first Severn fish of the year

[J.A. Veil]

I launched my Native Watercraft Manta 14 kayak today at the ramp in Weems Creek. I paddled out to the Severn and headed downstream to a small enclosed cove that I have often fished before. The water level was quite low as I entered the narrow inlet. My kayak nearly bottomed out on the way in. Several sections of the cove were filled with thick beds of SAVs. I could not cast into that grass but did try casting around the edges. Near the back of the cove, I finally had my first Severn pullage of the year. It was a white perch of about 8"-9" length. Despite my best efforts the cove did not give up any more bites.

I paddled back to Weems Creek and decided to troll small lures on ultralight rods from the kayak near the shoreline. Not too far into Weems, one of the rods starting bucking around and line was pulling off the reel against the drag. After the first few cranks on the reel, I thought I had a real whopper. The fish ran back and forth and gave me a good fight on the slender rod. However, when the fish got next to the boat, it was not the giant I had imagined. I was happy nevertheless to bring in a 15" striper. That is the beauty of an ultralight rod. You can fight a modest fish and still feel the excitement of the pullage. :high5:

Both fish were caught on a 1/8-oz white jighead with a 3" white twister tail. The perch came by casting while the striper came by trolling.

I continued working the Weems shoreline at places that typically hold perch during the summer, but could not find any more dumb, hungry fish. After 2 and a half hours my butt and back told me to call it quits. I am still pleased to get some relaxing water time plus my first striper and white perch of the year.

[attml]

Nice work John! Glad to see the Striper in the River!!

Mark

[27 sailfish]

noidea What the heck is a Striper ?

[J.A. Veil]

noidea What the heck is a Striper ?

One example is shown below. Another example is a stripper who just finished in the bathroom (she is missing pee (P))doh

[mbla]

WTG John!
Hope to hookup with you sometime this year..
Mike

[goose70]

Nice report, John. This goes to show how fortunate we are living in the Chesapeake region. Many a pond, stream or lake fisherman would be very happy with a 15" fish that fights as hard as a rockfish, yet we think of it as a baby (which it is, I guess). When the rock first started returning in numbers to the Severn, my brother and I had a blast with light tackle and 13"-16" fish...it seemed like fishing heaven. If someone had told me that the Severn would soon have targetable numbers of 20"-30" fish, I wouldn't have believed them.

[J.A. Veil]

I got so much grief two years ago over the photo of my large, gnarly feet next to a huge white perch that I now wear suitable footwear in the kayak.

[J.A. Veil]

Tonight I worked some Weems Creek shoreline sections that hold lots of perch during the summer. In more than an hour of casting, I caught just one perch and had one or two other nibbles. I hope that this is just a few weeks early for the perch to move in there.