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  #1  
Old 09-24-2012, 06:36 PM
5th Tuition 5th Tuition is offline
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on my................................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ....................Face

Just when I said we were doing so well and with hardly any effort; we get our hats handed to us today.

We splashed Lou's boat today at Chesapeake Beach at daybreak. We headed across the bay toward Poplar Island. There were plenty of birds flying and looking (a good sign). Lou's hds 7 showed lots of bait but nothing harrassing it. We continued east and stopped in 25 ft of water to use the binoculars. Nothing showing. We put some lines out and ran the edge south toward Sharps Island. I hate to drop lines just to "prospect", but bait was all over the screen.
We didn't "waste" much time; and pulled lines and ran south. Here was my reasoning. Most of the time we are on "Patent Pending" a 46 ft Markley (extra comfy, but not fast). Because we were in Lou's 20 ft walkaround, we could run 25mph toward the Choptank. We haven't explored the Chop much this year (haven't neaded too). With Lou's fast boat, I told him the bait should be leaving the small tributaries and headed to the mouth of the rivers (water temp was 72 this morning and 74 at noon).
We rounded Blackwalnut Point and there in front of us were two hundred birds sitting on the water. I quickly put out our 6 rod spread. We picked up several small rock and a couple blues. We ran back and forth through the birds. Bait was prolifick. We couldn't believe we weren't hooking up with keeper rock. As we made the birds move or fly, I think I saw their faces with a smirk that said "ha,ha, the action was 20 minutes ago and you missed it".
After we beat that section of water to death, we pulled lines and headed up into the Chop. Across from Harris Creek, we saw nervous water in front of us. We slowed and could actually watch the water "light up" with small menhaden flickering in the sunshine. Occassionally, the water would erupt as if a whitecap had just been blown across the surface. There wasn't a single bird working the bait; and it was acres of bait. You could just drift and watch the bait run under the boat. The hds 7 was screaming "here's the bait". We didn't see much activity (fish) under the bait, but we couldn't resist putting out the rods. We trolled the whole area and watched bait pop up everywhere. With only a few small rock and blues to show for our effort, we continued deeper into the Chop. We got as far as the Lighthouse and turned around. On the way back, we ran into the same bait, still doing acribatic moves on the surface.
Now, fully pissed off, we headed across the bay to just below Breezy Point. We followed the contour line north through 32-35 ft of water. We finally saw another rec angler headed the opposite direction. If it weren't for crabbers, we wouldn't have seen any other fishermen on the bay.
We pulled the spread until around 1pm and finally decided we were beating a dead horse. We racked the rods and headed back toward Ches. Beach. We kept a close lookout for last minute birds, but they avoided our vision.
As we slinked back into the Ches. Beach inlet, we noticed only one slip open among the charters. Either they knew the fishing would be lousy today, or nobody booked any trips.
One thing we did notice was that if the bait wasn't busting the surface, it was deep (below 20-25 ft). If Lou had some extra rods onboard, I would have been tempted to try some bottom bouncing.
Anyway; that was our experience today. Perhaps, with so much bait around, the fish are feeding once or twice a day, and if you are not there to see them feeding, you have missed the action?
I don't know, what do you think?
5th (Marty)
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Old 09-24-2012, 09:04 PM
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garlien garlien is offline
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I think the bigger fish moved above the bridge.

Last night was amazing...

Will post a report soon....

:-)
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Old 09-25-2012, 11:35 AM
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garlien garlien is offline
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So I waited until much later in the evening on Sunday than I was hoping too...Scott was tied up for most of the day and we were hoping to get out for a few hours in the evening....As luck would have it, it did not work out for Scott...So around 5:30 I headed out....

I tried the channel edges north of Baltimore light for a while, did not see much bait on the sonar and did not see breaking fish either...Move from the 35 to 50 foot depth back into 20 foot or so and the bait started to light up...Still no bites, so i moved back to the shallows.

Worked structure in 15' or less and started to get numerous smaller fish in the 18" to 22" size...A lot of fun, probably got a dozen to 15 in 45 minutes or so...

Worked the bottom very closely around structure and managed to pick up my first redfish ever ! Was 17 and 1/2" was very, very excited about that...Along with getting first Spanish Mac it was a great week....

Ended up the day, with 2 really nice, fat stripers, one 26" and one slightly larger...Seems like the big ones are starting to move into the shallows and eat for the fall...

So Marty, it looks like the good ones are moving north of the bridge, and leaving you guys down south without good fish....



BTW: When are we getting back out again on John's boat and/or yours ?

Pics attached....
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Red.jpg (95.1 KB, 8 views)
File Type: jpg smaller striper.jpg (93.0 KB, 7 views)
File Type: jpg Larger Striper Dark.jpg (93.1 KB, 8 views)
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Old 09-25-2012, 04:59 PM
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Spot77 Spot77 is offline
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I think Mike has a good point about looking in shallower water for them. You probably won't crush many 25"+ fish, but you can reliably get a few fair sized keepers.

Not that I have any experience this year.....but I remember late Sept and Oct last year and it was a blast.


Look at it this way Marty......you could've been at work.
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Old 09-25-2012, 06:39 PM
Skip Skip is offline
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What's that old saying ?

Just when you think you have the fish figured out ..........................

Guess that is why it is so much fun.
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Old 09-25-2012, 08:01 PM
5th Tuition 5th Tuition is offline
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Skip; I do enjoy the game. Before I became a serious fisherman, I was an avid quail hunter. I always took note of where we found birds. I tried to figure out why they were in roosting areas, feeding areas, or loafing areas. What made them look for water or grit to help digestion of their food. What food source did they prefer (soybean, corn or milo)? How far would they range from their roosting areas? What other predators were they trying to avoid and what type of cover did they seek?

The above is a sample of the questions I tried to answer then, and try to answer now with rockfish. Some of the questions have changed, but there is still a thrill in finding out the answers.

5th (Marty)
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Old 09-25-2012, 08:24 PM
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garlien garlien is offline
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Agreed...I get bored with the same fish, in the same places, on the same lures....Always enjoying changing things up....Thanks to you guys I have had a great time with new places, people, and tactics....

I grew up with blood worms and clam snouts fishing crab alley bay and an occasional trip to the Narrows...Things have changed a ton around me and you guys have helped me out a lot...

Thank you....
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Old 09-26-2012, 08:45 PM
seahuntr seahuntr is offline
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Sounds like you made a well-directed search. I don't have much relevant to add, Anna and I went kayaking up a creek and caught yellow perch. The river temps are swinging pretty high/low at day/nite and I'm sure the bait must be getting pumped downstream.

Garlien - CONGRATS on the red. 17 1/2" Let me guess; felt like 24" rock???
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