Accidental Bluegill Posing as Perch on Blue Marsh Lake

[Ed. note:  When we wrote this blog, we thought the cute little fish we caught instead of trout were perch.  However, our friend Jim Tidball correctly pointed out that they were bluegill.  After some research, we confirmed that he is right.  So we are correcting this blog to point out that those sneaky bluegill posed as perch when we caught them.]

We've heard that the fishing is good on Blue Marsh Lake, where we have hiked perhaps a half dozen times.  After being disappointed a little in our kayak adventure on Middle Creek Lake, and being put off by the crowds we've seen at Marsh Creek State Park in Chester County, we decided it was time to try the kayaks on Blue Marsh Lake.  This time, though, it would be with our fishing equipment.  We even brought tools to clean those trout we catch so that we can cook them for dinner.

No dinner, folks.  Nope.  Not one trout.  Well, yes, an itty bitty trout that we had to throw back (see below).  But, essentially, no trout.

Nevertheless, we had a great day on the lake.  The air temperature was in the high 70's, the humidity was low, and the sky was cloudless.  We were excited as we set the kayaks up to put into Blue Marsh Lake at the Lake Road boat ramp:

It wasn't long before we were on the water with our line in the water:

As we started, this area of the lake was crowded.  We saw (and heard) a large group of teenagers with paddleboards and kayaks at a small cliff on the lakeshore.  Their music enhanced our fishing experience for most of the first hour of our expedition.  As we left the sonic penumbra of the partying teenagers, we looked across the lake to see a group of moms kayaking with their kids along the opposite shore:

Well, perhaps solitude is overrated.

A little further down the lake, we found some signs of nature, such as this osprey platform (unfortunately, unoccupied) --

-- and these naturalized daylilies gracing the lakeshore:

While he as admiring the osprey platform and daylilies, David accidentally caught a little perch and an even tinier trout.  Both were released back to their little fishy futures because they were too small to keep.  Soon after, Kathy caught a little perch which she threw back.  Score:  Kathy 1, David 2.

Nearly a half dozen birdhouses had been placed along the lakeshore in the arms where we paddled.  This was one of them:

Turning up Spring Creek Arm, Kathy spotted this great blue heron who was busy fishing:

As it turned out, the heron was onto something, because when we paddled over to his spot, we saw lots of big trout rising to catch those little emergers as they -- emerged -- from the surface of the lake.  We threw our flies in and were surprised to find that none of the huge trout wanted what we had to offer.

Oh, well, there's always wildlife viewing.  We paddled further up Spring Creek Arm and encountered this extended goose family:

Guarding their young (which you will meet later in this blog entry), the geese paddled swiftly away from us, relieved that we were headed away from them.

We headed further up Spring Creek --

-- and deeper into the wooded, narrowing, shallowing stream:

Up this stream, Kathy caught her second perch and was very proud of that pretty one:

We reached the shallowing out of Spring Creek and turned around, saying hello to the goose family as we passed.  They seemed less concerned with our presence this time:

This was a perfect day for turtles to sun themselves on logs along the lakeshore, but we couldn't find any turtles except in one spot where Spring Creek becomes Blue Marsh Lake.  They were here in crowds though.  They scuttled off the logs and dove into the water as we approached:

As we returned, we found our good friend heron, who obliged David's camera by flying away from us in three short hops, allowing David several opportunities to get good heron shots.  This one is the best action shot of him flying --

-- and this was our last view of him as we paddled out into the lake and back toward our put-in spot on Lake Road:

The air was so still this afternoon that we found some opportunities for reflective photos:

We worked our way back toward our put-in spot, leaving our lines out to troll along the lakeshore.  As we approached our destination, David started reeling in his line and was surprised to find another little perch hitching a ride by swallowing the fly:

This was our last accidental perch of the day.  Score:  David 3, Kathy 2.  While David got bragging rights, we got nothing big enough to keep for dinner, so, in reality, we're tied at 0-0 for fishing in Pennsylvania so far.

Stay tuned, because Kathy promises to catch the first big Pennsylvania trout!