Captain Felker demonstrates that the cusp of winter is still a great time to catch redfish in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
Happy New Year!
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
Fishing the Mid Atlantic region and beyond for all manner of salt and fresh water species. We cover the lower Chesapeake Bay aboard the "Mikey D Fishing" in search of stripers, redfish, speckled trout, flounder, cobia and chase trout across the classic freestone and limestone streams of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Captain Felker demonstrates that the cusp of winter is still a great time to catch redfish in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
Happy New Year!
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
Especially if it's a Red Drum Stick!
Apologies for the poor play on words. The major period for fishing yesterday was in the morning. But with temps still in the 40s, I decided to hold off until noon-ish.
Right before I was ready to gear up, the phone rang. It was Captain DiPaola, heading north on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. He was heading home to Bethany Beach to host Thanksgiving for his family. I suggested he stop for a bit to do some fishing. Joe demurred, as he had to pick up a Turkey that afternoon. I countered with a reasonable suggestion; fish, forget the Turkey, and pick up Wa Wa Gobblers for the family....
So I had the lower bay to myself. Got on the water around 12:15. Partly cloudy skies, air temps in the 50s, water temps the same, no wind, flat seas. A low tide scheduled to come in at 12:30. I brought both spinning and fly gear, but decided to go with the fly rod, since conditions were perfect for this average caster.
Hit our go-to spot at the sothernmeost breakwater off Bay Creek. A pretty good video:
I started at the breakwater, and on the third cast picked up a small Red on the EP Baitfish pattern I've been using all fall. It's a bit chewed up, and the eyes are missing. But the fish don't seem to care.
After several more casts without a strike, I continued down towards the mouth of Plantation Creek, casting every once in a while, again with no action.
When I got down to the mouth, the tide was way out, and I could wade over 100 yards off the beach and still the water never got up to my knees. A lot of Mullet jumping around, and every once in a while, I could see disturbed water - tell-tale signs that Redfish were around.
As soon as I started casting the action began. Water was shin deep, and crystal clear. While I was taking fish on blind casts, every so often I spied Reds swimming, and cast to them like we would when stalking Bonefish. A lot of fun watching the take. The fish were only around 15-16 inches, but still a fun pull on the fly rod.
From 12:45 or so until 3:30, it was non-stop hooking and catching. Didn't keep a count, but I'm pretty sure I had a strike or landed a fish every 4-5 minutes. Around 2:30 a slight wind picked up and more clouds came in, so the stalking ended and I fished back up to the breakwater. Every spot I cast to resulted in at least takes, if not hookups. Even hooked and landed a few in the slot, with the biggest around 22 inches or so.
It was one of those times where I'd tell myself that it was the last cast for the day, only to get a hit or a hookup. After a few "last casts," the sun was lowering, and the air temps got cooler. A sign that it was time to head home.
Happy Thanksgiving, and Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
On Tuesday I returned from a trip to SC babysitting the grandkids and had a brief window to fish before a cold front rolled in. High tide on Wednesday was noon, so headed out around 12:30 to see if the fish were biting. Decided to bring along the fly rod as a backup, just in case conditions were amenable to throwing a streamer.
Weather was gloomy; perfect for fishing. Heavy overcast with air temps in the low 60s. Water temps in the shallows still in the high 50s to low 60s. A light rain shower every once in a while. Most importantly, though, no wind and flat water!
The last two conditions would prove key to the day's success. No wind meant I could break out the fly rod. Flat water meant I might be able to find fish.
Started out with the spinning rod, throwing a Strike King spinner bait. On the third cast I hooked a small Red. So I figured it was going to be a pretty good afternoon. Unfortunately, the braided line wrapped around the rod tip (it happens). Instead of fumbling around with it, or retying, I put the spinning rod down and picked up the fly rod.
Fished a 9' 8 weight with a floating line (no need for sinking line, as water depths aren't more than 4'), a 20 lb flouro leader, with an Enrico Puglisi baitfish pattern in white and chartreuse. The fly works really well down here, but I suspect a Clouser or Deceiver in similar colors would work as well.
There's not much to fly fishing in these shallows, technique-wise. You just chuck out the fly, let it sink for a second or two, then strip it in. I vary the strips; long and slow followed by one or two short strips. There's nothing out there to catch your fly, so if you feel like your stuck, execute a strip set and the fight is on. And if you don't get a good hook set on the take, wait a second and resume stripping all the way in. The fish, or one of his pals, will probably take the fly.
Thinking things might pick up, I moved further south of the breakwater. Noticed some disturbed water about 60 feet in front of me. A cast in the middle of the spot and I was hooked on a Red. Got him to my hand, about 15-16 inches. A few more casts resulted in a few more under-slot fish. Then it ended.
I walked down a little further, and once again noticed more disturbed water. Turned out this was a large school of Reds. For the next hour the action was non-stop. Didn't keep an accurate tally, but it was at least 10 fish, several of which were in the 18-26 inch slot, with one that went a good 24". A hoot on the 8 wt.
I even scored a PB on Speckled Trout, which easily went 24".
(Apologies for the poor quality of the photos. Holding a fish, the fly rod, and a camera is a bit of a challenge)
About 3:00 a skiff meandered into my fishing area, and the catching stopped. So I figured it was a good time to get off the water.
On Thursday air temps dropped and the wind picked up. Things probably won't settle down until Sunday. But next week looks pretty good, as long as the cold weather hasn't pushed the fish off. We may even start seeing Stripers out there.
Tight Lines and Happy Thanksgiving,
Mikey D Fishing
Growing up just north of Baltimore on the edge of suburbia, summer days would find me either on the baseball field, in or around nearby woods and streams, or fishing at Loch Raven Reservoir. Fishing there started with a long trek through the woods across a feeder stream and over a ridge. Sanders, a general store nearby, provisioned me and my mates with bait, sandwiches, and tackle replenishment. They also had the best milkshakes around. Every once in a while, we would transport some of the panfish we caught in a bucket to the stream near my house in an amateur stocking effort.
Fast forward to now and on a recent visit I went on a run near that very stream. Finding it impossible as usual to pass fishy water without taking a peek, I peered into a 4 foot deep pool. I could hardly believe it, but a saw 3 or 4 fish about 8 - 10". I ran back to retrieve my fly rod and wondered if the stream was healthy enough to support brookies.
A quick roll cast tipped with a beaded woolly bugger, soon grabbed the attention of 8 incher. Turns out what I hoped was a trout, turned out to be a rather large creek chub. Not the result I hoped for, but still pretty cool to feel the tug from my boyhood stream.
Three days of some phenomenal fishing:
Sunday: I wade-fished our go-to spot near the mouth of Plantation Creek. Temps in the high 60s, sunny skies, water temps in the low 60s. A bit windy, but only a 6-inch chop. Caught the incoming tide. Not a fan, but with shorter days, you get what you get. Which turned out to be just fine. Got on the water around 11:30 AM. Caught ten Reds over the next hour and a half. All on a popping cork suspending Z-Man Electric Chicken and Slam Shady soft plastics. Most under the 18" slot, but picked up a couple that were 20" or better. Stopped at 10 fish to beat feet back home to watch a great Steelers' victory.
Monday: Capt. DiPaola rolled in around 12:30 PM. We quickly rigged up and got to the same spot around 1:30. Again an incoming tide. Weather a bit warmer and calmer. Turned out to be one of those days when everything worked. Caught fish on popping corks and Dine XLs. Fished the last of our three hours on the water with gold spoons (Johnson and Clark). Never moved from one spot, casting to a school of Reds who wished us a happy Veteran's Day by hanging around and eating our lures. Mostly smaller fish, but again a few within the slot. We decided to quit at 30 fish, but could have kept catching for a while longer.
Get your minds out of the gutter. This is a family-friendly fishing blog.
I meant, with a Redfish. Uh..., time to move on from the double entendre....
Clare and Bery Edmonston joined us at Cape Escape this past weekend to take advantage of the fall Redfish action. My thumb's unfortunate encounter with a lure had kept me off the water for a couple of days. But, with the wound reasonably healed, and buoyed by healthy doses of antibiotics, it was time to get back on the water. Especially when the weekend's forecast looked like the catching would continue.
And the solunar calendar was spot on. Saturday, we got on the water around 11:30 AM to wade the outgoing tide. Temps were in the low 60s, as was the water temp. Skies were partly cloudy to mostly sunny. A bit of a breeze, but coming from the NE, so the water remained pretty flat most of the day.
Not long after the first few casts the catching began.
The action was consistent until around 2:30. Then it was off to the filet table and college football.
Doesn't get any better. And, fingers crossed, with temps still hanging in the high 60s to low 70s, the fishing should stay good through the month.
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
If you'll recall from the 27 October report:
Pro Guide Tip #2. Treble hooks make releasing fish, especially small fish, very difficult, especially if hooked deep, and may kill it. For Reds and Trout, replacing all your trebles with single 1/0 hooks do not diminish hookups, makes releasing fish easy, and will help prevent an unintended kill.
Turns out the fish are not the only beneficiaries of a single hook....
A trip to the ER over in Virginia Beach. Turns out they've seen this before.
And some post-op therapy....
Tight lines ... soon.
Mikey D Fishing