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St. Mary's Lake, 3/18

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  • St. Mary's Lake, 3/18

    I hit St. Mary's Lake for a few hours with kevinfry to try and catch my March fish. We launched around 9:30 and started poking around our usual spots for crappie, pickerel, yellow perch, and bass. Our first stop and usual trolling spots didn't produce, so we headed toward another spot that has been good to us this time of year. I caught my first fish of the day, a small bass, nearby:



    While the bass was small, it had the brightest red eyes I've ever seen on a fish besides a rock bass (aka "redeye"). I couldn't really get a photo that captured the color accurately:



    At the next spot, I caught a hammer-handle pickerel:



    And one that was a little bigger:



    I think there's something wrong with my net because that fish was easily 20-22 inches before it went into the net. Clearly, the net knocked off 4 or 5 inches. I also caught a smaller one that I released at the boat (totally intentionally ).

    Kevin also caught a pickerel, a crappie, and something else interesting that I'll let him explain.

    All my fish were caught on a firetiger PowerBait minnow grub (i.e., curly tail minnow) with an 1/8oz jig head. The fish were in areas where there was a 5-7ft channel near a 3-4ft flats, and I'd alternately cast from the channel to the flats or along the channel. The real trick was to stop reeling when the lure was about 6-7ft away, let it drop to the bottom, and jig it a few times. The bass and the hammer handle hit while jigging, and the other two pickerel hit as soon as I stopped reeling. The water temp ranged from 44.7 to about 46.7 depending on where we were, but some of that might've resulted from my kayak heating up when the sun came out. In all, it was a nice trip, and I enjoyed the sunshine.
    Yellow Hobie Revo Rube Goldberg
    Yellow Tarpon 120

  • #2
    Man, a nice outing and it's finally warming up some. Much needed pics of "fish' and warm weather to get us thru this last cold stretch. Thanks for a fun report.

    Yak67
    2017 Hobie PA-12 Camo
    2016 Hobie Outback LE#217

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    • #3
      As Bill hinted, it was a good but strange day for me.....weather was so awesome I was having a good time even though I was not catching.

      I did eventually catch a crappie and clipped him on one of the top clips of my 6ft stringer

      later, trolling down the the creek channel, i lost another fish. As I was screwing around trying to get back in the channel, I dumped my micro light pole into the lake. Bill and tried dragging the bottom, but the thick weed growth on the bottom left us unsuccessful....we went back to fishing.
      Eventually I caught a pickerel and Bill caught his amazing shrinking pickerel and one other. As Bill slipped out of his hot spot, i tried to slide into it. But my yak stalled, the long stringer had snagged on something on the bottom........you guessed it. My microlite!
      Now that is a good day.

      Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk
      Last edited by kevinfry; 03-18-2017, 08:50 PM.
      14.5 ft Sand colored Malibu X-Factor "the promise"
      2010 Hobie Outback "the Gift Horse II"

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      • #4
        Nice Gents! Hoping to come down your way this year! Will send a PM when I do ☺️
        -Mustafa
        ابو مسقوف AbuMasgouf (Aboo-Mas-goof ): Fish Roast Papa
        2016 Hobie Outback
        2012 Hobie Revolution 13
        "Be humble to whomever you learn from and whomever you teach."-- Imam al-Sadiq (as)

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        • #5
          Originally posted by AbuMasgouf View Post
          Nice Gents! Hoping to come down your way this year! Will send a PM when I do ☺️
          please do...and post your adventures! I miss your mouth watering fish cookery!
          14.5 ft Sand colored Malibu X-Factor "the promise"
          2010 Hobie Outback "the Gift Horse II"

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          • #6
            Originally posted by kevinfry View Post
            please do...and post your adventures! I miss your mouth watering fish cookery!
            LOL! I will definitely oblige [emoji6]
            -Mustafa
            ابو مسقوف AbuMasgouf (Aboo-Mas-goof ): Fish Roast Papa
            2016 Hobie Outback
            2012 Hobie Revolution 13
            "Be humble to whomever you learn from and whomever you teach."-- Imam al-Sadiq (as)

            Comment


            • #7
              Not sure if I could get a nugget off that crappie Glad they were biting, it was a beautiful day down here. I'll have to check the regs to see how many hooks on a stringer are allowed to determine if your pole was a legal catch.
              Mike
              Pro Angler 14 "The Grand Wazoo"

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Big Mike View Post
                Not sure if I could get a nugget off that crappie Glad they were biting, it was a beautiful day down here. I'll have to check the regs to see how many hooks on a stringer are allowed to determine if your pole was a legal catch.

                oh, i can do wonders with a filet knife, mike,......but after he dredged up my pole for me I thanked him by letting him go
                14.5 ft Sand colored Malibu X-Factor "the promise"
                2010 Hobie Outback "the Gift Horse II"

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                • #9
                  ictalurus, kevinfry,

                  That's a great report and fine reading on a snowy morning.

                  Thanks for the photos and describing your techniques.

                  I'm envious because yesterday I joined 4 others on Wye Mills Lake. I had hoped we would have similar success as you. We did not. We got skunked despite tossing flies and lures for 3 hours. We covered the entire lake, from the flats in the back to every downed tree on the shoreline. I got a few bumps on a spinner bait in the flats but nothing close to a hookup.

                  The bite was so poor two guys tossing live minnows gave up and left before my compatriots and I did.

                  I did snag this unfortunate guy as I lifted my fly line from the water to make another cast. I took it for an aerial experience it will never forget:

                  P1010667.jpg

                  That was the only fish we saw at Wye Mills yesterday.

                  I'm glad your day was better.
                  Mark
                  Pasadena, MD


                  Slate Hobie Revolution 13
                  Hidden Oak Native Ultimate 12
                  Lizard Lick Native Ultimate FX Pro

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                  • #10
                    Thanks, guys. It had been a frustrating couple of weeks without fishing, so this trip was the perfect cure.

                    Mark--that cracked me up. I've launched many a minnow while fishing dry flies for brookies. I wonder if they became adrenaline-junkies after that--feeding in deeper water, seeing how close they can get to the alpha trout, etc.
                    Yellow Hobie Revo Rube Goldberg
                    Yellow Tarpon 120

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                    • #11
                      It is very nice to see your reports, Bill.
                      I remember that you inspired me in kayak-fishing.

                      Joe
                      Fish like there's no tomorrow.
                      Youtube UserID: ComeOnFish01 (Over 300 kayak fishing videos in mid-Atlantic (DE, MD & VA)
                      https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKb...JtmNcSJBi2Sazg

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                      • #12
                        Yay! Spring must be here! Trip reports with great write ups and photos from Bill! Nice going guys!

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                        • #13
                          Is it too soon to comment on Bill's new hat? I dig it. Good to see a fishing/catching report.

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                          • #14
                            Nice story! Always a great feeling to recover equipment successfully. My daughter attended a writer's workshop at St. Mary's last year and I really wanted to venture in to the lake to see what was biting. After reading your story and viewing the pictures I'm sure that there is a trip in my near future.
                            Gregory
                            ​Ain't Misbehavin'
                            2014 Pro Angler 12
                            '

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                            • #15
                              Come on down! There are a lot of guys who are better at catching fish at St Mary's lake than me.....Big Mike for instance....but I always enjoy it.

                              Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk
                              14.5 ft Sand colored Malibu X-Factor "the promise"
                              2010 Hobie Outback "the Gift Horse II"

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