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Wednesday, April 16, 2014
The Journal
OUTDOORS
www.journalpress.com
“Blast and cast” fun to try Mark Fike Years ago, I was friends with a Marine stationed at Quantico, and he had access to a property in Westmoreland County that had a pond on it and some outstanding turkey hunting. He gave me a call one evening and proposed a “blast and cast” trip to the property where we would hopefully bag a turkey and then go cast for some fish. I recall bumping a huge gobbler off the roost as I set off in the predawn hours to get set up, and then I promptly messed up another setup less than an hour later by getting too close to the bird. I did have a good time casting for largemouth bass, crappie and bream in the pond on the place. We did the “blast and cast” event several more times before he moved on. Many nice bass were taken from that pond, and we had several nice cookouts afterwards, too. Since then, I have enjoyed the prospect of “blast and casts” and have tried my own in various forms. Spring is full of emerging life and lots of outdoor activity. The spring run of anadromous fish like striper,
white perch, yellow perch and shad are sure signs we will finally be headed towards fresh vegetables, fine fishing, summer temperatures, fireflies and grilling weather. Enjoying the spring as I described above is easy if you have access to a turkey hunting property with a good pond or water access, but you can fish somewhere before or after the hunt and still get the best of both worlds. Friday night, I finally was able to put aside everything piling up on my desk and on my chore list to go to Fredericksburg and have a date with my wife. Our date was not the typical date, and some might even groan at what you are about to read. After a really enjoyable time last year casting for shad and catching multiple species of fish while doing it, we both agreed that trying it again was a must. When my wife drove up after work on Friday night, I had the boat hooked up, and we were backing the little duck boat into the river in Fredericksburg a short time later. This time, we did not catch multiple species of fish, but we certainly caught more than our share of hickory shad. In fact, every fish we hooked was a hickory shad,
and there were many of them. Within two casts, my wife hooked and landed a huge hickory. She not only caught the first fish, but she caught the largest and the most. No, I did not allow that to happen just so she enjoyed our “date”, but that is not a bad idea! For us, it was not about who caught the most or largest fish, but simply about having a good time. The fish were very cooperative, and the scenery was gorgeous, minus the city and noise behind us. We watched a muskrat glide in what looked to be an effortless manner past us upstream against the tide. It was wisely hugging the bank and staying out of the bad current. Geese honked overhead as they moved up and down river. There were plenty of birds chirping and likely either attempting to find a mate or defending their established territories. The trees on Friday evening were just beginning to show a hint of green, and by Saturday evening, many had visibly sprouted leaves or were beginning to. By the time readers get this issue, the trees will likely be in full green. After we had our fill (and then some) of the shad, I suggested we not be greedy, and let the fish
Mark Fike
The City Dock is a popular place to fish in Fredericksburg. The shad and white perch are caught there regularly. head upstream unimpeded by our temptations of crappie jigs to finish their spawn. We had to get home to lay out our turkey hunting gear for the next morning anyway. On Saturday morning, we headed over to my parents’ place to try for a tom. Tom was gobbling, but not quite as willing as I would have liked. Another hunter that was calling from the adjoining property did not help the situation that much, either. Missy and the girls heard the birds fly down, and then they shut down their vocalizations for the morning.
However, the birds around us, albeit not turkey, were chirping, singing and fluttering about. We heard robins, bluebirds and hawks, and actually saw an eagle at less than 75 yards! We tried another spot without hearing a gobbler and then came home and called without any response. I went back out to another location at 11:30. At that time, I got a response, but perhaps the hen with the ol’ boy was too pretty to leave. He would not budge and soon shut down. That was fine, though,
Outdoor Report
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Fishing is quite good for all freshwater species now.
ABSOLUTE REAL ESTATE AUCTON
Hunting Hunters are not hearing a lot of gobbling, but the birds are strutting in fields. They should start gobbling more when the hens begin sitting on nests more. Send us any decent photos of youth with birds, and we will print as space permits. outdoors@journalpress. com Fishing Rappahannock River – Ken’s Tackle Shop in Spotsylvania reported white perch and hickory shad caught at the Fredericksburg City Dock. Hickory shad and American shad are being caught upstream of Falmouth. Stripers are also still being caught as they run upstream to spawn. Bass are still being caught in the river, although our reports are fewer this week. A few catfish are biting in the river. Potomac River – There have been plenty of catfish caught in the river. Some anglers are reporting striper upriver, too; they are spawning. Some anecdotal reports tell of a few white perch in creeks. We are also hearing of bass now being caught in the tribs of the river. Use plastics and jigs to catch the fish on woody structures. Ponds – Crappie are hitting quite well on jigs and minnows. Bass are spawn and pre-spawn this week, depending on the water temperatures. Old Cossey Pond was still great for
because a half hour is not much time to get a turkey to come in. The clock was ticking, and noon soon arrived without an appearance by Mr. Tom. Perhaps another time, we can make the “blast and cast” work for us. As far as I am concerned, I was thrilled to take the shad we took, spend time with my wife and then spend time with my wife and kids as we sat in the woods early in the morning listening to it come alive around us. I cannot wait for another opportunity to get back out there and enjoy the woods and water!
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$ Turkey are strutting, but not as much gobbling is going on as some of us would like. Watch out for them to come in silently on you. Shawn Grant, who films turkey hunts (Powershots Spring Turkey Hunting DVD), called this Westmoreland County bird in for William Smith of King George. The bird weighed a whopping 23 pounds, had ¾-inch spurs and a 10-inch beard. William dropped the hammer on him at 32 yards! Nice job guys! trout. Super Dupers and Magnum worms, meal worms and red wigglers were good baits. Motts Run is now open. They report good crappie action off the piers this
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