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.

BULL HUNTERS SOCIETY

Whooaah Bubba'! That there's a goodun'!

Well, what can I say...I have been fishing, just not posting as much. Been working on my first ever book effort about faith, family, fishing, friends and fun. Yup...all 'F' words, and for the good! But between typing and editing and doing other stuff, we have been bluegill and bass fishing all along the Mason Dixon Line the past month. Small public and private lakes are the targets and BULL BLUEGILL are the intended quarry. Nine inches is a quality gill anywhere, but a 10-inch fish is a pretty good benchmark for trophy class fish. This is turning out to be one of the very best seasons I have ever had on the 'tens', or, bull bluegills. As  of today I am up to 87 gills that have surpassed the 10-inch standard. Here are a few of the most recent highlights...

This 4-acre public lake was our Fathers Day destination for bass and gills.

Not a bull, but a 9 inch plus hen for Matt.

A public venue with some 'just under' tens...cool!

Longer and not as wide, these large males have lost some weight from rigors of the spawn.

We picked up a few nice bass on our Dixie Crickets.

But one of the most pleasant surprises is a crop of 10-inch plus bulls from what had traditionally been our best 'big bass' pond. Check out these mombo-gills from a pond a whole 4 miles from the house...

High water conditions have forced us to 'wet wade' in these areas for spooky bulls.

My new favorite method is to use a pole-n-line rig and dabble the shallows.

Pole-n-line efforts put me on numerous 10 to 11 inch giants.

My buddies James and Cole are all smiles with this 17 inch bass Cole caught on bluegill gear. Play nice, guys!

Another bull at 10.75 inches! MuscleHead Gill!

And yet another pristine gem held many ten inch plus fish. This bluegill paradise is a whole 9 miles from the house. Ocassionally, we harvest some fish from this one and provide tasty fillets for the kind owner. It's the least we could do! Check out the body dynamics of some of these guys...and gals...

Many stud bluegills in this Mason Dixon gem of 4 acres.

My fishin buddy Caden with his personal best bull at 10.5 inches...wow!

Just outstanding fish!

Caden and GrandPop Bill are diggin' the gillin'!

Stunning dynamics on these trophy-class bulls! I'm a lucky man!

Rookie BullHunter Caden with a nice bass.

So, without further ado, I have to admit that some of the best fishing for 'plus-sized' bluegills, literally anywhere in the nation, can be found in many of the small, fertile farm ponds and small public lakes just north and south of the Mason Dixon Line in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Some larger lakes in this region also have high-end bluegills. But much of the better fishing for trophy-class fish can be found in 'under the radar' venues. Just a few more, then I'm planning for my next trip, literally just out my door...!

PJ with a tanker pumpkinseed.

I'm getting a replica of this 10.25 inch male pumpkinseed.

This monster hen went 11 inches and ran plenty of drag...she still swims!

 Yes, this has proven to be an exceptional year for huge bluegills and sunfish in our neighborhood. We didn't have to travel, look far and wide or even think about deep-south locations where platter-sized sunfish dwell in high numbers. Additionally, we have released all of these really big gills and kept just a few of the smaller guys for the pan. I'm hoping to put many friends and family on to fish like this for years to come.

And like the great fishing that is often right under our noses, there is also great joy right before our very eyes to observe and embrace everyday. It is called 'God's Creation' and it cannot be denied nor deformed...it is from Him, the Creator God of the universe. Like great fishing and natural beauty, peace and happiness, in the form of Jesus Christ, is also right before us. We don't have to travel far at all to enjoy His grace, love and salvation. I really like the peace and contentment that I feel when I read Psalm 96:11-13...

'Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the Lord,...'

Psalm 96: 11-13

THE RUNNING OF DA BULLS

Most of the big boys took my new Nuthin Jig tipped with half a mealworm.

This is gonna be a quick one tonight y'all...it's late and I'm sleepy. But God has once again blessed us with a bunch of big, bull male bluegills that were right under our noses. It's all catch and release on these guardian males that are watching over the young uns and trying to court a few lady gills. Meanwhile...somebody has to catch and release these beautiful fish! Here they are...

Wet wading and spot casting made it fun for bulls lika' dis!

Dressed to Impress...spawning colors for the ladies.

The spawn is actually about 3 weeks early.

One of 23 gills we got this week over ten inches.

I really like the body dynamics of this 10.75 incher.

Ain't nuthin to the Nuthin Jig...just wrap thread!

Another one of da Bulls!

Smaller gills still filled the hand!

The 'hot spot' was right under this tree.

Let me just leave you with this one thought tonight...if you were to die tonight, do you know for SURE that your eternal home would be in heaven...or in hell? Has your life been pretty good, fairly smooth so that you never really gave much thought about a loving God who would do anything...to the point of even dying an excruciating death on a cross...just to spend an eternity with the likes of you and me? Do you feel you just don't need all that 'religious stuff' because you're doing fine, got plenty of money and your health is good? My friend...that is EXACTLY what the devil, the great deceiver, the father of lies...wants you to think, and believe.

I really like what God's Word states in 2 Corinthians 5:17..one of my favorite and most conforting verses...
'If any man be in Christ he is a new being...the old is gone and the new has come.'

If you are tired of the old, the confusing and the difficult and depressed way of this 'modern world', then you are indeed ready for a change...something new, and a loving and passionate God and Savior who will transform your life, make you a new creature and cross you over from death into life. Give your life to Jesus Christ tonight...tomorrow may be too late, and it is the greatest gift of all time...and it's free!

                                                 Change your life...accept and embrace Jesus.

SLAB HAPPY

Best gill so far in 2015 is this 10.25 inch hen.

Wow! It's been a crazy spring...and a late one at that! We didn't have ice off of some of our local lakes til March 24th in the Mason Dixon area. As far as I am aware, that may well be an endurance record for ice cover round here. Throw in these nasty back troubles and surgery I've had and now my wife Linda with her knee replacement and, sheeesh, it's tough just getting around! Gettin' old ain't for sissies. But between it all we have managed to get out for some early spring panfish, with a few bass mixed in. Last week we totaled almost 300 bluegills, crappies and the like from several local public venues. Check out some of our recent slabs...

M'boy Matt, his wife Julia and Abby with their gills!

Matt kept a few for the pan...cool!

The Skinny Minnie in 1/80th ounce does the job.

Good looking male gill here.

A seriously big pumpkinseed at 10 inches...wow!

One of our biggest surprises lately has been some serious slab crappie action where fish in excess of 14 inches have shown up, taking 1/64th oz shad darts and other small jigs tipped with maggots or mealworms. These exceptional fish for our waters were released to keep the gene pool in check for future bigguns'. Check these guys out...

Not a lot, but they are big!

I love the body dynamics of these fish!

I could handle a lot of this action!

One of 5 Pennsylvania award crappies last week, all released.

Just past my elbow.

Yes, quite a treat, those big black crappies. They likely won't be available much after May 1st, as they are moving shallow, preparing to spawn. Here are some of the jigs we catch these fish on...

1/80th ounce micros for the gills and...

...1/80th ounce Skinny Minnies for the crappies.

 

 

 

Yes, it was a good week of fishing, and I feel that we have all been blessed with this wonderful sport that provides so much fun and enjoyment, along with an occasional nutritious meal as well. As a matter of fact, we have been blessed with many things...things like food on the table, good jobs and homes, loving family and lasting friendships. But the greatest blessing of all is that of a Gracious and Loving Savior. You see, Christ forgives us of our sins, our screw ups, and cleanses us to be righteous with Him in the heavenly realms. We can never 'earn' His graces or forgiveness by doing good things or being just a 'nice guy'. God sent His one and only son to die a horrible death on a cross so that you and I, and every body else who embraces Him as the Savior, would spend an eternity in heaven dancing, walking and worshiping the King. But you have to 'accept' the invitation to bring Him into your life, change it, and release the struggles of sin and death from you forever. It's not a 'given'.

There's a little more to it than just proclaiming 'Yeah, I believe in Jesus', then going on about our merry, sinful way. Believe me, as a man who deserves hell as much as anyone who ever walked, I can tell you that miracles do happen and lives are forever transformed. Stop dying and start living today. John 3:16 says it so simply by stating...

'For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son so that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting Life.' This truth does not apply to people who have mearly a head-knowledge of Christ or who are aware of the Biblical accounts. The key word is 'BELIEVES' in Him. Without belief in Christ there is no salvation of souls.

Eternity is a long time...think about it...