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 Fishing
Patuxent River at Haviland Road
Howard County, Maryland
4/17/08
Mark Burchick
4/17/08
Late
Afternoon Fishing
Patuxent River at Haviland Mill Road
Howard County
( Below Triadelphia Reservoir and
above Mink Hollow Road )
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Dan Betz and I
went river fishing, pretty much in Dan's
backyard. Dan recommended pin-minnows, two-inch
long crankbaits with lots of flash. We worked
about a mile of stream from around 5:30 PM till
sundown. This cable 'bridge' was a cool way to
cross the stream. |
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We caught many
fall fish, the largest minnow native to the
eastern United States, occurring from Maine to
Virginia. The fall fish can grow up to
14-inches in length and prefer rocky areas, deep
pools and runs with flowing water. They make a
great baitfish and the males turn a rosy color
on their heads and tails when it comes time for
breeding, from March through May. |
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My first fish
of the day was a rainbow trout that I caught
along a fast, deep run abutting a rock outcrop.
I was very impressed with the several areas of
rock bluffs and hemlock forest. I felt like I
was in Allegheny County or somewhere in
northwest Pennsylvania or upstate New York. |
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It's been
so long since I've caught a trout he's now
filleted and in the refrigerator for
tomorrow. Mark, Michelle and I were going
to try to make trout vera cruise,
like at El Azteca in Clarksville. Pretty
much, the only fish I'll ever eat when I go
fishing would be stripped bass out of the
Bay or crappie, if we were able to get
several for a nice meal. Otherwise I've
always thrown all my fish back. Ok, I'll
eat catfish too, if the waterbody they came
from had really good water quality. Doesn't
trophy striped bass season start in the next
few days? |
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This
13-inch fall fish is about as big as they
can genetically get. I thought it was a
carp when it first broke water. According
to Dan who fishes this stretch of river with
his son Nick, you never know what you are
going to hook in to, and it can run the
gamut from stocked trout, largemouth bass,
smallmouth bass, several varieties of
sunfish, dace, shiner, chub, minnow and
anything stocked in the reservoir that
migrates down stream. What prompted us to
go fishing in the first place was the fact
that Nick caught a 14-inch brown trout from
this stretch of river last week, with a
beautiful photo that he sent to my
cell-phone while I was at work. |
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Dan caught
two fall fish at once using two hooks baited
with Velveeta cheese. To be honest, the
cheese beat out all other baits that we
used, and the twenty plus fish that we
caught felt big, as we both were using
ultralight action rods. It got into the
upper 70's late this afternoon and the
stream slopes are beginning to green-up,
unfortunately, dominated by garlic mustard.
Dan and I both lost several hooks, bobbers
and lures on in-stream woody debris and
overhanging branches, but once you find a
good hole, it's hammer time. |
Mark Burchick
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