Apr 15, 2007 6 min read

EDITOR’S NOTE: Craig Foster is the fishing buyer for Woodlands World. He will write a fishing column twice monthly for the Herald-Standard about his various fishing ventures. He is an avid fly fisherman and has fly fished for most North American species and many in Mexico and other foreign outposts. Trout Bum: Tr-out-b-um, verb, noun, adjective

1.One who devotes his/her life chasing trout and other fishes. 2.When fishing becomes an addiction and no longer a past time putting a strain on ones career and/or relationships.

See also: addiction, obsession, fanatic, and debt.

A trout bum is not just a label defining one’s passion for fishing, but recent medical studies show that it is an incurable disease that is only suppressed by the sounds of water, the smell of fresh air, and the bend of a rod with a hearty size trout on the end of the line. I was fortunate and caught this disease some years back and it has worked its way into every aspect of my life from my education in fisheries to my current occupation here at Woodlands World.

To combat the early symptoms, I started fishing in small local streams like Meadow Run, Big Sandy, and Mill Run. As my condition became more severe, it took me to the western rivers where the caddis hatches blanketed the waters of the Madison and the cutthroats from the Yellowstone drag you through rapids that would intimidate any sane man. I then moved on to the coastline bowing to the silver king of the Atlantic also known as the tarpon as he puts on an acrobatic air show like no other. My obsession with fishing has taken me on many adventures to different locations. In this article and articles to come, I will share with you some of my favorite trips and memories along with the numerous angling opportunities we have here at our fingertips.

As I sit here putting the final touches on some small Clousers for a few unlucky bonefish to feast on in an upcoming trip, I start thinking about how exciting this time of the year is for a trout bum like myself. There are so many places to fish and so little time to fish them in. I guess this is when you hope your employer is very understanding or you saved enough money over winter to support your habit. With the new Powell 10 weight sitting in the corner, I am hoping for more of the latter because it’s hard to concentrate on anything with post spawned pike putting on the feed sacks in the shallows of our local lakes and ponds, chasing down bright double bunnies and lead eye Clousers. The local delayed harvest areas are stocked to the brim with some nice size trout that are anxious to hit and there are finally, some good water levels to fish them in. Most of the Maryland trout streams are now open and stocked with larger then average fish that will put a nice bend in the rod and a smile on any anglers face.

This time of the year, everybody has trout on the mind with the upcoming opener, but if you can’t wait that long to feel the bend of the rod or if you forgot what the sound of a screaming reel is like as it spins out of control after a explosive strike, then its time to go after some toothy critters. Soon after the ice is melted, Pike will swim out of the deeper waters and into the shallows for spawning. Pike will spawn for a short time immediately or soon after the ice melts off and then attach their eggs to lily pads and other vegetation in the shallows. These predators now concentrate on the second most important thing, feeding. Using pontoon boots or float tubes to make your way into the deeper waters, you can then cast into the weed line and find these dark torpedoes waiting to devour your streamers such as red and black double bunnies with a wrap or two of lead wire wrapped around the shank of the hook to get it down, along with assorted lead eyed Clousers.

Fighting winter boredom and not being able to sit at the tying vice any longer, I donned the fleece a few weeks back, and headed out to check some local waters hoping the USGS real time water data site was wrong about the water levels. It has never been wrong in the past, and that still holds true today. Laurel Hill was three times the normal size and the plunge pools of Meadow Run looked like a continuous riffle. This week though, the delayed harvest areas of Meadow and Laurel Hill are primed and have had multiple stockings. Meadow Run has been fishing good using small bead headed caddis pupa and the old faithful black wooly bugger as a tandem rig with enough weight to tap the bottom of the plunge pulls tight lining without an indicator.

Although there was a outbreak of whirling disease in the Bear Creek and Mattiki hatchery causing thousands of fish to be destroyed, the state has purchased a replacement stock to fulfill their stocking needs and if they are the size of the ones we have been catching in the delayed harvest areas, it should turn out to be a great season for Maryland trout fisherman. One thing worth mentioning is that whirling disease can be spread from stream to stream by restocking infected fish or by not cleaning your waders and wading boots before going to another stream. There are more facts on whirling disease and how to keep it from spreading on the MD DNR website along with an updated stocking list.

Well it’s time to wrap these Clousers up along with this week’s article and finish gearing up for a trip down south for blue marlin and tarpon. Hopefully, I will have some good stories tell you about big fish and screaming reels next month but until then, remember, the time spent in fly shops and on the river is not subtracted from life.