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.
Weather - Around 38 degrees at 0700, clear skies, slight breeze, seas calm, water temp 57 degrees. Incoming tide. Air temps warmed into the hight 50s by mid-morning.
Location - Whitehall Bay
Tackle - Silver Castmaster and Blue/silver Gotcha jigs.
Report - With Captain DiPaola otherwise occupied, I decided it was too nice of a day to not be on the water, if only for a couple of hours. Cleared the last marker into Whitehall Bay at 0715 ... no bird activity ... drove around until I marked fish. Picked up a 19 1/2 incher right away. Within the next 20 minutes picked up a 20 inch keeper. Fish were holding in about 13-16 feet of water.
No more action until around 0830 when the terns and gulls started to work the surface. Chased birds for the next hour. Boated a 22 inch keeper and later a 16 incher that literally hit my "Gotcha" jig at the boat. A little surface activity, but could only get one fish to chase my surface plug.
Bit of a challenge landing a 20-plus inch Striper by yourself. Then again, not a bad problem to have....
Last Thursday morning, as we were hanging out in gate area awaiting our flight to Jacksonville, I came across an acquaintance that I happened to know through another friend. I reintro'd myself and mentioned our common friend, to which the USNA Class of 79er replied, "oh yeah, there's the connective tissue."
The conversation didn't last long, which was okay by me. And I didn't think much of his comment at the time, because we had a plane to board and fish to catch. So on the plane we went with other USNA glitterati and fans heading to Jacksonville for the Navy-Notre Dame game. A couple of hours later we were on our way to Palm Harbor Marina to meet Curt Toomer, former squadron mate, long time friend and fishing companion, and our captain for three days on the Intracoastal Waterway in search of Redfish and Sea Trout.
We arrived at the marina around 1130, and soon after that we were underway in his 18 foot Maverick skiff, a perfect boat for the intra coastal. The strategy for the trip was basically running to spots Curt had already scouted days before which were holding Reds and Trout. Tactics were equally simple. Tackle was for the most part spinning gear, tossing live shrimp, mud minnows, or soft plastics off grass points or up against the grass banks.
The weather on Thursday was as good as it gets. Temps in the upper 70s, an occasional overcast, light breeze, and water temps in the 70s. The only thing interrupting the solitude was the "sounds of freedom" from the Blue Angels, who were flying around practicing for air shows on Saturday and Sunday.
But it was easy to ignore the pilots in blue spandex, especially when you're tying into fish. Thursday afternoon turned out to be the best day of the trip, numbers-wise. We brought at least 20-24 fish to the boat; Reds, Trout, Mangrove Snapper, and a nice Bluefish that spit the jig head right at the boat.
Included in the catch was one keeper Red of about 20 inches, and 5 Trout, enough fillets to feed the clan, with a little to spare for a hanger on at the cleaning table.
The plan for Friday morning was the same as Thursday. Only problem was the frontal system that moved through about noon. While we kept fishing throughout the afternoon, the 20-25 knot winds kept us limited to protected parts of the intra coastal. Despite the conditions, we continued to catch fish, including a nice 23 inch Red and 16 inch Trout.
With the winds forecast to continue through Saturday, our game plan for the last day of the outing was to head south and fish around the docks down in Ponte Vedra. We hit a creek bend on the way down, and managed to catch a few trout and snapper, and one keeper Black Drum. With the wind blowing a good 20 knots,m though, we motored south to calmer waters. On the way down Captain DiPaola managed to tie into a big Red moving along a grass bank. But his shouts of "I got this" went sour when the fish broke him off, disappointing, but also a rush watching him fight the fish. We moved down further south. But, while the trees and houses did block the wind, there wasn't much in the way of catching. So we ziggied back up to the spot where we had started fishing, and battled the 20-25 knot winds to catch Snapper after another. This last stop, though, also tuned out to sweet revenge for Captain DiPaola, who managed to catch his Redfish for the trip with a Berkley Gulp shrimp pattern off a grass bank, a feat given the conditions.
As we offloaded Curt's boat Saturday afternoon, one of the employees at the marina, who is a big time fisherman, described us as "animals" for being out in these conditions. He was right that the conditions for the most part weren't ideal. But you can't plan the weather. And while we didn't put as many fish in the cooler as we'd liked, we still boated some nice Reds and Trout. Most of all, we enjoyed the time spent together. We've known each other, and fished together, for over twenty years. Our Navy careers brought us together, but spending time on the water has provided that "connective tissue" that has nurtured a friendship going back over two decades.
Many thanks to Captain Curt Toomer for his guiding prowess. And a special shout out to his lovely wife Michele, who was the most gracious of hosts.
The solar-lunar calendar for the end of
October pointed to several days of excellent fishing.What the calendar could not predict was the
weather.Having three trips scheduled
for the last weekend of the month, Captains DiPaola and Felker headed out on
Thursday to check out the conditions and perhaps bring home a fish or two.Unfortunately, we didn’t get too far into
Whitehall Bay before it became obvious that this outing was going to be a bust.An approaching front kicked up the winds from
the east at 20 kts or better.Seas were
around 2-3 feet when we set out, worsening over the next couple of hours to 3-4
feet.While the rain held off, temps
were in the high 40s, maybe low 50s, which made for lousy boating.So after a brief run up to the Severn River,
with conditions no better there, we made a laborious run back to the dock.
The weather for Friday looked more promising.The front had passed through over the night,
leaving clear skies when we left the dock around 0800.Winds were still up, around 15 kts or better,
but now coming from the west, putting the swells in Whitehall Bay at no more
than 2 feet or so.Water temps were in
the high 50s; eminently fishable.Joining us on the first of the three day blitz was Vice Admiral (retired)
Paul Bushong, Captain Felker’s company mate and roommate while at USNA.To say the least the pressure was on a bit,
not just because of our guest, but also because it had been a few weeks since
we’d last hit the bay.
Despite conditions being on the edge of
ideal, the Mikey D Fishing team held its own.As Whitehall Bay was quiet, we decided to head up to the Severn.While we marked a lot of fish, the bite was
not on.So around 0930 we decided to
head back to Whitehall Bay.Turned out
to be a fortuitous decision.It seems
that the key to success at this time of year is a combination of technology and
nature; keeping an eye on the Lowrance to mark fish, while keeping the other
eye peeled for terns and gulls working the surface.As we exited the mouth of the Severn, nature
took the lead.The sky was filled with
birds.And while the winds and waves
made top-water action impossible, it did provide enough drift to bounce metal
stick jigs off the bottom without having to constantly retrieve. We also picked up an interesting double, with
Paul hooking up while trolling, and me following up casting a jig to the same
area.
Saturday brought improving weather and
fishing.This morning long time friend
John Hupp joined us.As we entered
Whitehall Bay around 0830 it was obvious that the fishing was going to improve,
as we immediately spotted birds working the surface as we exited the
channel.Within a few minutes we were
set up on the school, and with the first cast a 20 inch keeper came to the
boat.What’s amazing about fishing
conditions during this time of year is how fast the fish school up, only to
spread out within minutes.Key to this
is seeing the birds stop working.Doesn’t mean the fish aren’t there; they’ve just gone to the bottom or
spread out until it’s time to hit the bait balls again.So we’d dashed about after birds working the
surface.And when the birds stopped,
we’d put the boat in the shallows and let the wind push us into the channel,
bouncing jigs as we drifted along.Again, we only brought one fish home.But the action was fairly consistent throughout the day catching 16-19
inch fish …. Including a 12 inch Flounder!
It seems a reasonable fishing rule of
thumb to plan a three day trip to get at least one day of fishing.The forecast for Saturday showed continued improving
conditions; clear skies, highs in the 70s, and 5-10 knot winds.Having sensed that we missed most of the morning
bite on Saturday, the Mikey D team planned on leaving the dock well before the
sun came up.With us for the final trip
of the month were friends and fellow Navy tailgaters Mike Shina and Bery
Edmonston.We loaded the boat and got
underway around 0630 or so, the sun not coming up for another 30-45
minutes.We slowly moved through Burley
Creek and into the channel that empties into Whitehall Bay.For the next couple of hours we trolled or
stopped to jig on marked fish.Conditions were pretty calm, very comfortable temps.Birds were starting to wake up, but had yet
to begin their scouting for us.
By around a quarter to nine, however, the
birds got frisky and the game was on.For the next two hours it was lights out action.And with the seas at less than a foot or so,
the Mikey D team used all of its arsenal to bring fish to the boat.Stick jigs were the most reliable.But a close second were top water plugs, with
fish chasing and hitting them right at the boat.We even got to break out the fly rods
(challenging when you have four anglers on a 21 foot boat) and took fish on
chartreuse Clouser Minnows (Joe’s first keeper Rock on a fly) and poppers.I candidly don’t know how many fish we
caught, as double and triple hook ups were persistent throughout the
blitz,but we put our limit in the
cooler, a first for Mikey D Fishing.
Perhaps the highlight of the day was a bit
of inter-boat cooperation.Showing up
during the blitz in his new Sea Hunt was Mark Ponicsan, long time friend,
former White House colleague, and fellow Navy football tailgater.Seeing that he arrived without fishing gear
during a major bite seemed a sin, so we waved Mark over, handed him a rigged
rod, gave him a some jigging tips, and pointed him to the fish. (Which wasn’t
hard, since we were surrounded by them).Within a few minutes we heard the yell and looked over to see his rod
bent over.Unfortunately, we did not
give him our net or some pliers, complicating things a bit.But he pull the fish onboard (without
breaking the rod … whew!), and boated a nice 20 inch fish.
Even though it’s fall, the Striper action
should continue well intoNovember and
even December, if the weather cooperates. (Just remember to keep some Devil’s
Backbone Striped Bass Pale Ale in the cooler and country music on the
stereo.Sorry Mike, but Rockfish don’t
seem to care for 80s rock!)That’ll have
to wait for a week or so, as the Mikey D team heads for warmer climes.While Navy battles Notre Dame in Jacksonville
Florida this weekend, we’ll be a few miles away, battlingRedfish and Sea Trout on the Intercoastal
Waterway, courtesy of Captain Curt Toomer.Stay tuned.
