Slabs or Bulls...Take Your Pick!

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...

Matt shows a magnum weight female bluegill from a Mason Dixon pond.

Fishing was pretty quick at the 'hot corner'!

Here's one of several 10-inchers on the day!

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...

Robust male gills turn pale as the waters cool.

Matt with a handful!

The Berkley Gulp! Minnows are a great fall producer of larger class bluegills on a 1/32 oz head.

Pumpkinseeds and pumpkingills remain active in November...cool!

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...

Best crappie of 2015 so far is this 15 incher from last week...released!

A fine 13-incher on a cold, windy evening. Brrrrr!

Another plump slab on the Gulp! minnow.

Rainy day slab at 14.25 inches...nice!

November plus rain plus overcast...equals big crappies!

And along the way we picked up some more high-quality panfish...

November 21, 2015...one of three ten-inchers on a mealworm/jig combo.

Interesting hybrid, I think a pumpkinseed X green sunfish cross.

Some days the gills averaged a little smaller.

A really nice hen at 10.5 inches.

Sunset slab!

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!

Gods Beauty 

MULTI-SPECIES MADNESS

Autumn Glory

There is nothing quite like having a lot of different places to fish, and a lot of different species to select from which to target. We have been indeed blessed the past few months to fish new and exciting places and some familiar, close-to-home venues. From smallmouth bass to bluegills, yellow perch to catfish...it has all been great fun, with some opportunities for fillets and more. Check out a few of our highlights...

One of our 'new' venues that are under the radar.

One of six small lakes on the 'new' location...8 miles from home.

High-quality hybrids abound.

A couple of new ponds came our way this summer. Bass, gills, hybrid sunnies and carp. Variety is cool!

Then, we switched gears in September for some 0-dark-30 bassing with buzz baits at a southern PA lake. We were not disappointed...

Nothing huge, but decent, 17 to 19 inch bass on buzzes.

Matt went 1-for-1 in his only appearance in the wee hours...nice!

Yeah...I can dig this!

Three and two-veined buzz baits...I miss the Hi-Rider! Gary...please help!

We picked up a few oddballs here and there, and some decent bass in the first cool spells of Fall...

Phone selfie and crappie.

Decent bass after the rain.

Better bass after another storm.

And again.

Great looking p-seed during a heavy rain.

One of our best. recent trips was Matt's 35th birthday fishing bash in Garrett County, Maryland where we fished Deep Creek Lake and Broadford Lake for some quality fish of several species.Check these guys out...

Matt's near-citation pickerel was our best snake of the trip.

This 14.5 inch yellow perch whacked a#3 Mepps.

Spunky Broadford Lake Pickerel

Broadford bass.

Matt with a biggie from the 'secret spot'.

We found some hawgs from an overlooked, public venue...good for us!

And, of course, the usual array of bluegills, pumpkinseeds, pumpkingills and the like...Panfish Nation!

Big gills dig small worms.

It's the Great Pumpkingill ( 10.25 in), Charlie Brown!

Gary doin' what Gary does...smackin' 'em!

Carp Whisperer Mr Bob with a magnum 'seed!

Bouble-wide punkin makes me smile!

Ah, yeeeesss...a great few months of fishing...different species, different lakes and lots of fun, a few fillets and great times. God is good, all the time. And like the fishes of the waters, we, too are all different, but we have a few things in common. One, we are all created by God, two...He loves us all. That's why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die a horrible death for us on the cross. I find it astonishing that he would love you and me...yes, the likes of me?...so much that he would sacrifice His only Son to even give me a shot at Eternity in Heaven. My friends, that is TRUE love...love that we can barely understand. But you have to accept this free gift of eternal life, and Jesus as your personal savior. It's not a given, just because you do good, don't do 'bad' things or even attend church. Accepting Christ is a condition of the heart and soul, not governed by duty or habit. I like what it says in Psalm 148:4-12...

Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him all you shining stars,...
Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths...
You mountains  and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars...
Young men and maidens, old men and children.

Let us Praise God for these beautiful creatures He created, fish, that bring so many of us so much joy. I praise Him for the beautiful places where they live, all waters and ocean depths. I praise Him for giving me new life, through Jesus Christ, and salvaging my eternal home. As beautiful as it all is, it is but a glimpse of Heaven.

'Let everything that has breath praise the Lord'   Psalm 150:6

FISHES OF THE CORN

Central Maryland backdrop for country fishin'.

Wow...it's hard to believe that I haven't put any thing up here in 8 weeks or more. It's been a crazy year and summer. But as most of you know, I spend a lot of time fishing in rural areas where small ponds and lakes rule. Big bluegills and other panfish are my intended quarry and the fishes of the corn can be amazing, if one takes the time and effort to locate and pursue them in un-pressured, under-the -radar locations. Here are a few of the highlights from our recent weeks on the water...

World-class hybrid sunfish at 13 inches and 2.255 pounds...a fish of a lifetime!

Standard issue 10-inch class bluegill!

Even a few red ears joined the party!

Nice dynamics on this plus-sized male gill.

Sage...the bluegill guard dog, keeping watch over the bait bucket.

Perhaps the most notable catch this summer was a 13 inch hybrid sunfish I caught on a spoon that weighed 2 1/4 pounds! What a fish, and a splendid release!  Incredible fight and fish!

Caught a few trophy class pumpkinseeds as well. Here's a couple recent giants...

Mombo 'seed!

Monster male p-seed. Purdy!

Beautiful seeds, my friend and from a local pond. The biggest taped out at 10.5 inches and the other right at 10. Crusher fish anywhere, both released, and even appeared to have been spawning. This late? In August? Shhheeesssshhh!

And check out these couple of bass that got in the way as well, some from ponds, and a few from Long Arm Dam in southern PA...

Nice 18.5 incher while gilling.

Average Long Arm bass go about 17 inches. I can dig that!

Another cookie-cutter from LA.

Yes, it's been an exciting summer this year and God has blessed Linda and I with trials and triumps of all kinds. She had a great recovery from her knee replacement in April and is walking better now than she has for at least a decade, maybe more. We both celebrated our 63 rd birthday on August 23 ( that's right...we are born the same day, same year) and our precious 5 yr old grand  daughter Elena just entered kinder garden this week. Great times!

One good, and bad, thing happened, but it was a blessing. The day before she was to have ankle surgery I had chest pains and we had to go to the emergency room to get it checked out. Before the day was out, I had emergency heart cath surgery to fix a coronary artery blockage of 95% in the artery known as 'the widow maker'. I had been having chest pains for several weeks before and fortunately a heart attack was averted by God's perfect timing. As a result, I have made major life style changes, lost 23 pounds, lowered my cholesterol levels to a safe range and slowly but surely gotten back into the swing of things. In truth...
                                          
                                     I'M A LUCKY MAN!  LUCKY TO BE ALIVE!

This is one of my offices...

...as is this...

...and this one as well.

And as you can tell, I don't mind going to work! I have been blessed way beyond what this broken-down, shell-of-a-man deserves. Having a stent implanted in my heart allowed me to live a bit longer, but having Christ in my heart permitted me to live for an eternity. When I crossed over from death into life by accepting His grace and forgiveness, I became a new man...'the old was gone and new had come' as it points out in 2 Corinthians 5:17. And I love also what it says in Psalm 148:7-13...

'Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and ocean depths,
     lightning and hail, snow and clouds,stormy winds that do His bidding,
you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
     wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,
kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,
     young men and women, old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord'

That just about covers it all. Change your life tonight, accept Christ as your Savior.