Captain Nick and the Great Buildup

 Is he a pirate? Does he have a mustache? Is he nice? Is he a big guy with a blue hat? All were questions from the new four year old, Tyler, when he was told we were going on a boat with a Captain.  Captain Nick didn't have on a hat but he was very nice with the kids as he put us on the fish. We took the trip hoping to pick up some new styles of fishing. Captain Nick had us using spec rigs and bucktails to get into some Blues and Shad. We ended the night with 5 nice sized Bluefish, over a dozen Hickory Shad, a Cownose Ray and 2 small Stripers. Working under birds in the inlet, south of the 50 bridge was the ticket. It was a great family night with everyone catching at least one fish.

My Biggest Fish

After a full afternoon evening of fishing we were starting to doubt our abilities. "Five more minutes," someone said as the sun was just about set. It wasn't but a moment later and Greg yelled,"we're on, we're on, we're on," as dragged ripped out of the back reel. It was finally my turn and I slow played the fish as I waited for the lines to get cleared since the fish was staying down and moving laterally. After we got the fish in it was clearly my biggest, weighing over 15 pounds and 36 inches. The striped bass was caught on a white umbrella roughly 22 feet deep just outside of the Magothy.

Holy Cow

We finally ran into a big fish this spring, after a few unsuccessful days. Our excitement turned to concern after seeing the fishes big belly. We worried that perhaps it was a female filled with eggs but realized it was too late to send the fish back. We were very excited to find out that the 35 inch fish was gorging itself with lots of baitfish. It looked to be almost a dozen 6-12 inch Menhaden that came from its full belly. The fish was caught deep on a white umbrella/tandem with a 6 inch shad. 

Finding Nemo

Good anglers fish a lot.  They are out on the water enough to know the seasonal patterns as well as the small changes that move fish around from week to week. Three weeks ago we limited out in the Patapsco in an hour, fish were everywhere, bait was everywhere. Things seemed different today as we had to work to find the fish. It seemed that the bait was much more sparse and the Stripers were more spread out. The only Rockfish we saw grouped together seemed to lay on the bottom in 50 feet of water. Its great to have a quality fish finder (we use a Lowrance Hds) that is dialed in ( thanks to Captain Tom Hughes). It's also important to have a network of anglers to call and read reports from so when you can't get out as regularly as you'd like to you can stay on top of the ever moving fish.  Using the information gained from sources was helpful but nothing replaces time on the water.  Thanks to being able to pick up and run though we were able to find a keeper each in a few hours on both sides of low tide. 

First Light, First Bite

Saturday November 2cd, was the perfect fall fishing day. We hit the boat ramp in the dark and navigated a couple hundred yards from our ideal fishing spot in the Upper Bay, giving us enough time to set out our trolling setup-or so we thought. The water was flat as a lake and the light was just starting to paint the horizon, when our first set rod hit, as we worked to get out a tandem rig. It was a tony 17, (thanks to the TFers for help in how to run these) that brought the 19 plus fish aboard.  Greg commented that he felt like he couldn't relax as we quickly had a two man limit within one hour while he struggled to get out our six rod spread. We decided to use a "boca style" grip to take care in de-hooking, while leaving the fish in the water and released several fish. This is a great tool to have in your arsenal.  In just a few hours we caught 9 Rock, all over 18 and up to around 24 inches. 

Fall River Trolling

With the cold crisp air starting to set in, it was time to break out the trolling gear once again. Weeks prior we had done some light tackle trolling but now it was time again for tandem rigs with six inch shads. We had three knockdowns and amongst them landed a 25 and 22. Our hottest lure was a BFG tandem in white. Captain Chuck makes these rigs and is a good guy who is willing to talk with you at his many area appearances to help fine tune your spread. I have asked him and his wife many a question and they have always given a friendly answer. While I still tend to enjoy fishing with a rod in hand it's nice to boat some fish late in the season with some different tactics. http://www.bfgtackle.com/images/tandem_white.jpg

Right Bait, Right Time, Wrong Tools

It was the last day before putting the boat away for season. We switched up our coastal bay fishing, aiming for Tog and Redfish instead of flounder. This meant a different game plan, different locations, different bait, different terminal and fishing tackle.  Our plan was to hold close to jettys and bulkheads dropping sand fleas straight down. We used the sensitivity of braid to feel the bottom dropping the baits into deeper holes where the Tog seemed to hide. We caught three Tog, two large fish, one heavy fish that was an inch shy of the 16 inch minimum.  One large fish snapped off as I grabbed the leader because we didnt have the net at the ready. The other two fish were netted together because the hooks got tangled up in the net. That was a first, netting a fish with a fish already occupying it. We ended up with some smaller Seabass but also broke off several rigs with the Tog pulling us into the rocks. We had most things set expect our tools weren't up to speed. We needed a net at the ready, many more rigs, weights and heavier rod and reel combos to seal the deal. Unfortunately our next chance at them will have to wait until spring.