Holy heat wave, Batman… It's hotter than the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue out there!
If you have a lick of sense you'll fish early and get off the water well before lunch. Water temps at Thomas Point off Annapolis nearly broke 84 degrees, making it tough on any gamefish you may release, especially rockfish. In practical terms that means despite your skill in catch-and-release techniques, it's probably best to catch your rockfish limit and either change tactics for other species (bottomfish for white perch, or troll for bluefish) or head for the barn.
Now that we have my conservation reminder out of the way, I'm a little shocked that the striper fishing has held up as well as it has this week. Last week, Mike Donohue of Baltimore, MD, caught two citation-sized speckled trout, the true trophy being a spectacular 31.5-inch, 10-pound speck. He and his group from USA Today were fishing with Capt. Randy Dean off Tilghman Island, MD.
Just about anywhere you soak a worm or grass shrimp (not so common or easy to find these days) or cast a small lure, a white perch is sure to pounce. I'm using Woody's spinners, but Beetle-Spins and Betts tube jigs or soft plastic curly tails on 1/8 to 3/16 oz. jigs heads cannot be beat. At my youth fishing camp on the Corsica River, we're up to 12 fish species. True most are minnow-like; yellow and white perch, striper and catfish headline the gamefish roster with an eight-pound cat bringing the most excitement.
In the Upper Bay, you should do well on Snake Reef, Sandy Point, Thomas Point, Tolly Point, Hackett's Bar, and Dolly's Lumps for rockfish, spot, and white perch. Reports-or should that be complaints?-of snapper blues snatching off tails of spot increased this week. Captain Mark Galasso is working the lumps from Love Point to the Triple Buoys with a combination of trolling and jigging soft plastics. He's liking the Pasadena-made Bust 'Em Baits. He told me hooked and landed a decent-sized drum (for our area at least) while trolling.
On the charter boat Vista Lady, Captain Jeff Popp has been splitting time live-lining spot on The Hill and Love Point area. Although most stripers are below the 28-inch "over" slot, his clients are catching enough big ones to satisfy everyone. Staying with the Upper Bay, I checked in with Bud of Fishbones who relayed reports of customers enjoying decent to good croaker fishing at night off hard bottom areas between Sandy Point and Baltimore Lights. He and others say rockfishing--either chumming or live lining--on Sandy Point, Bay Bridge pilings, and Podickory can be productive. Elsewhere try Thomas Point, Tolly Point, Hackett's Bar or The Hill. Also I've heard some more puppy drum have shown up in the South and Magothy rivers.
Moving south, stick with jigging or live spot for stripers and bluefish off The Hook, Stone Rock, False Channel and the Summer Gooses. Mike at Breezy Point Marina told me you find your spot any where along the western shore from Clancy's House to the Radar Tower. Want fat white perch to 12 inches? Use FishBites or bloodworms on hard bottom from Breezy Point to Holland Point in eight to 12 feet of water.
Over on the Eastern Shore, from the Honga River to Smith Island, slot-sized puppy drum have been caught, and with this heat the specks have moved to deeper water, holding on structure. I've heard good things from Tangier and Pocomoke sounds for speckled trout, puppy drum, bluefish and stripers. My buddy Captain Walt of Light Tackle Charters says his clients scored a "Tangier Grand Slam." His anglers caught puppy drum to 24 inches, stripers to 28 inches, five-pound bluefish as well specks. The key to fishing these waters is finding clear, moving water.
All I have on Maryland's lower Chesapeake is not a lot. Mike from Buzz's said if you want hardheads fish the reefs and lumps on MARI reef, Middle Grounds and the oyster sanctuary off Point Lookout night fishing for croakers is pretty good. A few more bluefish have shown up but it's far from on fire.
Lots of variety in Virginia waters. Spadefish, cobia, trigger fish and black drum are just a few of the fish available. Offshore, Bill Pappas.caught 187-pound. big eye tuna on his boat with no fighting chair, no harness-just a terrible fighting belt, he said in an e-mail. He was fishing the Norfolk Canyon 85 miles from the beach. It took him 3.5 hours to land the bigeye on a 50 TLD loaded with 80-lb. test. Farther north in Ocean City's near shore and back bays, flounder success depends on finding clean water. Otherwise it's a mix of sea bass, kingfish, snapper blues, and croakers.
Aboard the headboat Morning Star Capt. Monty's fishers are catching sea bass and summer flounder, though usually not on the same day. He said the fish seem to be on alternating schedules. The bluewater reports cite a pretty good tuna and dolphin bite on summer hotspots like the Hot Dog and Jack Spot. In the canyons, more white marlin are showing up just in time for the White Marlin Open, and there's some bigeye tuna, yellowfin and mahi swimming around, too.
Friday, July 19, 2013 - 11:07
Holy heat wave, Batman… It's hotter than the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue out there!
If you have a lick of sense you'll fish early and get off the water well before lunch. Water temps at Thomas Point off Annapolis nearly broke 84 degrees, making it tough on any gamefish you may release, especially rockfish. In practical terms that means despite your skill in catch-and-release techniques, it's probably best to catch your rockfish limit and either change tactics for other species (bottomfish for white perch, or troll for bluefish) or head for the barn.
Now that we have my conservation reminder out of the way, I'm a little shocked that the striper fishing has held up as well as it has this week. Last week, Mike Donohue of Baltimore, MD, caught two citation-sized speckled trout, the true trophy being a spectacular 31.5-inch, 10-pound speck. He and his group from USA Today were fishing with Capt. Randy Dean off Tilghman Island, MD.
Just about anywhere you soak a worm or grass shrimp (not so common or easy to find these days) or cast a small lure, a white perch is sure to pounce. I'm using Woody's spinners, but Beetle-Spins and Betts tube jigs or soft plastic curly tails on 1/8 to 3/16 oz. jigs heads cannot be beat. At my youth fishing camp on the Corsica River, we're up to 12 fish species. True most are minnow-like; yellow and white perch, striper and catfish headline the gamefish roster with an eight-pound cat bringing the most excitement.
In the Upper Bay, you should do well on Snake Reef, Sandy Point, Thomas Point, Tolly Point, Hackett's Bar, and Dolly's Lumps for rockfish, spot, and white perch. Reports-or should that be complaints?-of snapper blues snatching off tails of spot increased this week. Captain Mark Galasso is working the lumps from Love Point to the Triple Buoys with a combination of trolling and jigging soft plastics. He's liking the Pasadena-made Bust 'Em Baits. He told me hooked and landed a decent-sized drum (for our area at least) while trolling.
On the charter boat Vista Lady, Captain Jeff Popp has been splitting time live-lining spot on The Hill and Love Point area. Although most stripers are below the 28-inch "over" slot, his clients are catching enough big ones to satisfy everyone. Staying with the Upper Bay, I checked in with Bud of Fishbones who relayed reports of customers enjoying decent to good croaker fishing at night off hard bottom areas between Sandy Point and Baltimore Lights. He and others say rockfishing--either chumming or live lining--on Sandy Point, Bay Bridge pilings, and Podickory can be productive. Elsewhere try Thomas Point, Tolly Point, Hackett's Bar or The Hill. Also I've heard some more puppy drum have shown up in the South and Magothy rivers.
Moving south, stick with jigging or live spot for stripers and bluefish off The Hook, Stone Rock, False Channel and the Summer Gooses. Mike at Breezy Point Marina told me you find your spot any where along the western shore from Clancy's House to the Radar Tower. Want fat white perch to 12 inches? Use FishBites or bloodworms on hard bottom from Breezy Point to Holland Point in eight to 12 feet of water.
Over on the Eastern Shore, from the Honga River to Smith Island, slot-sized puppy drum have been caught, and with this heat the specks have moved to deeper water, holding on structure. I've heard good things from Tangier and Pocomoke sounds for speckled trout, puppy drum, bluefish and stripers. My buddy Captain Walt of Light Tackle Charters says his clients scored a "Tangier Grand Slam." His anglers caught puppy drum to 24 inches, stripers to 28 inches, five-pound bluefish as well specks. The key to fishing these waters is finding clear, moving water.
All I have on Maryland's lower Chesapeake is not a lot. Mike from Buzz's said if you want hardheads fish the reefs and lumps on MARI reef, Middle Grounds and the oyster sanctuary off Point Lookout night fishing for croakers is pretty good. A few more bluefish have shown up but it's far from on fire.
Lots of variety in Virginia waters. Spadefish, cobia, trigger fish and black drum are just a few of the fish available. Offshore, Bill Pappas.caught 187-pound. big eye tuna on his boat with no fighting chair, no harness-just a terrible fighting belt, he said in an e-mail. He was fishing the Norfolk Canyon 85 miles from the beach. It took him 3.5 hours to land the bigeye on a 50 TLD loaded with 80-lb. test. Farther north in Ocean City's near shore and back bays, flounder success depends on finding clean water. Otherwise it's a mix of sea bass, kingfish, snapper blues, and croakers.
Aboard the headboat Morning Star Capt. Monty's fishers are catching sea bass and summer flounder, though usually not on the same day. He said the fish seem to be on alternating schedules. The bluewater reports cite a pretty good tuna and dolphin bite on summer hotspots like the Hot Dog and Jack Spot. In the canyons, more white marlin are showing up just in time for the White Marlin Open, and there's some bigeye tuna, yellowfin and mahi swimming around, too.