Capt. John wanted to take a scouting trip from Deale this morning. We leasurly pulled away from the dock at 8am. Water temp in the creek was 59* (that's good news). We quickly found some "liar" birds just outside of the breakwater. Dropped a few lines and caught a few dink blues.
Ran toward 80A and glassed the area while running. Just north of Sharps Island Light we saw some bigger birds working in deeper water (40ft). Again a few small blues and small rock mixed.
Worked the edge toward the false channel without seeing any more activity. Ran over to Parkers Creek and trolled a bit and scoped the area (nothing). Ran back east and into the Choptank and saw three other charters working. LOTS of bait, but not being harassed by many fish. Saw two small fish boarded and we picked up 4 nice blues for the box.
Ran back between Sharps and 80A and saw lots of terns diving individually (spread out) in the mid bay. They were hitting the water like Gannets (
), but they were small terns. I did see one pelican flying past (not diving). Ran back across the bay scoping the western shore and docked around 2pm (6 hours on the water).
Now all hell could break loose this evening, but from what I saw today (very little bird activity and fewer blues), I would say the blues might be leaving the area
. The water temp was 62-63* in the main bay.
If the blues are headed out, we need the rock to fill the void. Bait seemed to be stageing at the mouth of the Choptank. The "liar" birds had to be working "rainminnows". I need to see some larger bait (menhaden) and I will get excited.
The rain (fresh water) has given us an unusual summer. I hope the fall produces more consistancy. If I was headed out tomorrow or Wed.; I would try the area south of South River and West River in 25-35 ft. It worked well last year this time of year for resident fish. Our trip below Deale today was a bust. Captain John said, "I could have sat home and cut up twenty dollar bills on the living room floor (think cost of deisel) instead of coming out today".
Best of luck to anyone headed out this week. I would assume, Jamie will do well jigging shallow water, but trolling wasn't working today.
5th (Marty)