Seth on the DNR

Seth McCauley

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Recreational Angler

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North East, Md

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Total Reports:
1

Sent in on: November 15, 2010 at 8:52 AM Permalink

27 inch 8 lb rock fish on a 3/4 oz rattle trap

Type: Chesapeake
Region: Northern
Location: Susquehanna Flats
Tags: Striped Bass, Rat'L trap, Susquehanna Flatts

Went out Saturday morning with my uncle, Parke John. We fished the east side of the flats drifting from Rodney, south along the grass bed. The tide was high so we were able to move in west over some of the bottom grass and still keep the lures from getting caught on grass. I caught this 27 inch 8 lb rock fish on a 3/4 oz rattle trap, chrome with blue top, quick retrieve. My uncle had a nice 19 inch. Both fish very fat. After cleaning mine it cut open the stomach and there were already two fish inside the size of my 3/4 oz lure. How much does a rock fish eat this time of year?

Also, at one point we moved over the center of the flats since the tide was high. The water was as clear as out of the tap. You could see 8 feet down to the bottom which was of course covered with beautiful different types of grasses and some open spaces. It was nice to see the bay looking so good and hope it continues to improve.

PHOTOS

Flounder Pounder Weekend

It was something I was looking forward to since we weren't able to fish it last year, the 5th Annual Bahia Marina Flounder Pounder! Seth came down and we fished on Saturday-all day. Unfortunately, while the weather was beautiful the water was still dirty from Earl. We got into a few fish each but nothing to write home about. In the evening Greg came down and we decided to skip dinner, get some more bait, beverages and head back out for some evening/night fishing at the 50 bridge. We anchored right up close to the pilings with the water rushing past. We saw a few blues get pulled before we got there but for us it was mostly small stuff, until...get the net! My rod was bent over, testing the strength of the Ugly Stick. Never mind, I was stuck, "Greg put away the net your making a scene." But then my line started to swim away. We have a HUGE fish. I fought it for around 10 minutes as the other boats around looked on. My reel was taken to it's limit; making noises that didn't seem natural. Finally, I pulled it in, Greg yelled, "Shark", but it wasn't. What it was, was a mammoth sized ray/skate. We got it up and put it on the gas tanks in the back and before we could get a picture, it spit the hook and went right back into the deep. It was probably the biggest fish I've ever caught. It easily was as big as I could circle my arms. That was fun! Then late night it was onto dinner at the De Lazy Lizard.

The next morning was the Flounder Pounder and the skies were ominous, with dark clouds and a steady rain. We got to Fish Tales/Bahia with all of the die hards and with the sound of the horn, shoved off. Within the first half hour in the East Channel, Greg had a big fish. We were close to De Lazy Lizard and he pulled it up. I knew it, it was a crier, 18 inches. It was just one inch short to keep. Seth later pulled in a nice sized one and Greg caught a heavy, large, ugly fish that we couldn't yet identify. We continued on and lost a ton of rigs, after 30 we lost count. We headed to Homer Gudelsky Park and tried our hand there. Frustration was starting to set in for the Happy Ours and the moral was low, until..."I got one, get the net." It took a little bit to get it towards the boat and right when it came up Greg swiped with the net and missed but then landed it and we knew it was a keeper. We jumped up and high fived, knowing we'd have something to weigh at the scales. We headed back with our "Carry Out" and docked at Fish Tales. I brought the almost 20 inch fish over to the scales and saw a BIG ONE and then two guys came carrying a huge cooler. They opened it and the people gathered, this was the biggest flounder I've ever seen alive. My fish weighed in a 3 pounds, 3 ounces and I had my picture and video taken by the Coastal Fisherman. It looked like we had the 12th heaviest fish weighed that day which was pretty good for our first tournament. The winner's fish was over 8 pounds and he took home almost 2,500 dollars...wow! A great time and a great tournament, can't wait until next year's Flounder Pounder! (For more pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/mattworks88/2010FlounderPounderWeekend# )

Finally!

It took most of the summer but at long last the Happy Ours was happily back on the water (and this time didn't need to be towed back). We did some serious fishing to make up for lost time. It paid off as we had our two best days of "catching." Captain Gary and I pulled in 50 fish on Saturday and he alone had 19 Flounder. We spent a little extra time looking for the 20th but instead I ended up catching 2 keeper Crocker which we had cooked up at Fish Tales for lunch. No keeper flounder though but we did catch a keeper shoe...yes a shoe. The next day we got to go out with a full boat. Greg, Mike, and Bob joined us to knock them dead Sunday as we pulled in around 70 fish. We threw every bait you could think of at them and caught them on everything. Captain Gary however seemed sold on the white Gulp. Despite no keepers we flew the Flounder flag proudly after two great days of fishing.

In the SC Surf

Down in South Carolina we took some time to upgrade our rods and equipment. It took some time and some frustration getting used to the new rods. After many errant casts we slowly improved. By the end we were able to get some decent casts out a little further and it paid off. I had a big hit and saw my fish jump twice out of the water. The Snapper Blue came in at 14.5 inches and then a little later my dad pulled in this small shark after the spot he had earlier in the day. Unfortunately, a big summer storm chased us off and ended our day a little earlier than expected. Next time we are sure to catch some more nice fish.

Welcome Matt!

Every couple weeks I kept seeing a familier face in the pages of the Coastal Fisherman and Sue Foster's Fishing Report, Mr. Dan Mattio. I thought it was time to learn from someone who tends to catch some big fish and see how it is done. He took me out on his 20 ft. pontoon and we headed to Harbor Island. He showed me how he rigs up his rods and the patience it takes to catch the big one. It wasn't long before he felt something on his line and told me to hold it so I got a sense of what a flounder felt like. He then had me let out some line and count to 25, then if it was still on I was to set the hook. After the long count I set the hook and it started taking out drag this was one of two big fish for the day. A little later I laid into a 19 inch flattie. It was a great day that was topped with Mr. Dan fileting up the two fish and me frying them up for dinner. It made for a great day and a great meal. To see our picture in the Oyster Bay gallery click here http://gallery.oysterbaytackle.com/main.php?g2_itemId=91

Fishing's Fun When You Lose Count

Greg and I braved the weather this past Wednesday to get out and try our hand at Captain Tom's tactics. We watched the radar and NOAA warnings but thought we could get out and miss the storms. I thought it might be a bad sign when an oldtimer sitting in his pickup by the dock said, "testing your luck?" We let it roll and man did we hit the jackpot. Greg drove us to a ledge that he and I found a few weeks ago and sure enough saw fish on our fish finder. We put the rods in and out came the fish. They were at a decent pace but a little on the small size. So we headed to our spot south of Fort Carroll, where we did well last weekend. The screen lit up! We couldn't get the fish off the lines fast enough. We caught 3 Stripers to every 1 White Perch. We easily caught a hundred fish between the two of us. The action continued for almost 2 hours. We had some bigger sized Stripers, at least 10 coming in over 13 inches. I broke my leader twice and lost two Hopkins spoons on what we think was a Ray and maybe a large Striper. Unfortunately, I was having issues with the drag on my rod which I had too tight...ohhh well it's much easier to shrug off when you caught over one hundred fish!

Guided Trip with Captain Tom

It was time to take our fishing to the next level. So we hired Captain Tom Hughes to serve as our guide to learn how to catch more Striped Bass. The trip started out with some worry and disappointment. There was a small craft advisory that had us turning around and heading back for the Patapsco River instead of fishing hot spots on the open bay. All that disappointment turned in to a rabid frenzy of excitement when Captain Tom set up our fish finder and told us that we were on a ton of fish. He said they were mostly White perch but he figured there were some Stripers mixed in. As soon as the first one hit they kept coming at an exhilarating pace. These were some beautiful, but a little undersized Stripers with a few Perch mixed in. We ended up hitting 8 or more fishing spots within the river before the day was over. As a boat we ended up with around 10 White Perch and 40 or more Stripers, with some just an inch or two shy of the 18 inch minimum. Can't wait until next time...

Noah's First Kiss

On June 11th at Stansbury Pond, Noah caught his first fish. We practiced casting, crimped down the barbs and he pulled it as he said, "all by self." Without prompting from anyone, Noah kissed the fish as he sent it on it's way. On the way home, we stopped in Bluefins tackle to get a citation to send away to Maryland's DNR for an official 1st Fish Certificate. Noah met a friend, a little girl, who he shared his rod with for her to catch her first fish. In all Noah caught 3 all by himself and reeled in at least 6 total. Daddy and Dad-Dad were very proud.

First Time at the Flats and the Bay Bridge

After taking a fishing course this winter to help us land the BIG one we headed out to try our luck in two new spots for the "Why Knot?". On the flats we tried every lure in the box but I was only able to pull in two nice sized catfish. This past weekend we tried our hand with the big boys at the Bay Bridge. Greg and I got an early start and saw the most beautiful sight, twenty boat ramps with twenty fishing boats being launched at the same time. It was a spectacular day as we trolled with our new homemade tandem rigs but unfortunately we weren't able to add a fish to the box. Can't wait until we do!

The Season Begins With a 40 inch Rock

Spring fishing season kicked off with a bang for Greg as he limited out on opening day for Trout. Then on the second day of Striped Bass season he landed this 40 inch Rock on a tandem rig on a charter out of Sandy Point.