When I first learned I would be moving to the Bay Bridge region of Maryland I read as many books as I could hoping to learn as much as possible about area fishing spots. A recurring theme in everything I read was, there is good fishing around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I remember my son Cory saying to me one day as we sat around the dinner table in Knoxville, Tennessee contemplating my move, “Dad, I can’t wait to get up there and fish that bridge.” I was thinking the same thing. Three years and three hundred plus fishing trips later, I still feel the same way. I can’t wait to get out there and fish that bridge!  Fortunately, there are several productive bridges near my house on Kent Island.  Even though the Bay Bridge is my favorite, I like to fish them all.  Here’s my list of the seven most productive bridges within easy driving or cruising distance of the Kent Island/Annapolis area. Read More!

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!

In a recent Chesapeake Light Tackle report, I talked about how thick the fish have been this summer in our corner of the Bay.  To illustrate the point I joked, “I could catch them with a buzzard feather and a coat hanger.”  The next morning, as is my usual custom, I poured myself a stiff cup of Eight O’ Clock and sat down with a book in a wicker chair on my front porch in Historic Stevensville.  Just as I was savoring my morning jolt of caffeine, I noticed a paper sack full of home-grown tomatoes that had been left by a gremlin in the pre-dawn hours.  On further investigation, I found on top of the sack a jet black buzzard feather and a note that said, “Prove it!” Read More!

I fished off both sides of Kent Island yesterday and today, getting out in the late afternoons. Yesterday, I launched from the E. Bay side into a slack tide and had a tough time finding fish. I had a game plan but it wasn’t working out so well. Last week I lost my fly rod when I inadvertently left a fly in the water and took off. I looked back to see it going over the stern. I picked up another one over the weekend and wanted to try it out along with some new flies I tied up.

I pretty much suck at both fly tying and casting, but the fish have been active lately, so much so that even I can catch ’em with a long-rod. I finally found fish breaking in shallow water with no birds around to tip them off. Fortunately, they were a good class of fish and I was able to sneak right up on them and drift through as they were breaking. Here’s my nut and the blind squirrel that caught it. This is my first 30 inch class fish on a fly. Read More!