Cats, Sunnies, a Long Paddle and some Flounder

As kind as he was about sharing one of his speckled trout spots with me, I had to help Matt Anderson when he decided to try for catfish up my way.  5 o'clock couldn't come soon enough and I bolted from my office chair to meet him at the launch.  He had been out earlier with Dan Smullen and had a 29" blue cat for an online tournament he was hoping to win.  When we got to the water, I realized the water was higher than I thought it would be.  It was not a problem as far as the paddle goes, but for the spot I like to fish, it was a few feet higher than I like.  We still got into some fish just as the sun was setting.  I managed 4 or 5 with the biggest blue cat going ~31" and the biggest flathead going ~27"...nothing huge but still a good time.  Matt went on to win the tourney with the fish he caught earlier. 


The next day I went looking for crawdads in the creek down the street.  I was hoping to use some for bait, but they were nowhere to be found.  But I did find something else.  I went back home, grabbed my flyrod and had a good time sight casting to these little guys.

 
Red Breasted Sunfish (note the elongated ear flap)

Gotta love those colors

Planning my next trip got me excited.  Everything was packed and ready for the 3am departure.  All antsy and excited, I felt like a little kid.  Tossing and turning, thoughts of what could happen... oh the possibilities.  

The Eastern Shore greeted me with an amazing sunrise and light winds.  Long story short, I looked for bull reds, chummed for cobia,  and dropped clam bits for spades and sheeps.  I saw none and caught none.  An extremely long paddle in some new areas yielded small grey trout, sand perch, croaker and black sea bass... disappointing to say the least but at least I tried and learned a little about the new location.  My last ditch effort just before sunset had me jigging for flounder near the launch area.  That saved the day... 21", 20", 16" and 14".