I paddled out at Algonkian Regional Park on the Potomac River again for my weekend fishing expedition. I brought a lightweight spinning setup, an ultralight, and the Orvis Helios 5wt. There is an island to the West of the launch, and one to the East. For the three times I've been paddling here, I've always gone upstream (West) - logic being on the way back in when I am tired, I can drift with the current. No change in direction this time either - but I did paddle on the Northern side of the island. The current was stronger on the Northern side, but still not overpowering. I saw a few channel cats taking chunks out of a dead carp - I took a few casts at them, but they saw me and bolted. I paddled right over some huge carp that were rooting around the weed beds - I was too close to make a cast... Finally I saw a channel cat nose into the current, lined up looking for food to drift by. I cast a Gulp Cricket on a small jig head hook and watched the cat chomp on it. It tugged well on the ultralight rod, but if the rod were any stiffer, the cat would have been dead weight. Pretty lethargic for a medium sized cat. Kinda skinny too. I saw a few more carp and cats swimming around, but go no response from any casts. I made it around the island and started casting in the crosscurrent. Using the lightweight spinning rod, I hooked up with a little small mouth - it put on a good airshow jumping several times before I got it on the board. Nice fish! I cast back into the same area and got a hit from an even bigger small mouth! Multiple jumps and a few runs from this one!!! I started my drift down stream back to the launch - I stopped fishing because there were two jet skis ripping back and forth across the river. Nevermind the canoes, kayaks and jonboats fishing in the area - they could have gone just a few hundred yards to the West and there would have been clear and open water - but they were clueless. Sharing is good so it was a good time to leave anyways - and on a good note with three fish caught and released.
Check out this article from the NY Times - very cool format to include different types of media and integrate it with a story. I wish I had the job that these Filipino Marines currently hold - minus the being away from family part.
Oh - and I used to butterfly fish like this all the time when I was a kid. Cut off the fins, scale, split down the middle, rip out the guts and gills, soak in a solution of vinegar/pepper/garlic then set out in the sun to dry. When you are ready to eat some, fry them in a skillet of hot oil and enjoy with rice (kanin).
Take a few minutes to read the article
