac smallmouth to spawn "in-house" (scroll down on that link to the May 20 entry).  Smallmouth bass were originally introduced to the Potomac in the 1800s after being shipped by train from the Ohio River basin, so why not go old-school with non-native fish in an attempt to boost the population?

It will be interesting to see how this impacts fishing in the future.  I've been filling out the Potomac Bass Survey after every trip, so I'm sure they've been gathering data from that survey and other areas to realize catch rates have been low in regard to smallmouth fishing on the Potomac.

Where have all the smallmouth gone?



A fightin' Susquehanna smallmouth.

It has been a rough year on the Potomac River as well as the Susquehanna.  I've mentioned it before recapping trips on the Potomac, where I have caught two fish all year.  On the Susquehanna, fishing has been a little better, but I know from reports on a smallmouth fishing forum, others have been struggling.

I'm still relatively new to river smallmouth fishing, so I can only guess as to what has been causing the poor fishing.  Rain for most of the ideal fishing months LAST YEAR caused major changes.  At least that's my best guess.  Fish moved to spots they aren't usually found in or they're just not biting.  I can't believe they just vanished.

On Monday, a study was released on the assessment of smallmouth bass in the area -- the Susquehanna, Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. 

"Anglers, fishing guides and fisheries biologists all have noticed a precipitous decline in the number of smallmouth bass inhabiting our Mid-Atlantic rivers over the past few years. Where have these fish gone and is this just a naturally occurring cycle or an indication that something is amiss in the water itself?"

Further assessment from the report, poor spawning rates and unstable weather are among the factors over the last several years to have impacted smallmouth bass numbers.  One exceptional spawn occurred in 2014, but other than that, it has been fairly bleak.


Although it wasn't a heavy rain, river level went up more
than a 1-1/2 feet but was down to normal in about 24 hours
a few days ago on a smaller Maryland river.

That being said, I haven't had any dropoff on the other "P" rivers in Maryland. I've still caught fish at similar rates from previous years (an average of about one smallmouth bass per hour). While rains certainly affect these waters, they don't have sustained weeks-long high-water periods.  River levels are usually back to normal or close to it after two or three days.

Last month, Karen and I had a trip booked with Jason Shay of Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions.  The day before, Jason texted me asking if we wanted to reschedule since the guided trip he had that day was going really slow.  Only a couple fish by 11 a.m.  Since the weather was also going to be sunny and hot, we decided to push it back a month.

Which leads up to last Saturday (Oct. 12) and the re-booked trip with Jason.  We launched from the Fort Hunter ramp with cloudy skies.  The forecast called for the sun to break through later on, but it didn't really happen.



Jason untangles one of Karen's fish from the net.

After motoring away from the ramp, we weren't getting much early on until we noticed fish activity around a grassy island.  The water was really shallow on the edges, and you could sometimes see dorsal fins knifing through the water with baitfish jumping out of the water ahead of the bigger fish.  Jason took the boat over and told us to cast if we saw feeding fish.  Usually, the fish were just out of casting range (go figure), and by the time we got in position, activity had died off.  If one of us happened to plop a lure in the right spot at the right time, a fish hit.

Karen and Jason were using Whopper Ploppers, and I had a Rapala X-Rap Prop.  The latter a little longer but skinnier, and it had a propeller on either end. Despite having two props, it doesn't churn across the water like a Whopper Plopper. I caught one fish, and they each caught a couple at least.  But both lures had equal interest with some missed hookups.



My first fish of the day on the Rapala X-Rap Prop.

We basically did three or four loops around the grassy knoll chasing fish that were chasing baitfish.  The fish usually stopped feeding as soon as the boat was positioned within casting distance, but everybody caught fish and had several hookups and topwater attacks.

We moved upriver and didn't have much luck, then moved back down to the grassy knoll, and didn't have any luck at all.  It was like the fish checked out.

We moved upriver just past the Juniata confluence and floated down tossing spinnerbaits at underwater ledges and rock formations.  This seemed to entice the most interest from the smallmouth.  I caught two fish and lost three that were hooked up.  One of them, I did all the right things keeping the rod low to try and prevent the fish from jumping.  About 10 feet from the boat, its nose protruded from the water, and the spinnerbait came flying loose.

We called it quits at about 1 p.m.

I might fish some of the little Maryland rivers before winter comes in.  The latest fishing report from the Maryland DNR says walleye are starting to bite in the Upper Potomac, so maybe there's that.  As far as smallmouth fishing on the Potomac and Susquehanna, like Nebraska Cornhusker football, it may be better luck next year.

Topwater frenzy



Topwater river smallmouth caught on a 1960s
Mitchell 300 reel.

I haven't fished in the area since Sept. 1, so I went out this morning mainly for casting practice since Karen and I are fishing on Saturday with Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions.  Maybe I could catch something, too, but I didn't know what to expect because temps have dipped down into the 70s, and the rain has been infrequent for the last two months.

The river was the lowest and clearest it has been all year -- the bottom was visible in almost every section.  The water wasn't crystal clear, though.  With the rocks and gravel, they created shadows that made it difficult to target and track fish.

With the water level and overcast skies, I started with a Heddon Zara Puppy, and the small topwater lure produced immediate interest.  Unfortunately, none of the fish could get hooked from the mix of "real" smallmouth strikes and passive sunfish slurps.

On my other rod was a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper, and I cast the swimbait in spots where the topwater lure was getting bites.  And it was like casting crickets. Not crickets as in live bait, but crickets as in silence from the fish. While I saw a few sunfish following the lure, the fish weren't actually biting.  Weird since the Little Dipper had been my go-to lure this year, and the topwater bite has been infrequent.

In another pool, I finally hooked a smallmouth, but for some reason, the drag on the reel was set really loose. With the drag squealing, it sounded like I had a tarpon on the line.  As far as I know, there are no tarpon in Maryland.

I paused to tighten the drag, the fish seemed to sense the lack of tension, jumped, and got off the hook.  Reely weird since I have drag set tight on all my reels because I'm not expecting an epic fight from a monster fish

The little largemouth bass.  Sorry it looks like the
fish was captured on The Grassy Knoll.

Anyway, more of the same in this section -- the fish lurked below the surface with hits on the Zara Puppy but didn't feel the need to bite the Little Dipper.

Since the attacks on the Zara Puppy were coming after pauses, I changed the lure on the other rod from a Little Dipper to a Z-Man Finesse TRD.  I figured pausing the worm on the bottom might trigger bites versus the steady swimbait retrieve.

Sure enough, the first cast with the Z-Man worm enticed a little largemouth bass to make a beeline to scoop the lure resting on the bottom.  I have never caught a largemouth bigger than 11 inches in this river, and this one was no different.  It was maybe 10 inches if it was lucky.

But other than that one largemouth, no other fish were interested in the bottom-bouncing Z-Man worm.

Zara Puppy snagged in a tree last month, recovered today.

When I fished here last month, I hooked a Zara Puppy in a tree, couldn't free the lure, and had to break the fishing line.  In between casts today, I started looking for the lure, and sure enough, it was still snagged in the same branch.  Because of the water clarity, I saw a larger rock just below the surface and thought, "You know, maybe I could reach the lure."

I waded down, reached up, used a fishing rod to pull the branch down, and easily plucked the lure free.  If you notice in the picture to the right, it doesn't have a treble hook on the back.  I've been removing rear trebles on most lures because they are more of a nuisance.  Almost every smallmouth bass gets the front treble hook in their lip, and the rear treble flops around (fun when trying to unhook a squirming fish) or sometimes hooks the fish on their body.  Or when catching a sunfish or fallfish, they almost always bite the rear treble hook, making it a pain to remove it from their little fish mouths.

On to another spot, and again the Zara Puppy (the one I brought with me, not the one I recovered from the tree branch) had the fish breaking the surface to try and snatch the lure.  Finally, a smallmouth bass persisted, going after the lure three times before getting the treble hook (barely) in the corner of its jaw.

After that fish, the bite completely dried up.  I think with the shallow water and the clarity, fish were easily spooked.

Fallen leaves weren't much of an issue, but I suspect in a week or so, getting leaves snagged will be more of a problem.

Bigmouth strikes again

A little smallmouth bass.

A little bigmouth bass.

A slow Labor Day Sunday only catching one smallmouth bass and a largemouth bass.  On this stretch of river, all the largemouth look the same -- sub 12 inches.  I haven't found any largemouth bass even measuring 12 inches, even though I've caught quite a few 12+ smallmouth.

This was the first largemouth I've caught river fishing this year.

Both fish today were caught on Reaction Innovations Little Dippers.  There was some interest in the Heddon Zara Puppy, but I threw the swimbait about 75 percent of the time.

The water was really clear, and I could see fish following the swimbait but most of them didn't bite the lure.  I don't know what's more frustrating, not getting bites or seeing fish follow lures and still not getting bites.

The last time I fished this are was back in March, and the water was crawling with people fishing for trout.  Nearly every "good" spot had someone already fishing.  Today, didn't see a single person.

Maryland DNR fishing surveys

Just putting these here so I can find them, but feel free to follow the links yourself.

The Maryland DNR has a couple online surveys for fishermen (fisher people?), and I encourage you to use them.  The first one is specific to smallmouth bass on the Potomac River, and the second one is a general survey for freshwater and saltwater.  Report your catch (or not as I've been doing on the Potomac this year), how many fish you caught, where you caught them, etc.  They are just informational -- results don't appear on their website.

Potomac smallmouth bass survey.

General fisheries survey.

Swimbait Sunday

First fish of the day, a 12-inch-plus smallmouth bass.

Got out for a few hours this morning and managed to catch five smallmouth bass, all on Reaction Innovations Little Dippers.  I think the fish might have been on at least four different flavors, too.  Catch a fish, snag the lure in a tree, switch to a new one.  Rinse, repeat.

The weather had been unbearable since Karen and I got back from our road trip, and I really didn't feel like sweating my ass off while fishing.  The last couple days have been much more pleasant, and I hoped the fish would be more active.

First spot I hit on the river (water temp: 70 degrees, a really good sign), I got a couple nibbles on the swimbait on my first cast, but nothing after that.  On my other rod was a Heddon Zara Puppy, and a few sunfish followed that lure, but they didn't fall for the trickery.

Right around this time, I heard a huge explosion.  It seemed like it was a mile or two away.  I didn't hear any sirens or see a mushroom cloud, so I filed it under, "Hmmm, I wonder what that was."

I moved upriver to my favorite spot where I almost always get something.  This was where I caught the smallmouth on July 4 that was under the tip of a protruding log, and also my second 15-inch smallmouth from this river four years ago.  On the second cast running parallel to the bank I was standing on, something bit the swimbait but didn't clamp on.  Reeling about 10 more feet, something actually did clamp on.  One of those where it feels briefly like a snag, but then the fishing line is headed toward the middle of the river.  Successfully landed it, and it was a smallmouth that was an easy 12 inches (first photo at top).

The swimbait was mangled, so I rigged up a new one and caught a tiny smallmouth on the next cast (above left).  That would be all the fish for this area.  Sunfish followed the swimbait on some casts, a few boils on the topwater lure (I think sunfish again), but nothing else.  It's like the fish that were caught alerted all the others of some human trying to trick them with fake food.

After moving downstream and getting the Zara Puppy entangled up in a tree, I got another 12+ smallmouth on a swimbait. (right).

Downriver at another one of my favorite spots (always seem to catch something here, but never anything of legal size), I caught a smallmouth even smaller than fish number two.  Again on a swimbait.  I was about to pull the lure out of the water, and this smallmouth appeared out of nowhere from the knee-high depths and attacked like a terrier on a squeaker toy.

A bit later after, I did a "one more cast" and had a smallmouth hammer the same swimbait.  This felt like a good fish, but it was only about 10 inches.  Unfortunately, the hook was embedded in the "gill" portion of it's throat (I don't know what the scientific term is).  The fish wasn't bleeding, but after a minute or so of trying to dislodge the hook, I felt it was better to cut the line and let the fish go.  These are cheap eBay jigheads that rust easily, so rather than hurt the fish trying to rip the hook out, I hoped rust would not sleep.  The fish swam away with a quickness, so I was happy to see that.

I'm really going to have to pack the Knipex "mini bolt cutters" in my gear.  It would have made dealing with that fish a whole lot easier by just snipping the top of the jighead.  I still may not have been able to remove the rest of the hook, but at least there would have been less metal in the fish's mouth

When I got back to the car and started it up, the radio was already tuned to WTOP, and I caught the end of the news report about a gas explosion which occurred about two miles away, so no doubt that was what I heard earlier.  Firefighters were already on site responding to a report of the leak, and they were able to evacuate the buildings before the explosion.