At right: Lanexa, Virginia's Rich Morris lands a quality largemouth bass from the emerging grass on the Swan Creek on the Susquehanna Flats.

Being a writer and a fisherman, my fishing "season" ranges through the entire calendar year. I get things kicked off by submitting articles to their respective publications for the first issue of the year. Tracking down stories and writing is the process that lasts all year. Here in the mid-Atlantic, we aren't fortunate enough to have the fishing season last that long. In Virginia, fishing is extended as the striper season lasts into January. The striper season in Maryland only lasts until December 15. That's just as well. Most of the fish are in Virginia waters by then anyway. A few years back we were blessed with a late run of ocean stripers as far north as the Bay Bridge, but we can only wish that they make that run this season.

Attending fishing shows is a big part of what I do in winter. At the Bass Expo in Timonium I get to share my knowledge of fishing on several different topics. There, I can go a bit more in depth than I can with a 1200-word word count. The really good thing is that I can address questions, either in a group or one on one, where discussions can help you and me. Fishing shows also give me a chance to sit down with industry experts to get new scoops to fill my columns. Charter boat captains, bass guides and pros, and even avid fishermen have provided my with plenty of information that I can send forth as the topic becomes appropriate.

I took my first shot at fishing promotions last February. I held BASS CLASS on February 12 at Chesapeake Bay Memories, where a tight knit group of 21 fishermen got expert information from area pro anglers. Though the attendance wasn't quite what I had hoped, it was a good turn out for a first time event. The skill level of those in attendance ranged for novice to seasoned weekend tournament anglers. All were able to take something away from the talks to try throughout the season. For 2006, there will be another installment of BASS CLASS and the first offering of STRIPER SCHOOL.

We had a very wet spring in 2005. You would have thought that it would have made cabin fever even harder to cure.

Sarah learned to cast in the Gunpowder River where she caught this small sunfish.

There was so much precipitation that it made me feel as if things needed to settle down before fishing would be worth the time spent. I'm not one to be pointed out as a fair weather angler, but when the upper Chesapeake is the color of a Starbucks frappuccino, I'm waiting until things clear up a bit.

And clear up it did. Much of the Susquehanna Flat catch and release striper season was washed out because of the prolonged silty conditions, but was the largemouth bass fishing ever hot. In local tournaments, 22 pounds in a five-fish limit was pulling down top money. That is a great sack of fish for any bass fishery in the mid-Atlantic in spring. As competitors came to the scales, it wasn't only the first place angler or team with quality fish. At several tournaments that paid back to tenth place, anglers that brought 17 pounds of bass to the scales may not have gotten a check.

I can only speculate that big Susquehanna bass were forced to wood and rock cover early. The silt-laden water would not allow underwater vegetation to grow on schedule. Rock and wood is far less abundant than the grasses that flourish on the flats, so bass had to cohabitate the available cover.

I played host to three bass pros on the Susquehanna in early May. Frank Ippoliti, Randy Yarnall, and Rick Morris are the feature pros in an upcoming article of mine in BASSMASTER. As you have read, Randy loves the area. It had been a while since Frank had fished the area, and it was only Rick's second time here. All three pros were impressed by the quality of the Susquehanna's fishery. Rick caught the biggest bass of the gathering on the last cast on the last day -- a 5 1/2-pound fish that had already spawned.

This spring, a brown trout angler from Washington State emailed me after reading "Searching for Sosin" on the CHESAPEAKE ANGLER website. He wanted the contact information for Aberdeen Bait and Tackle in North Carolina. It seems that, he too, was in a quest for the same lure, but in a different color. A few days later I got another email from this same gentleman who informed me that the Excalibur Long A that I was looking for was on EBay. I lost out on the bidding, but I was able to score two others within a week's time. To me, this long distance exchange of fishing information is what the brotherhood of angling is all about. I have one other lead on the lure. Hopefully a few more will be amongst my collection within a few weeks.

As you have read through these last few years, I love the laid back approach of casting a line while wading. My two favorite places to go are Dundee Creek and the Gunpowder River (or the GP as Tom Gittins and I refer to it). There were a few good trips in the GP early; but even early on the river ran low. By mid-July, wading in the GP was all but impossible. The river ran gin clear and was too low in many spots. The Gunpowder did provide one of the season's bright spots. My daughter Sarah caught her first fish on a lure there. While casting a Rooster Tail from the bank, she landed one of the river's feisty sunfish.

Sarah and my wife Gale are petite in stature. Gale went to the GP with me a couple times, and we all wound up in Dundee one August evening. In Dundee I have to plan around the tides, because my two ladies are petite in stature. This can be a double-edged sword. On a rising tide, much of the stretch that I wade in Dundee would be too deep for Sarah; while on a low tide in summer, the grass is at the surface making it hard to fish. On that August evening we found a mid-stage outgoing tide. Gale caught the most fish, and Sarah caught her first largemouth bass. Now her daddy has aspirations for her to compete on the new BASS Women's Tour by 2014.

September through the rest of the season has a big emphasis on stripers. As in years past, we take a late September trip to Ocean City Maryland. And like last year, Tom Gittins and I fished with Captain Mark Sampson on the Fish'n Fly. I proved to myself that the Sosin Long A was not a one-year phenomenon. I landed several nice stripers from between the pilings of the Route 50 Bridge. The lure has been tied on to my casting rod for the rest of the season.

As the fishing part of my "season" wanes, I still have columns to fill. The search for information to populate them is now the driver. Next month brings the holiday season, then the whole wonderfully vicious circle starts all over again.