ictalurus
05-21-2010, 07:49 AM
I finally got out yesterday for a excellent evening of fishing. It's been a while since I've been out, and this was my first real saltwater trip this year. I was pretty euphoric out there. :clapping2:
I headed out to Drum Point for some croakers and some exercise. I was on the water by 4:45 and at my spot by about 5:20. I trolled a 4" chartreuse sassy shad on my way out with no luck. The current was near peak flood, and the water temp was around 67*. Boy, am I out of shape. :sweatdrop: I can't remember the last time my legs were tired after fishing my usual circuit. Anyway, the fleet was out by the 3-legged marker on the other side of the mouth:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c361/Ictalurus/106_4904.jpg
I wonder if the flounder bite is on there?
The current was hauling out at Drum Point. A 1oz bank sinker wasn't enough to hold the bottom in 12-15ft of water. I switched to a 1oz pyramid sinker with better results. I forgot my bait when I left home that morning (Almost forgot my rods, too. That's how out of practice I am.), so I used FishBites on a top and bottom rig. I caught my first croaker in about 15ft of water. It was a bit over 10" long:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c361/Ictalurus/106_4899.jpg
:clap: :wahoo: I caught a couple of 9-inchers in the same area. The bite wasn't really steady, so I moved around between 6ft to 25ft and picked up another 10-incher and one that was 12.5":
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c361/Ictalurus/106_4910.jpg
I tried smiling for that pic... I won't do that again. suspicious4
Anyway, all 6 croakers were caught on the bottom hook. I probably should've switched to a rig with both hooks on the bottom. I missed at least 4 other hits. Casting the rig and slowly reeling it back seemed to work better than letting the rig sit. I guess they wanted some movement. The biggest fish were in shallower water, about 5-7ft.
At about 7pm, I trolled back to Solomons without any hits. I saw many more marks on the bottom in the area around the triangular shoal than out by Drum Point. Staying closer to Solomons might've been more productive but less exercise. I saw decent size schools of menhaden at Solomons and Drum Point, both at the surface and on my sonar. They were breaking the surface a lot at Drum Point, but I didn't catch anything underneath or around them. I fished around the CBL pier for a bit no hits and called it a night at about 7:45. I really didn't want to go in and would've happily slept out on my kayak. It was such an awesome evening.
I headed out to Drum Point for some croakers and some exercise. I was on the water by 4:45 and at my spot by about 5:20. I trolled a 4" chartreuse sassy shad on my way out with no luck. The current was near peak flood, and the water temp was around 67*. Boy, am I out of shape. :sweatdrop: I can't remember the last time my legs were tired after fishing my usual circuit. Anyway, the fleet was out by the 3-legged marker on the other side of the mouth:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c361/Ictalurus/106_4904.jpg
I wonder if the flounder bite is on there?
The current was hauling out at Drum Point. A 1oz bank sinker wasn't enough to hold the bottom in 12-15ft of water. I switched to a 1oz pyramid sinker with better results. I forgot my bait when I left home that morning (Almost forgot my rods, too. That's how out of practice I am.), so I used FishBites on a top and bottom rig. I caught my first croaker in about 15ft of water. It was a bit over 10" long:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c361/Ictalurus/106_4899.jpg
:clap: :wahoo: I caught a couple of 9-inchers in the same area. The bite wasn't really steady, so I moved around between 6ft to 25ft and picked up another 10-incher and one that was 12.5":
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c361/Ictalurus/106_4910.jpg
I tried smiling for that pic... I won't do that again. suspicious4
Anyway, all 6 croakers were caught on the bottom hook. I probably should've switched to a rig with both hooks on the bottom. I missed at least 4 other hits. Casting the rig and slowly reeling it back seemed to work better than letting the rig sit. I guess they wanted some movement. The biggest fish were in shallower water, about 5-7ft.
At about 7pm, I trolled back to Solomons without any hits. I saw many more marks on the bottom in the area around the triangular shoal than out by Drum Point. Staying closer to Solomons might've been more productive but less exercise. I saw decent size schools of menhaden at Solomons and Drum Point, both at the surface and on my sonar. They were breaking the surface a lot at Drum Point, but I didn't catch anything underneath or around them. I fished around the CBL pier for a bit no hits and called it a night at about 7:45. I really didn't want to go in and would've happily slept out on my kayak. It was such an awesome evening.