FISHING NEWS: Maryland 2012 Trophy Striped Bass Season Started off Hot with Big Fish. It's Cooling Down.

A few pieces of fishing new this Monday morning. A guest piece from Capt. Sonney Forrest of Reel Relief Charters and the Solomons Charter Association with some thoughts about this years Maryland Trophy Striped Bass Season in his, "Where are the Fish" piece. Then a short update on what has become the largest Striped Bass fishing tournament in the world, the 2012 MSSA Spring Trophy Tournament. And a few headlines on fishing in other areas of the Mid Atlantic.

First a tournament update. The Maryland Saltwater Sportsman Association 2012 Fishing Tournament ended yesterday afternoon and reported winner landed his 42.1lb striped bass on the last day. The results are unofficial until certified by the MSSA. Overall the report from Executive Dave Smith of MSSA is that everyone had good fun and the tournament went off with out a hitch. I'll post some pictures and the full unofficial results this week.

There are a ton of Maryland fishing reports from the weekend on the Maryland Fishing Forum. Reports seems mixed, some had some really slow fishing over the three days, while others managed some good catching. From talking with anglers
and reading the reports that were coming in it seems like lower Maryland portion of the Chesapeake fished better then the upper and middle section. How as your 2012 Trophy Rockfish season been? Read what other anglers are saying and/or rate your season so far in a poll going on on the Maryland fishing forum by clicking here.

In other parts of the Mid Atlantic the the fishing reports are pretty hot. More big Red Drum in Virginia's Chesapeake along with some really good striped bass fishing, must be the ones headed out of the bay, on the Virgina Fishing Forum. The Northern Next of Virginia seems to be having the hottest fishing through out the Chesapeake with tons of fishing reports coming in. Check the Northern Neck Virginia Fishing Forum for those fishing reports.

(pictured is Tidal Fisher "Bay Views" with a nice striper caught in the northern section of Virginia's Chesapeake Bay. Nice catch! read his full fishing report by clicking here.

Guest piece By Capt. Sonney Forrest of Reel Relief Charters and the Solomons Charter Boat Association

WHERE ARE THE FISH?
Well the Tournaments are over for another year and the count is in, but not many fish where caught overall. There were a lot of anglers fishing with all the nice weather, which is normally not the case. Some small boats had as many as 30 rods out trolling for that one big money fish. But again few were caught. So where are they? What happened to all those fish in such a short time?

There are no concrete answers, just observations that over time tell you that we may have been victims of Mother Nature herself. In the beginning there were so many Stripers it was hard to get lines in before that first fish hit. Gannets all over the Bay, hitting the water in groups just marking fish everywhere. Then the warm weather came making it even nicer, but warmed the water up. This caused the hoards of fish to spawn out, earlier than normal. They came back out on the Bay; again we had a cold snap, which held the fish here into April. With lots of bait fish, why leave here. Our calendars told anglers to wait also, season is late this year, third Saturday is April21st, so we waited, but the fish did not. The weather again warmed as did the water, so the annual migration started ever so slowly. Opening day was great and on into the following week, than it slowed down. What was changing? What is causing this to happen?

May started and there where fish still being caught in respectable numbers, but they had slowed down in action. Once the fish was hooked they did not seem to fight as hard or be as aggressive. When we cleaned the fish we found they had May Worms in the abdomen. This happens when there is a full moon in May. These worms are in the muddy bottom and come out to spawn as well. The Stripers love them and eat so many they are full and fat, making them lazy when caught. Checking the moon cycle, guess what, a fuller then normal noon was on its way. A full moon also means we can expect higher than normal tides and that the fish will feed at night. Oh my! What about that Crab shedding run that happens on a full moon in May, could this also impact the fish we seek. Let me see here, we have warmer than normal water, early spawn, late season opener, May Worms, lots of bait, full moon and a crab shed going on in the shallows. I know that three strikes and you are out, but that is seven! This Game is over gang.

So when you go out next trip what are you going to do to make a difference, is game planning. First, the biggest fish are mostly gone, so use mid to small baits. Try were you can to troll in shallow water, 25 to 45 feet for the next week or so. Try shoreline casting, you will be surprised what you catch. You can catch Croaker now and the Spot are not far away. So go have fun, be safe and remember, Life is short, Fish often!


That's all the fresh fishing news for today, more served up later this week. Get out there and catch some fish!












Brandon
Chief Angler TidalFish.com
Over 61,485 anglers talking, "All Fishing, All the Time!

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