Fish for the cure...
 

I had the great pleasure of participating in the Fish for the Cure Tournament on Sat. with a couple of MSSA guys. It is great cause and a very nice tournament. My crew was to be made up of Dave Smith, Fishing Frank, Bend-Lure, and Reeltor. Unfortunately Dave and Frank were unable to make it due to Dave just moving and his wis wife expecting their second child and Frank having some issues with his back. To replace those two guys I needed someone with a lot of experience and who could bring some mo-jo... So I brought my 10 year old boy.

Anyhow, while there are tons of fish around under birds in the upper bay on light tackle, we decided we were going to either be "heros or zeros" (as Jeremy put it) and were going to troll big baits with a big planer board spread out of Solomons. With the drop of the temperatures and the news of a few sporatic big fish being caught, I was excited to get the big stuff out as I think the other guys were too.

We met at the ramp in Solomons just after 6am with a stiff breeze out of the north. The boat was quickly launched and we headed out the pax and into a short, steep chop up by the gas docks area. Because there were calling for gusts to 20knots all day, the north run at first light would afford us to troll south if the seas got too bad. Fortunately it never got too bad even though it was a bit sporty first thing in the am. We were pretty comfortable all day in the Judge 27 Chesapeake even though my boy was calling some irishman over the side of the boat a few times.

Up by the gas docks we put out a full spread with planer boards and almost all 9" baits and trolled the channel edges all the way south to a bit south of the HI Marker. We ended up with one fish around 27" . this lone fish took the ONLY 6" bait we had off the boards... The fish did have a few sea lice on it so it was a good sign. Anyhow, We ended up closer to zeros than heros, even though our fish seemed to be top ten in the tournament since it was a tough day for most people.

Despite the slow action, there were some nice bait marks on the channel edges in around 55-60' of water and we had a number of gannets flying in the area. There was only one or two other rec boats fishing the entire area. The bay water is dropping quickly and was in the mid-upper 50's. Hopefully the bite on big stuff will happen soon enough. I think we are at a point to where it will turn on any day and the fish will be coming in waves. Key is to find where the wave of fish are and get on them. Saturday, we didnt do that. We will soon and hope to make up this slow day at the MSSA fall tournament with whopper.. Look out! We are due!

I had a great time fishing with you guys in the tournament. It was nice to spend the day on a boat with a cabin, rather than on my center console completely exposed to the wind. At least we put something in the box. See you next time.

Nice job Greg. I agree with you that those fish should be here any day now. Checked the water temps at TPL and they are actually a degree, or two, below this date a year ago....Don

Sounds like your boy gave it 100% - even tried to chum them up for you.

Heard it was a tough bite for most.

Greg,
Thanks for the invite and as usual I had a great time. Jeremy, I enjoyed meeting and fishing with you. We need to get an OC trip planned SOON. That Judge gets more lovable as the weather worsens!

It's tough this time of year. My last two OC trips have been weathered out. Last Sunday had a seabass trip canceled for wind, and my trip offshore for Tile fish this Friday is going to be scratched.

Come on big fish.