Beautiful Blue Crab Bounty on the Bay for Mikey D Fishing!

Despite utilizing bankers hours for crabbing, Peter Gargano and the Mikey D Fishing team brought a bushel of crabs to the box by 10:30 AM.  We used a 600' trot line baited with fresh chicken neck on snoods. 

Pete Gargano displays the future crab feast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plowing in a light morning breeze in about 8 - 10' of water Mikey D Fishing consistently netted #1s and Extra Large Jimmies on each run. 

A #1 Jimmy destined for the steamer

Crabbing Tip:  One of the keys using the trot line is to smoothly dip the net outboard of the line to avoid spooking the crabs from the baits and shaking other crabs off the line.  Place the net below and outboard of the crabs lifting up in a single stroke as the crabs attempt to escape by diving away and down -- Mikey D Fishing

Thursday 17 July - Late Post

A late post since we just returned from a trip to Albany, where we participated in squadron mate Capt. Jamie Pierce's retirement.  Took Thursday afternoon off to take advantage of the low temps and light winds to try the Bay Bridge.  Hit the water about 3:00 PM and headed to the eastern side of the bridge.  Set up at piling 51A on the northern span, dropped the anchor, the chum bucket, and baited up with cut Alewife.

The down side of the day was that fishing was a bit slow.  We only picked up four Stripers, three of which were around 20-21 inches.  The fourth was around 18.  On the up side, we were the only ones catching.  Easy to tell that when you pick your head up from watching your rods to see about a dozen boats have magically appeared around you.

Finished the day by trying some top water plugs off Hacketts.  The low winds made conditions perfect for some action, but the fish weren't there yet.  According to LT. Salt Life and the experts at Anglers, the Stripers are spread out awaiting the arrival of the summer Spot run.  When that happens it'll be time to do some live lining, with late summer and fall top water fly fishing just around the corner.

Tight lines.  MikeDFishing.

A One - Two Punch for Mikey D Fishing.  2nd Lt Salt Life was graciously granted his OOD underway qualification and departed Burley Creek at 0700 with two other young salts, Marshal and Jamie, both fellow employees at Anglers.  They proceeded directly to the pilings at the Bay Bridge to jig for keeper Stripers.  The fishing was steady and good with clear skies and a breeze that slowly dissipated over the course of the morning.  The highlight of the half day of fishing was landing a 50 pound black drum that first presented itself like a snag.  After a 20 minute fight, solid teamwork landed the beast.

The second punch came in the afternoon when 2nd Lt Salt Life and company turned over the helm to CC and Joe.  We followed suit by jigging Bay Bridge pilings on the Eastern Shore side of the bridge.  Joe landed an undersized striper on a chartreuse bass assassin.  Not satisfied with the frequency of the bite we anchored a few hundred yards north of the bridge spans to chum.  After an hour without so much as a nibble, a change was in order.  We decided to ease back toward the northern bridge span to enable us to jig and chum.  With the anchor holding our position, we restarted the chum slick and dropped alewife strips astern of the boat.  Almost immediately we had fish on!  The action continued throughout the remainder of the trip.  Infrequent lulls in the chumming action did allow for CC to get a hook up while jigging on what must have been a 30+ inch fish before breaking off.  Joe lost another in the pilings.  The rest was all success.  Eight fish over 20 inches to the boat including a nice 30 inch hog.  We tossed several back with lesions and scrapes but still kept a beautiful 27 incher and two others that provided thick fillets for the table.  CC boated one keeper when the tackle it was carrying from a previous melee with a fisherman snagged his line.  A perfect metaphor for the day was that we landed alewife that became ensnared in our lines just as we exhausted our supply of bait.  Excellent timing on a day when all the elements came together.  Classic Mikey D Fishing!