Bass Fishing

There was a time when I fished at least 365 days a year! Yep when I liven in Port St. Lucie Florida I fished everyday because I lived right on the water down there, but did little to no real hunting just fishing.  I would stop on my way to college and throw a rubber worm at every orange grove irrigation ditch between my house and the campus. Or fish the Rim ditch with my good friend Andy Baird, an old guy who I befriended and he taught me so much about bass fishing and bee keeping that I took it for granted. But when I moved back to the Eastern Shore I kinda drifted away from bass fishing and took up raising kids and working 60 hours a week! But my friend who is a crazy bass fisherman was telling me that now the fish are scarfing up crayfish like no other and  sitting on their nest. Now I used to have a ol possum belly tackle box full of gadgets to catch bass with and a couple hundred dollars of rod and reel to drag it all thru the water with, but used the same rubber worm or J-9 broken back Rapela 99% of the time. Same now, I like to fish salt water and have all the stuff to do it with boats, motors, rods and reels, and three soft side tackle boxes to hold all the hardware. But what do I turn to when I want to catch fish? Live eels, peeler crab, or bloodworms never silver spoons or top water plugs. the same three rigs I always use. So if you are heading out to catch a bass fish or two look for something in crawdad color, or maybe just use the ol purple worm. Sometimes simpler is better.

What you gonna do with all those fish?

Okay you know where to go and you know the bait but what do you do with a cooler full of herring? First thing is come prepared to deal with them and have a plan for them when you get them. They are excellet garden fertilizer, I mean the Native Americans taught us that trick, but they have a higher calling. First get a cooler full of ice and pour rock salt over the ice like you were making ice cream. You want a cold water slurry that will make your hand hurt when you go in it! Now catch the fish, and with a pair wire cutters snip out the gills, and gut it, remove any scales. rinse the fish out in the river and place the fish in the salt/ice water slurry. The trick here is to keep the fish as fresh as possible, and doing the chore immediately is always the best, plus rock fishing down stream from where you clean the fish is also a bonus! Now when you get home take and rinse the fish cooler out and fill it with fresh water, mix enough salt in it to float an egg. All of the fish must be immersed in the brine so using the cooler is a good ideal, add some hot sauce, some onion chopped up, some garlic and the ever popular Worcestershire sauce, place the fish in the brine and cover completely. Change the brine the next day, putting the fish through the process three times. I like to rinse my fish off between brines also but be easy as these are soft flesh fish and are beginning to cook in the brine sorta kinda. Now after the third brine take your fish out and tie a string around the tail so you can hang it from  a rod and hang the fish out in the air till they dry and get a sheen to them. It is important that the fish be good and dry, you can even set up a fan to blow air across them, but hang them don't lay them down on a flat board or a rack, the air has to blow around them. Now make yourself a smoker a cardboard box will do, but make it a big one like from an appliance, or use a canvas tarp over a frame. Now make a smoke from a fragrant wood like apple or hickory. A gallon can with some briquettes will work about a dozen briquettes and a handful of chips not a thick smoke just a light smoke coming out of the smoker you can also buld a SMALL smudge fire with twigs and  get a log smoking which will last longer. when the fish take on a coppery brown color they are done and should be allowed to dry out in the breeze for a bit. These are now ready to eat and should come off not mushy but in a chunk white flesh easily slipping from the bone. Enjoy!

Perch in the river?

Okay you read it here first, okay maybe not but hey it is my blog so I can say stuff like that! The perch are in the Nanticoke river and the bull rock right with em, scarfing down shad and herring as fast as they can go, yes it is a good time to go fishing! Lets start at the head of barren creek at Phillips landing. Herring are on the shad dart and two dart combo means a two fish hook up many times adding to the fun and the fight. Tie a small shad dart to the line direct, and another 18 inches down line at the end this one can be a little bigger. Cast out and retrieve it just doesn't get any easier and kids love to catch em. This is a great way to introduce a kid to fishing, minimum bugs and skeeters, lots of action, and nice temp to be outside. If Phillips landing is unproductive the spill way in Laurel is also a great spot to catch fish. Phillips landing is a great family place with good boat ramps. A hot dog on the grill, easy fishing with the family, screw work I am leaving early, signing the kids out of school picking up the Momma and going fishing! White perch are also hanging out at the Phillips landing area and the good old bottom rig with a piece of bloodworm is a sure fire bet to catch them right now.. If you have a sharp fillet knife you can cut the small fillet off, and fry them up eat them like popcorn!
Now we move down river and put the boat in at Vienna or fish on the east side of the river where the old bridge was from the bank. Here it is primarily white perch and BIG rock fish, fat cows with egg swollen belly's and the fat fine to go with it. Keep one and you will be caught, I know it is a hot spot honey hole and so does the DNR, don't even think of keeping it. There  is a story here I assure you!
Now down river to roaring point, bank or boat both are good here with perch and rock fish being your target. Bloodworms are the ticket as it is just to cold for the fish bites right now and night crawlers, earthworms, and squid are not really working. Hopefully we will have some more fishing reports soon on the Wicomico and Pocomoke rivers. I know the local bass club is hosting tournaments, and hopefully the charter boats out of Ocean City will be allowed to have a season of some sort.
Offshore fishing for fish is not really in my budget but my brother in law likes to go so maybe I will be able to keep us up to date on the bite so to speak. Keep tight lines and think about taking a kid fishing okay?

Pickerel are ready!

Pickerel are def on the prowl and I hope to get out and give em a try this weekend. A good friend of mine has access to a local sand pit that has been done for quite a few years, and now supports a variety Flora and Fauna along it's banks and in the water. Never stocked except by nature it's self this pond carries a big diversity of fish and enough vegetation to make it a beautiful place to be a fish. I am going equipped with my trusty broken back, yea that J-9 I spoke about, and a couple of red devils. Now I am not opposed to live fishing bait but I would rather catch 1 on artificial s than two on bait, that is just me of course. Plus there may be some local regulations on using live bait, so check first. Now I have never seen any algae in this pond even in the heat of summer, and it has black cherry trees growing around it that attract these brown and black worms about 11/2 long. Now the trees provide shade in the summer and the worms provide food for the shellcrackers, and pan fish, shake the branch dump some worms come back in 10 min with a can of those worms, and the afternoon is golden. This is especially true if you have kids fishing with you, a lot of fish and the kids are tickled pink, and they will want to go again. So gear up and get out try a pickerel if you want to fish early!

Best Fishing Lures

Okay I am going out on a limb here and putting my reputation on the line with some of you people who like to fish. I am going to talk about possibly some of the best fishing lures of all times. Now I know that this is my opinion and we know about opinions but here goes.
FRESH WATER:
 The J-9 broken back Rapella in black and silver. If I could have only one lure in my survival tackle box it would be this one. I have caught more fish and a greater variety of fish on this particular plug. it has a wiggle that fish find just to good to pass up and it is super easy to fish. Cast it out and let it sit on the surface of the water till the rings get twelve or thirteen feet out from it. If you haven't had it smashed yet give it a twitch and let it sit again. Then reel fast for about six or eight cast and let it come to the top and sit maybe give it a twitch. I have gone to this lure many times and it is one of my favorite plugs. 
 RED DEVIL red and white striped spoon, a killer for pickerel and pike, and fished thru the weeds it is a good bass lure. I take off the treble hooks and put a single hook out the back to make it a little more weedless.
 SALT WATER: The bucktail has got to be responsible for more fish in the cooler than any other fish attractor in history. A good one for perch or rock fish, rigged with a piece of cut bait it will catch a catfish.
If you get in a real jam you can make a bucktail with a short piece of nylon rope, for the bucktail portion, and some fishing line. Never know when you might have to improvise!

Pickerel fish comming

Here on the shore we don't have the northern pike but we do have the chain pickerel a close cousin to the Pike if you will. And as soon as the ice breaks up in the headwaters of the many mill ponds we have around here they will be ready to eat and to get their groove on slaying a variety of baits offered to them. I like to canoe to the back of the pond and cast to the structure you are looking for, stump rows or old weed lines, a quick change in depth can be structure. I also like to troll for em dragging a J9 broken back Rapella in black and silver. Shallow water and a dark muddy bottom will warm up quicker and bait fish will move into these areas during the day to soak up some heat and look for food. Naturally our Pickerel fish will be waiting for them to make a slow move or any opportunity to scarf a quick meal. Now many will claim that this fish is just to bony to mess with but I assure you that the fish is a good eating fish and when cooked as a shore lunch make excellent fare. Now if you eat the fish from a freshwater pond here understand that many chicken farms and failing septic systems make their way into them so beware if you eat em.

Fall bass fishing

Now that the weather has cooled some, bass fishing has picked up in a big way. But some fishermen are still fishing like they did this summer, and not scoring like they should. Lets take a look at how to improve our take when we hit the water.
Prime time is daybreak and sunset, unless the day is foggy and overcast then the action can continue into the day. Hit the water early, take the kids to Crown in the mid day, and get back on the water for the evening bite, cause this feeding frenzy won't last long. Look for areas of rip rap rocks and such that stabilize the bank, these nook and crannies hold all kids of leaches, crayfish, slugs and such, make your baits smaller and fish a little slower. Don't cast AT the bank, cast parallel to it and fan cast. When you finish move up a half a cast and repeat the process. Fish are still in the roots of trees and laying along stumps, but they look at the rip rap as a McDonalds of fish food. Fish born early spring are now bigger and the rocks make for good hiding places, plus they are a little warmer, and the bass are looking to gorge to put on weight for the winter. Change up your approach to your fishing and maybe increase your chances of landing the biggest bass of your life.