Michael Stockelman's Blog (8)

Probably a few hundred bluegill went into growing this hulk, so maybe that counts?

It's the infamous Northern Snakehead (26", 8 lb), my first time to catch one. It's too big to fit in a selfie!

I was doing my usual thing, walking a jig with short cranks under a bobber. The bait was a little more aggressive this time: a three-inch storm shad instead of…

I had a surprise this week at 4 Mile Run in northern Virginia! My most common bait is a curly tail grub under a bobber. Pretty good with bluegill and crappie, plus occasional yellow perch and bass.

But two nights ago I was working it just off the bank, and it seemed to snag up. Next thing I know, I'm hauling in a two-foot channel cat. The weight of the fish straightened the hook as I was trying to get him out of the water, and he got away.

It's such a cheap, simple rig, and I…

I caught this on a solid-body tube jig. It was a female, and its abdomen was kind of deflated so I guess it already laid a bunch of eggs.

Sorry, not a great selfie shot, but you can see it's longer than my hand.

I also caught a couple of these green fish on the same bait.…

Last week I cleaned a crappie (one of the two in my recent picture) that was riddled with these parasitic worms. Tonight I cleaned another with the same condition. The web calls them the 'big red worm' and says thorough cooking makes the meat safe to eat, and that makes sense.

Have you guys ever seen these in bluegill?

I had the chance to go to Pohick Bay, on the Potomac, several times this week. I stuck to fishing a curly-tail grub jig under a bobber and tipped with red worm, under and around a fishing pier. 

Monday was pretty great! I got a good handful of what I'd call medium-large bluegill (as long as my hand, about 8"), and one decent crappie. I wasn't really prepared to save them, so I let them all go. Tuesday and Wednesday were snowy and freezing windy, respectively. But Thursday I got into…

I was at 4MR today off the Potomac River, and got nothing (except a few nibbles)! Temps were decent 50s-ish, but the wind was brutal!
But I am sure Spring will be busting out all over any day now.

Also, I lost my nice spider lure to a snag a couple days ago. Next: can I make one from a wine cork and rubber bands??

My go-to spot these days is Four Mile Run in Northern Virginia. On the days we've had warm weather, I've been there to see what I can do. The last couple times I saw a lot of fish breaking the surface, so I tried a Hula Popper last time. I saw lots of fish take a swipe at it, but none of them hooked up.

Then I saw this little foam spider at the store- very lightweight, and fairly realistic. I finally got over there again to try it, and boom. I rigged it up in a float-and-fly type…

This was my first catch of a bluegill on artificial bait. It was a Trout Magnet grub. Up 'til now it's always been worms and the occasional scrounged-up grasshopper or cricket.

Shortly after, I got a crappie on the same bait. The fish was small but stout. I haven't seen a lot of crappie yet, but this one seemed really bulky and thick-muscled. It might grow up to be a really rewarding catch for someone.

A little after that, I snagged the grub and lost it, and…