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Lower Bay Fishing Reports

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July 12

The lower bay is often the first in line to sample what migrating fish are entering Maryland waters and this year is no different. Captains are reporting that the lower bay seems to be in a state of transition. Chumming for striped bass has been okay lately, but not as good as many would like. The grade of fish has been marginal for several weeks now and chumming can have its slow moments. The area around Buoy 72, 72A and the Middle Grounds continue to be a major focus for the chumming fleet. Various stone piles can be good one day and flat the next indicative of what the captains are calling a transition time for striped bass; they're on the move.

Many fishermen are trolling along channel edges and rock piles with good success. Others are vertical jigging or casting to structures such as rock piles and lighthouses or looking for schools of breaking fish. Schools of breaking fish have been spotted from Hooper's Island Light to Point Lookout. These schools are being reported to be mostly small fish, but larger ones are being found underneath. An observation that keeps being repeated by captains is the absence of the large schools of bay anchovies that were noted last year at this time. Shallow water enthusiasts continue to find good striped bass fishing along much of the shoreline areas, especially on the eastern shore. Casting top water lures or soft plastic jigs and bucktails have been earning fishermen some nice striped bass. Anglers are reporting some mahogany tide problems around the lower region of Hooper's Island.

Bottom fishing for croakers, especially large croakers in the evenings continues to be excellent in the lower Potomac River, the mouth of the Patuxent and many locations in the bay. The area around Buoy 72A continues to be one of the best spots for an evening of swinging large croakers over the rail and large spot have now also moved into these areas. Fishermen that are looking for croakers during the day are finding them in about 55' of water. Bottom fishermen have been enjoying excellent fishing for large white perch in the mouth of the Patuxent River and the oyster lumps off Point Lookout.

Recreational crabbers continue to enjoy some of the best crabbing the bay has to offer. Trot lining or running a string of collapsible crab traps in the tidal creeks and rivers has been successful for most crabbers.

Source MD DNR

June 22

The striped bass fishery has undergone a few changes in the last week as bay conditions continue to be in flux. The lower bay region, especially on the western side experienced a major algae bloom in late May early June due to the warm weather and last week a die off with the cool weather that moved in. Any creature that can move avoided these areas as they moved with current and tide. Unfortunately crabs inside crab pots cannot and many crabbers took it on the chin with pots with nothing but dead crabs in them. The worst seems to be over and conditions have greatly improved. A new batch of larger striped bass have been moving into the region and chumming has become very good. The fish have moved around a bit though. The area around Buoy 72 that was so good the week before fell on it's face over the weekend but shows signs of fish moving back in. The new hot spot is reported to be the mouth of the Potomac River and everyone one is happy with the 28" to 35" striped bass that have moved in. Ed Dorsch drove south from the Baltimore area to the lower bay and sent in this report.

I went on a 5-man charter out of Piney Point and chummed with frozen alewives (although we did have a 5 gallon bucket of fresh alewives to use for bait) in the Potomac about 3 miles WSW of Point Lookout in 42' of water yesterday morning. For the first couple of hours we only caught 5 fish total...but the skipper blamed it on an outgoing tide on top and an incoming current 10' down. When the tide started going outbound from top to bottom, the bite was really on. Before we ran out of bait, our party counted 78 legal fish boated (we used circle hooks exclusively), including 17 fish of 30" or greater. Largest was a 36" monster that almost spooled me on 12# braid. This photo captures my 36" fish that was immediately released after the photograph. We kept 1 slot open hoping to hook a $1,000,000 fish, but finally filled that on the last piece of bait.

We also boated 4 blues of 2-3lbs (along with about 10 hook bite offs), a huge croaker and, a 12"alewive! Got back in an hour early and managed to beat most of the rush hour traffic back home. A long down and back, but the pullage was exceptional...only 1 undersized fish and all the rest were at least 22" and all looked healthy.

Fishermen are reporting more and more bluefish showing up in chum slicks and crashing trolling set ups. Most of the blues are in the 2 lb plus category and have been chewing up those nice soft plastic swimming shads. This group of friends who call themselves the "Boaters from Hell" from the Baltimore Yacht Club had a grand old time fishing in the lower bay region. This picture seems to say these guys know how to have fun; they called their get together the "Crying and Whining Tournament".

Bottom fishing in the lower bay just gets better with time and now flounder are being regularly added to the mix of spot and croaker fishermen have been enjoying. Cornfield Harbor, the Chinese Muds and places up the Potomac such as Piney Point, St. Georges Island and the mouth of the Wicomico have all been good places to find croakers, spot and the occasional flounder.  The best flounder catches seem to be coming from the Middle Grounds, Point Lookout and the mouth of the Patuxent River.

Shallow water fishermen continue to find lots of croakers and enough red drum to keep things interesting along the sedges of Smith Island and the Somerset County shorelines. Reports of speckled trout and large sea trout have been drifting around the eastern shore community; anglers tend to keep such things quiet.

Recreational crabbers are enjoying good catches of crabs in tidal rivers such as the Patuxent and Honga Rivers. Just about any tidal creek or river is offering good crabbing for the experienced. It takes some know how early in the season, crabbers are working for their catches. The best crab catches are coming at first light in about 8' of water on trotlines or collapsible traps. As most would expect as the day brightens up the traps can do better in the deeper water.

Many of the bigger boats out of Crisfield are still making the run down to just south of the Cut Channel for fast and furious fishing for big croakers. There are a lot of croakers in the Tangier Sound area though for small boats not wanting to make the run. Along most channel edges from Buoy #8 up to Buoy # 14 that have good hard bottom anglers are enjoying good to excellent croaker fishing. The deeper waters are holding the croakers during the day and mornings and evening on the shoal areas. There are some flounder mixed in these areas along the drop-offs.

Source MD DNR

From: Wgeorge71@aol.com

[mailto:Wgeorge71@aol.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 9:36 AM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Re: Great Wicomico Report

Croaker are increasing in number and decreasing in size squid and peelers were the hot bait the new fish bite products have been succesful while not a nessecity to catch fish they are good baits and there is no waste and no funky I left the squid in the cooler again odors every tackle box should have some as a back up, great bait. The chummers seeem to be on the fish at the regular hang outs Hatteras just started scoring on Cobia so we should see them in a week or so in the extreme lower bay they may travel north up to York Spit and possibly as far as Wolf Trap but dont expect to catch any much further north. George W Wagner on the Perseverance

June 8

Fishing opportunities in the lower bay region have been excellent this week and promise to only get better. The waters have been relatively clear and water temperatures are now becoming more favorable to our summer time finned visitors. Most of the charter fleets have switched to chumming and are enjoying excellent catches at traditional locations such as the Middle Grounds, and along the western channel edge at Buoy 72 and 72A. There are still some large striped bass in the area and Bob Storin certainly got a surprise catching a 40" fish on 15 lb test line. The bluefish have arrived and have been invading chum slicks and banging menhaden baits. Most of the bluefish are around 16" in size and are just about the perfect size for eating.

Many boats and anglers have been trolling in the region trying for just one more big striped bass and some boats have been coming up with them now and then. Most are putting out smaller lures on some of the lines and of course a selection of larger offerings. Now that bluefish are in the region, trolling those big yummy sassy shads on parachutes or bucktails has become a really susceptible to a tail end trimming. These two buddies were certainly happy they stuck it out trolling and came up with this 46" beast near the CP Buoy.

The croaker fishing just seems to get better in the region, especially in the Tangier Sound area. The fish are now in residence in most of the traditional locations such as channel edges, the puppy hole and spot are starting to show up. Fishermen who are targeting them are finding flounder on channel edges and hard bottom shoals near drop-offs into deeper water. Fishermen are finding large numbers of croakers in the Honga River and outside the mouth of the river near the crab pots. On the western shore the croakers are in the Potomac all the way up to the Route 301 Bridge. The mouth of the Patuxent River from Point Patience to Drum Point has been solid with croakers. Shoreline fishermen have not been left out in the good fishing and many are enjoying good catches from the Point Lookout area and Pocomoke Sound beaches and points.

Light tackle fishermen have been working the shores of areas like Bloodsworth Island and fishing soft crab baits for speckled sea trout and red drum with some success between the hordes of large croakers in the shallows in the evenings. A few black drum are starting to show up in the lower bay as they work their way up the bay. Soft crab bait or a gob of clams on the bottom will do the job.

Recreational crabbing has really picked up in the last week in most of the tidal creeks and rivers throughout the region. Crabbers are reporting good catches of heavy medium-sized crabs in waters from 4' to 12' on trot lines and collapsible traps. Most of the larger crabs are light as expected after the first big shed this spring but they should fatten up in the next couple of weeks.

Source - MD DNR

From: Wgeorge71@aol.com

[mailto:Wgeorge71@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 12:37 PM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Great Wicomico Report

Boats stacked up at the Northern Neck Reef enjoyed some nice striper action Sundae And Memorial Day boats that were on the fish could do no wrong while boats sitting 50 yards away could not buy a fish I saw a couple of small blues mixed in with schoolie to 26 inch stripers. Fresh chum made all the difference we had 2 day old chum on Monday and missed the only fish we had a shot at On Sunday with day old chum I had good success keeping two 26 inch while releasing several small ones at boat side as usual the slobs were out running up other boats chum line and chumming the water as opposed the creeping in and setting up a respectable distance most people don't mind being fished with just not on top of so if this applies to you have some consideration and class, you will catch more fish and cause a lot less stress. Up in the river the croaker were around on a moving tide nice size fish but not a lot of them the strange weather and cool water is keeping things slow for now I'll let you know how we do next week. George W Wagner on the Perseverance

From: harjew61@aol.com

[mailto:harjew61@aol.com] Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 6:06 PM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Cc: fergenup@hotmail.com Subject: PIER FISHING

I never hear much about pier fishing these days but it is something I've enjoyed since I was a kid. After off shore fishing every weekend for the last year I've decided to get back to my roots. I've brought allot of my off shore tricks to my pier trips. I started fishing the Lynnhaven pier about three weeks ago and succeeded where others have failed. I'm bringing in more bigger and better fish than my counterparts..... Light Line! I take a whole (frozen) squid hooked once through the very back with a wire leader for those toothy blues. I thought I had to be 30 miles off the coast to hear my drag scream the way it has over the last few weeks.

Keep It Light Mike

May 30

Lower Bay/Tangier Sound Region:

Fishermen were reporting yesterday that there was a line of clearer water in the region of the power plant and the gas docks and the water temperature was below 60-degrees. As the spring season for big striped bass comes to a close the fishing has become sporadic. Most boats reported a very good day on Saturday, but Sunday was off and it picked up again on Monday. As one captain put it, "It's just a case of finding a pod or school of fish and staying on them". Most captains are finding it even harder to find that extra "Slot Fish" between 18" and 28". They just don't seem to be around or interested in anything being trolled behind the boats. Tim Groves and pastor Al Brockman hold up their party of four's catch caught off Cove Point last week. Captains that are finding the last of the big fish have trolling around Buoy 72A, the HS Buoy and Hooper's Island Light as well as other spots along the channel edge.

A small fleet has been fishing at the mouth of the Patuxent River for croakers in the evenings and doing well. Many are reporting limit catches of these hard fighting fish. Bloodworms, squid and peeler crab have been the baits of choice. Croakers are also being caught on shoals off Hooper's Island and Point Lookout. White perch continue to inhabit most areas in the Patuxent and tidal rivers on the eastern shore.

Fishermen are beginning to enjoy shallow water fishing along the shorelines of the Pocomoke and Tangier Sounds for striped bass and a scattering of summer migrants. Locals who really know what their doing have quietly picking away at red drum and speckled trout along the sedge banks, using soft crabs or peeler for bait. At times it appears it's hard to get ones bait past the swarms of croakers that are also in the shallows. The croakers are being found out in the deeper waters of the sound also, but fishing in the deeper waters has been spotty at times.

Source MD DNR

May 4

Lower Bay/Tangier Sound Region:

Big and plentiful striped bass fortunes continue to smile on anglers in the lower bay region. It has not been uncommon for good professional boat captains to be back at the dock with their parties and limits of fish in a couple of hours. The most popular lure again has been chartreuse parachutes dressed with big chartreuse sassy shads. Patrick Marcinko is all smiles with his first striped bass of the season, a 37" beauty. Many captains are foregoing the umbrellas and just fishing tandem rigs with very good success. The fish have been spread out along the channel edges from Buoys #72, HS, Hooper's Island Light, Cedar Point, the HI Buoy, and #74 up to Buoy #76. At times the eastern side of the channel will appear to be the hot spot and other times of the day it will be the western side of the main channel. One thing all captains will agree on is the fact that a moving tide is essential. John White of Columbia caught  a 45.5" beauty off the HI Buoy on a white umbrella trolled deep. Another location that has been good for area fishermen has been the mouth of the Potomac.

Shore based fishermen have been getting in their licks from many beaches, points and piers throughout the area. Cedar Point at the Naval Air Station has been a popular spot as has Point Lookout for anglers casting lures or fishing cut bait or bloodworms on bottom rigs. The cold front that arrived over the weekend slowed the croaker migration up the bay a bit, but the croakers were found in shallow shoreline waters by fishermen throughout the region this past week. Many anglers reported excellent catches of big croakers from beach points in the Crisfield/ Pocomoke Sound area, Point Lookout and the mouth of the Patuxent River. Boat anglers have been finding croakers in good supply at the Target ship/Mud Leads area and the mouth of the Patuxent River.

Source MD DNR

From: dennis@ngk-polymer.com

[mailto:dennis@ngk-polymer.com] Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 12:16 PM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: flounder fishing

Me and my son went fishing on Back River between Hampton and Poquoson 4/19/05 after work caught 3 flounder all under size But it was nice to catch something other than a cold . Condition , sunny wind SE. about 10 to 15 surface water temp 57 .

Thanks Capt Dennis Fish Hunter II

Apr 22

Lower Bay/Tangier Sound Region:

The fishing was good for many of the boats that took fishermen out trolling along the deeper waters of the shipping channel. The lower bay fleet had some of the clearest water but still had to deal with the wind on Saturday. Reena Oakes from Pasadena stuck it out on a trip out of Solomon's Island with "The Guys" and reeled in this 42", 38 lb striped bass on a chartreuse umbrella rig. Although Sundays weather and lack of wind was a real treat for boat captains and anglers alike, the cloudy water line moved a little farther south on Sunday. Lower bay water temperatures have been holding around 50-degrees and will probably creep up a bit with this warm spell this week. Most captains will agree that with the water temperature what it was over the weekend, it came as no surprise that the fish were in the upper section of the water column. The top 25' of the water column seemed to hold most of the fish and 15' to 20' seemed to be the sweet spot for many anglers but others went deep to 30' to 40' with umbrellas and heavy Mojo's. This group from the Solomons certainly had a good day.

Western shore port boats fanned out to locations on the western side of the shipping channel on Saturday because of the winds and did well at Cove Point, the LNG Docks, Cedar point Rips, the Targets and Point-No-Point. Sunday when the wind laid down, boats headed out to the eastern side of the shipping channel and trolled from the HI Buoy north to Buoy #78 with equally good results.

Shore based fishermen got into the picture also for the opening of the striped bass season and Point Lookout State Park was a hot spot both out on the pier and along the beaches. Most fishermen that were fishing from shore were using bloodworms, so it came as no surprise that a few big croakers would show up and they did. Fishermen across the bay in the Crisfield area have also been catching a few croakers and of course a few striped bass. This weeks warm temperatures and bright sun should warm the waters of the lower bay enough to bring on the first run of big croakers this weekend.

Source MD DNR

Mar 30 2005

Source - MD DNR

From: yesorganic@netscape.net

 [mailto:yesorganic@netscape.net] Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2004 10:46 AM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Point Lookout area shore fishing

Fished at the Point Lookout area from a private fishing pier on October 29, Friday night. We used blood worms and caught over a dozen of small stripers ranging from 10" to 18" and 3 large perches 10 to 12 inches long. Water was low and cold and managed to catch 1 spot which was used for cut bait and with that we caught 4 bluefish that were still around. The Blue fish were 12-16'. Three weeks ago, the bluefish were so thick we couldn't use more than 1 pole because there would be a fish on before we cast a 2nd pole. There are still crabs stealing baits so surf fisherman have to check the bait frequently. I hope the good weather will last a little longer for more surf/pier fishing. Happy Fishing and tight lines!!!

From: rhalbritton@comcast.net

[mailto:rhalbritton@comcast.net] Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 5:14 PM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: PLO - Pier Report For 25 August 2004

My Son & I fished PLO Pier from 5:30 PM - 11:00 PM on Wednesday evening 25 Aug, 04. The surf got rather rough shortly after we arrived with waves 3 - 4 feet and white caps for as far as you could see out in the bay. It was cool and dry though so we didn't complain. We were using squid & blood worms for bait. Results:

9 Spots, 1 Grey Trout, 3 Flounder (Very Small Yearlings) & 1 Horseshoe Crab (Very Large Crab) -- All were returned back into the bay for another day. - Robert Albritton, Waldorf, MD

From: strikeforce@starpower.net

[mailto:strikeforce@starpower.net] Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 8:44 PM To: Capt. Dennis Shepherd Subject: Cape Charles Trip

Captain Dennis, I went on a yearly trip to Cape Charles, VA. on July seventeenth. The weather was a factor for the whole sixteen day trip with wind rain and thunder storms. Despite the bad weather we were able to fish six days. The first couple of trips we made the 12 mile trip to the cell where some decent flounder were being caught. We caught thirteen the first day and had four keepers to 21 inches. The lines were rigged with the flounder pounder or trout rigs on long leaders. White and would you believe pink hair were the hot colors. Most of the time I add a B-2 bomber squid lure to the aforementioned rigs plus a long strip of squid or cut bait and a killie minnow. Long strips of shark belly one half inch wide by six inches long also were productive on subsequent trips. We caught quite a few "shorts" before a keeper of seventeen inches would come aboard. We ended up on the last day with six keepers, one my wife caught was twenty three and one half and she was really excited. It seems the ladies in the family have a touch for the flounder bite. We were fishing forty feet of water or more for these fish with enough lead to keep the rigs on the bottom. I also use two drails or drift socks to control my speed in the wind and tide. The croaker fishing was dead down there, as were the many large croaker seen floating in the lower bay and out of Oyster. I sold the "Strikeforce" boat after seventeen years of great times and now have a 21 walkaround Neptune, The "Net Worth". Later, until my next outing.

Gary Captain Backlash

June 22

Crabs continue to abound for recreational crabbers in most all tidal creeks and shoreline areas. Recreational crabbers using collapsible traps, rings or trotlines are easily catching a bushel of heavy crabs in an hour or so. Crabbers using hand lines off piers and docks are also doing well and are catching several dozen nice crabs in a few hours.
 

The Crisfield and Tangier Sound region are reporting excellent catches of croakers in the area with limit catches being very common. The hard bottom shoal areas are holding a lot of croakers and spot are now starting to show up in noticeable numbers. The croaker fishing heading continues to be very good around the middle grounds, up around the Honga River and points along the western shore. Fishermen are reporting huge croakers in the mouth of the Patuxent River, the mouth of the St. Mary’s River, the Wicomico River and Point lookout. Mixed in with the croaker are spot and an occasional sea trout.

Source MD NR

From: FDICGD@smdc.army.mil

[mailto:FDICGD@smdc.army.mil] Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 10:28 AM To: 'bayfishing@compuserve.com' Subject: Coles Point,Va.Lower Potomac

On June 19, 2004 set out on 18ft foot boat of my uncles, me and another fishing partner of ours out of Coles Point, Va. on the lower Potomac. Ran into a head wind out of the north and the waves were pretty choppy. That did not stop or deter a bunch of die hard fishermen like us. With our fish finder we patrolled the waters like wolves. We were serious about our bottom rigs. Our bait was blood worms and peeler crabs, mainly peelers, because of the variety of fish that feed on them. To make a long story short we were after spot. Not that we did not welcome other fish, we had a preference that day. We had heard that the spot were being caught in White Stone, just on the Chesapeake Bay, and a few had moved upstream of the Potomac. People usually have blood worms or night crawlers when they are after spot. We have found that peelers do the trick also. So we sat our lines and waited for the spot to bite. While we were waiting the 14" to 17" inch croakers was having a field day with us. White perch about 8" to 10 "decided to get in on the act. We did not catch very many spot needless to say, but we did have a great fishing day. One last thing I have enjoyed other fishing reports on this site. The where, the what, the how, the why, and not to forget the many personalities that I have learned to appreciate. Good-bye for now.

From: BURTON.ROGERS@Andrews.af.mil

 [mailto:BURTON.ROGERS@Andrews.af.mil] Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 7:51 AM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Flounder !

Went out Saturday June 19th to the ships channel edge between #76 and #74 about 25'-30' of water. Using bull minnows and squid with white fluke rigs dad and uncle caught their limit of flounder by noon ! The two biggest being 21" and the other 22" ! Also plenty schools of rockfish showing up on the surface . Good luck ! And make sure you keep this a secret ! LOL!

From: incucrash@hotmail.com

 [mailto:incucrash@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, May 28, 2004 6:32 PM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Lesner Bridge Fishing (Shore Dr. - Lynnhaven Inlet)

Fishing was slow at the Lynnhaven Inlet on the Duck-In restaurant side of the bridge - A few 14-16 inch flounders were caught, and a baby striped bass - All released back to the water. For flounders we used a flounder rig with either squid strips or a minnow - and for the striped bass we used cut menhaden and minnows on a bottom rig - Use enough weight, the currents are very strong - I had to use two 5oz triangle lead weights and it still was drifting. Good luck out there, I wont be returning for a while - going to give Seagull pier a try and any spots near the channel. Does anyone know good land spots near the channel to fish from?

From: skeald@msn.com

[mailto:skeald@msn.com] Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 6:44 AM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Lower Bay

Dear Bay fishing

Fished in Hampton bar, over the tunnel as well as the area around, Saturday 22 May. Each area produced croakers and small flounders 6 to 15 inch fish. Used the 6 to 10 inch croakers as bait and had three tear offs. I tried hooking them different ways with the same results. about 30 Croaker in all. Sunday the 23rd was a skunk in deeper waters. I had enough of the croaker action and was in search of the Cobia. Anyone had any luck locating them?

Tight lines to all

From: dfdeved@co.hanover.va.us

[mailto:dfdeved@co.hanover.va.us] Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2004 9:21 AM To: 'bayfishing@compuserve.com' Subject: Spade fish at wolftrap light house

Went saturday 5-22-04 .Left Gwynn's Island boatel about 7am was fishing by 745 .Water temp 70 bay slick. Had fresh clams caught 2 big spades 0ne 8.5 lb the other 9.5 lb which was citation. Lost 2 other big ones. Boat SARAH D Capt'n Dean DeVed

From: russell@cat4.net

 [mailto:russell@cat4.net] Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 6:09 AM To: Capt Dennis B. Shepherd Subject: Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel

First flounder fishing attempt of the year produced one short fish, a jumbo oyster toad and a couple of croaker. I'm pretty sure we had a couple more lazy flounder mouthing the minnows below the hook. We were using squid strips and minnows on rigs decorated with various pink or chartreuse spinners and feathers. Drifted both sides of the shipping channel on the bay side of Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel then tried the edge of Hampton Bar. These areas have been very productive for me in years past but last year seemed void of fish. I hope yesterday's poor results are not indication of another slack year at HRBT. It's makes for a long day driving from the Piedmont to catch nothing. Rusty Wilbourn Walton's Mountain

From: strikeforce@starpower.net

[mailto:strikeforce@starpower.net] Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2004 5:47 PM To: Capt. Dennis Shepherd Subject: Fishing trip

Capt. Dennis, Took my 21 Neptune out of Solomon,s Island on Tues. May 11, on a trolling trip. I had three of Prince George's County's finest police officers on board. We hit the water at seven thirty A.M. We started trolling at the 45 foot depth line in the area of buoy #77. With the assistance of planing boards we had eight rods in the water. Half of them, on the starboard side, rigged with chartreuse chutes and umbrella rigs and the port side rigged in all white. We had one pull down early in around fifty five feet of water, but it was lost to fight another day. At 9:50 we hooked and landed a fat 39 incher. This fish also was in the 50 foot depth range. We zig zagged from east to west across the channel, but did not pick up another fish until after noon, when a white worm umbrella rig was hit by an eighteen incher, this youngster was carefully released. Just before 2:30 P.M. our quitting time, we landed a 31 inch striper, quickly followed be a fat 36 incher that literally wore this one officer out. He was ready to give up the rod, but knew he would never hear the end of it from his squad if the story got out. So my party, one of whom is my nephew Mike Thompson, and his friends Derrick and BJ all had a decent fish to take home. The sad part of the story is the Captain had to fillet the fish for these nimrods, but a great day was had by all. I would take these fine gentlemen fishing anytime and is was fun listening to their war stories. P.S. Very little bait fish was seen in the area of buoy 76, until I worked further south, across from Cedar point. Tight lines.

May 11 -

Source - MD DNR

From: BCLooney@comcast.net

 [mailto:BCLooney@comcast.net] Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 7:09 PM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Solomon's Report

Told the boss, won’t be in tomorrow, going fishing. Wed. 4/21/04. Took the day off to enjoy a day of trophy fishing, all my regular fishing buddies were at work, so I had to go it alone. So I headed out to one of my all time favorite area’s for spring stripers, buoy HI and buoy 1PR. I arrived a bit late I thought, around 10:00 am. Wind was kickin up pretty good so it was a slow ride out in my 18 ft center console. Once in the sweet spot, I put out 4 umbrella rigs, all chartreuse with 9” teasers and a 6oz parachute with a 9” shad for a hook. Trolled between the buoys back and forth staying a bit closer to HI where average depth was 47 feet. Sonar marked enough fish to get hopeful over, and after about an hour and a half, a rod went down. Was a good battle while it lasted, and I won. The fish landed was a nice fat 37” weighing over 21lbs. To land the fish, I used a Berkley fish lipper device a bought last season. Those work so well, I may never use a net again. Well my day off wasn’t over yet, so I kept fishing. After dragging lures for another few hours, I noticed a rod tip bump slightly, then again. I wasn’t sure if it was a hit so I picked it up, cranked the handle a few times, that’s when I felt a headshake so I reeled it in. Fish was only a 27”, told it to grow up and sent it swimming home. Things got a bit slow again so I decided to put in more rods. I rigged up a couple bottom bouncers with parachutes and put those in, also put out a spoon way back and continued to drag em around. I decided to make a pass around HI buoy into deeper water where I nailed many on a single pass last season, then continued to run towards buoy 1PR. That pass resulted in me loading up the lines with grass, and the line with the spoon wrapped itself around 2 others. So I wound em all up and untangled the mess, cleaned the grass off and started over. Clearing lines took a few minutes, long enough for me to drift way off my mark. So I motored back up parallel with HI, put the 4 umbrellas back in and headed west towards 1PR. I looked at my watch and it was after 4:00 pm. I was tired now so I decided it would be my last pass for the day before heading back to shore. Then it happened, one of those moments in fishing when we remember why we bought a fishing boat in the first place. WHACK!! Rod goes down hard, battle begins, lip the fish admire it, stare in amazement that that scrappy fish who just wore me out was only in the 30”class, drop it back in. I was just about to sit and take a breath when WHACK!! Another rod goes down, not even a minute later. After another battle and release with that around 34” striper, I think now I can take a break, with only 2 rods left out, WHACK!!, not even 30 seconds after I dropped the last one back in, another battle rages on, this one is pulling hard and I’m tired, as I’m reeling this one, I’m talking to the only other rod left out, begging it not to go down. I finally get this fish boat side, lip it and unhook it. It was just a bit shorter than the one in the fish box, probably around 36” and not as fat, I dropped in back in the water, grabbed the last rod and reeled it in before something hit that one, I was worn out by now. If it wasn’t late, and me not so tired now, I probably would have continued this assault on those fish, but I was done, I packed up, looked around, and I was all alone out there, “what a shame” I thought. I saw 1 boat fishing a mile away so I ran over to em and told em what I just did and to get over there because there jumping in the boat, I wonder if they took the advice.

From: dougbrobst@hotmail.com

[mailto:dougbrobst@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 8:56 AM To: bayfishing@compuserve.com Subject: Piankatank Fishing

While fishing at Cobbs Creek, 4/24-4/25, my wife and I experienced some great Croaker fishing. The fish were hitting on squid strips and biting through the tidal change from 10 AM Saturday morning through 1 PM Sunday afternoon. We caught 2 that were over 3 lbs and several that went at 2+ lbs. Since the fishing was dismal last year at "The Creek", this weekend was a very welcome happening and hopefully a sign of great fishing this year. Doug and Jeannie Brobst Virginia Beach, VA

April 21

Source MD DNR

April 15

This Saturday April 17th. is the start of the Trophy Striped Bass Season in the Chesapeake from Brewerton Channel south to the Maryland/ Virginia line. Fishermen who have any doubts about exactly where they can fish should check the regulations listed under the recreational link on the fisheries web site. It’s relatively easy to understand. The focus of this fishery will be trolling at various depths with some rather large gear. If this cool weather continues and water temperatures rise slowly, we could see a quality spring season like last year. The key will be the water temperature in the rivers where the striped bass are spawning. Spawn over a long period of time will mean a steady influx of post spawn fish entering the bay throughout the season.

Fishermen have been encountering some really nice fish throughout the bay while practicing catch and release. Reports of gannets in the lower bay and dark clouds of bait on depth finders is good news for the upcoming Spring Trophy Season.

source - Md DNR

April 11 - 2004

Reports from the Susquehanna Flats, talk of anglers starting to catch fish. The water conditions have been relatively stable and baring any large rain event, fishing should be very good this week. The fishermen who are working the flats will admit that the water is very cold, but the water is fairly clear and the fish are biting. A variety of plastic jigs, grubs, sassy shad type lures such as the new Storm lures are all working well. Many anglers are drifting over the channel areas and jigging deep with plastic jigs, bucktails dressed with a plastic tail and hammered metal spoons. Weather conditions this past weekend were a bit fierce with strong winds making fishing very difficult, but fish were caught, especially on Saturday when it warmed up. If we get a warm front soon and the heavy rains hold off, this fishery shows a lot of promise to be a real good one this year. Up and down the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay fishermen are enjoying catch and release fishing for striped bass. Most anglers are using plastic jigs of various types and enjoying good success.

Source - MD DNR

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