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A typical photo of the forested,
fresh-tidal Western Branch, north of the
MNCPPC Jug Bay boat ramp. |
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Fishing was hard fought, with many lure
presentations being used. We
assumed that fishing on the high tide
would have been our best opportunity to
get far up into woodlands and out of the
open marsh. |
 |
We saw numerous bait fish, bass, snakes,
turtles and the like, with white perch
providing the most action. I took
several close-up photos of a brilliant
yellow, male prothonotary warbler, but
the photos were out of focus. I
also took a photo of a snake sunning
himself on a rock that Dave (in the
front of the boat) thought was a
copperhead, but in the blurry photo had
the right color and pattern but the head
looked more rounded and the eyes look
more rounded too.
|
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Our native American Strawberry Bush or
your Heart's-A-Bustin' (Euonymus
americanus), growing from the banks
of the river. |
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A view of the Mount Calvert historic
site, north of Jug Bay. Mount
Calvert is one of the most significant
historical and archaeological sites in
Prince George's County. Mount
Calvert's rich archaeological and
historical resources represent over 8000
years of Native American, Euro-American
and African American culture.
In
1658, Phillip Calvert patented Mount
Calvert as a 1000-acre plantation.
In 1683, An Act for the Advancement of
Trade established towns throughout the
Chesapeake region to encourage
settlement and commerce. Mount
Calvert was one such town and became
Prince George's first seat of government
and was named Charles Town when the
county was established in 1696.
Charles Town at Mount Calvert was the
center of economic, governmental, and
religious activities of Prince George's
County until the county seat was moved
to Upper Marlboro in 1721. |
 |
Dave, Steve and I motored south to the
Merkle Wildlife Management Area in
search of bass waters. |
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A lazy day on the water as mid day
temperatures rose into the upper 70's. |
 |
The Jug Bay waters were shallow, brown
and silty. As we fished along the
spatterdock we caught several bullhead
catfish. |
 |
Much of the shoreline consisted of
discrete zones of open water creek
channels, exposed shallow water and
tidal flats, spatterdock, arrowhead
(Sagittaria), high marsh of cattail
and wild rice and then forest edge of
ash, gum and maple. |
 |
Too close to her nest. You would
think that the presence of osprey would
indicate good fishing, and sure enough
that was the case, for lots of bait fish
in the 2-inch range along with catfish. |
 |
Another bullhead. |
 |
The MNCPPC had a tour boat with guides
that discussed both natural and cultural
history of the fresh tidal Patuxent
River with it's extensive wild rice
marsh lands. |
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