Fishing Little Falls Branch in Maryland

Little Falls Branch, or creek, can be found just north of Washington, DC. You can park in the small lot at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave NW and Little Falls Parkway. Then hike eastward and you will find spots where the water gets a few feet deep and is still, and you may find panfish and small bass in these spots. (To date, I’ve not landed a bass and so I can’t be sure if they are smallies or largemouths. I am guessing the former.)

The fish can spook easily as the water is crystal clear. A fly rod chucking a rubber version of the San Juan worm works very well. Or you can cast a meal worm or earth worm on a small hook (size 8 or less) with a small bobber a couple feet above the bait. (The water is shallow, but you need distance between the bobber and bait or the fish will be hesitant to bite.)

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How to Catch Snappers at Louse Point in East Hampton

Louse Point is a nifty spot where the young bluefish (“snappers”) come in to feast upon minnows.

You can chase them with really simple tackle: light monofilament line (4 to 8 pounds) and a lightweight rod. My kids used the classic Zebco 33 with great success. Harvey at the Tackle Shop in Amagansett can sell you popper rigs, which consists of heavy monofilament line, a cone bobber, and a long shank narrow hook with either a flashy skirt around it or a rubber fake eel cover on it. Both word great, and a popper rig costs maybe $8 or $9 and will last forever. If you really want the snappers to go berserk, add a dead minnow to the hook. (Harvey also sells those, and other bait.) Its is simple fishing—cast and reel. And look for surface disturbances—the big busy patches that happen when a school of snappers encounter a school of minnows.

Fishing tends to be best when the tide is coming in. So check the tides online.

Fly fishermen can bag snappers with ease. Use floating line and chuck a Clouser Minnow or other streamer. Harvey also sells flies with stainless steel leads, as snappers have vicious teeth that will shred line. If you chuck one of your own flies, best include tippet that is thick enough to take the abuse. And strip as fast as you can—bluefish are blazingly fast and love rocketing baits.

Catching Bluefish and Stripers in Montauk

Surfcasting for striped bass and bluefish is a popular pastime in Montauk.

But for those who don’t want to bother with $200 rods, tides, and all that, there are charters.

Captain Rick Etzel and the mate Ed will put you on the fish. I have gone out with them a few times in recent years, and we always get fish. This season, stripers have been very hit or miss. We caught three, but they were a little under the size limit and had to chuck them back. So we harvested bluefish instead, along with black sea bass.

To get a spot on Rick’s boat, call 631-668-2914 or surf to http://www.breakawaysportfishing.com/http://www.breakawaysportfishing.com/

Fishing at Claridon Woodlands in Claridon Township, Ohio

Claridon Woodlands is part of the impressive Geauga Park District. The park system is about a 45-minute drive east of Cleveland. Claridon Woodlands is a nice area to walk and take in the beauties if nature. It has a nature center and features a climbing wall and high ropes course.

We gave the pond a whirl, and found bluegill and bass hitting on red wriggling worms. My five-year’s experiment in using McDonald’s french fries to catch fish did not succeed.

Scoring Panfish and More by Fishing Deep at Punderson Lake in Ohio

Fishing with a bobber and worm is a time-tested way to bag fish, especially panfish. But when the water temperature gets high, fish often move deeper in search of cooler waters.

So fish down low. Tie a sinker to the end of you line, and a small hook (size 8 or 6) a couple feet up. Add a wriggling red worm. Cast gently, let the sinker hit bottom, them tighten your line. Wait for the gentle tugs, then lift straight up. Boom—fish on!

Using this technique at Punderson Lake in Ohio, we scored bluegills, pumpkinseeds, sunfishes, channel catfishes, and yellow bullhead catfishes.

Catching Striped Bass and Walleye —and a Flathead Catfish— at Fletcher’s Cove

This happened—after bouncing 3/4 ounce bucktail-type jigs with trailing sparkling plastic shad and worms (4 to 6 inch) off the bottom with quick snaps of the wrist.

But this also happened, which was utterly unexpected. He weighed 12 to 15 pounds, and took a few minutes to bring to the boat. Young blue catfish came up on the jig-plastic rig too. The 15-pound leader attached to 10-pound line handled these beasts, to my amazement.

 

Walleye also jumped at the jig (sans plastics), but in early season are best chased with green worms popped on a round jighead (1/2 to 3/4 ounces). Drag it along the bottom on the Virginia side of the river, where the bottom is more gravelly and sandy. (Sorry, no photo!)

Fletcher’s Cove, by the way, is here, and offers rowboats you can rent out.

Review: Fishing Lake Medina in Medina Township, Ohio

This drone video will give you a good sense at the size of Lake Medina. (Directions here.)

My video above will give you a good look at the side of the lake nearest the parking lot. We scored a rock bass here, saw plenty of bluegills and sunfish, along with largemouth bass. And I nabbed a northern pike in a very small branch of Rocky River next to the lake. Others report catching channel catfish, crappie, perch, and walleye.

You do not need a fishing license to fish here. The water is clear, the shored are rocky, and there’s a huge amount of space to shore fish.

Canoes and kayaks can be put in on the northern side of the lake — although it is about a 500-foot haul from the parking lot just off Granger Road. (I have not clue what the southern side of the lake looks like. I never made it there.)