ictalurus
07-19-2009, 06:24 PM
I met up with tmperkins at Buzz's marina at 7am this morning. The marine forecast had been really variable with regard to the predicted seas, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I thought we could fish the flood tide from about 8am to 1pm. As it turns out, the currents at the mouth of St. Jerome's are a bit ahead of the predicted currents for Point No Point because the current was racing through the mouth of the creek. The Bay looked rough in the distance, but it was pretty calm at the mouth. We tried bottom bouncing for flounder (I used using my Gulp and bucktail combo) for a while but only had a few hits. Getting a good drift was hard for me. Even though I could control the speed of my drift with my Hobie, my jig was blowing past me underneath. TM worked out a good plan by casting a bit upcurrent then drifting back all at the same time. Once I worked out the distance I needed to cast, it worked pretty well but still no landed fish. Mike at Buzz's said some stripers were starting to be caught there at the mouth, but I didn't have any luck with my 3/4oz Rattletrap or the 5/8oz Hopkins spoon.
We eventually went out in the Bay to bottom fish some, and birds were starting to dive on bait. We chased them off an on for a good while, but only caught one little bluefish each. Mine was on a smaller Hopkins spoon, maybe 1/2 or 3/8oz, and it took a lot of work to catch it because they were short-striking a lot. All this was occurring near the channel coming out of the creek in about 4-10ft of water. I also casted a Gulp grub and Redfish Magic along the shoreline, but didn't have any takers. Mike mentioned that a commercial fisherman had caught some puppy drum down by Tanner's Creek, which is near the end of the Point Lookout causeway, so they should be around.
We decided to try our luck out in deeper water, and headed out until we got to 17ft. We dropped some bottom rigs with squid, but only picked up one blue crab each. I didn't even see many marks on the fish finder.
Around 11, we headed back to the creek mouth to try again. The current was starting to ebb now, which was about 2hrs sooner than I thought it would be. I had a few nibbles on the bottom rig with squid but nothing on the bucktail Gulp combo.
At about 12:30, we started working our way back to the marina. I was casting the Gulp grub looking for puppy drum, and TM was using a beetle spin. At one point, I cast out, let the lure sit on the bottom as I tended to something in my boat, and then felt resistance when I started reeling again. I thought I was hung up on a stick or grass or something, so I reeled a little faster. My lure was coming straight toward me faster than I was reeling. Then it turned 90*, and I realized it was a fish. Cleverly, I started reeling faster rather than set the hook, and whatever it was let go right at the boat. I didn't get a good look at it, but it seemed coppery brownish and over a foot long, so I'm guessing it was either a croaker or a puppy drum. Of course, there's about a 50% chance that I have "buck fever" :pp , but there was definitely a fish on the line.
Anyway, we hit one more spot for white perch without any luck then called it a day. A few folks we talked with at the creek mouth had caught some small flounder there, and one guy got 2 keeper stripers in addition to the small flounder. Last week, he said his daughter caught a speckled trout there. It didn't seem like the catching was fast and furious, so I felt a little better about the lack of action. Though, it seems like we should've stuck it out in the mouth of the creek.
The water temperature started out at 78* and rose to 80* during the course of the day. The salinity was 14. When I caught the two puppy drum at Point Lookout last year, the salinity was about 13.5, and the water temp was 83* (according to the CBIBS buoy at the mouth of the Potomac), so I hope I can cure my buck fever soon. :clap:
I had a good time fishing with tmperkins, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he outfits his Tarpon. I just put a bunch of cash into some new hatches, a new cart, and some Mirage Drive parts for my Hobie, so I won't get getting any new toys for my Tarpon for awhile. The Tarpon handled the ~1ft chop really well, and the inside was pretty dry even after taking a couple waves over the bow. I still have to take mine out in some snot, but I think it's going to be a good boat.
We eventually went out in the Bay to bottom fish some, and birds were starting to dive on bait. We chased them off an on for a good while, but only caught one little bluefish each. Mine was on a smaller Hopkins spoon, maybe 1/2 or 3/8oz, and it took a lot of work to catch it because they were short-striking a lot. All this was occurring near the channel coming out of the creek in about 4-10ft of water. I also casted a Gulp grub and Redfish Magic along the shoreline, but didn't have any takers. Mike mentioned that a commercial fisherman had caught some puppy drum down by Tanner's Creek, which is near the end of the Point Lookout causeway, so they should be around.
We decided to try our luck out in deeper water, and headed out until we got to 17ft. We dropped some bottom rigs with squid, but only picked up one blue crab each. I didn't even see many marks on the fish finder.
Around 11, we headed back to the creek mouth to try again. The current was starting to ebb now, which was about 2hrs sooner than I thought it would be. I had a few nibbles on the bottom rig with squid but nothing on the bucktail Gulp combo.
At about 12:30, we started working our way back to the marina. I was casting the Gulp grub looking for puppy drum, and TM was using a beetle spin. At one point, I cast out, let the lure sit on the bottom as I tended to something in my boat, and then felt resistance when I started reeling again. I thought I was hung up on a stick or grass or something, so I reeled a little faster. My lure was coming straight toward me faster than I was reeling. Then it turned 90*, and I realized it was a fish. Cleverly, I started reeling faster rather than set the hook, and whatever it was let go right at the boat. I didn't get a good look at it, but it seemed coppery brownish and over a foot long, so I'm guessing it was either a croaker or a puppy drum. Of course, there's about a 50% chance that I have "buck fever" :pp , but there was definitely a fish on the line.
Anyway, we hit one more spot for white perch without any luck then called it a day. A few folks we talked with at the creek mouth had caught some small flounder there, and one guy got 2 keeper stripers in addition to the small flounder. Last week, he said his daughter caught a speckled trout there. It didn't seem like the catching was fast and furious, so I felt a little better about the lack of action. Though, it seems like we should've stuck it out in the mouth of the creek.
The water temperature started out at 78* and rose to 80* during the course of the day. The salinity was 14. When I caught the two puppy drum at Point Lookout last year, the salinity was about 13.5, and the water temp was 83* (according to the CBIBS buoy at the mouth of the Potomac), so I hope I can cure my buck fever soon. :clap:
I had a good time fishing with tmperkins, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he outfits his Tarpon. I just put a bunch of cash into some new hatches, a new cart, and some Mirage Drive parts for my Hobie, so I won't get getting any new toys for my Tarpon for awhile. The Tarpon handled the ~1ft chop really well, and the inside was pretty dry even after taking a couple waves over the bow. I still have to take mine out in some snot, but I think it's going to be a good boat.