Fishing season is coming to a close, but there is more to come

Friday, Nov. 2, 2007

In fact, some of the best striped bass fishing of the entire year should be directly ahead of us. That is, if those hulking ocean-running fish make that right turn into the Chesapeake Bay on their way down to the wintering grounds off the Carolinas.

I haven’t talked to anyone who has actually found some sea lice on the rockfish around here yet, but that time is usually right about now. The presence of those lice would indicate that the big fish had recently been out in the Atlantic Ocean and thus, the fall run has begun. It should be happening soon.

As for our smaller waters around here, the fall feed for the resident bass is already on. Anthony Hancock, assistant manager at Gilbert Run Park, says the water is up there after the recent rains, the temperatures relatively pleasant and the trees beautiful. Besides all that, the bass are active and hitting shallow crankbaits in shad and crawfish patterns, soft plastics such as tubes or crawfish imitators, double willow bladed spinnerbaits and even top-water baits.

The crappie are biting ‘‘fairly well,” Hancock said, and most of them have now moved into shallower water. The bridge pilings, dock pilings, beaver huts or any rip-rap around the shoreline are the places to target.

The bluegill and redear sunfish are also shallow and willingly take a little piece of worm, live crickets, small spinners or even the miniature top-waters.

The Reel Bass Adventure guides, 301-932-1509, continue to get good action around the remaining grass beds in the Potomac. Their better areas seem to be isolated patches that are found away from the big mat edges.

They’re also finding some short stripers near rocky areas and say these guys prefer a Mann’s avocado color Sting Ray grub coated with Smelly Jelly.

The guides with Life Outdoor Unlimited, 301-937-0010, tell me the upper Potomac has had a ‘‘big and welcome” rise in water levels after last week’s rains.

The smallmouth fishing from Edwards Ferry to Lander has been ‘‘absolutely great.” In the tidal sections of the Potomac, these pros have been doing well on Mizmo tubes, Case Magic Stiks, Brush Baby crankbaits and Big Mouth spinnerbaits. Some of their favorite areas this past week were Fox Ferry Point, Belle Haven Cove and the entire Woodrow Wilson Bridge vicinity.

They also recommend the Mattawoman, from Smallwood to the mouth.

At Lake Anna, the bass are now staying shallow all day long, said guide Glenn Briggs (glenbriggs@aol.com). The North Anna branch has been his preferred area.

State budget could affect the outdoors

I’m sure you’ve probably already heard that Maryland’s governor has called for a special session of the General Assembly to try to work out the budget shortfalls facing our fair state. We’re all reading in the papers about the possibility of slot machines coming back, the sales tax going up and this and that on the agenda, but have you pondered what’s going to happen to our outdoors if these politicians can’t agree on a solution?

It’s not a pretty picture that was painted last week when the Maryland Departments of Natural Resources, Environment, Agriculture and Planning held a briefing in Annapolis.

‘‘Failure to invest in Maryland will result in failure to protect and restore our natural resources,” said John R. Griffin, DNR secretary. ‘‘The cost of delaying budget solutions would be devastating to Maryland’s environment and local communities.”

The majority of our elected delegates are Democrats, just like the current governor, and you’d think they’d all get along benevolently, do the right thing, make those tough choices and get this budget crisis solved.

Right. If you believe that, there’s this nice bridge I know about you might want to consider buying.

Far more likely, those elected representatives are going to be squabbling and backbiting each other over who sits where, what’s for lunch tomorrow and how can any decisions they do make best stick it to the minority Republicans?

If these politicians don’t fix the budget, all four of those Chesapeake Bay Cabinet agencies will face budget cuts of about $169 million. Many of our critical environmental conservation and protection initiatives will have no funding at all, and the DNR will additionally be forced to close eight state parks and four Wildlife Management Areas, divert to the General Fund all Transfer Tax funds, including local and state Program Open Space funds in 2009, decrease waterway improvements, access and navigational projects and severely reduce many bay restoration activities.

‘‘Environmental restoration efforts are already woefully underfunded,” said Kim Coble, Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Maryland director. ‘‘Any revenue packages must include money for the bay and environment if we have any hope to improve Maryland’s future.”

DNR’s secretary also had this to say: ‘‘Every acre that we fail to protect from development and dollar that we fail to invest will result in lost opportunities for Marylanders to enjoy outdoor recreation experiences, including hunting, fishing, wildlife watching and hiking.”

Stop losing air

By now, nearly all of us have turned on our furnaces or fired up the wood stove a time or two for adding a bit of heat to these cooler nights.

According to the Maryland Energy Administration, the air leakage in a typical U.S. home is equal to leaving one of your windows wide open 24 hours a day.

Most every home could use a little more insulation and caulking gaps around windows and doors will eventually save you some money and always do a little kindness to our environment.

A water heater blanket is easy enough to install, and can save you approximately 20 percent in your overall heating costs.

If you plant deciduous trees around the southern perimeter of your house, they will help keep you cool in summer and allow the sunlight to reach and warm the house a little in winter.

Evergreens should be planted on the north and west sides of your home to provide windbreaks.

For further information, and more tips on saving energy dollars around your own home, visit www.energy.state. md.us.

E-mail James Drake at zbasser@aol.com.