Johnsfolly

Thanks Pete. I was planning to get out there in April/May but COVID derailed those plans😒.

About a month after they started lifting the lock down in Maryland, I wanted to try to get on a new darter species to achieve another of my 2020 goals. Most darters were going to be on the other side of the bay. We hadn't been over the Bay bridge since the first week in Mar. Now it is the middle of June. I picked out a couple of spots on the Patapsco and Patuxent/Little Patuxent rivers to try for the tessellated darter that would also have some interesting things for all of us to do as a family. We got the first park and it was closed. I was confused since they had opened up the parks and fishing areas. Well it turned out that they were full and not letting in new folks. We went and found another park that was full. I then headed to a section of the Patuxent river and it was running higher and faster than I felt would be good wading for us to actually be able to fish darters effectively. Finally got to a spot at Savage Park that we would have access to the Little Patuxent river. We got the microfishing gear ready and went down to the river. We had a large family downstream of us. The kids wanted to see what we were doing and they waded through a hole where Livie wanted to fish. That didn't go over well. The dad told the kids to stay away from us. We had another family or two upstream from us. So we were pinned in on a 50 yard section of river only. Fortunately I did see a darter in the first hole. It spooked and swam a bit upstream, but still within my reach. I put the bait in front of the fish and it just was not interested . It finally had enough and swam to a spot that I could no longer see it. I did notice something moving between two rocks. I put my bait in the gap and it turned and pulled the line into the gap. I set the hook on my first Maryland madtom! It was also a new lifer species for me as well, a margined madtom. We tried several more pools to try to get Livie on one, but didn't see another. My wife was getting interest in her baits, but no fish landed. We put on a smaller sized hook. I caught the first fish in the pool that she fished, the first river chub of the day. Then Livie landed one and then Sue got revenge on that fish that was going after her bait earlier. No new darters, a little tired of the people, but we had a great day finally getting out of the house and work. We'll have to get back out again after those darters and madtoms!

Thanks Rick. I feel the same way buddy. I can't wait until we can fish together again. Even if it may just be for trout !

On our way out to Missouri to see our kids and granddaughter I wanted to hit one of the spillways in Illinois to try to catch a yellow bass. The yellow bass, Morone mississipiensis, is the last temperate bass species that I still have to catch. I had been reading some fishing blogs from Shelbyville and they were catching yellow bass as well as smallmouth buffalo. Armed with nightcrawlers and canned corn (also some of my daughter's rabbit food), I set out to see what I could catch. I dumped out most of the corn and the rabbit food in a spot along the concrete wall and fished a fish finder rig (1/2oz egg sinker and #10 hook) with two corn kernels. I loosened the drag to allow any fish to run with the bait and not feel tension. Then I fished a 1/16 oz jig with a piece of nightcrawler. The first fish was a green sunfish. Excited to land that first fish, but not a yellow bass . As I caught and released my second bluegill, my corn rod was screaming off line. I tightened the drag and felt the fish. I thought that I set the hook, but also felt that the fish had wrapped me up on some structure that I could not see. I could feel the weight of the fish as well as the line rubbing the structure, then it broke off. I retied another rig and got it out to the same location. I did not like fishing where there was a big piece of structure, but that was where I had put my chum . I had several small bites with the fish picking up the and spitting the bait. I got one more decent bite and the fish got me back in that same structure and broke me off again. Meanwhile, I was having no love from the yellow bass on the jig. I did catch a few more bluegill and this really colorful central longear sunfish. I was done trying for carp and buffalo and switched that rod over to a bottom rig with a hook right on the bottom. I got bit as soon as the bait hit the bottom, but was just a small channel catfish. I tried close to the bank and near the center of the river and just got more bluegill and catfish. I added a second hook to make a high/low rig. More of the same. I did get one different bite and the fish came in with a yellowish coloration, just a black crappie. We also moved close to the dam, more bluegill. I made one super long cast up near the dam and had a strong fish hit. I landed my largest fish of the day, another channel catfish. About that time a storm was coming in. We got back to the car just as it started to rain heavily. I'm wondering that without much flow that the yellow bass may be more scattered along the river and not bunched up by the dam. May not have caught my targeted species but all in all a good time fishing. I'll see if I can get another shot on our return trip to MD.

Brushpiles and artificial reefs in a marine environment do concentrate fish, which means that they would be a spot where overharvest could take place. However, it does seem that with sufficient efforts to add to the number of piles and reefs, that there is a net positive on the number of juvenile fish that utilize those areas as well and increase adult recruitment. There is a guy in Ocean City that over the years has dumped tens of thousands of cinder and large concrete blocks to create new reef structure. Now he claims to not fish those spots. He also has diver footage of establishment of soft corals and grasses on those piles. I would think that the brushpiles in LOZ does the same thing and ultimately is a net positive to recruitment for species like crappie, bluegill, and bass.

As promising as this new route appeared to be, I decided to just keep going straight ! This happened to us as we were heading to Lake Shelbyville.

Looks great Ness. I used to velvet chicken all the time, then just stopped doing it. Not sure now why, maybe due to the extra pot to clean or time. I would make something similar to this dish, but have straw mushrooms in the mix. Was one of my daughter's favorites.

As much as I complain about work or not being able to fish for over a month back when we were locked down in MD, my wife still is by ny side. My daughter still fishes with me on a regular basis. Finally have been able to see our granddaughter here in KS. Though she isn't sure about grandpa yet. Slowly completing a few of my fishing goals this year. More will be posted about those endeavors.

If it's the two of you 10 layers should keep you in eggs all the time. We have four layers and get over a dozen eggs a week. We eat only about 4 to 6 eggs a week for the three of us. If they weren't more like pets, a couple would be stock 🤔.

That's the style fermenter we use. Sue wants to stop at Zanesville pottery on way back to MD for a bigger size. Still just making kraut. Looked into kimchi but didn't have the cabbage we wanted at that time.

Great looking Tiramisu. It's how I rate Italian restaurants. Dumplings used to be my rating system for Chinese restaurants but most no longer make their own.

What do you call a rooster looking at romaine lettuce? A seesa salad😆

While leaving a garage sale the guy in front of me dropped the Scrabble game that he had brought. I had to ask him "Hey buddy what's the word on the street?"

My dog ate all of the letters from our Scrabble game. He's been leaving us little messages all around the house.

What did the Tin man say after he was run over by a steam roller? Rats foiled again🤣

Sounds great. Unfortunately we are in MO the next two weeks. Won''t be able to be back at end of July. Oct might be tough as we'll. Would love to fish with some of the Taney regulars. Fished a couple times with @JestersHK which is always fun. Also fishing with @duckydoty is a great time ss well.

Sounds like good times! See any skipjack herring chasing your baits in the higher water?

We have been doing better the last two weeks on numbers, but we only keep a dozen of do when we go out. Size hasn't been great with most just meeting or over limit. Lots of pots out in the bay lately. Processing houses are having issues getting crabs processed due to deep cuts in worker visas.

Bluegill and green sunfish crosses that I am used to have those big mouths. I know thay I have some bluegill and green hybrid photos myself. I'll look and see if I have any lomgear hybrid photos.

A good garlic slaw on a Carolina style pulled pork sandwich is delicious . Got my mouth watering now just thinking about one.

I recognize that book

I don't have any good skills! Numchuk skills Bowhunting skills Computer hacking skills. Girls only want boys that have skills. Watching it now.

Shucked by Livie. Followed by a mixed green and arugula salad. Venison loins steaks and beets.

Maybe I have to see it again. I just don't remember much about it other than getting hit with meat .

Catching more aquarium fish ! Nice!