Report on the Steeple

[27 sailfish]

For those that could not make the meeting-you missed a fun time.Perfect weather,good friends,cold beer and some jumping fish :thumbup: -only Hooter's girls were missing :rolleyes: .

I scuba dove the area known as the steeple just east of the 450 bridge.On my meter we saw 5-6 "steeples" so we anchored in the middle.Viz. at the bottom was only 6'' but it was easy to feel what is down there.Picture big slabs of bridge decking (4'' thick concrete) placed in loose piles.Next time you drive by a road project that has decking stacked-you see what I mean.There are short pieces of rebar sticking out and some were bent over in a U shape.My guess is for the chains on the crane.There is hard sand/gravel in between the piles.Some of these piles are 6-10' off the bottom-picture concrete Tee Pee's or A -frames.Some formed caves-I backed out of these-could lead to a real "DEAD end" ;-) I could hear croakers while diving-one would make noise then 4-5 would respond-but I never saw them.One fish -rock ? -about 20'' bumped into me -he got cornered against the rubble.Lots of very old fishing line and some 1/8'' crab line but no anchors were found.Some of the rubble is face up-smooth road surface with only slime on it.The rough edges and bottom of the decking is covered in small mussels (?) and a few plants were felt-4-5'' bushy things.Water at the bottom is like black smoke/fog-green until within 3' of the bottom.Fishing here will be a nightmare-picture an underwater jungle gym.If you anchor-bring a jug and call me-you won't get your anchor out from this place.I plan to chum here in Oct.-with the right current it may be possible to draw the rock out from the rubble.I was hoping for something exciting but that's what I found.Make note of your GPS #'s if you see something on your meter-I'm always game to go "see" what it is. Skip

[goose70]

While this further confirms that you are nuts, I do appreciate your risking life and limb to debunk the various steeple theories. Nice to know that Croaker are in the river, too.

Next up are the 17' lumps in Round Bay.

[27 sailfish]

Goose-it only looks dangerous ;-) .I take my time crawling along and the low viz. does not worry me.I try to stay in water less then 40' and always end a dive with 1/3 of my air left.

You guys keep finding me stuff-plus if I do eat it-there'll be a sweet 27' Grady up for sale :D . Skip

[D A Kahler]

Goose,
Are those lumps on the charts? I just checked my chart and it does show an area between Long Pt and Sherwood Forest that fits your description. Also, I think the academy has huricane morrings in Round Bay although I have no idea how big they might be.

Dave

[goose70]

Yes, that is one of the lumps. If you draw a line from that one to the mouth of Asquith Creek, you'll find the other.

[J.P. Williams]

Yes indeed, it would be great to get a first-hand Skip Report on those two RB lumps. Ditto several of the little natural oyster reefs we've found (Skip, have you & Stephanie Reynolds of CBF talked yet?).

Hate to throw cold water on the croakers, but if one fish spoke and others answered, they might be oyster toads (males seeking mates & declaring territories). The Railroad Bridge raises some champions, so I expect The Steeple(s) do too. Did you know that they exhibit tre most advanced form of parental care of any fish in the Bay? It's the father toad that takes care of the muppets. See Life in the Chesapeake Bay, by AJ & Robert Lippson, the best of the Bay field guides.

[goose70]

Funny that you mention that guide, JP. As I sit in the family room and look at the bookshelves, it's sitting right there...collecting dust for about five years. Time to dust it off.

[27 sailfish]

JP-no way to prove it but I think you might be right about the "croakers" being toads.While diving I seemed to be right on top of the noise-maybe I should have looked UNDER the rubble instead of on it.

Friday evening I went over the steeple with my fish finder and didn't see any fish in/on the rubble.My meter will show croaker but I doubt it could pick up Toads tight to the bottom.

Tell Stephaine to give me a call-water is nice now.

I'm game to dive the humps in Round Bay-just need the GPS #'s. Skip