Overhead, a dozen tundra swans, majestic and effortless in V formation, framed white against a slate gray sky. On this late autumn day, the rain spits like an ill-tempered brat, and the mercury won’t break 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Still, anglers intent on squeezing every last minute out of the 2015 striper season don’t care. Because the bite is on, in deep holes in the Chester River and from Point No Point to the Potomac River mouth, they simply put on more foul weather gear.
If you’re reading this issue of PropTalk—the first of the 2016 season—as soon as it arrived at your door (Dec. 14) or picked it up at your favorite tackle shop, you probably knew you’ve only got a few days left in Maryland’s striper season, and man what a season, especially the last two months. If you want to put some black sea bass in your freezer, you’ve got until December 31 until that season closes until the spring. Thankfully, tautog reopens January 1, 2016. Other species available off the coast this month include the last of the migrating bluefish, cod, and tilefish.
The Chesapeake and Atlantic can be cold and rough this time of year, however. If a more serene setting is more your speed, yellow perch, pickerel and crappie are abundant in many of the Bay’s tidal fresh and brackish waters. Casting spinnerbaits, small jigs, and flies is a great way to spend a bluebird day over the holidays.
And finally, huge “thank you!” to all of the pros and experts who’ve helped to make PropTalk’s Fishing Forecasts possible this past year. And to you, our readers, your support is much appreciated. May you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a peaceful and a joyous holiday season. Stop by and say hey at one of the winter shows I’ll be attending, such as the Frederick and Annapolis MSSA shows and CCA TieFest. See you on the water in 2016. Catch ‘em up!
Maryland Bay
Captain Tyler Nonn of Tidewater Charters is not taking a huge risk by predicting that as winter takes grip on the Chesapeake and water temperatures plummet, the rockfish bite will become much more difficult.
“If you are looking to get out this winter, look to the warm water discharges around the Bay, or travel south for a jig bite,” he says, noting to be very careful when boating on the Bay in the winter.
Freezing your tuchus off not your idea of fun? Captain Tyler has an even better idea: Visit him at Big Pine Key in Florida, where he’ll charter for both inshore and offshore gamefish from January through March. “Winter in the Florida Keys offers some great offshore fishing for sailfish, blackfin tuna, kingfish, and more,” he says. “Bottom fishing for a variety of species like mutton snappers, AJs (amberjack), and yellowtail snapper is great.” He adds that usually you’ll get plenty of shots at big cobia, tarpon, snappers, barracudas, sharks, and giant goliath groupers.
“Come escape Maryland’s cold weather with Tidewater Charters in the Keys,” Nonn says.
Delaware & Maryland Coast
According to
Eric Burnley, the next several weeks offer a good time to fish wrecks and reefs off the coast of Delaware. “Black sea bass are in season until the end of December. I went out last year just before Christmas and was able to put a 15-fish limit in the freezer for the winter,” he says. “No secret baits or techniques: just drop a two-hook bottom rig baited with clam, squid, cut bait, or Gulp! down to the bottom and hold on.”
When sea bass aren’t available, Eric suggests you also fish for that other winter fish: tautog.
“They too are found on wrecks and reefs in the ocean,” he says. “Crab of some type are the top bait and a single hook rig made with 50-pound mono line and Virginia-style hooks should do the trick. Last winter a world record tog was taken out of Ocean City, MD, and I suspect even bigger fish are still out there.”
Virginia Chesapeake
Admittedly, champion angler and outdoor writer
Ric Burnley stumped me with his opening line: “Even Miss Cleo couldn’t say what the next month has in store for southside Virginia anglers.” So I had to ask him, “Who’s she?!” VA Beach’s best kept angling secret? Nope. Why, she’s a psychic medium, of course.
Whether she knows anything about fish in water around Virginia Beach I haven’t a clue. But Ric does, and he’s spot on when he asks: Will striped bass show up? Will red drum and speckled trout stick around? Will tautog be inshore or offshore? Will tuna be off Oregon Inlet or Hatteras Inlet? What about king mackerel, sea bass, and grouper? All questions worth finding out the answer to.
“With any luck, striped bass will arrive to the sloughs and channels off Virginia’s Eastern Shore sometime after Thanksgiving,” he suggests. “Anglers drifting live eels will luck into big rockfish. One hint: always leave at least one bait without any weight so that it drifts on the surface.”
Ric says if Virginia fishermen and visiting anglers are “really lucky, big striped bass will also show up along the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and Eastern Shore seaside. Look for diving gannets and pods of menhaden and then troll parachute rigs or umbrellas. When the fish are blitzing on bait, cast swimbaits and spoons into the melee. Hopefully, the school-sized rockfish will stay around the pilings and rocks of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, where anglers casting topwater lures and swim shads will score smaller rockfish.”
Ric adds that “should fortune shine on the Southside, speckled trout and puppy drum will hold out into early winter. Look for the fish in bayside tributaries with soft plastic jigs and MirrOlures. No one knows when the tautog bite will move offshore. If we’re lucky, the fish will stay on the pilings and rocks of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.”
As for ‘tog bait, he says use crabs until the crab season ends, and then switch to green crabs as long as they are available.
“Eventually, the tog will move offshore where anglers will find them on wrecks in 100 to 200 feet of water. The same areas will also hold sea bass and big bluefish,” he says. Ric recommends using “a double bottomrig and cut bait for sea bass. Or, work vertical jigs over the wrecks or troll high-speed Rapalas to score big blues. As the sea bass and blues move out, tautog will be left.”
Ric predicts that offshore anglers are “looking at a win or lose season. Winners will catch yellowfin tuna on warm eddies that cross the 100-fathom curve. Look for king mackerel off Hatteras between 100 and 200 feet of water holding over wrecks or bait marks.”
Maryland Tidal Chesapeake
“I’ll be fishing the Pocomoke River out of Snow Hill, MD, for pickerel, bass, crappie and yellow perch,” says Eastern Shore-based guide
Captain Kevin Josenhans of Josenhans Fly Fishing. “While our biggest catch is most always crappie, large pickerel often take our crappie jigs and give us a pleasant surprise.”
Captain Kevin says that “hands down” February is the best month for fat yellow perch as they make their way towards the headwaters to spawn. “The Pocomoke Cypress Swamp is one of the most beautiful places on earth to wet a line,” he says (and I must agree that’s not hyperbole). “Come join me for an inexpensive winter angling adventure.”
Also swapping his striper gear for ultra-light tackle will be
Captain Walt of Light Tackle Charters. He too favors the “sweet water” of the Pocomoke River, and he usually fishes out of Snow Hill, MD.
“We’ll employ ultra-light tackle (four- to six-pound spin gear and four weight fly gear) to catch crappie, yellow perch and (chain) pickerel,” he says. “Often largemouth bass show up in the mix as do ‘Bronco Gills’ (aka Large Blue Gills). The Pocomoke River winds back and forth so much on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that I can always find places to catch fish that are out of the cold winter wind.”