Angels over Annapolis

I'm just getting around to posting last week's photo of the Blue Angels show over Annapolis. They're in town for the U.S. Naval Academy graduation. It's a good show. The planes fly right up the gut of the Severn River, sometimes just over the masts of the sailboats. There are literally thousands of boats anchored in the river to watch the show. As usual, there are plenty of accidents among the boaters, but the air show went off flawlessly. I kept "Crockett's Reel" well out of the way, but still close enough to see all the acrobatics.

Pirates of the Magothy

Well, not quite. I was surprised today to look out our guest room window to see an 1812 era dual masted clipper privateer. She's the Pride of Baltimore II, and can usually be seen at her anchorage in the Inner Harbor. She is returning from the Richmond area where she met the queen and helped celebrate the 400th aniversary of the English landing at Jamestown. I guess she arrived a day early and decided to spend the night with us here on the Magothy. It's a beautiful ship and I hope to see her under sail tomorrow.

Topwater Bite

I've been catching a few fish at Mountain Point, the mouth of the Magothy River. The conditions have to be right, but on a calm evening with a good tide, there are usually some pretty good fish hanging out around the rocks and pilings at the point. It's a lot of fun to see them hit a topwater lure. I've also found breaking fish across the Bay at Love Point. So far, they're all pretty small, and all rockfish. I haven't caught any bluefish yet, but I've heard that there are a few around. We've had an algae bloom or something in the river which has turned the water orange. It was a deep chocolate brown earlier in the week. I haven't seen any crabs so far, but that might be because I haven't put in my traps yet. The water temperature is still barely 70 at the dock.

Cruisin' with the Vol Navy

The ship in the photo is the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas. She sails now out of Baltimore Harbor for Bermuda and points south. We usually see her, or one of her sister ships, on Sunday nights, but I shot this picture last Friday while Perch fishing over the Oyster beds near Baltimore Light. All she needs is a big ol' Vol Navy flag on her bow!

Rollin' Across to Rock Hall

Almost due east of us, near the mouth of the Chester River is the town of Rock Hall. Rock Hall claims to be the "Pearl of the Chesapeake," and touts it's unspoiled fishing village image as unique to the region. We finished our yard work Saturday and decided to cruise the 10 miles to see if it lived up to it's reputation. The trip across was beautiful. The water was smooth as glass. We kept the RPMs low so we could talk and enjoy the scenery. When we arrived we found the advertised commercial fishing fleet, but it was surrounded by a few hundred sailboats and cruisers. With new condos lining the harbor, it seems the pearl of the Chesapeake has been discovered. That's a little surprising because, by road, Rock Hall is a long way from anywhere.

We docked the boat at a very inviting waterfront bar/restaurant called Waterman's. After ordering drinks, we quizzed the bar maid about the town. She told us to walk up the street a "good little hike" to find the town center of Rock Hall. On the way we passed a historical marker proclaiming the founding of the town in 1706 and the many visits by George Washington and other founding fathers. The town itself was pretty much closed up even though it was barely after 5:00 PM. We were the only window-shoppers on the street. Dianne shot a picture of my reflecton in a t-shirt shop window. I would've bought that t-shirt, but I'll settle for the unique photo! We crashed a party on the porch of the one place in town that was open, an antique shop off the main drag. My favorite thing about Rock Hall is the giant rockfish painted on the water tower. I'm not sure the town is named after the fish, but it's fitting given the proximity to some of the best fishing in the Bay. We walked back to Waterman's for a delicious seafood dinner, then tried to race a storm back across the Bay. We didn't make it and got soaked. The high waves ripped the transducer off my fish finder, but we docked the boat before the worst of the lightning started. I hope we'll find time to explore Rock Hall when more of the shops are open.

There's no place like home

I traveled from Virginia to almost Delaware last week looking for fish, so after an evening of yard work Thursday, I decided to head out into my other backyard Friday night for some light tackle trolling (LTT). I got on the water about 4:30 and dropped my LTT spread into the channel just south of Baltimore Light. Gave a shout out on the radio, but only heard of a few marks, nobody catchin' much above the bridge. Trolled over toward Love Point, then down towards the bridge, but I wasn't marking anything, not even much bait. Finally decided HECK WITH THIS MIGRATORY BS - water temp is up to almost 70 in spots, calm warm day, lots of current - everything is right for the summer pattern on the ledge off Podickory Point. So, that's where I goes. Three seagulls sitting right over the dropoff just north of Sandy Point Light seem to say "try here". FF shows bait on the top, fish on the bottom. (FF is zoomed 2X in the photo, bait is at 15' with 4 fish beneath them at 25 to 29 ft deep.) Dropped over two rigs, you know the deal, 1 oz bucktails pulled deep by crankbaits, and started zig-zagging over the 31' to 19' ledge. My lures are running right in the red zone. First fish within 5 minutes, about 18 inches or so. Turned up two more local yokels about the same size before finally hooking one big enough to keep... 28 inches on the dot and dripping milt. I dunno why, but I guess the baitfish hang right over that ledge, and the feeding fish lay just out in the deeper water waitin' to munch on 'em. That's where they were most of last summer given similar conditions. Dianne calls, says she got some ribs and is firin' up the grill. I suggested she put 'em back in the fridge as I had a better menu item in the cooler. While waiting for the coals to glow, I landed a couple of perch off the dock and one purty little catfish. There's no place like home, there's no place like home......

Arrival of the White Perch

The water temperature in the Magothy reached 70 degrees this week. The white perch have finally moved in. They aren't in force yet, but there are a few to be caught off the dock. These fiestly little panfish hang out in the deep water of the Bay in mid-winter, but move into the upper reaches of the rivers in early spring to spawn. They eventually make their way back down the rivers, where they hang out around dropoffs and docks. There seems to be thousands of them, and they're relatively easy to catch once they come in good.

On a different subject, still smarting from getting my butt kicked on the relatively unsuccesful flounder expedition, I took off Thursday afternoon to drive up the the Susquahanna Flats to look for spawning rockfish. It's a nice area, but I didn't catch many fish. Here's my TF report:

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Decided on the spur of the moment to haul my little EldoCraft up to Havre de Grace Wednesday evening. It was my first time in the area, so I drove around for a while before finding the boat ramp below the railroad bridge. Loaded the dog and a cooler of natty headed bohs, opened the throttle, and ran about 20 feet before nailing a big log. Decided to slow down and be more carefull. I had my handheld Garmin but decided to rely mostly on my hillbilly radar. Saw a couple of boats off to the left of the channel about a mile going out so headed over that way. Pulled into about 3 ft of very clear water and saw baitfish scatter so started casting an opening night BA. Wham, right away a little 16 incher. Thinks to myself, this is gonna be fun. Casted another hour and didn't get another bite! Looked around to see the dog chewing the rubber top off the GPS. Argh! Finally got it working again by inserting a cable tie into the on/off switch, and decided to explore.

The 50HP short shaft only draws about 12 inches, so decided to head straight across. Was surpised at the sandy bottom. Found some big algae plumes in 4 ft and started walking a redheaded SuperSpook. I was suprised again when a little largemouth grabbed ahold and held on until he got to the side of the boat. I think he just wanted a ride. I gave up and tied on a spoon to troll on across, sometimes just 18" deep, to where I saw about a dozen boats on the lower east side. Water was muddier here. Lots of people casting, but nobody catching. I foul hooked a couple of shad on the BA. A big explosion over near the point caused me to nearly piss myself. Noticed many more boats down that way so hit the starter. Dead battery! Charger showed "go fishing" before I left. Not much time to swith to the trolling motor battey, so decided just to wrap a chord around the flywheel. Whirred on the first pull. Many fishermen when I got there, and FF showed lots of bait and a few fish. Crockett went on point right away and started barking, so I thought things were going to get good. Alas, zilcho on the BA. Current was very strong and pulled me past a buoy. Decided to run back up and noticed the buoy said "catch & release line." Oops! I fished until sunset, didn't see anyone else catch anything, then decided switch back to topwater. I got one blowup between then and dark, that was it. So not counting the little largemouth, my first fish was the only one (unless you count the foulhooked baitfish, which I often do!) Seemed like the perfect evening. Still and calm as can be, but the Flats kicked my hillbillly butt last night..... I probably won't drive back tonight so maybe next year!!

Floundering in Wachapreague

This week, I decided to make the trip down Maryland's Eastern Shore to the "Flounder Capitol of the World." I've heard many stories of big flounder caught on the tidal flats around Wachapreague, Virgina, which is just north of the Bay Bridge Tunnel. Unfortunately, a pre-season tropical depression decided to form in the area just before the trip. Two fishing partners, Dave & Ernie had rented a house in the area and planned to fish all week. After getting blown out over the first couple of days, they were anxious to get on the water. Despite the small craft advisories, we set out Tuesday morning with high expectations. Unfortunately, our hopes went mostly unrealized, as almost all our fish were sublegal size. We were drifting along the edges of tidal canals using minnows on top & bottom rigs. The bottom is pretty clean so you can just drag along the bait, hopefully passing it in front of the occasional flounder. Dave managed this nice 26 incher, but that was easily the highlight of the day. Conditions were rough, windy and cold, and it was very tough to stay on a consistent drift. Despite the poor fishing, I still had fun on my first time targeting these flat aliens.The weather is better now so I'm sure I'll hear better reports from Dave & Ernie as the week goes on.

Happy Fisherman!

The spring rockfish migration is well underway. The fishing was starting to heat up before the Nor'easter, but the storm really put a damper on things, dropping the water temperature back to mid-March levels. We're slowly starting to see big fish again. Here are some pics of some fish caught with a new fishing buddy, Francis, down near the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. The plant discharges warm water from a large pipe about a quarter mile off shore. Baitfish are attracted to the warmer water, so the big bubbas come in for breakfast. We jigged large bass assasins (BAs) just after dawn and caught some of the nicest fish I've seen yet. We left them biting because I wanted to see Francis' trolling spread. He uses all light tackle, no broomstick size rods and reels, my favorite kind of trolling. It wasn't long until one of the lightest spinning outfits on the boat hooked up. After 20 minutes of drag-screaming action, I landed this fat 38 incher. It's the biggest fish I've caught so far in the Bay. -S

Cruising Again!

It took longer to get the boat off the lift and to the shop than it did for Tim at Fiberglass Unlimited in Baltimore to fix her up. After the Nor'easter, we had strong north winds for three days. It blew away most of our water, so I couldn't float the boat off the lift. I finally got her trailered up to the shop on Thursday, and had her back the following Monday. Unfortunately, our insurance deductable was higher than we thought, so all the expense was out of pocket. Ouch! I took her out on a shakedown cruise right away and was rewarded with one of the prettiest sunsets we've seen yet. The picture above is an osprey nest on a channel marker at the mouth of the Magothy River. Of course this one is the Bay Bridge. Click to see them full size! -S