Beautiful Swimmers and Tasty When Steamed 20 Jun 21

There is something about crabbing.  The pace is mostly slower than fishing and there is a rhythm that makes time slow down.  It is the quintessential Chesapeake activity.   For those of us born and raised in the Land of Pleasant Living, crabs are as much a part of summer as hot dogs and hamburgers.  In recent years, much has been written about the collapsing stock of blue crabs.  Regardless, the crew of Mikey D Fishing has managed to catch enough for a small feast almost every time we wet our trot line.   I hoped Sunday would be no different.  

Though my kids were gracious enough to plan a dinner out on Sunday evening for Father's Day, my oldest son, Capt. Salt Life, and I hatched a plan to hit a couple of our crabbing spots early Sunday morning.  We figured if we caught a half bushel of crabs we could call an audible and host a crab feast for my kids and their significant others.   

As we got underway around 0600, the weather was almost perfect.  Temperature in the low 70s, winds calm, and the water was flat as ice.   I decided to set up just a few minutes from the dock along a 10' ledge in Whitehall Bay.  That spot isn't as productive as others, but it is close and I had hoped that we could make up for lack of crabs per run on the trot line with more runs overall.  '

In previous posts, (See July 18, 2016 or June 4, 2017) Mikey D fishing has described our preferred method of catching crabs in numbers without breaking our backs.  We are trotliners.  A trotline is a long baited line, usually 600' or 1200' with either chicken necks, bull lips, or bags of clams baited every 8' along the length of a 3/8" line.  (See Image 1) It takes some preparation and some practice to deploy correctly, but once in the water, it is only a matter of driving up and down the baited line with a good crabbing partner, picking crabs off one at a time.

Image 1

There are other methods of course.  Commercial watermen often use pots that can catch several crabs hooked to a buoy.  Recreational crabbers can catch them by handlining chicken necks or using single crab traps.  Both of these methods can be fun but frustratingly slow and unproductive.  As you can see from our trotline YouTube video below from 2016 ,  Capt Felker and I can land up to a dozen keeper crabs per run on a good day.  

Mikey D Fishing Trot line

With our trot line deployed, Capt. Salt Life and I waited for each passing bait to start landing keepers.  When the first couple of runs yielded just 3 crabs, we knew it was time to move.  In short order we retrieved the line and headed up the Severn River for a protected cove with a long stretch of 8-10' of water.  That made all the difference.  Almost every run gave us up to 6 keeper crabs.  In just a few hours we caught almost a bushel.  As the sun rose higher in the sky, the bite trailed off and it was time to head home with a full basket of crabs and the promise of a Chesapeake feast.  

Steaming crabs is pretty simple.  I use a stainless steam pot and add about an inch of water and a can of Natty Boh, of course.  Each layer of crabs is coated with J.O. #1 seasoning.  Yeah, that's right, if you are from Maryland, it has to be J.O.!  My twist is I add butter along the way.  Steam for about 20 minutes, add some corn, other sides maybe, and you have a feast!

Father's Day evokes memories and reflective moments, my favorites include all of my children around me, often with water in the background, doing what we enjoy together.  I am grateful for this Father's day to have some of my kids, their significant others and my grandson and future trotliner, MJ, with me to make this day a special one.  

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing

Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 12: Keys to a Great Charter

There are three elements to a successful charter, especially with clients who do not spend much time on the water.  The first is weather.  Even if the fish are cooperating, if the weather is lousy, basically all you're doing is catching in miserable conditions.  The second is the fishing.  You want the targeted species around, and at least hungry enough to put a few in the net (and some in the cooler).  Finally, and maybe most importantly, you hope to have guests with the right attitude.  Hoping to catch fish, but in general just excited and happy to be on the water.

We hit the trifecta on Saturday.  Capt. DiPaola had donated a charter for a fundraiser in 2020, but Covid and schedules delayed a firm commitment until last Saturday.  Joining us on the Mikey D were Heather Gerber, Chris Topf, and Christina and Paul Smith, all from York PA.  Friday's weather was absolutely awful, preventing us from getting out and scouting around.  Saturday's forecast, however, looked pretty good.  By the afternoon the cloudy skies would give way to some sun, and the winds would die down into the single digits.  Best of all, temps were supposed to stay in the 70s all day.

Weather.  Check.  Our York group arrived around 11:30 am, and we were off the dock around 12:00.  Water conditions weren't perfect at first; swells that went a foot and a half or so.  But not too uncomfortable, especially if the forecast held up and conditions improved.

Fish?  This was a conundrum at the start.  Reports during the week were that warm water temps and pods of dolphins at the bay bridge had driven the Stripers up to Rock Hall and Tolchester, which given the weather would have taken us a good hour or so to get to the business of fishing.  But as we passed through the eastern spans of the Bay Bridge, we noticed boats anchored up in 11 feet of water.  A look at the Simrad showed water temps in the low 70s, very reasonable for a Striper bite.  And adding to our confidence was seeing the Breezin' Thru, a charter boat out of Stevensville.  When we see that boat, we know there are fish around.

So we called an audible and anchored up.  For the next couple of hours we had reasonable action.  We planned on using all available means of enticing fish; chunking, live lining Spot, and jigging.  Chunking soft crabs brought in the first keeper, when Paul reeled in a 20 incher, his first Striper.  We netted an 18 incher, and also some pretty decent White Perch.  And of course, we hooked a ray.  But the fun was to be had live lining.  We enjoyed several hookups, with Chris pulling in a nice 24 inch fish.  We probably could have put a couple more in the boat, but live lining is kind of an acquired technique.  When the Spot (the preferred baitfish) sees a Striper it swims to avoid its inevitable demise.  But the Striper easily runs down the baitfish.  That's when things get a bit complicated.  The Striper catches the Spot from the tail, then rotates the fish in its mouth and eats it head first, so the Spot's extended fins can't prevent it from being eaten.  So you actually feel two pulls on the rod, and both are quite vicious.  But the key is to wait for the second pull before setting the hook.

Like I said, more complicated, but feeling that pull, whether you hook a fish or not, gets the heart beating.

Weather.  Check.  Fish.  Check.  Most importantly, we had great clients in the boat.  They came onboard with the attitude you hope to see; let's have a fun day in the bay.  They quickly mastered the chunking technique, and did quite well live lining.  And when the fishing slowed at the bridge and we sauntered up to Love Point, they enjoyed the chance to kick back, enjoy some tasty food and beverages, and just take in the bay.  

By the afternoon the winds and waters calmed,  and there were enough clouds to keep the temps down.  We marked fish, but the tides were slowing and with it the bite.  So we headed back to the dock to filet some fish.

A fantastic day on the water, thanks to Heather, Chris, Christina and Paul!

Pro guide tip.  When is bait a meal?  Well, if you find out that you have a few live soft crabs left over from the charter.  No need to throw them out.  Just remove the section covering the eyes and mouth, dust then with a flour/Old Bay mixture, and then into a frying pan of melted butter for a few minutes each side.  Hey, who are we to argue with a Striper?

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing

Potter County Fishing Report: First Fork of the Sinnemahoning, 07 June - Small Stream Fishing at Its Best

It has been a weird spring up in NC Pennsylvania.  With the exception of a few days, most of May has been wet and cool.  Good conditions if you want to fish streamers and nymphs.  But not so great for the hatches normally associated with mid spring.  

Then June rolls around and we've moved straight into summer.  Figuring that the warmer temps would get the fish looking up, the "Trout Whisperer" and I headed to explore another of Bob's favorite spots.    For the last 5 years Bob has been introducing me to the streams of Potter County.  And, with his relocation to Florida looming, I could pass up the chance for him to show me the First Fork of the Sinnemahoning

Formed by the confluence of the Borie Branch and Prouty Run, just north of the town of Costello, the First Fork begins as a wild Brown and native Brookie stream, and as it moves south and widens becomes more stocked water.  Several years ago I had caught my first 20-inch Brown on the First Fork in Costello (it's in the blog!).  This time Bob took me to fish the northern reaches, hoping that the wild Browns and natives would be looking up.

We got to a pulloff by the stream around 6:00 PM and rigged up.  I decided to wet wade, and while Bob was gearing up dropped down to fish under a bridge.  The water was low, but still cold, and there were plenty of fishy-looking lies.  Third cast just above the bridge in one of those fishy-looking lies resulted in a vicious strike on my size 10 Stimulator, which I missed.  Several more casts to the area with no response convinced me that I'd missed my first wild fish for the day.  

Bob finally joined me and we made our way up the stream, switching off casting to fishy spots.  The stream epitomizes a PA wild trout stream; skinny water and lots of overhanging brush.  No 40 foot casts here.  But if you could roll cast 15-20 feet, then you could put your fly in play.  And you get one shot with these fish.  You either hook up or move to the next spot.

We each missed a couple more fish as we moved upstream.  Finally I managed a hookup on a fish, which immediately tore upstream, tried to wrap me around a rock, then rocketed downstream and went under a sunken log right at my feet.  I was able to gently tug the leader and moved the fish out long enough to bring it to my hand; a nice 10-inch Rainbow, which looked to be wild.  (The Prouty is one of the few streams in PA that supports a wild Rainbow population).  

So the skunk was off.  As we continued upstream we came upon the spot of the night; a nice hole, with plenty of room to actually make a back cast.

We spent the next 45 minutes switching off, missing and catching Rainbows (again, looked wild) and Browns, most of which were between 6-10 inches.  But all slamming our dries.

Enjoying the first real dry fly action of the year, we landed around seven fish between us.  We even managed to lure a big fish out from its lair under a bank.  But it my Stimulator a glance and moved back to the dark water.

We kept fishing upstream, picking up a wild Brown here and there, until 7:30 or so, when we decided to head back to the honey hole to wrap up the evening.  The trout seemed to have forgotten the pasting we put on them earlier, and we each picked up more fish.  The Trout Whisperer snapped his fly off on a fish, so I jumped the line while he retied, and scored the fish of the outing.  The big trout that we had seen earlier came out and inhaled my Stimulator, then immediately tore back to the rooted undercut bank.  Fortunately, even though I was fishing my 3 wt rod, I had 4X leader, and was able to keep the fish out of the root ball that would have resulted in a breakoff.  The trout made several attempts to get back home, but I was able to move him back, and Bob successfully netted a Rainbow that easily went 18 inches.  (the poor quality of the pic due to the fish thrashing about and our desire to let it go quickly)

A good sign to call it a day.  We landed a total of 11 fish in about two hours of fishing.  Maybe not astounding numbers, but given the conditions one of the best days I've had in awhile.  

And a big shout out to the "Trout Whisperer."  Still time to hit some more streams!

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing