Got to Man Up

[reeltor]

As you passed us on your way in the kids on Bfailthful noticed a foul smell
Part of the game 5th. Heard it was better south...
We didn't light it up either...6 knockdowns and 4 landed. Tough, long day but the kids loved it.

[garlien]

Marty,

I am with ya...Tried for a few hours this afternoon all over north of the bridge...All I ended up with was a pertch and something I couldn't tell what it was....Got desperate and we started throwing spinners to get the skunk off....

Going to try to get out tomorrow as well...Hope its better than today....

[goinsfishin]

I was out down further south for a couple hours this afternoon.....caught a few.

[Breakaway]

Originally Posted by reeltor

Heard it was better south...

You heard right Had a good day today.

[5th Tuition]

Oh Hell Paul; those are rockfish; we caught plenty of them. We were slow trolling for flounder and got skunked. I hope you didn't think we were skunked on rock.
5th (Marty)

p.s. I will ask a question. Where's the beef (bait)? Anyone marking decent bait balls north of Chesapeake Beach? If not, why are the menhaden not here yet? Exactly one year ago, and a day (March 31st 2009), I have a photo of a HDS 10 showing a water temp of 46.9 degrees in the Poplar Island area in 46 ft of water. So it's NOT the water temp.'s. Could it be all the fresh water flowing into the bay? Could the fresh water be keeping the bait (and rock) further south.
Or, is it just me not reading bait on the finder? What do you think?
5th (Marty)

[jwittman]

I'll be giving it a go in that area tomorrow. Launching from SPSP. Thanks for posting Marty.

[Breakaway]

Marty,

Couldn't ask for a much nicer day on the water, fish or no fish. You'll make up for it next time. Not many marks in my area today either, but I found a small area and worked it hard. LOTS of debris in the water, and I was constantly cleaning my baits.

[Slayer]

Hey Marty,

It's the full moon doing this. It sends them into the spawning rivers. I remember last year it did this exact same thing in early Apr...wide open bite and then literally in one afternoon the place shut down before the full moon that night.

I'm just glad that this 1st group is spawning earlier this year. Gives them a chance to make a getaway before season opens. But don't worry, there are more on the way!

[garlien]

Marty good point on the bait...I have not been south that much but north of the bridge has been almost a no mans land for bait fish...o2 levels are good, water temps are good....I dont get the lack of bait....

[morsax]

The fish were further south yesterday. We ran from SP until we found any bait at all and then finally put out the spread. Within minutes, had a 43" to the boat and it stayed pretty hot all day. We ended up with 20 to the boat, 2 good knockdowns and one lost. (Really, not an April 1 report). The hot bait of the day was a Warren's daisy chain in white. Most of the others came on white chutes fished high up off the boards. 1 on a chrome 19 tony way back.

The lesson that I have been learning over the last couple of seasons is that I don't put the spread out until I find decent marks. It took us close to 2 hours of big S turns to find anything worthwhile--but once we started fishing, it was totally worth it. We ended the day with some great gannet actions and a late flurry of fish and then a 25 mile run back to SP. Ran into B-faithful and crew there--nice to see you guys!

Hans