Regulars (All)

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 8/9/12

The Greatest Show Off Earth

Don’t miss the Perseids, the best of the meteor showers

The moon reaches last-quarter Thursday, rising around midnight. Look for the faint lights of the Pleiades star cluster, marking the back of Taurus the bull, 10 degrees above the moon. The next night, or rather morning, the moon rises near 1am, now just scant degrees from Aldebaran, the red heart of the bull, and Jupiter, forming a tight triangle. Brilliant Venus trails this pack by about 20 degrees. The waning moon rises in the wee hours Sunday before...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 8/9/12

How to Fight Back Brush

If you’ve got to use weed killer, now’s the time

Spraying weed killer is generally a bad idea. Spraying must be done with great care and careful targeting when the wind is calm. But if you need to spray to kill underbrush, late August and September is the time. When foliage is mature, photosynthesis is in high gear and the roots are being resupplied. In other words, the sugars being produced by the leaves are now translocating back to the roots. Root resupply generally begins in mid-July and is at its peak in August and...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by - 8/9/12

A Pox of Marauding Bluefish

You can’t tell a fish not to bite

We had arrived on station at eight that morning with 10 live-lining-size Norfolk spot frisking about in our aerated bait tank. My longtime friend Mike Kelly was in the bow with a short light-casting rod, intent on getting a 5/0 hook just in front of his baitfish’s dorsal. The channel edge off of Podickery had been a rockfish magnet the last two weeks and couldn’t last much longer. Just the day before, sporting anglers and commercial watermen had been fishing hook...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 8/2/12

Summer’s Brightest Stars

Three points to summer’s triangle

Thursday’s full moon brightens the sky from dusk till dawn. American Indians called this the sturgeon moon, as it marks the time when these great fish once began their migration and were most easily caught. Sturgeon have been plying our waters for more than 150 million years, yet today most species are endangered. More common names for August’s full are the grain moon, the lightning moon, the green corn moon and the red moon. As darkness...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 8/2/12

Spider Mites Love This Weather

They’re infesting roses and spruce

While driving I passed a planting of roses that did not appear normal. Up close I saw that the plants were heavily infested with spider mites. The foliage and stems had a rusty red color and were covered with fine webs. The variety of roses appeared to be Knockouts, which are advertised as very resistant to insects. This summer’s hot, dry weather is ideal for the growth and development of spider mites. The small spider-like creatures are about the size of the pointed...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 8/2/12

How Much Fish Is Safe to Eat?

From the Bay, you can enjoy a little more

After yet another great rockfish dinner, I decided to do a little research on past warnings about contaminants in our Bay waters, hence in our striped bass. Checking out the latest Maryland Department of the Environment Updated Fish Consumption Advisory for Maryland, I found great news and a little bad news. Good news first: The most recent testing of Bay rockfish showed a decided decrease in contaminant levels, meaning more rockfish can now be safely...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 7/26/12

Luring Big Bubba

This old dog learned a new trick

I have dedicated a great deal of effort and financial investment in my quest for big perch on artificial lures. Last week I discovered I had been on the wrong track. I experimented with the Super Rooster Tail, Beetle Spins, the Tony Accetta Pet Spoon, small Rat-L-Traps, the Little Cleo spoon, Acme Kastmasters and small Bass Assassins and Finesse minnows in various colors. All can catch white perch. At catching really big perch, 12 inches or over, none...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 7/26/12

Keep Your Eyes to the Sky

Summer nights are always filled with stellar sights

A gibbous moon waxes through afternoon and evening skies this week. Friday the moon, just past first quarter, is low in the southwest after sunset, with fiery Antares, the heart of Scorpius, trailing less than 10 degrees behind. Unlike many constellations, Scorpius actually looks like its namesake. Look between the moon and Antares for the nearly aligned stars of the scorpion’s head, while its long curving tail stretches behind to the southeast, spiking upward with...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by - 7/26/12

Protect Your Cherry Trees

Tree trunk borers will get them if you don’t watch out

While I was diagnosing why trees were dying at one Deale home, a neighbor complained of the loss of a flowering cherry. The tree had flowers very heavily last year, then died this spring. A quick examination of the dead trunk showed that tree trunk borers had killed the tree. Two different kinds of trunk borers attack cherry trees: the flat-head borer and the peach tree borer. Both borers prefer stems two or more inches in diameter. The peach-tree borer...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 7/19/12

Green with Envy

What color will you see in Libra’s beta star?

Thursday’s new moon leaves weekend skies bereft of excess light, highlighting the backdrop of stellar lights. As the sun sets, the first lights you see are likely to see are above the southwest horizon, where Saturn and Spica hover just five degrees from one another. Both shine at first magnitude, but Saturn’s steady golden glow is an easy contrast to the blue-white twinkle of Spica, the lead star in the constellation Virgo. Look for Mars 10 degrees to the...