19 October Catching

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.

Caturday

No skunks today - but it was close... I went fishing off the SUP at Algonkian Park. I caught a largish Green Sunfish shortly after paddling out - always good to get the skunk off quick. Then I paddled and fished, paddled and fished, paddled and fished some more but did no catching for nearly two hours. I saw some small mouth and large mouth, some carp and several catfish, but no takers. The seasons are definitely changing and the bite is slowing down. The fish are still pretty active and the water is still warm - they are just behaving different - no longer killing the poppers on top. Finally, as I was on my way back in, I saw some smaller catfish - I tried getting them to take an orange/brown clouser minnow, but they weren't going to be fooled. After fumbling around trying to get a Gulp Cricket on the hook, I finally got a cast out to a sleeping (or lazy) Channel Cat. Despite all my noise, fumbling and general crappy fishing, I got the cricket out on a line that would connect with the fish. I had to pull the bait right in front of it's mouth before it even moved - but move it did, in the right direction and after all the expended energy today - I watched the lazy cat slowly wiggle two inches to put the bait in it's mouth. It woke up after that - and after wrestling with it for a few minutes, I had the cat up on deck. Not a small catfish. I thought that maybe I'd bring this one home - but changed my mind and let it swim away none the worse. Get out there and catch while the fish are still willing.

Channel Catfish Have Gotten Bigger

Late post - I spent part of the last bit of the long Labor Day weekend fishing at Goose Creek (again). I brought the St Croix Ultralight spinning rod and the Orvis Helios 5wt to try my luck. I was able to catch a bunch of the resident Green Sunfish casting to the dropoffs, shelves and rocky outcroppings. I saw a few carp, bass and large channel cats, but they would look at my flies and turn away (yes - I have tied better). After a bit, I switched to the spinning rod and tied on a size 8, 1/32 ounce Trout Slayer jighead and placed a Gulp Cricket on the hook. As I waded back upstream, I saw a huge boil of fish. I looked for a little bit and it turned out the school was composed of catfish. I cast into the school and the cats went into a feeding frenzy. I ended up hooking five or so of these guys. If you go back on this blog a few months, you'll see this same school but the individuals were much smaller. Another few weeks and I suppose these fish will go down river as the temperatures begin to fall. That means I need to get back there this weekend and catch them some more ;)