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Redfish!

I had to go to Orlando for a business trip during the week after Thanksgiving.  Every time I go on a trip that extends to Thursday or Friday, I immediately evaluate the opportunity to extend that trip into a local fishing expedition.  In this case, I decided to take vacation and go down a few

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4×4 and Fishing

The lure of open spaces, the challenge of getting there, a good set of bumps and the excitment of going off road; what could be better?  The challenge is that you don’t know where you can legally take that 4×4 you invested in fixing up, so you content yourself with just driving to the standard parking areas

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Surf Fishing – Outer Banks, NC

It’s winter.  I’m cold.  I want sun. This summer, my son’s wedding was a destination wedding.  The bride’s family normally does a reunion on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, so they decide to wrap the wedding into that annual event.  The basswife, who is a beach lover from way, way back, instantly ratified that

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Catch and Don’t Release

For trout, I’m a catch and release kind of guy.  I’ll eat any walleye that’s legal and keep a bass or two if they are larger than 15 inches, but trout have generally been off limits.  For one, they are a hassle to cook – have plenty of bones – and the ones I catch

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Heat Packs

Against my better judgment, I saw a quick opportunity to go fishing in late December.  The weather had warmed up and was pushing 50 degrees, so I figured it would not be tooooo miserable out there.  Besides, even if I could just do a recon in anticipation of fairer weather, I would be a winner

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Idea? Crappie Crossover?

I was wandering around, totally unsupervised by the Basswife, in Gander Mountain the other day and saw the Crappie section.  I was struck by the fact that there were a wide variety of plastics specifically targeted for this species.  They are small, interesting and, most of all, fishable on a fly rig. In the picture

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Other – Guidance on Guides

I’m not much of a fisherman today, but I shudder to think about how bad I would really be without the timely advice and mentoring I have had from a few guides.  My inventory of guides is not really long – maybe 6 or 7 different individuals.  All provided me great advice and instruction while

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Trout Tip – Garden Shears

Well, I think I’ve gone through a second pair of waders in as many years.  It’s my own fault as I did not follow the tip I am about to share.  But… I’ve learned my lesson and will heed this advice next spring. When I was fishing on Dog Creek, the guide (Steve Bertrand) and I

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Other – Up or Downstream?

With high anticipation, you make the final turn to bounce along the rough road leading to the parking area at the stream.  As you wheel around the last curve and enter the lot, you realize you have one of two problems: There are one or two cars already there The parking lot is jammed In

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Equipment – FRS Radios

When I go fishing with other folks, I like to share the experience and swap tips on what to use, the fish being caught, when to eat lunch and when to link up at the car.  In many places, the rush of running water drowns out conversation even when you are standing only 20 yards

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Other – Whitewater Sites

Even with all the public information on places to go, there is sometimes doubt and confusion about exactly where to go, how to get access and where to park.  The various State DNR sites are great sources of information – I know I rarely go back to the same place for trout twice in a

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Equipment – Wading Staff

If you are even just thinking about going to the North Branch or the Yawk or even the Potomac up by Harper’s Ferry… or even Big Hunting Creek or the Pedlar, or Owens… or … well… I could just go on. I am amazed by those people whose sense of balance matches their leg strength

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Equipment – Gravel Guards

Wear your gravel guards.  I never really appreciated this item of equipment before I ran into trouble in the gravel strewn and soft sand riverbed of the Pataspco up off Marriottsville road.  It was a hot summer day when I drove up there to check it out (I’ll post the trip report later), and I

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Other – Buzz Off Clothing

I hate bugs.  The worst thing about being on the stream is having to deal with them. I also hate insect repellant. Mostly because once I put on the sunscreen and the poison ivy block, I am reluctant to add another toxic chemical to the mix. Two years ago, I was browsing around and ran

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Other – Dogs vs Bears

Sorry for the inflammatory title, but I always worry about bears.  I’ve had a few encounters with them, so I am very “bear aware”.  As a result of that, I always carry a cannister of bear spray when I am in a bear prone location – like the SNP.  I was fishing on Seneca Creek in Gaithersburg

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New Fly Guy – Basic Strategy

It’s been three months since I started fly fishing, what have I learned about strategies, flies, and the proper fish attack weapons? Here’s where I am (and welcome advice): Rods:  On small water that is covered with trees (Big Hunting Creek, Accotink, Morgan Run), use a 7 foot, 4 wt rod.  On the bigger water

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New Fly Guy – Fly Boxes

When you are a new fly guy, the tendency is to overspend, and get one of everything.  Since that included a whole bunch of flies, I immediately assumed a large box was better.  There are a thousand fly choices that cry out to be matched to a hatch… somewhere… and all need a home. So,

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New Fly Guy – Fishing Vest

Now that I have all this fly stuff, what’s the best way to haul it around? In a previous post, I commented on the type of bag I used for spin gear.  I’ve been using the pouch system shown at the bottom of that posting for the last 6 months with great results.  It’s perfect to

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Equipment – Hybrid Rod

Those of you who have been following this blog know that the trigger that moved me to learn to fly fish was the terrible time I had on Town Creek last fall.  Every leaf in Maryland was floating in the water and every cast with my spin gear snagged one or more leaves.  My brother, on the

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Equipment – Red Hooks

At the Bass Pro Spring Classic, one of the things that Steve Chaconas discussed was using a red treble hook on the middle of your plugs – particularily a top water plug.  This mimics a bit of bleeding and makes the plug appear more wounded and distressed. This last weekend, I took some time to

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Other – You Ticked Off by Ticks?

I hate ticks.  I really hate ’em Is there a more disgusting creature than this?  Please, no mother-in-law feedback. Hopefully, it will warm up here and I’ll be back on the water writing more interesting trip reports shortly.  In the meantime, I decided I needed to review the immediate action drill and other tick related

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Equipment – Standardize!

I’ll have to update this once I settle on a standard for fly fishing – but I’ve got to get smart there first…. Anyway, over the years I’ve bought a huge amount of gear.  Reels would break, rods would break and I would get frustrated.  My initial mistake was sucumbing to the hard-eyed stare of

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Switchfisher Rating System

Now that I have been writing about the various places to fish in the area, I realize that I need some kind of a quick view that summarizes my assessment of the water. The table to the right has the rating categories I am going to start with.  I may add or delete from this

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New Fly Guy – The Cast

After watching the Lessons tape twice, I worked on putting the pointers into practice.  With the great weather we have been having this January, it’s a no brainer to do something that will get you outside. As I mentioned before, I did buy two books: Getting Started in Fly Fishing LL Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing

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Equipment – Spinner Math

Over the years, my spinner formula has boiled down to a success pattern that relied on using either a gold or silver Panther-Martin lure.  Usually, I would fish the gold and my son would fish the silver.  The first of us to start getting results would determine what both of us would use for the

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Sign on the Road

Every time I go through Burlington, West Virginia, I get a kick out of this sign.  While all will appreciate the humor associated with combining two operations that do not normally go together, it’s really a classic example of thinking out of the box.  The very nature of fire and rescue involves plenty of water

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Trout Tip – Dress for Success

This is the time of year when thousands of college kids start their job hunt.  Many of them will heed their mother’s advice – wear clean underwear and dress nice.  For guidance to define “nice”, they will turn to books like Dress for Success or Dress Smart.  Those who take the right advice may find their ability to

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Rant – Pick up the Trash!

I’ve got to vent about trash.  I expect to see some on the major streams as they flow down from built-up areas.  This would typically consist of plastic bottles and some paper stuff.  But when you go to a nice place like Laurel Run on the North Branch and see the garbage shown in these

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Trout Tip – You Stink!

You have probably seen plenty of ads for stuff on the web that, when you click thru, you end up on a pretty cheesy site.  For some reason, I clicked on a link to a site that promised to tell me everything I needed to know about trout fishing.  Being bored, I started to read

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Surf Fishing

If there is one thing that the Basswife likes better than bass fishing, it’s baking on a beach.  Well… there are actually a bunch of things she likes better, but beaching is way up there. So, when my friend Jeff and his wife Maria invited us to stay at their home in Ocean Pines for the weekend,

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Equipment – Bite Lite Lure

Could it be that this really works?  Next time I go out I’m going to try it again.  I just watched a 5 buck DVD from WalMart on crankbait fishing and am an “expert” now.  We’ll see 🙂 Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore I’m probably not alone – I actually

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Bass- Breckinridge

As a warm up to the 4th of July weekend, I grabbed the basswife and we headed out to Breckinridge at Quantico for a morning of bass fishing.  Breckinridge is one of our favorite local lakes – it’s electric motor only and and an exceptionally shallow boat launch – so it’s only suitable for canoes

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Walleyes! – Lake Erie

It’s June… must be time for the annual pilgrimage to Lake Erie in pursuit of the elusive Walleye.   My history with the Walleye go back to 1975 when a gang of us decided to hit the Boundary Waters Canoe Area up in Minnisota based on the advertised lure of great fishing.  Once there, we discovered

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Trout Flickin’

I have not seen much published on casting techniques for trout.  Plenty of stuff out there on bass – you can read about flipping, drop shotting, tube zipping and any number of other techniques.  Working trout is inherently different given the tight holes you find yourself in – especially on the narrow streams here in

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The Magazines – Color Secrets

Great issue of BassMaster this month.  It had a super article on the hot colors to use.  It basically matched the optimum color choice with the clarity of the water. Here’s the bottom line: Clear water – use lures in the range of green to brown (Pumpkin) Stained water – use lures that vary from

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Equipment – Day Pack

What’s in the pack I haul around when I go trout-hiking?  Most guys just put on their fly fishing jacket, pop a water in some pocket in the back, and head out.  I’m not like that – I worry about stuff and want to be prepared. So, I took a tip from a hunting article

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