Mention spot to most Chesapeake Bay fishermen and they think rockfish bait. Talk about croaker and they figure you fish from head boats. Praising white perch will get you the nickname of perch jerker. Carp and catfish, fagetaboutit.
Boy oh boy, some people don’t know a good thing when they have it right under their noses. Bottomfish can provide hours of fun, entertainment for the kids, excellent sport on light tackle, and best of all, the ingredients for a fantastic fish fry. They are available from the Susquehanna River to Cape Charles, and once you locate a school, they are easy to catch. Sounds like the perfect fish to me.
This spring I was at a family reunion in Perryville and had a few minutes to fish from the end of a boat dock. I baited up with a piece of nightcrawler and put a bobber on about two feet above the hook. I would cast out, let the bait sit for a moment, then twitch the bobber and let it sit again. I never made more than two twitches before I was fast into a nice white perch.
A few years ago we were in the Patuxent River trying to catch some spot for bait. The captain was complaining the fish were too large. I was putting mine in a cooler. At the end of the day I had my two-fish rockfish limit plus a nice mess of spot.
Last summer fishing in Delaware Bay was considered slow, but not by me. I made several trips to the Broadkill River where I caught big croaker until I didn’t need any more.
Bottomfish tackle can be very simple. I use a Shakespeare rod and reel with 10-pound line. I could use lighter line, but then I would have to hire a fine young lady in a very small bathing suit to tie my knots. My wife wouldn’t care, but my heart might not take the excitement.
A simple top-bottom rig is all you need to catch bottomfish. I make mine from a length of 30-pound test monofilament line. I tie a perfection loop in one end and three double surgeon’s loops, spaced five to six inches apart. The bottom loop is for the sinker, and the middle two loops hold the hooks. I use only circle hooks when fishing with bait. Since most bottomfish are small, something from a 1/0 or less should do the job.
For the most, part bottomfishing is not expensive. The one item that will put a dent in your wallet is the bait. While just about anything will work, nothing I have tried beats bloodworms. Can’t tell you why since they are not native to this area, but spot, croaker, white perch, and catfish just love them to death.
The one common trait bottomfish share with all other types of fish is you have to find them to catch them. As a general rule, they will hang around rough bottom with rocks, shells, mussel beds, or on artificial reefs. There are few of these places that are considered secret. The reef sites have published coordinates, and most of the hard bottom can be found on commercial charts like those published by Captain Seagull.
Once you choose a place to begin, try drifting over the bottom until a concentration of fish is discovered. Most bottomfish have a large air bladder and make good marks on a SONAR screen. At this point you can anchor up or short drift over the school. If you don’t mark any fish and you don’t catch any fish, chances are pretty good there are no fish there. At this point, go somewhere else, even if the place was covered up yesterday.
Like all fish, bottomfish should be kept on ice until cleaned. The larger spot, croaker, and white perch can be fileted or you can keep them whole with just the head and tail cut off and the guts and scales removed. I fry mine up. My grandmother fried everything in bacon grease or lard. Today, that is a crime in six states. No big secret recipe: just dredge in flour with some salt and pepper, then toss in the pan. I also make my own breading using corn meal, panko, and Old Bay. The fish go into an egg dip and then into a plastic bag with my breading mix. Shake the bag and put the fish into a deep fryer for five minutes. Enjoy!
by Eric Burnley
Mention spot to most Chesapeake Bay fishermen and they think rockfish bait. Talk about croaker and they figure you fish from head boats. Praising white perch will get you the nickname of perch jerker. Carp and catfish, fagetaboutit.
Boy oh boy, some people don’t know a good thing when they have it right under their noses. Bottomfish can provide hours of fun, entertainment for the kids, excellent sport on light tackle, and best of all, the ingredients for a fantastic fish fry. They are available from the Susquehanna River to Cape Charles, and once you locate a school, they are easy to catch. Sounds like the perfect fish to me.
This spring I was at a family reunion in Perryville and had a few minutes to fish from the end of a boat dock. I baited up with a piece of nightcrawler and put a bobber on about two feet above the hook. I would cast out, let the bait sit for a moment, then twitch the bobber and let it sit again. I never made more than two twitches before I was fast into a nice white perch.
A few years ago we were in the Patuxent River trying to catch some spot for bait. The captain was complaining the fish were too large. I was putting mine in a cooler. At the end of the day I had my two-fish rockfish limit plus a nice mess of spot.
Last summer fishing in Delaware Bay was considered slow, but not by me. I made several trips to the Broadkill River where I caught big croaker until I didn’t need any more.
Bottomfish tackle can be very simple. I use a Shakespeare rod and reel with 10-pound line. I could use lighter line, but then I would have to hire a fine young lady in a very small bathing suit to tie my knots. My wife wouldn’t care, but my heart might not take the excitement.
A simple top-bottom rig is all you need to catch bottomfish. I make mine from a length of 30-pound test monofilament line. I tie a perfection loop in one end and three double surgeon’s loops, spaced five to six inches apart. The bottom loop is for the sinker, and the middle two loops hold the hooks. I use only circle hooks when fishing with bait. Since most bottomfish are small, something from a 1/0 or less should do the job.
For the most, part bottomfishing is not expensive. The one item that will put a dent in your wallet is the bait. While just about anything will work, nothing I have tried beats bloodworms. Can’t tell you why since they are not native to this area, but spot, croaker, white perch, and catfish just love them to death.