Back From A Day On The Water After Toothy Critters

I was on the water at Loch Raven this morning before 9 a.m. It was very overcast and the temps were in the low 50's. The weather forecasted this cloudiness, with the Sun to make a grand appearance later. Thank goodness the wind wasn't a factor, it was calm.

I was fishing for the Toothy Critters know as Northern Pike and its smaller cousin the Pickerel. They have teeth you wouldn't believe. Rows upon rows of tiny teeth that are razor sharp. My first fish I caught soon after being on the water was a Pickerel about 22" long. It put up a great fight. It was released so someone else could enjoy catching it when it is bigger. I practice catch and release with just about all the fish I catch.

The Sun was trying to peek out and you could feel the warmth. The wildlife was everywhere. Turtles were on every log sunning themselves. I watched a Beaver go swimming by, it must have come from the other side of the lake. It took a dive and you could see the wide flat tail as it went under. It came up near shore and swam down along the shoreline. There were patches of Geese along the shoreline or in large V formations as they flew overhead. A mother Mallard Duck with about 6 ducklings was in the same cove as me disappearing under the water looking for whatever they ate. They would surface and always surprise me, as I couldn't guess where they would come up. Lots of Hawks were circling overhead.

I usually see Deer along the woods, but this time I didn't see any. Nor did I see the Eagles on this day. What I did see swimming in the lake that you just don't see around these parts was a Loon. At first when I saw it I couldn't believe it was a Loon. Loons usually are paired for life and this Loon was by itself. I tried to get a better look and it would dive under and come up way ahead of me. I continued fishing and was having a good day catching. I even caught a nice Smallmouth Bass to round out today's catch. The fish turned on just after the Sun came out. I caught Northern Pike and lots of pickerel for the next couple of hours. The largest fish of the day was a rather large Northern Pike, I got it up to the boat when its teeth cut my line. You know how it is, the big ones get away. I was using a wire leader on my other fishing rods, but this Pike choose to hit this line that didn't have a wire leader.

The weather warmed up considerable and it was very pleasant being on the water. I was moving out of this cove to start back to the dock when I heard the Loon making its call. You can't mistake a Loon when it is sounding off. Off in the distance was a return call from another Loon. So now it was a pair of Loons on the Lake. That made me feel good knowing it had a mate and a happier ride back to the Dock.