Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report - 13-14 June: Personal Best

The solunar calendar does not lie.

You don't get many days like this; reasonable weather, good tidal flows, and the bay filled with keeper Stripers.  It's a tough decision; sulphurs and green drakes hatches on our local waters in PA, or the chance to limit out on Stripers.  I decided to leave the trout be for a few days and lit off to Annapolis for my first outing on the bay this year.

The tidal flows were civil; no need to get up at the crack of dawn.  Wednesday Captain DiPaola and I headed out about 1130, planning to hit the incoming tide that was supposed to start about 1330 or so.  We spent the first hour or so cruising the bay looking for fish.  After hitting the can off of Hacketts Point, the western spans of the Bay Bridge, and north to Podickery Point, we decided that anchoring up between bridge pilings 15 and 16 offered the best opportunity.  The conditions were mixed; partly cloudy skies, but winds out of the south  at about 20 knots, which kicked up about 2-3 foot swells.  Not ideal, but fishable.  We dropped anchor, baited up cut Alewive and soft crab on bait runner rigs, and had lines in the water at 1245.  Within minutes of wetting the lines it was game on.  With the exception of one 45 minute lull, we boated 12 fish, 6 going into the cooler, within 3 hours.  Biggest fish was a 32 incher that Captain DiPaola brought to the net ... a personal best for the boat.  The rest were in the 21 inch range, although I took a 26 incher that we had to throw back because we had limited out.  Not a bad problem to have.

On Thursday we were joined by long time "pro bono" client John Hupp.  Weather was a bit better with clear skies and winds from the east at about 15 knots with a small chop on the water.  We intended to follow the previous day's plan, and cleared the dock at around 1130.  But on our way to the bridge we started marking a lot of fish a few hundred yards south.  The Lowrance doesn't lie, so we decided to forgo the bridge and anchored up at about 1200.  The tide was moving pretty swiftly, which was a good sign that the fish were going to be on the bite.  And the Stripers did not disappoint.  The action was fast for the next two and a half hours.  Another limit in the cooler; John took a nice 29 incher, I finally broke the 30 inch barrier, with the rest of the fish coming in between 21 and 24 inches.  By 1430 we were limited out and heading back to the dock.

June has got to be the best month to fish the bay.  The weather is still pretty nice, with air temps in the high 70s-low 80s, and water temps are in the low 70s, and although the big breeders have departed, there are still a lot of fish to be caught, with the chance of tying into some 25-plus inch fish.

The trout can wait....

Tight lines,
MikeyDFishing

Striper Fillets on the Fly 5/31 - 6/2

Though May has been wetter than normal in the Chesapeake region, reduced size limits (19" minimum, circle hooks only) was sufficient enticement to take advantage of a break in the weather and confirm reports that the striper action in the Mid-Chesapeake Bay was getting hot.  Since my fishing window was limited to about two hours on May 31, I left the dock and headed straight for the nearest fishing spot, Severn River Green Can #1 buoy.  I marked scattered fish on the Lowrance and other boats working the dropoff  from 20 - 32'.   Since there was little action, I decided to head north to Podickory Point, which is often a frequent location for fish to hold near the mouth of the Magothy.  Because I was solo, I decided to chunk instead of chum and set a spread of four rods using a combination of alewife (frozen, fresh not available) and bloodworms.  

Normally 20 minutes is not a long time to wait for the bite to start, but with the clock ticking and few marks on the fish finder, I decided to pick up and set anchor anew.  The question with limited time was where?  As I headed south under the Bay Bridge spans, I saw a couple of charter boats set up for chumming 1/4 mile south of the bridge in about 32' of water.  Since one of the boats, "Becky D", is a mainstay in these parts, I decided to anchor down current a respectable distance and like a remora take advantage of the charter's residual chum slick.

The hunch produced action almost immediately and within a few minutes rod tips were bouncing with stripers hitting baits.  After 30 minutes, I caught my limit of 2.  I managed to handle a double` by working one fish to the boat while allowing the bait-runner reel to peel off line until I could land the second.  Both rockfish were 21 - 22"--- perfect for the fillet knife and the plate.  First fillets of the season!

More rain in the forecast on Saturday also limited the fishing window.  Boosted by the results from the outing a couple of days prior, I cruised by the green can buoy and the deep water near the bridge without much evidence of schooling stripers.  Recalling that we had good success in early June working the "old sewer pipe" in 17' of water north of the Bay Bridge (see Blog post, "Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 10-11 June 2017),  I set a course for the Eastern side of the Bay Bridge spans.

I started marking clouds of stripers almost immediately.  The bottom rigs stayed silent so I decided to deploy the 12 weight fly rod with a chartreuse clouser  minnow.  (Capt C.C. Felker and I talked about using fly rods for stripers when anchored or drifting in a manner similar to our recent Nicaraguan tarpon trip)  Once the current took the fly 75' past the stern and the intermediate sinking fly line descended the fly into the water column, I began stripping the line in short bursts back to the boat.  On my second retrieve, I was rewarded with a strong take, an impressive pull, and a 24" striper to the boat on the fly!

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing

Potter County Fishing Report - Project Healing Waters: It Really is a Small World, 22-25 May

Last week the God's Country Chapter of Trout Unlimited participated in a Project Healing Waters fly fishing event, held at Roy and Cathy Magarigal's Moore's Run Fish and Game Preserve in Austin, about a half hour south of us (http://www.patrout.com/).  Project Healing Waters is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of disabled vets through fly fishing.  This year marked the 10th anniversary of that our chapter has been involved in the program.

The PHW regional coordinator, working with the VA, selected 14 vets from the western Pennsylvania and western New York areas to travel to Austin for the three day event.  Tuesday afternoon chapter members, vets, and motorcycle escorts gathered in Shinglehouse, then moved to Oswayo Valley High School, where about 300 students and faculty members gave the vets a warm welcome.

                                                  

From Shinglehouse the parade made its way to Coudersport, about 20 miles south.  Along the way families would be outside their homes waving flags, with a crowd of about 1000 or so folks lining Main Street and Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport to show their support for the program.

After a brief stop at the Coudersport American Legion, the convoy headed to the First Fork Lodge in Costello (http://www.firstforklodge.net/), where the vets would stay for the next three nights.  Tuesday evening's festivities included an outstanding prime rib dinner, courtesy of owners Linda and Jack Krafft.  And it was right before dinner that we had one of those surreal experiences that truly reflect how small the world actually is.  Mary, I, and God's Country chapter president Pete Ryan were hanging out in a sitting room chatting with a couple of the vets.  Introductions started in the predictable way, except that in this case taking an unexpected turn. I first asked the vet sitting across from me what his branch of service was.  He replied, "Navy."  Me too, I replied.  Then I asked what he did in the Navy.  He replied that he had served in helicopters, specifically the SH-60 Seahawk, which I responded that I had flown with several Seahawk squadrons as well.  When I asked him what squadron he had served with, the vet replied that it was a small outfit out of Norfolk that I probably wasn't familiar with. When I pressed him for its name, and he replied with HCS-4, I quickly responded  that I was not only familiar with the squadron, but with one of its former pilots.  That's when the world shrank considerably, as I asked him if he knew Capt. Joe DiPaola, who had deployed twice with the squadron to Iraq.  "Joe DiPaola, I know Joe DiPaola ... I was his door gunner!", he exclaimed"  Chief Bryan "Tbone" Trembath, who now owns a contracting business in Mars, PA, spent his last deployments in the Navy keeping Joe out of harms way, replied to a last minute invitation to join our PHW event and jumped at the chance.

So when the vets showed up at Roy's preserve Wednesday morning to fish, karma dictated that Tbone and I fish together.  You can go back about a year in this blog and find a prior entry that describes Roy's fishing preserve.  All I'll say is that, if you want the opportunity to catch a big trout in a small stream, this is the place to be.  And this year's fishing was just as phenomenal.  The weather was a bit warm for mid-May, but recent rains had Big Moore's Run in great condition.  Over the ensuing two days Bryan fished the stream and the pond on Roy's property, both offering up pretty decent sized Kamloops Rainbows and Browns.

                                      

Although this was only his second fly fishing outing, Bryan quickly mastered the intricacies (and frustrations) of small stream fishing, and over the course of 2 days easily caught over dozen trout, many in the 18-20 inch range.  We fished dries, dry/droppers, streamers, and nymphs, with a Mary-tied Rainbow Warrior bringing some gorgeous fish to the next the first day.

While the chapter members were there to serve as guides, Mary and I did get to sneak out for a couple of hours on our own.  A Chernobyl Ant with a Pheasant Tail dropper placed along the creek bank proved just the meal ticket for a hungry Brown which came out of nowhere and gulped down the big meal:

Mary got to break in her new Hardy 4wt rod and reel on a nice Rainbow which slammed a Green Drake Parachute in Roy's pond:

The event was an unqualified success.  What is truly impressive, though, is all of the work that goes into making this outing work year after year.  It's truly a community undertaking.  The Kraffts and Magarigal's donate the use of their establishments (including stocking about 200 trout from Roy's hatchery, many of which were well over 20 inches!), despite it being the peak time of the year for fly fishing.  Under the outstanding leadership of president Pete Ryan and vice president Dave Saulter (who does yeoman's work coordinating the parade), the God's Country chapter members  provide the guiding service and fly tying instruction, and are constantly on hand to cater to the vets needs.  The Austin-Costello Sportsmen's Club provides its facilities for the fly tying class and lunch on Wednesday.  Otto Deutsch, who is an absolute master at the smoker, served up a phenomenal prime rib dinner on Thursday evening, while a women's Quilting Group from Shinglehouse helped serve the vets, and also presented them with personalized quilts.  And residents and businesses from around the county donate generously to ensure that the vets are provided with a first-rate experience.

I really don't buy the notion that fly fishing is some ethereal experience; perhaps that's reserved for the "mandarins" of the sport.  But while we in the rank and file might never achieve the zen state, I can see how Project Healing Waters, and fly fishing, can help a disabled vet, or anyone for that matter.  There's really nothing about the physical act of fly fishing that in itself is therapeutic.  It's rather what's going on in your head while your fishing.  Simply put, everything involved in trying to catch a trout while standing on the slippery bottom of a stream, surrounded by trees, with a flimsy rod, thin leaders, and some feathers tied to a tiny hook, crowds out everything else that would be occupying your brain.  And so, for at least a couple of days, Brian and his comrades were able to push out the physical and emotional pain, and replace it with no other thoughts than how to catch and land a fish.  The relief might be only temporary, but I would think that any distance a vet can put between him and his disability is a good thing.  And, to all of the folks who made it possible for the vets to create that distance, your contribution mattered.

Tight Lines,
Mikey D Fishing

Nicaraguan Tarpon Photo Collage