Greg; unfortunately, I have no tips for finding better water. I was out today (just to run the boat and charge the batteries) and the water temp in the Sandy Point basin was 81.5* and the bay temp was 75.
You are swimming (paddleing, tubing, jetskiing) in a "soup" of organisms. The ones we are really worried about are Mycobacteria (causes the sores on fish), MERSA, and vibro.
Even the headwaters of the creeks are polluted. Some scientists say from pet waste
. The fact that the city and counties are dumping raw sewage into the bay in this day of age is unbelievable.
Without getting into politics (heaven knows neither the repubs or dems are doing anything significant) we look like a third world country. I had to step into the water to retreive my boat a SP today, and I must admit, I was a bit hesitant. I have a scrape on my leg from a couple days ago and it's scabed over, but I washed it pretty good when I got home. I never used to think twice about getting in the bay, but now I do.
When I gave my Power Point to the Pasadena Sportfishing Group, they left in a somber mood. The sewage had already been dumped, the Patapsco was looking nasty, and several days later, the fish kill was reported.
I certainly HOPE the water quality gets better soon. The "mahogany tide"; which adds to depleted O2, should disapate, the water should be getting better. I keep watching the interactive buoys and it appears the O2 problem is headed south to the Annapolis Buoy
.
Gooses reef buoy is still reporting decent numbers. Maybe the fishing will be better down there again this summer. Last year the upper bay was very fresh, this year it may struggle to keep O2 levels in the correct range.
I will be putting my boat in Bodkin Creek next week and will keep reporting on the upper bay fishing and water quality.
Stay Safe
5th (Marty)