Nice Day trolling in front of Deale 11/8

[get the net]

Me and my dad headed out of Rockhold Creek at first light on my boat today to have a fun day before we got real serious about trophy hunting the rest of the season. We headed straight out inside 83 just past the pound nets where the FF imediately lit up on the bottom. It literally stayed this way all day, I've never seen it for that large of an area before. Lots of rock and lots of clouds of bait.

Here is a pic of the FF



I got the spread out quick and we had our first fish in short order. It was a 23" that went in the box. Then shortly after that another hit, a better 25"er brought in by Dad.



We had a steady pick of fish, staying away from the crowd. Ended the day with a double header to bring the count to 14 fish. We never went more than an hour without action. And once after a lull in action, I checked the lines and found 3 fish in there that were only 18-20" and went unnoticed. Strayed out to 50' a few times, and tried to avoid the fleet which was massive as it was flat calm. Biggest fish was only 27", but heard of some bigguns caught. I only took one picture to send to my 3 friends who all bailed this morning.

Me with a 26"er we released



That fish was skinny but all the others we caught were FAT

Talked to Mark, attml, he was north and had a bigger fish. Couldn't beat the weather for November. Next week is full planer board spread with all big baits and likely Solomons.

This weeks the spread was as follows:

1 - Spoon umbrells w/ gold 9/0 CA 275' no weight, 1 fish
2 - small umbrella w/ 6 oz alien head 9" shad 225' 1 fish
3 - small umbrella w/ 6 oz alien head 9" shad 175'
4 - small umbrella w/ 6" storm 150' 2 oz - numerous fish and knockdowns
5 - small umbrella w/ 6" storm 125' 5 oz - same as 4
6 - large umbrella w/ tandem 6" storms 100' 16 oz - 1 fish
7 - large umbrella w/ 9" pearl storm 75' 20 oz - 1 fish
8 - large umbrella w/ 9" bunker storm 55' 24 oz - 2 fish and numerous knockdowns

[attml]

Nice job Billy! You definitely had more fish than us! Kind of tough weaving in and out of boats with the boards out!! We marked some bait balls but no big marks. We had to pull lines by 10:45 so we could get back for some family stuff. Wish I could have had a few more ohours out there!!

[get the net]

I agree, we o ly got mixed up in the fleet twice, otherwise we just stayed on the edges. Also just had the outriggers out today, planers would have been a challnge.

[J.P. Williams]

Good show, Gents, especially for (mostly) staying away from the fleet.

Billy, that line across your sounder screen above the fish is probably a pycnocline (density break) but not a thermocline (a pycnocline caused by an abrupt temperature change). It's probably an abrupt transition from fresh water running out of the Susquehanna (from last week's rains) flowing over salty (denser) water that has been out there for a while. I've seen these pycnoclines in the main Bay & the lower Potomac 1-3 weeks after tropical storms. Wierd stuff!

If this were summer, with water temperatures 25 degrees higher, that kind of cap on the bottom water would probably have caused a dead zone there, but because cold water can hold more oxygen in solution, the fish are able to feed and "breathe" down there now. Good thing!

The cause of summer dead zones is nitrogen pollution, which fuels algae blooms (notice how much clearer the water is now than it is in summer?), whose cells die in a day or two and sink into that capped-off bottom water, where bacteria decay them, using up oxygen in the process. Because there is no exchange between bottom and surface, the oxygen levels down there drop below what fish & crabs (and all of the critters that live in and on the bottom) need to survive. Nasty stuff! The Severn has this problem on and off all summer. What it takes to break it up is a strong thunderstorm & a day of NW wind. What makes it last is a week or two of hot, dry, stable weather.

Anyhow, glad you found 'em. Several expert fly-fishing friends from Harrisburg, PA (including Chris Detweiler, who sometimes posts on this board), fished flies on sinking lines this morning below Tollys and caught eight nice 20-27" fish. Then they came up the river, where I had caught a 23" & a 24" LTJing on a couple of favorite spots, but the boat wakes were awful up there, so we went pickerel hunting opposite Mark attml's place & found three of 21-24" (the 21" gave us a great jump at boatside). Beautiful day, but 'way, 'way too many people.

Best, JPW

[lfreed]

Nice job, Billy. I ran down there late morning and was amazed at the number of boats in one small area. It looked like opening day. Cruised around a bit, but never dropped lines - didn't see how it would be worth engaging in all that.

I agree, JP - WAY too many people. I tried fishing the river a bit and it was a constant 3-5 boats passing by. It was like sitting still in the middle of a super-highway - not fun.

Glad you found some nice ones!

[J.A. Veil]

Larry -


I launched my blue kayak from Jonas Green Park around 1:30 yesterday. I am pretty sure you passed by and waved at me as I was heading out to the river. You then stopped a quarter mile north of the 450 bridge to do something to your motor.

[lfreed]

Hey John,

You know, after I left I got to wondering if that was you... sorry I didn't stop to chat. I got a log caught in the motor - they don't run nearly as well when that happens :)

Did you have any luck?

[27 sailfish]

I'll toss one more into it - JP will love it .

Sometimes the leaves from fall will sink down into that layer and suspend . Get lures into it and they foul in seconds.

Pycnocline - learned something new.

[get the net]

Very true skip, did have some issues with leaves

[J.P. Williams]

You're right, Skip. Great info! I hadn't thought of that, but they have hassled me too.