Despite my reservations about the long trip to find stripers trapped in an oxygenated pen off of Tolchester beach, the gouge coming from Anglers Fishing and Hunting had me convinced the 40 minute ride north would be productive. To make sure that I was armed for any possibility, I made sure the bait cooler and live well were filled with bloodworms, spot, soft crabs, and alewife.
The "clients" were prompt and we were underway in no time, casting off lines by 0745. As we turned the corner around Hacketts point, the telltale signs of stripers on top were all around. Luckily, we were prepared with a rod rigged with a jig and another with a top water plug. We began the dance of moving from one pod to the next avoiding birds and casting to trigger a strike. Charlie was the first to land a striper. Too small for the box, but it was still a lot of fun. Travis soon followed with his own catch after quickly mastering the top water technique of popping a surface plug.
Pro Tip: Be prepared to move quickly to new pods of rising fish. This time of year they appear quickly and descend almost as fast. Use the sonar in conjunction with your eyes to determine whether to toss jigs or top water for best results.
As mesmerizing as going from one patch of nervous water to the next chasing schoolie stripers was, the real opportunities for striper slabs lay up north, or so I thought. The weather made the journey much easier with only a light chop and cloud cover. North of Love point, the outline of the fishing fleet started to come into view. Dozens of charter boats and recreational fishing boats were anchored in 15' - 25' of water. While we were still a few miles away from the anchorage, we saw the universal sign of a fishing vessel requesting assistance as a fisherman with a party of 4 including 3 kids in a 16 foot boat waved his arms as we approached. He had a dead battery so we offered a tow and provided him the number to BoatUS.
Pro Tip #2: If you have a boat, regardless of its condition, pay the nominal annual fee to become a member of BoatUS or SeaTow. You don't want to be in extremis on a weekend day waiting hours for assistance.
Once the towing diversion was resolved, we motored to a point just north past the majority of boats. The location proved productive and for me a little frustrating. We were getting hits consistently on soft crab but for every 17" - 18" striper caught, we caught 2 flathead catfish. A couple hours of that was enough and I decided to call it a day. Heading back with the Bay Bridge in sight, my conclusion was that it was a good day even without keepers. After all, it had been too long since I had wet a line with Charlie and we did catch at least a dozen fish. Travis seemed happy enough to see fish on top and catch some 15lb catfish. My mental review of the outing was redirected when Travis optimistically asked if we could stop if we saw more fish on top. I of course counted with, "Mikey D Fishing never passes up top water opportunities!". Rolling into Whitehall Bay, I suddenly saw birds gathering and heading toward a single spot of water. I wheeled in their direction in time to see the first of several baitfish leap from the water in an effort to escape the voracious mouths of stripers. These were no schoolies! Charlie grabbed the rod with the jig and Travis casted the plug. Almost immediately, Charlie had one on. By the bend of the rod, it was clearly a nice fish. And just like that we had a 19" keeper in the box. 20 miles up the Bay and back only to catch the best fish of the day just minutes from the dock! Charlie followed with another fat 17"er that we threw back. This time of year you have to move fast because the frenzy doesn't last long. 10 minutes after it started, not a gull could be seen in Whitehall Bay. We had our keeper though and soon after, Charlie and Travis tasted victory off of the grill!
Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing
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