How You Finish That Counts (Aug 1, 2020)

The arrival of August and the dog days of summer are usually the most confounding times to fish in the Chesapeake.   Hot days, warm water, and low oxygen make keeper stripers hard to find and harder to entice.  Having an opportunity to fish with Capt Felker's son, 1SG Charlie Felker and his long time army buddy Travis Holibaugh however, made tough conditions well worth the effort.  

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

Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 17-21 July: Dog Days!

And that's an understatement.  Air temps were in the low 90s, with water temps averaged around 89 degrees.  Winds were less than 10 knots, dropping to less than 5 by Tuesday.  We fished over several days with good friends Tom "Cos" Cosgrove, Bery Edmonston, John Hupp, and Mike Shina.  The fishing reports noted that the Stripers were scattered from the Bay Bridge all the way up north to Tolchester, about a 45-50 minute ride from the bridge.  The reports were accurate.  Over the span of three days we fished from the bridge all the way up.  Although we marked fish on the Simrad, we only caught "shorts," with Tom Cosgrove boating the only keeper for the trip.  High point of the trips was on Tuesday afternoon.  While we struck out at Tolchester, as we neared the Bay Bridge the gulls were everywhere, and schoolie Stripers were chasing Bay Anchovies to the surface.  We had enough time to play, tossing metal jigs and surface plugs, which the schoolies were only too happy to crush.  Not as much fun as boating keepers, but consistent action kind of took the sting off ... a bit.

We saw dolphins breaking the water at the bridge, and caught one Bluefish on Saturday, an indicator that the bay is pretty salty now.  Hopefully the snapper blues will be moving in soon, providing some excellent action on the fly rod.  Cooler weather is forecast for next week.  If the water also cools off a bit the bite will turn back on.  

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing

Summertime Blues...or at least Stripers

Late Entry.... July 11, 2020....Summer in the Chesapeake.  Heat, humidity, crabbing, and stripers.  Well, stripers if you can find them.  As the heat builds, the cownose rays tend to overwhelm the chunking.  Jigging can be sporadic.  The good news is that it is usually prime time to live-line with spot.  A visit to Anglers is our preferred means of requisitioning our allotment of spot.  However, I was headed out solo to scout for an oasis or two of stripers and along the way fill the live-well with spot as a passed hard bottom.  I tossed a top and bottom rig with a 1/2 ounce weight that was tipped with bloodworms in about 6 feet of water in Whitehall Bay.  As I drifted across the bottom, I immediately began to pick up perch, spot, and croaker.  After 10 minutes or so, I headed over to the can buoy at the mouth of the Severn.  

The pattern continued as I picked up baitfish on every pass.  The spot, a member of the drum family, were almost too big to use as bait and would have made good table fare had I been so inclined.  As mesmerizing as  catching spot after perch after croaker was, I knew that I had to find the stripers.  The Bay Bridge, sewer pipe, and Podickory Point were all dry holes.  Eventually I realized that my best bet was to follow the charter fleet up to Tolchester Beach.  That meant another 45 minute voyage north of the Bay Bridge.  

Hard to miss Tolchester.  A dozen or so charter boats were mixed with another 15 recreational fishermen in a 1,000 yard box defined by the shipping channel and the shoreline.  I parked in about 17 feet of water and after casting the bait runner rods with soft crabs, the reels soon began to scream.

Nothing big mind you, but I picked up one rockfish after another between 16 - 18 inches.  Problem is, the limit is 1 fish at 19 inches.   So after multiple fish and no bait (soft crabs and spot).  I headed back to homeport knowing that I found the fish and hoping that there were a few lunkers left behind.  

 

Our next entry continues with the challenges that summertime fishing in the Chesapeake presents.  

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing

Happy Independence Day!

Freedom and Fishing.... 

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing

Potter County Fishing Report: Trout Derby Preps

We own you, "Trout Whisperer"!

Better bring your A-Game, "Trout Whisperer"!

Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 08-14 June: Dialing It In

The lock downs associated with the COVID virus basically kicked Mikey D Fishing to the right by a month.  Under normal conditions we would have had the boat in the water by mid-May, and figuring out the fish shortly thereafter.  This year, though, we launched the boat a little over two weeks ago, and really haven't had a chance to spend much time out on the bay.

We got that first shot this past week.  Although the tide charts were less than promising, sometimes you just have to go out when the schedule permits.  Aside from Thursday, when thunderstorms rolled in and put the fishing on hold, we got out on four days.  Air temps started out in the high 80s, but cooled off on Friday.  Water temps were in the mid to high-70s.  A bit of a chop at times, but not too uncomfortable.

Monday afternoon we were accompanied by long time pro bono client Mike Shina.  Since this was really our first time out, we decided to hit "the can," a buoy just off Hacketts Point, and south of the Bay Bridge.  We marked fish, but aside from a catfish, the fish ignored our cut Alewife and soft crab baits.  

We headed back out Tuesday afternoon. We checked the can, but interestingly did not mark any fish.  So we pointed the bow north and headed above the bridge.  After a quick scan around he sewer pipe, we continued north to Love Point, a few miles north of the bridge.  The number of boats in the vicinity was a good indicator that the stripers had begun their mid-summer move north of the bridge to find cooler and more oxygenated water.  We set up with the fleet, and began marking fish.  Not great numbers, but consistent.  Soft crabs were the bait of choice, as we boated a 27 incher  and a 22 incher in about 45 minutes of fishing, the first two keepers of the season.

The tides pointed to an early morning departure on Wednesday.  So we left the dock around 0530, and got up to Love Point around 0600 or so.  Had the boat anchored and baits in the water around 0610.  By 0630 the anchor was up, two keepers were in the box, and we were headed back to the dock.  We seemed to have things dialed in.

But ... not so fast.  On Friday, my last day in town, we were joined by Dad, sister Amy and brother Jeff.  Of all the days of the week, Friday was theoretically the best, with good tidal flows, cooler temps, and light winds.  Unfortunately, the fish don't seem to pay attention to the forecasts, which aren't all that accurate anyway.  The light winds turned out to be about 15 knots, which made for a choppy ride up to Love Point.  The winds died down eventually, but the fishing never picked up.  We had some decent hits on soft crab, but the fish were't running with the baits.  We did pick up a couple of shorties on metal jigs, but that was it.

I departed Annapolis on Saturday, and stopped in Coburn to hit Penns Creek.  I figured that, since the Green Drake hatch was done, the stream would be less crowded.  And I was correct.  I had my favorite section all to myself.  And the bugs were coming off, mostly Sulphurs.  Unfortunately, the trout must have known that it was me flailing away at the water.  When the sun dropped over the mountains, the fish started rising.  And I threw every Sulphur pattern I had at them, but couldn't buy a look.  About the only excitement was the doe that nonchalantly crossed the stream right above me.  

But that's Penns, at least for me.  To add insult to injury, as I was packing up to head back to God's Country Sunday morning, the fish gods were sending me a message.

The torture continued on Saturday down south for Capt. Joe and Capt. Salt Life down south.  The good news is that we had a chance to live line after we procured 8 spot on top and bottom rigs in Whitehall Bay.  They were almost too big for live lining and would have made decent table fare.  Nevertheless we headed to some of our historically productive bay bridge pilings only to get skunked.   

Capt Salt Life went out on Sunday with friends on Sunday and caught over 20 live lining and jigging.  It is good that fishing is a passion to counter the capriciousness of fishing success from one day to the next.   Overall, I am optimistic that the streams will bring trout to the net and the Chesapeake will fill the cooler throughout the season!

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing

Nemacolin Brookie

Before my fishing focus turns exclusively to striped bass, I had the opportunity to head to the Laurel Highlands in Western PA to Nemacolin Lodge to experience a four star resort, restaurants, relaxation, and a sense of normalcy compared to the last few months.  Nemacolin also boasts access to incredible fly fishing through their guide center.  Within reach of the lodge, there are a number of classic freestone streams, spring creeks, and tailwater.  

I was fortunate to be posted with Mike Steiner who runs the fly fishing operations out of the lodge.  Mike asked all the right questions from the outset to understand my level of experience and goals for the day.  After a few minutes heading toward the river, we were swapping fish stories and tactics.  I could tell it was going to be a great day of fishing with Mike.  Our destination was the Youghiogheny river.  Near Confluence, PA, the water is a tailwater fishery.   Ph is near neutral with caddis and midges being the predominant insects near the dam.  It was a short wade down river just past a bridge with a single deep unobstructed channel that caught my attention with trout intermittently slurping bugs from the surface.  A quick glance a Mike revealed that this could be on of those double digit fish days.   

The slaps on the water and dimples from slurping fish were deceiving.  Our first caddis / midge dropper combo produced a false strike and several looks.  A pattern developed where we would change the size or color of the caddis, get a look, a refusal or a single strike to be followed by several casts of nothing.  Persistence and Mike's experience paid off with two nice takes.  Unfortunately, both fish went into the weeds and escaped the net.  When the next pattern induced a strike, I did not hesitate to aggressively turn the fish from the grass on the bottom and eventually landed the brookie who fought much stronger than a typical 12" fish.

Other than the two fisherman who failed to follow the unwritten rules of fishing etiquette and spent an hour or so casting into my drift directly across from me, it was a very pleasant and rewarding afternoon.  More than any other kind of angling, the rewards of fly fishing are not counted by the number of fish in the creel.  A healthy fishery, a great guide, unravelling the mystery of feeding fish, and a strong tug on the end of the line are more than this angler can ask for during a day on the river.

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing