Chesapeake Light Tackle

For fantastic fall fishing, you just can’t beat the Chesapeake Bay.  Unfortunately, I’ve missed most of November’s bounty due to work requirements.  Still, some of my fishing partners are enjoying a season to remember, and the few times I’ve been out have been memorable.  This is the time of year when you’re either pulling in big fish until your arms are sore, or running for miles in the open water without a bite.  There are schools of big fish swimming quickly up the Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.  They’re zipping in to feeding grounds near the mouths of area rivers where they’ll quickly devour any available bait before streaking off to more fertile territory.  In order to intercept them, you have to be in the right place at the right time. Read More!

Outdoorsmen are known to brag about their dogs.  Growing up in Tennessee, I heard lots of  stories about super hunting dogs.  Most were told with tongue squarely in-cheek and every tall tale ended with some magnificently exaggerated conquest by the narrator’s most accomplished canine. That tradition of boasting is also part of the fabric of the Bay.  In the novel Chesapeake, James Michener spins a yarn about a strong duck dog who rescues his unconscious master after he is knocked into the water by the recoil of an over-sized punt gun.   On the other hand, stories about extraordinary fishing dogs are less frequently heard.  ♣  With only 90 minutes to spare before dark, there wasn’t much chance of finding a human fishing partner this evening, but my faithful Chesapeake Bay Retriever Crockett had no problems with the abbreviated trip.  He eagerly bounded from the dock into his usual position on the seat cushion over the engine as we launched off Kent Island in the boat named after him. Tonight our plan was to look for rockfish, but in a different area of the Bay than where we’ve been finding them recently.  There are surely fish where we left them last night, we just needed a change of scenery. Read More!

I got off work in time Friday for a few hours of Halloween eve fishing.   Just as I arrived home, my buddy Dave called to say he was heading out of Sandy Point with my good friend Paul.   Since it was getting a little windy, I invited them to join me on Crockett’s Reel.  They met me at the Kent Narrows ramp and we blasted off in search of angling tricks and treats.  We found the fun quickly.  Paul hooked up on his first cast, fighting a stout 28 inch rockfish in for a boat-side release.  From there it was GAME ON with nice fish on virtually every cast.   We had several in the 30 inch class, but since we were releasing our fish, we only took one out of the water long enough to measure it, a top-water fish that went 31 and a half inches caught on a red and gold Super Spook.  Interestingly, Paul and Dave were fishing with similar outfits.  Dave used a BPS left hand retrieve Pro-Qualifier baitcaster attached to a Medium power/fast action orange and black Carrot Stix rod.  Paul was using the same reel but with a right hand retrieve and the Medium-Heavy version of the Carrot Stix. Read More!

October is a fantastic month to fish in the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, I haven’t been out enjoying it much lately.  I’m a few days away from opening a new medical center, so time on the water has been extremely limited.  That hasn’t stopped some of my fishing partners from getting out and finding some fish.  Mark has been working the main stem of the Mid-Bay near the rivers.  That’s the typical pattern for the late-fall season.  As baitfish school up and move downstream toward warmer water, striped bass wait at ambush points near the river mouths and attack at periods of high current.   This fall we’re seeing some pretty nice fish.  There’s a few ocean stripers already migrating into the Bay running with the native Chesapeake young-of-the-year class of 2005 and 2006.  That equals fish measuring in the mid to high twenty inch range with a few mid-thirties in the mix.  Here’s Mark with a healthy 30 inch plus rockfish caught near the mouth of the West River.  Read More!

When I wished for more unsettled weather last week, I might have asked for too much.  Back-to-back Nor’easters slammed the Chesapeake region over the weekend drenching us with several inches of rain and even light snow in the upper reaches of the Bay.  Winds have been sustained at 25 knots with stronger gusts since Friday.  In short, it’s been a miserable weekend.  Nevertheless, a few intrepid fishermen are getting out in the rivers and turning up some nice fish.  I’ve heard several reports of big ones in the Patapsco River over the weekend including some 30 inch plus fish in sheltered waters inside the Key Bridge.  Closer to home, I fished Eastern Bay Friday evening with my regular fishing partner Rich and his friend Dan who is visiting from Florida.  We launched in pouring rain out of Kent Narrows into a strong incoming tide and found working birds within a few miles.  Although we knew there would be fish beneath those birds, we ran on farther south to look around the mouths of the rivers hoping to find some schools of big migratory fish. Read More!

In my last fishing report I whined that I ran all over the mid-Bay last weekend, but could only find baitfish that was either too big or too small.  Today, I feel like I’m telling a “Goldilocks” story by reporting that I’ve found some bait that is JUST RIGHT.  Better yet, it’s very close to home.  I’ve only had a few hours on the water in the evenings this week, but the fishing has been very good.  Migratory fish are in the area and it’s just a matter of time before we get trophy-class striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay. Read More!