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| When God paints a picture, He doesn't mess around! |
I have to admit...fall is my absolute favorite time on the water, mostly because the fishing is so good for so many species. Panfish are biting, as are pickerel, smallmouths and walleyes. It's just a great time to be out and to enjoy God's incredible creations and beauty.
As November moves along and the season winds down I find myself enjoying the bounty of both slab crappies and bull bluegills. We have been blessed to have quality public and private waters close to home that support these exceptional panfish. High numbers and big fish rule most of the days catch, despite shoter days and cooling water temperatures. Here's a look at some of our most recent success stories...
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| Matt shows a magnum weight female bluegill from a Mason Dixon pond. |
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| Fishing was pretty quick at the 'hot corner'! |
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| Here's one of several 10-inchers on the day! |
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We picked up a ton of big bluegills at the end of October and into the end of November as the fall progression was impeded by several warm fronts. Five different lakes and ponds kept us busy with quality fish. Here are a few more that fell to our simple bobber-jig-bait methods during the 11th month...
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| Robust male gills turn pale as the waters cool. |
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| Matt with a handful! |
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| The Berkley Gulp! Minnows are a great fall producer of larger class bluegills on a 1/32 oz head. |
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| Pumpkinseeds and pumpkingills remain active in November...cool! |
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We also started picking up some impressive crappies in the 13 to 15 inch range...big fish for the Mason Dixon region. Best lures were tubetails, hairjigs and Gulp! minnows 5-7 ft below bobbers. Crappie Nibbles and meal worms also enticed fish. We didn't get high numbers of crappies, but some were large. I actually landed 7 catch-n-release citations for Pennsylvania in November so far. Here are a few...
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| Best crappie of 2015 so far is this 15 incher from last week...released! |
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| A fine 13-incher on a cold, windy evening. Brrrrr! |
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| Another plump slab on the Gulp! minnow. |
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| Rainy day slab at 14.25 inches...nice! |
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| November plus rain plus overcast...equals big crappies! |
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And along the way we picked up some more high-quality panfish...
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| November 21, 2015...one of three ten-inchers on a mealworm/jig combo. |
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| Interesting hybrid, I think a pumpkinseed X green sunfish cross. |
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| Some days the gills averaged a little smaller. |
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| A really nice hen at 10.5 inches. |
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| Sunset slab! |
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| Another good option...1/64th oz jig with a Gulp! maggot. |
As we approach Thanksgiving, I think we all need to reflect on what we have, rather than what we don't. My wife Linda and I have had yet another very trying and difficult year from a medical perspective, yet we remain thankful to an awesome God who was with us every step of the way during trials, operations and neccessary lifestyle changes to pro-long and improve our lives. And as we know, it was His love, power, wisdom and blessings that got us through this to begin with. Sure...the doctors hands skillfully replaced worn-out knees, fused spinal vetebraes and implanted life-saving stents in the heart. Yes...the physicians studied and learned all they could to improve our lives. But none of this would have ever been possible without the Great Over Seer, the God of the Universe, the Great Physician, the One Who Loves, the Great Comforter and Savior of the World allowing...yes, allowing...it all to happen in the first place. We have been blessed by His Hands far more so than those of any doctor.
You see, we now look at every day we breathe and walk as a gift from the Lord, because that's exactly what it is! Every day we see and care for our grand children...a gift! Every day we wake up and go about our business...a gift! Every fish I catch and article I write..a gift! Every step...a gift! And indeed, every night or day that refreshes and inspires the soul, the beauty of His Creations and wondrous images or the tastes of food and drink...all gifts.As I have said many times before...I am a broken-down, train-wreak of a man who desperately needs a Savior who will forgive me, comfort me, nourish me and set my paths straight...just like you. And, I indeed deserve hell, just like you do. The only reason I am not going there is because I have turned my life over to Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and have pursued a relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, not because of what I've done or how 'good' I am. Sin separates me from God and for that reason I need forgiveness. Yup, you and I have all those things in common, and we need a Savior! The older I get and the closer I get to God, the more I realize that the 'wisdom of the world' with all it's promises of contentment, are absolute rubbish and a lie straight from Satans hell.
I love what it says in Proverbs 16: 25...
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to his death.'
If you have a desire to start living, and stop dying, then I urge you to ask Christ to forgive you of your sins, come into your heart and life and to trust in His wisdom and teachings from the Holy Bible for the remainder of your life. No, you will not understand it all, as neither do I. But you will definitely become a 'new creation' in the presence of Jesus Christ. He willingly took on a horrible death so He could spend an eternity with you...yes, he loves you that much. As it so truthfully says in 2 Corinthians 5:17...
'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!'
The choice is yours...slabs or bulls...old or new...life or death. Choose wisely. Choose Christ!
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| Gods Beauty |
