Catch and Release

Finning, gliding silently
Over pebbles, 'neath a tree
Seeking minnows, worms, insects
Holes where rocks the flow bisects

Brightly spotted sides of brown
The slightest sound will put him down
Lurking, hunting as he goes
Still he must beware his foes

The eagle, heron and the fox
Weasel, coon and man who stalks
About his world with hook and fur
Feathers, tinsel, line a blur

Man shoots the line and sees it rest
Above the square-tail in his nest
Among the currents, rocks and foam
Safe in his riparian home

Sees an insect, hunger sounds
Like a bell, upward he bounds
Grabs the insect from the flow
Closes maw and turns to go

Panic now besets the fish
Flee this place his fondest wish
Hindered by an unseen force
He turns and there beholds the source

Man has tricked him, he must run
Deeper, away from the sun
Under logs or behind rocks
Far from where the man now stalks

Muscles now begin to ache
He wishes to regain the lake
In deeper water he could hide
Rest himself, restore his pride

Now he's in man's mighty grip
The pain has left his lower lip
He scarcely can believe his fins
Man picked him out and then back in

He swims and ponders on this thing
Why man would cause the line to sing
And wrest him from his river home
Just to leave the stream alone

Essential flies for Miami Valley fishing

The Clouser Minnow
Clouser Minnows have been used in saltwater fly fishing since its creation in 1987 and over the years they have found their way into the fly boxes of freshwater anglers as well. This fly can be deadly on fish as huge as marlin, swordfish and tarpon and, in scaled down versions, can be just as deadly on trout, crappies, white bass and bluegills.

The eyes have it
One of the main differences in the Clouser and other streamer flies is readily apparent. Those lead barbell eyes jump right out and stare back at you and they are the major reason for the success of this fly. Many predatory game fish such as bass, walleyes and pike are excited to strike by the eyes of their prey. Some say the predators even strike toward the eyes of the minnow, the better to lead their intended victims lest they aim too far back and end up missing altogether. Another advantage of these eyes is the weight they give the fly. Clousers sink readily to get down where the big fish live. This is especially true in deep lakes, fast rivers and oceans.

Bringing it home
Most local fly anglers use Clousers for smallmouth and largemouth bass. Smallmouth anglers work the deeper holes of the local rivers with Clouser Minnows in sizes from 2 through 1/0. Largemouth fly anglers prefer to stick with the larger end of that selection. These sizes give bass a large bait to think about and often they decide in favor of eating it. Trout anglers on the upper reaches of the Mad River use size 10 Clousers whenever they have the feeling the trout are looking for a minnow snack, especially when the brown trout binge on minnows in the fall.

Tying a Clouser
The Clouser Minnow pattern was originated by Bob Clouser of Middleton, Pennsylvania, for use with clients he was guiding on trips set up by himself and his wife from their fly shop. It is really a fairly simple pattern to tie. All you really need is two different colors of deer hair or bucktail, a hook suitable to the size fish you will be using the flies for, some strong thread in a color that matches the top color of your fly and a barbell eye that also matches the size of the fly.

1.Put the hook in your vise, point down and start a base coat of thread, ending with the thread about halfway back on the shaft of the hook.
2.Holding the barbell eyes at a diagonal on top of where the thread is, wrap the thread around the hook and the mid-point of the eyes.
3.Once the eyes are somewhat secured by four or five wraps, hold them on an opposite diagonal and wrap from the other side of the hook just as before.
4.Select some bucktail of the lighter color and trim the ends you will tie over so they are even.
5.Lay the bucktail along the hook with the trimmed ends just in front of the eyes and, holding the bucktail together very tightly, wrap the bucktail to the hook with 8 or 10 good wraps. This is the body and tail of the fly.
6.Lay the bucktail back, over the saddle in the eyes and wrap them down behind the eyes as well.
7.Wrap the thread forward so it is hanging about at the front of the first bunch of bucktail, then turn the hook over so it is in the vise with the gap riding up.
8.Select some bucktail of a darker color to serve as the wing. Local anglers seem to think chartreuse or yellow over a white body works well. The fish seem to agree.
9.Tie in the wing just in front of the eyes in the same manner that you did with the body.
10.Trim off any excess bucktail, build a head, whip finish and cement the head.

There are superb video lessons of this very process on e-How by Alvin Dedeaux.

Clousers in the Miami Valley
One local angler and guide has used Clousers to account for a 21-inch largemouth bass and a 21-inch saugeye along with many trout and smallmouth bass. While these are outstanding catches to be sure, these feats are definitely repeatable by dedicated anglers who throw Clouser Minnows.
How to fish the Clouser Minnow
Fish Clousers like any other streamer fly with casts across the stream and quartering slightly downstream. Remember that this is a heavy fly when you get into shallow water and make the most of a quicker strip retrieve. Don't worry about being too fast! It may be possible to strip in fly line fast enough to outrun a determined predator but it is highly unlikely. In lakes, cast the fly out and wait for it to sink before beginning the retrieve. Experiment with different depths by adjusting the amount of time you wait. The usual rules apply for deciding where to cast in lakes. For bass, northern pike and muskies, cast toward the shore and around logs, rocks and other structure. For white bass, trout and saugeye, cast to deeper water from the shore and concentrate on any moving water such as inlets.

Now that you know more about Clouser Minnows, tie a few up and give the local fish a chance to critique your handiwork!

Eastwood MetroPark is a magnet for outdoors activities in Dayton, Ohio

Eastwood MetroPark is a magnet for outdoors activities in Dayton, Ohio

Easy to find
Located on Harshman Road just south of Route 4 and just a bit north of the Air Force Museum, Eastwood is probably the easiest of all the Five Rivers Metroparks to find. There are several points of interest here for the fisherman. First, and most impressive is 185-acre Eastwood Lake.

Formerly called the Hydrobowl, Eastwood Lake was officially added to Eastwood Park in 1992, two years after the maintenance of the park transferred from the City of Dayton to the Park District of Dayton-Montgomery County. This lake is a beehive of activity every summer, hosting hydroplane races, kayaking and sailboarding clinics as well as car shows and Gospel music concerts. This can tend to make the lake less than totally attractive to serious fishermen, especially since some of these events result in entrance to Eastwood Lake being a fee-based activity.

Fishing Eastwood Lake
Fishing Eastwood Lake from the bank can be a fairly daunting task since it is a shallow 185-acre oval largely devoid of discernible structure. This problem is compounded by the fact that wading is not allowed, presumably because the park staff doesn’t want any pedestrians run down by the power boats that are allowed on the lake on all even-numbered days and the jet skis that are allowed on the lake any day.

Fish? Yeah, we’ve got fish!
Eastwood Lake is stocked regularly by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources with saugeye and channel catfish. The lake also has self-sustaining populations of largemouth and smallmouth black bass, yellow perch, crappie, bluegill, and carp. Other species that show up occasionally are white bass and northern pike but these are too rare to make targeting them worth an angler’s time.

The best times to fish Eastwood Lake are:
1) In the cold – Once the jet ski cowboys start getting frosty in places, the fish start getting pretty close to the shore.
2) In the dark – Take advantage of the Friday and Saturday night late hours and fish until midnight.
3) In the rain – When the grass gets wet, the crowds dry up. The fish seem to know this and start feeding.
4) On the odd days – Make the most of the absence of powerboats!

CAUTION: Get off the lake at the first sign of lightning or if you detect a static electricity charge in the air! If your hair starts standing on end, get back in your car!


Other fishing at Eastwood Park
Eastwood Park also boasts other fishing opportunities for the adventurous angler. There is a strip mine pit at the far western end of Eastwood Lake that is alternately called Blue Hole, Blue Lake or just The Pond by locals.

This body of water is much deeper and clearer than Eastwood Lake although it has much less surface area. Only hand-powered watercraft are allowed on Blue Lake and the number and size of bass in it would make carrying a canoe or kayak from the nearby parking area very well worth the effort.

Fishing in the sticks
The need for a boat will become very clear once you are on the water. Fully three quarters of Blue Lake’s banks are lined with trees and brush. Even in the few gaps between the trees on the bank, there are trees in the water, felled either by nature or the park staff. The result is that the bank-bound angler must poke himself and his rod through small holes and that rod had better be a stout one loaded with strong line. These conditions don’t inspire confidence while fishing gin-clear water for heavily-pressured bass. There are open places for casting by the parking area, however the bass tend to avoid this end of the lake most of the time.

All the rest of the fishing
There are two parts to Eastwood Park. The old park, also known by locals as The Lagoon Side, lies across Mad River from The Lake Side. The Lagoon itself has been a decent place to fish in years gone by and may come to be once again. The fishing in the Lagoon depends on natural recruitment of species that enter it by way of the water pumped into the Lagoon directly from the Mad River. This means that bluegills, crappies, largemouth and smallmouth bass, rock bass, carp and catfish may turn up in the Lagoon at any given time. Unfortunately for area fishermen, recent beautification projects have involved draining the Lagoon for several winters now; thus the fishery has literally shriveled up and died. There are many fry in the Lagoon now, but a viable fishery will need at least three more winters when the water is not drained.

Dividing the old park (Lagoon) from the new park (Lake) is the venerable Mad River, haven of smallmouth and largemouth bass, rock bass, crappies, bluegills, carp, suckers and the odd trout in the wintertime in some of the deeper holes. This is a wade and fish proposition, especially for fly anglers. Wading makes the productive holes along the banks easier to cast into without spooking the fish. Besides, wading is great exercise so you can use this as an excuse to go fishing! Remember not to wade alone if you can help it and stay away from the railroad bridge as it has some tricky currents.

Eastwood Park is a great place to make a short fishing trip when you don’t have much time or the gas money for a longer trip. Fish the low-traffic periods and you might end up with some trips to brag about!

05/12 Mad River

I went down to the Mad River at the bridge nearest my house this evening with my fly rod and had pretty good time for a little while. The trip started very well when a smallmouth nailed my wooly bugger on the first cast right at the end of the swing. I also got a very fat rock bass on a white streamer. It was the kind of fishing I have gotten used to over the years on overlooked waters; a little time spent with a few fish caught and nobody bothering me although numerous people passed by on the bike path.

It reminds of the times when Jesus set himself apart from the crowds to renew his strength. Now I am not nearly in as much demand as our Lord. Indeed, there are times when it seems I would have to walk into the mall naked to attract any attention. However, the pressures and tensions that beset me always seem to melt away for that length of time that I am by the water. Maybe it's because fishing is something I know intimately.

I'm sure this is how Peter felt when he went "afishing" as it says in John 21:3. He was returning to something he knew. He couldn't make sense out of what had happened to Jesus, his Master and his friend so he went fishing. He returned to something he knew well so he could clear the cobwebs and try to make sense of it all. We all do this in different ways. We talk to old friends, play a guitar, take a long walk, work out at the gym, pray, write, or hit a bucket of golf balls. We need to take time to make sense of our lives, to recharge our strength.

Father, help us all to take the time we need with you and also the time we need to take to recharge ourselves; that we may run and not be weary. In Jesus' name, amen.

05/11 Argonne Lake

I stopped by Possum Creek Metropark after tutoring this evening to get a little exercise and try to refine my flycasting. I took only my flyrod to the lake. It was pretty cool out there and I noticed some bass in the shallows going on the beds. I decided to give it my best. After catching a few small bluegills, I changed flies and began a serious hunt for a gamefish.

Honestly I came up short of my goal because I was really after one of the pike a friend told me he has caught in that lake from time to time. Anyway, working a rocky shore with a beadhead olive woolly bugger, my line stopped dead and I set the hook. A couple of minutes later, I landed a nice little Largemouth Bass of around 13 inches with the help of a couple of nearby young anglers who could scurry down the rocks more ably than I can these days. One of them also returned our friend, Sir Bass, to the water for me. I had no more action on the way back to my car so the tally for the day was 3 bluegills, one LMB.

Spinning:
Crappie 1
Redear 1
LM Bass 1

Fly:
Bluegill 11
Rock Bass 1
SM Bass 1
LM Bass 1

The Tally

I intend to keep a fish tally this year. I think it will spur me to catch more and try different waters, plus, I want to encourage others to get out there. I am going to differentiate between spinning rod and fly rod because I want to drive myself to use my long rod more this year.

Spinning:
Crappie 1
Redear 1
LM Bass 1

Fly:
Bluegill 8
Rock Bass 1
SM Bass 1

More later! I had a great hour last night with my fly rod on the Mad River. I broke off one nice strike and missed the hookset on another. I must be rusty. Back to it after this rain with seven more flies I tied last night and a heavier leader!

My Most Reliable Lures and Flies

1. Rubber worm rigged Texas style with no weight - Many bass have fallen to this rig. The main draw is the agonizingly slow fall. You can swim it, twitch it like a jerkbait or go dead slow across the bottom.

2. #10 Black Gnat - Bluegills, Rock Bass, and Crappie all love this little standby. In the right situations it will work for trout and bass as well.

3. Daredevle Spoon - Great for Northern Pike, it also works well for White Bass, Crappie, Trout, Walleye and occasionally Smallmouths.

4. Mepps Black Fury - Smallmouth, streams and Black Furies defined my early teen years in Illinois. They can sometimes also take Trout, although in much smaller sizes. Bass prefer them dressed. Trout like them undressed. Naughty little Trout!

5. 1/8 oz chartreuse curly tail jig - Saugeye bait extraordinaire! It's also effective for Largemouth and Smallmouth in the same waters.

6. Mini Trap - My shallow water friend for Black Bass when the water is stained.

7. H&H spinnerbait - In deeper, clear water, this is one bait that can't be beat, especially in the Blue/Chartreuse skirt. Plus, they take up very little room in the tacklebox, their double hook is an almost Can't Miss proposition and they are pretty doggone cheap!

8. Muddler Minnow - A great all around streamer! It can be fished dry to imitate a hopper or moth, crawled across the bottom to imitate a sculpin or crawfish, or swim it to imitate a minnow.

9. Mepps Minnow Spin Size 0 - Superb for Trout, and Panfish.

10. 1/64 oz jig under a bobber - A killer for Crappies, Bluegills and occasionally Trout.

Observation

Having a secular instructor teach you about the Bible is like asking a cow to try to teach you how to make muffins.

He is Risen and yet we cower in the mud

From the New International Version, Luke 24: 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.

Once again, we gather together to remember that we serve a risen Lord! This fact was made absolutely clear to the women who went to the borrowed tomb to anoint and wrap Jesus' body properly for burial. It had been three days since they had watched him die upon the cross, bearing the death of a common criminal when he was blameless and perfect in every way. He bore this death and shame for us, to pay the penalty for our transgressions. He bore it for the very soldiers who nailed him to that cross.

Is this what you are reminded of when you think of Easter? Are you reminded of our Lord's passion and sacrifice? Are you concentrated on the hideous death he bore unjustly for you? Too often I think we as Christians get the mission of Jesus upside down. Do we not realize that Christmas is nothing more than the promise of Easter? If not for Easter, there would have been no reason for Jesus to come to Earth to live as one of us.

We go all out for Christmas. There are presents and parties and special services. Christmas has many special songs associated with it. Other than Easter Song by Second Chapter of Acts and He's Alive by Don Francisco, how many songs about Easter can you name? No, Easter Parade doesn't count!

Easter doesn't even have a specific day assigned to it like Christmas does. It fluctuates according to the cycle of the moon since it is set for the first full moon after Passover. This seems strange to me. Don't I recall reading in Matthew 26 that Jesus and his disciples had a passover Seder together and that Jesus was taken by the priests and pharisees that very night and he was put to death the very next day? If Pasoch (or Passover)is specifically set as the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Aviv, and we know the chronology of the Passion and the Resurrection took three days, then how can Easter be celebrated 14 days after the first full moon to follow Pasoch?

Something else I find disturbing is the ways in which we choose to celebrate our risen Lord. We color eggs which we hide and then seek out, which was a rite of spring followed by those who worshipped Baal and Asherah, his mother. There are images of rabbits everywhere which invokes an Egyptian symbol of spring. Does the phrase "back to Egypt" bother any of you? The argument had been made that the Early Christians could not openly celebrate Jesus, upon pain of death, so their religious leaders found ways to camouflage their celebrations within the pagan celebrations that took place at certain times of year. This tendency to blend in became woven into the calendar and rituals of the early church.

Has anybody else out there thought about why our churches are still trying to help us blend in 2,000 years later when there is nobody out there calling for our blood? Maybe the reason nobody wants to martyr us is that we have been too busy blending in to be a "city on a hill"! We are no threat to the evil that so corrupts our world so we have been left alone. So we color eggs and eat chocolate figures of rabbits. (Isn't the coney, or rabbit, listed as an animal that was considered unclean? And yet we invite a giant rabbit into our churches on what should be the holiest observance on our church calendar!)

We dress up in new clothes we bought specifically for this one day because we need to look especially nice on Easter! We check out what everybody else is wearing. My Mom used to make either Dad or me wash the car for going to church on Easter Sunday.

So, let's tally all this up, shall we? We celebrate the holiest day in our church calendar on the wrong day, dressed like fashion plates, with pagan symbols in a church defiled by unclean creatures all in the name of fitting in with our pagan neighbors. Does that about sum it up? I know some other words that would sum it up. Blasphemy! Apostacy! Idol worship! Are we not told to separate ourselves from the world?

Repent! Now! Return to the ways that we were meant to follow! Seek out the meanings and the guidance in God's Holy Word, which is His love letter to us, His children! It is because we continually refuse to follow the guidance spelled out in the Scriptures that we have come now to the point where what we have built is about to consume us. We are a hairsbreadth from a new Babylonian captivity and this one will make the cruelty of the ones gone before seem tame, indeed. We have one choice and that is to turn back from the things we have done wrong for all this time. Or will we sit back in comfort and stuff ourselves with Easter ham and boiled eggs from which we peel colored shells?

Lord, help us to turn back to you, to follow the way that is right and true! We have wandered like one blind in the wilderness. Help us to see what is right in your eyes and to have the courage to do it! Show us the way in which we should acknowledge the debt you paid for use on the cross of Golgotha. Help us to return to what you would have us be and worship you in holiness! In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen

Update: Good news and Bad News

Good news: I found a way to buy a fishing license.
Bad news: It seems like every time there is nice enough weather for me to get out there, my wife becomes otherwise occupied and I have to stay here to look after her mother.

Good news: I am developing more of a web presence and more readership for my writings.
Bad news: None of the new readers are subscribing, either, and my computer no longer recognizes my digital camera so I can't add any pictures of my exploits anyway.

Good news: I found out that all that was wrong with the camera I inherited from my Dad was that it needed a new battery for the shutter mechanism.
Bad news: The camera my wife bought on ebay turned out to be a hunk of junk so now she is using mine for her next photography class so she can have one camera loaded with color and one with black and white film.

Good news: I was invited to send in a resume` and application for a job with Northrup Grumman.
Bad news: I didn't get it.

I feel like David when he was on the run from King Saul. Every time he thought he was making some headway, the king went nuts and tried to kill him again. I know that the Lord is my rock and my deliverer and that His timing is perfect. Still it is difficult to wait when His timing seems to be taking longer than I may have left. I know I am effectively saying, "Lord, give me patience now!" I guess what I should be saying is, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!

It is difficult to remember at such times as these that the major portion of The Holy Bible was written about such circumstances as these and worse. Were it not for such trials, how would the miraculous power of God manifest itself?

It reminds me of a story Jerry Clower used to tell about a man on a trip through the mountains on a mule. The trail became steep and narrow and the mule stumbled causing the man to fall off. He caught hold of a bush growing from the side of the cliff and started to call for help. He did not know that there was another trail only a few feet below him that could not be seen from the upper trail and there was a man traveling on it. The other man positioned himself to catch the man hanging from the bush as the hanging man said, "Oh, God! If you're up there, please help me." The man on the lower trail called out in a voice that echoed around, "Brother, have faith and turn a'loose!" The voice had echoed so much that the hanging man couldn't tell from which direction it had come. He thought a minute and asked, "Is there anybody else up there?"

Lord, help me to find the things I need to turn loose of so that I can find the help that I need. I know that you can see the problem far more clearly than I could ever possibly see it. I'm trusting you and I know you are there to catch me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

How is the economic downturn affecting me? Don't ask!

Recently I heard someone on TV asking people on the street how the economic downturn is affecting them. I've been thinking about that question a lot lately. The biggest way it has been getting to me is my current inability to even afford a 2009 fishing license. It's seriously depressing.

I'm a guy who uses fishing as a way to decompress and de-stress myself. Ironically now, during one of the most stressful periods I have ever endured, I am unable to access the therapeutic benefits of the Mad River, which I could walk to rather than burn any gas. However, there are far too many people and companies standing around with their hands out for me to even begin to think about spending $20 on something that most people see as pure recreation, i.e. dodging work.

I suppose I could try the ways other people decompress. Just how many times can one person count to ten in a given day without going absolutely balmy? I suppose if I get really good at it, I could put on a black cape and a monocle and try to get a job on a children's show. Oh, wait! They just laid off 70 people. Yoga is just not my cup of tea, and nobody wants to see a 51-year old fat white guy doing a downward facing dog anyway! Golf? Talk about expensive, and I thought the idea was to de-stress!

I think I know what I'll do. I'll talk my wife into having a bunch more children and then we can make a decent living going on all the talk shows and news shows that thrive on that sort of thing. But maybe not. I never did care for catching bottom feeders!

When life gives you invasive species, make lemonade

I have what I think is a great idea about what to do with the invasive species that are threatening various waterways in the continental USA. From Asian Silver Carp on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to snakeheads in Chesapeake Bay and in Florida I have a great solution. Turn them all into cat food.

I mean it. Especially where the Silver Carp are concerned, this has become a serious safety hazard that is impeding the ability of American citizens to use our waterways. Why are we standing for it? Put together a boat reminiscent of Patrick F. McManus' grasshopper trap and take it for a spin in any of the most highly infested areas. Those silver missiles will soon be filling up the nets on the front of the boat. They'll be volunteering for the Friskies plant!

Furthermore, this will generate jobs during this period when they are greatly needed. People will be needed to crew the boats and process the fish so that Fluffy and Furball can get their daily morsels. When 700 people are showing up to apply for a janitor position at a school in Cleveland, I doubt you'll have trouble finding enough hands.

Of course the snakeheads will be a little more difficult, but the Florida DNR says they are somewhat being held in check by competition from the local bass, tarpon and snook anyway! They shouldn't be that hard to eradicate with an occasional snakehead tourney where none of the fish are returned to the water. They could be sent instead to the cat food factory or, in view of the fact that they are said to be pretty fair food for humans, they could be cleaned and sent to local homeless shelters. For that matter, have homeless person free fishing days where the only fish kept are snakeheads! We'll show those fish who the fittest ones are! Snakehead fillets, anyone?

Gebhard Woods State Park, Morris, Illinois

Gebhard Woods State Park, Morris, Illinois

This little park is a true gem in the world of overlooked fishing. It is nestled in the far southwestern corner of Morris, Illinois. Founded as a state park in 1934 after the land was bought from Mrs. William Gebhard for $1,500, Gebhard Woods boasts three ponds that were formerly used for rearing gamefish. The other fishable waters are sections of the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal and Nettle Creek.

My experience was that the ponds almost always produced very few fish that were miniscule and hard to come by. However, Nettle Creek and the canal could almost always be counted on to produce at least a few fish that would put a little bend in the pole.

Nettle Creek is a very small freestone stream very typical of the type found in Northeastern Illinois. Its native species include rock bass, bluegills, crappies, largemouth and smallmouth bass, carp, bullhead, channel catfish, suckersand northern pike, all of which I caught at one time or another within Gebhard Woods. The bass react most readily to #5 Rapalas, in blue/silver, black/silver or black/gold, #1 or #2 Mepps Black Furys, dressed, #1 or #2 Mepps Aglia Silver dressed, and Heddon Tiny Torpedos. Add in a red/white Darevdevil Spinnie, a Tiny Trap in shad colors, a Rebel Wee Craw Floater and some 1/8 oz beetle spins and you are well outfitted for most of the species in Nettle Creek. Flies that work well are poppers in sizes 10 thru 2, Muddler Minnows in the same sizes, olive/black or brown Wooly Buggers, Grey Ghost and Mickey Finn streamers. Shad are occasionally caught on beadhead caddis or Copper Johns in sizes 12 and 14.

Nettle Creek is hole fishing at its finest. You need to be able to read the water to determine clarity and the best angle to work your lure into for a good presentation. The one exception to this is a fairly deep section downstream from the footbridge to the I&M Canal aqueduct at the eastern end of the park. This is the section that, not surprisingly, yields the largest fish. It is also the section that turns out most of the northern pike. It is also in this section that Thistle Creek flows into Nettle Creek. There is often good fishing at this confluence and up Thistle Creek for a short distance. The best rock bass hole by far is found by casting under the I&M Canal aqueduct. Rock bass over a half pound have been taken from there on small crankbaits, Mepps spinners, beetle spins and swimtail grubs.

The I&M Canal is a leftover from the days of towpath barges such as the ones employed on the more famous Erie Canal. The fish that reside in this canal come there by natural recruitment from the water sources that feed into the canal. The list of species that reside in the canal is identical to that found in Nettle Creek, with the substitution of flathead catfish for northern pike.

The fishing in the I&M Canal is more seasonal than that in Nettle Creek and more predictable in some ways. For one thing, the smallmouth bass in the I&M Canal are partial to yellow. They like yellow-bodied 1/8 oz beetle spins, yellow #5 Rapalas and Mickey Finns, especially in late March and early April before the spawn. The largemouth bass are partial to darker colors. Before the spawn, work fat crankbaits or large tube jigs in dark colors slowly around any visible structure. Post-spawn they like spinnerbaits and rubber worms that are purple, dark brown, dark blue or black with silver blades. These are especially effective on casts parallel to shore along the many undercut banks. Muddler Minnows and Zonkers in size 8 to 2 will take either largemouths or smallmouths if you insist on using the long rod for more of a challenge. The crappies, bluegills and rock bass in the canal like their lures somewhat smaller than those in Nettle Creek. Move down to 1/16 or even 1/32 oz grubs and throw size 0 Roostertail or Mepps spinners. The size 0 Mepps MinnoSpin is often deadly for crappies here.

Warning: People will try to tell you there are no gamefish in the I&M Canal. Just smile and nod and keep casting! They may think you odd, but you’ll be having far more fun than them.

The best time to fish the waters of Gebhard Woods is at dawn and dusk. This is a high-traffic park and fish are sensitive to their exposure during the brightest parts of the day. You will also have to adjust less for bicyclists, joggers, strollers, yapping dogs and howling kids if you fish at sunrise and sunset. Another great time to go to Gebhard Woods is when a nice thunderstorm is blowing in, although you need to fish Nettle Creek if there is any threat of lightning, since it lies far lower than the canal. There is a trail down to the creek from the canal at the aqueduct, but I would advise using it before it has rained very long. A nice, gentle rain should find you casting spinners on the canal since the smallmouth go on sprees in the rain. If you can get a gentle rain at dusk, try a black shore minnow Zara Spook cast parallel to the cutbanks and hang on to your pole tight.

So there you have it! You should be able to get started catching fish at Gebhard Woods State Park. Drop me a line or leave a comment here and let me know how it went for you!

Fishing Underappreciated Waters

Sometimes the best fishing is right under everybody else’s nose

I must confess that I have a guilty pleasure. I love to catch fish in places other people tell me there are no fish. I’ve done it so many times in so many places that I thought I should share some of my best tips on how to do it.

1. Look for small water
This may seem counter-intuitive but I find it to be the first and best step for finding fish quickly. Put quite simply, my logic is this: the less water you have to search, the quicker you will find the fish!

I recall one particular fishing trip that illustrated this point perfectly. A friend of mine and I were staying in Laurel, Maryland while we attended a school at Fort Meade. We had tried some local fishing holes with varying success. One day I mentioned to the front desk clerk that we were looking for a new place to go and he said the only other water near there was the Little Patuxent River, which at that point was really more of a creek.

We followed his directions and found ourselves at a city park that had a swimming pool. After parking at the end of the sloping parking lot, I started to get excited because I could hear and smell running water. A little investigation led to a trail which came out by a small but lovely stream under a fresh, leafy canopy. A quick inspection of the stream revealed numerous fishy-looking holes. We had a ball there that day and a couple of other days catching largemouth and smallmouth bass as well as crappies, shad and some nice bluegills. The fish weren’t big, but they were plentiful.

The other nice thing about these smaller waters is the ease of access compared with larger bodies of water. You usually won’t feel left out without a boat or specialized gear. Usually there isn’t anyone around to compare yourself with, so how could you feel you’re doing it wrong?

Little Patuxent River was totally overlooked by the locals as a fishing hole, so it was just waiting for us to come and reap its bounty! While we fished, my buddy and I watched about twenty to thirty people go hiking by on the trail that ran by the river. That brings me to my next point.

2. Look for water the locals pay no attention to
The waters we had the most fun with on that trip were that little river, the pond right by our hotel and a pond at Fort Meade where everyone went for picnics. While everyone else was hiking, jogging, picnicking, riding bikes, playing Frisbee, reading books or whatever, my buddy and I were catching fish, often right under the very noses of the locals. More than once I’ve had locals tell me there were no bass where I was fishing. I would smile and nod while feeling the telltale tap. Then I’d wait for the line to come taut as the bass ran with the rubber worm and set the hook. After a short fight, I would display the bass to the dumbfounded onlookers, put it back in the water and make another cast.

3. Use light tackle
Most of the fish you are going to get from waters that are overlooked are going to be smaller than average. That’s part of the reason these waters are overlooked. However, there are usually quite a few of these smaller fish. You can accentuate the excitement you get from these smaller fish by using light to ultralight tackle. My favorite outfit for this type of fishing is a spinning rig with a 7 foot rod and 4 lb test line. It handles rubber worms well when they are rigged without weights as well as small lipless crankbaits and inline spinners.

There is something else I need to say here about gear. In some of these places, you will see people fishing and not catching anything. Before you take their examples to heart, check out how they are set up. My experience tells me they are using rigs much too heavy for the fish in that particular location and they are probably sitting still soaking a worm on their hook and soaking themselves with beer.

I recall two cases vividly that illustrate this point. One was in Nebraska at Two Rivers State Park. I had been fishing with my family at the put-and-take trout lake there and had filled the maximum of two tags of four trout each. We were getting ready to leave and an elderly gentleman who had been fishing nearby approached me. He asked me if I could help him because I seemed like I knew what I was doing. I asked to see his rig and immediately deduced why he was fishless. On 8 lb test line, he had a #4 galvanized steel hook with two cocktail marshmallows impaled on it and a quarter ounce bass casting sinker for weight.

I asked if he would mind if I re-rigged his outfit. He said no. I took off his large hook and the large weight. I dug a #10 salmon egg hook out of my vest and tied it on his line. I added a 1/32 oz split shot about 18 inches above the hook. Then I took his jar of salmon eggs and showed him how to roll an egg onto the hook to completely hide the hook. I then handed the rod back to him. He took one look at the rig and said, "I won't be able to cast this very far with that little weight." I told him he wouldn't need to cast far. He made a cast that might have traveled 25 feet. I told him to wait for the sinker to hit bottom. I showed him how to gently lift the rod and told him to watch the line for any twitches just as I saw his line twitch sharply to the left. I showed him how to lower the rod to give the fish some line and then how to set the hook. He fought the fish and landed a nice 15-inch rainbow.

The other memorable incident was a young guy at Tule Springs on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the same basic setup. He had been soaking bait all day and catching nothing while I fished next to him and caught my limit of stocked rainbows. He asked me what he was doing wrong and I asked to see his rig. He had a #2 heavy wire hook with a 3/8 oz weight and he was using nightcrawlers. I took off his hardware and took the spoon off my line and tied it on his.

I showed him where to cast and told him to wait until the spoon hit bottom. Then I had him jump the spoon off the bottom and reel it in slowly. He had only turned the handle three times when his pole bent and he was fast to a nice rainbow, which he played and landed. The point to both of these stories is that someone with a line in the water doesn't necessarily know how to catch fish. Knowing how to fish and how to catch fish are different things entirely.

4. Stay mobile
Avoid taking too much gear! Keep it simple and make sure it all fits in a small box you can put in your pocket! Better yet, invest in a fishing vest! There is no substitute for mobility in this kind of fishing. You need to keep moving until you find the fish. Then you can rest your tired dogs while you give your arms a workout.

5. Don’t get hung up on one kind of fish
I fish primarily for bass and trout on these forays but I have also caught crappies, bluegills, white bass, stripers, pickerel, pike and perch and had a riot doing it. Staying flexible has turned many days from disasters to wonderful memories. There’s only one more thing you need to remember.

6. Have fun and watch the locals go nuts!
This is what makes fishing overlooked water a guilty pleasure for me. I just can’t seem to stop getting a thrill out of the sound a local “expert’s” jaw makes as it hits the ground when I show them the 3-pound bass I got from the pond that supposedly has no bass. It’s just too much fun!

When I start thinking I'm being a bit too evil with all of this, I think about how the other fishermen in the boats on the Sea of Galilee must have felt when they saw Peter and his buddies throwing their net on the right side of the boat. It must have been quite a shock to them to see someone doing it wrong and yet catching all those fish. Seems like being flexible is a good way to go, now doesn't it?

You’ll know what I mean when it happens for you. Sound off and let us know how you did!

The 153 Fishing Ministry

This blog is a site for Christian fishermen to share what they know about fishing and about living Christian lives. The title comes from John 21:11 after Jesus showed Himself as the very first fishing guide. Please help me contribute to this site and I will ask only two things of you. First, remember we are Christians here so there should be no foul language, personal attacks or anything else inappropriate. That goes for lying, as well, fellow anglers. Second, don't be stingy with your knowledge! As you will see, I am going to name places and tactics without regard to any other consequences. I believe that our current crop of young people are losing all interest in the outdoors and we must do all we can to bring them back to it in whatever way we can. With that said, I would like to begin with a prayer.

God, grant me strength to catch a fish, so large that, even I, when telling of it afterwards, may never need to lie! Amen