Winter

This was the 1st time in eleven years that I pulled my boat..really? I could not have picked a worse year, as it has been an incredibly nice winter. There were several stretches where I thought about calling Tri-State and dumping her back in, but the prospect of the long ride back out on the bay, just did not seem appealing. So I have been basically sitting around in my underwear, by the fire, watching way too much basketball. Every now and then, I would get the fishing big and head down to the marina pier for some pickerel action.  Most outings have been successful with a least a couple of baby 10 inch fish. The biggest of the year was actually today, when I landed a massive 14 inch sucker. I plan to launch the first week of March. My mantra this year is "catch fish". So if that means jigging, I jig. If that means spinners, I spin. If that means topwater, then "hell yah", I plug. The only things I will not do ever, and I mean ever, are troll and use live bait. It's going to be a great year.

Yak Attack

With cold weather predicted for this week, I figured it was ok to pull the boat. I guess that was a bad decision, as it seems that fall fishing in the river is just getting started. The temp was in the mid 60's when I dragged my cobweb infested kayak from the tall grass at our community Yak Rack. Since the water temp was still in the low 50's, I figured there might be a chance a catching a Striper, but assumed a Pickerel or White Perch was more likely. So, armed with a white twisty on a 1/8 ounce jighead, I launched at 12:30 into a light easterly breeze. I worked the north shore across from the marina as far east as " Al's Spot". It seemed like I spent the majority of the time untangling errant casts from various piers before finally getting into a good Yak groove. After 1 1/2 hours with no action, I moved back across the river. The first point on the south shore as you leave the Harbor Hills marina there is a community swimming area that is surrounded by netting. I have seen a guy anchored here many times and always wondered whether he was crabbing or fishing. I do not recall ever seeing a rod in his hand. There was a single gull sitting on the water about 10 yards from the point. I moved upwind of the Gull and slowly drifted while casting up against the netting. On my 3rd cast, I felt a nice bump and set the hook. At first I thought it might be a small perch and then the fish took off with me and the Yak in tow. I have never caught anything larger than a dink while Kayak fishing, so my heart was racing. When I got the fish next to the Yak, it appeared to be in the 22-24 inch class..Very Cool. I snapped a few pic's with my cell phone and off she went. By this time the wind had really picked up, so I made my way back to the boat launch. What a great outing.

Happy Thanksgiving

Anyone who has been out fishing consistently this fall knows just how difficult it has been. Back to back storms basically wiped out "Rocktober" and then a non stop southernly wind has made november even more difficult. I did manage to get out most days, but was forced to fish the side creeks out of the wind. I caught a few here and there, but for the first time since I began keeping records, I did not even manage a blow up during the entire two month stretch.

My middle daughter was home from college for the holiday, and so we headed out this AM to see if any birds might be working the mouth of the river. We marked a number of fish, but once again, It was a tad too breezy for topwater on the bay. On our way in, we stopped at marker 16 to make one final drift of the year. It seems like every year, I pick up a fish here late in the season. My daughter was using a BA on 3/4 ounce jighead and I dropped in a stingsilver. It was not long before I felt a nice tap and my drag began to sing. As I was fighting the fish, Liz screamed that she also had a fish on. I swung my fish aboard and grabbed her leader and boated the twin to my nice healthy 22 inch Thanksgiving present...nice. I may even try for a hour this afternoon. Taking the boat in Sat. for some much needed work, so this is most likely my last post of the year.

Went back out to marker 16 for a few hours this afternoon. There were marks everywhere. The fish seemed to be hugging the bottom, so I gave jigging a try again. I soon tired of the constant up and down motion, so I tried a different method. I would cast the BA out as far as possible, wait 5 seconds, and then begin a slow retrieve. This a least kept me interested. On my 4th try, I hooked up about 1/2 way back to the boat. After a very good fight on my heavy power rod, I landed a fat 26. The fish was very sickly, so I took a quick picture and back she went. Tried topwater the rest of the time with nary a swirl. Despite today's success, I just do not like jigging.

Out Fished Again (Pt 2)

My post on August 27th 2008 was titled "Out Fished Again". I described how a dad and his 2 sons were slaying them right next to me while I was basically fish-less. When I arrived at the shoal tonight, Dabs was already anchored up with his brother aboard. They had just arrived and had boated one small 15. The tide was still coming in at rapid pace, despite what was already an abnormally high tide when I left the marina. It was quite choppy and breezy, so topwater was out. My white twisty on a 1/4 ounce jig head was basically working just below the surface due to the ripping tide, so I switched over to a 3/8 ounce and immediately picked up a nice 22. Little did I know that it would be my last fish of the night. Dabs and his bro were bailing low 20's fish a couple hundred feet away. Shortly after, a guy and his son arrived and anchored up on the other side of me. He immediately hooked into a fish and handed the rod to his young son. After a long fight, the kid boated the biggest fish I have seen on the shoal this year,a fat 31..NICE. Meanwhile dabs continued to bail fish one my right while the father & son team boated 6 footballs on my left. As for me...nada. I could analyze the situation for days to figure out the variables, but basically it just was not my night. It amazes me how a few hundred feet distance , 1/8 ounce of weight, or even a difference in color can make all the difference. That's what makes fishing so much fun for me. What was even more amazing was that the dad turned out to be the same guy from August 27th 2008. The same guy who identified and photographed my Needlefish catch the next night. What was even more amazing was that he and Dabs grew up in the same neighborhood and had not seen each other in years. I love everything about fishing. The smell, the sky, the laugh of young fisherman hooked into a 31, it's all wonderful. Great Night.

Nice Night

Tonight was fairly uneventful, but a beautiful night. Arrived at the shoal at 6:30. There was one other boat about 75 yards from the spot and he was bailing fish one after another. They seemed to be on the smallish size, so I stayed put. Initially I worked my full arsenal of plugs, with no action. After 15 or 20 minutes, I switched over to my white twisty and immediately picked up a nice fat 22. Not long after, Dabs arrived and anchored up close by. He immediately picked up a real nice 23 on a plastic. Finished the rest of the night working plugs to no avail. It just does not make sense. Sept. should be topwater time. Oh well. It was a really nice night, none the less.

Why not my plug?

Despite the continuos threat of rain on Sat. I was able to get out for several hours in the afternoon. The breeze was light and the sun even peeked out for a while. I fished my way out to shoal. The conditions were excellent for pluggin, but alas, I was skunked. Wild Bill was trolling around me and picking up barely legal fish on each pass. I of course stuck with my trusty Stillwater.

I headed out around noon today to similar conditions to Saturday. Instead of messing around with the river, I headed straight to the shoal. After a half hour or so, I made and executive decision and switched over to a white twisty and immediately started picking up 20-22 inch fish. The highlight of the day was when I brought one of the 22's to the boat and noticed a monster fish following her in. The fish was at least a mid 30 to perhaps a 40 inch fish. She continued to bump up against my fish until I swung her aboard. I tried hitting the same spot, but was unable to find the big one. Total count for 2 hours was 7..all 20-22's. Not sure why topwater is not working, but I will continue to try.

And then there was Lee

It was not long after Irene moved on that we were hit by tropical storm Lee and its 10 plus inches of rain. I can honestly say that the river has never been so un-fishable. It was surreal to see sunken boats and lumps of grass floating by. Needless to say, the last three weeks of fishing have been horrendous. The last fish I had caught, prior to tonight, was a 20 on labor day. It was really depressing because Sept. is normally the best month of the year for topwater and I was able to hook up with a number of old fishing buddies who went home empty handed.

The main stem of the bay has been even worse than the river since the Conowingo dam has been open. I tried the shoal a number of times, but the water was just too murky, so I have been fishing Lake Riva for the past 2 weeks. I left the dock around 5:30 tonight and hit all my normal spots. Since the river was like glass, I decided to give the shoal a try. There was one other boat there when I arrived at 6:30. On the other boat was a father and his young daughter. It was a beautiful sight to see them side by side working their plugs. As I set the anchor the dad had a nice blow up and handed the pole to his daughter to land what appeared to be a 20 inch class fish. It did not take long for me to get into the action. It was non stop action for the next 40 minutes. I boated 7 fish between 20 and 24. I really needed tonight!!!