Look what I caught!

[NoleAnimal]

I just bought a 19' Triumph 190 Bay with a 115 Yamaha 4-Stroke! Still need to get a trolling motor, but that will come in time. The bad news is that I got to take her out today for the first time and got completely skunked. First, we tried Hopkins creek, right in behind the point at the entrance... however, without a trolling motor, it was pretty hard to maneuver- but it wasn't windy so we did manage to spend about a half an hour in that area casting all over the place with chartreuse and white feather spinners... nothing. Then we moved out to the main river channel near the #6 marker, just outside Asquith Creek. We worked the ledge there by jigging with Gulp Glo jigs. Got a couple of light hits, but didn't feel like anything was serious. We then moved to the oyster reefs just NW of the #2 marker, first jigging and then trolling some spoons in the area and again, we got a few light bites on the jigs but nothing serious and certainly no hook-ups.

I gotta admit that I am getting pretty frustrated. I have never had this much trouble catching fish in my life. Rsd612's fishing report from the 28th made me very hopeful I could put us on, at least, some small rockfish. What do I need to be doing different? Do I need to abandon the pipe-dream of anchoring down and jigging to catch fish?

Scott

[tacklemake]

Nole if you are fishing in the hot sun light you need to fish under the piers or any shady spots.That's where the fish go to get out of the bright light of the sun and wait for the bait to swim by.Partly cloudy to cloudy days are better then bright hot sunny days.Some perch will take a spinner bait but most will take a Glo-jig under a float about 18" to 24" if you are working the shore lines and piers.Just cast it out and pop it 2 times then let it sit then do it again and at 90% of the time they will take it with no bait added to the jig.If you are working the oyster reef you need a GPS or a floating marker to pin point the fish after you move off of them.If you see braking fish a 1/4oz to 3/8oz feather jig under a float about 2' to 3' works great if you pop it.If you are vertical jigging the reefs, let it go to the bottom and jig up to about 2' and let it fall back down.Just beware the reef is made out of broken concrete and if you don't have a bow mount to hold you in place to get your jig unsnagged you my loose it...................woody

[axxell33]

Woody pretty much nailed it there..

Work the creeks with spinners and jigs in/around/under structure for perch. Work structure in the main river channel and hard bottoms for Rockfish. Specifically for Rockfish, look around piers, possibly near the mouth of creeks, near deep drop offs, and near hard/shell bottoms. They like the flow and current, they like to hide, and they like to be close to bait. Look at a chart of the river and think about the direction of water flow. Look for areas where structure interrupts the flow. This is a great place for big fish to ambush bait.

For jigging, you have the right idea. Jig vertically over a hard bottom and Asquith is perfect. I haven't tried it yet this year, but I have heard that there are fish there. If you were getting hits, they're there. Try refining how fast and hard you jig. Don't be afraid to "crack the whip" and really get behind that jig. They'll hit it on the drop. Keep your line taught as it drops and use the most sensitive rod you have. I love my baitcasters. Also, get yourself some scents.. cover up the smell of your hands and sunscreen. You can get spray on kinds or you can use spike it. I did really well a few evenings ago casting a paddle tail swimmer around piers.. a yellow jig head, a white shad body, dipped in spike it with a red tail. It looked ridiculous, but it produced. They like the color contrasts.

I have a map I can send you that displays all of the hard bottoms throughout the river. I printed a copy, laminated it, and put it in my boat. PM me your email and I'll send it right over.

The only other thing I can think that will help is a trolling motor. It'll get you in place, hold you there, and do it quietly. I just added a Minn Kota with i-pilot this year and it's the best addition I've ever added to my boat. It has a "spot lock" feature that uses gps to hold you in place.. hands free. It was also the most expensive addition.. but I don't regret it.

The only other thing you can do is put your time in.. get out and fish. Work the river up and down and you'll find some great spots. But remember, as soon as you find a great spot, the weather or the patterns change, and they move somewhere else. Being able to find them is the hardest part!

Good luck!

[rsd612]

Congrats on the new ride, looks like it will be a great river boat. It will take a few trips, tips and maybe a ride along or more too learn the river. Any advise from these guys is good. I haven't learned the jigging part of fishing myself. I do enjoy trolling a few different areas and if a certain spot keeps producing fish I'll pull up and start casting that area (for Rock Fish). Then I have a couple spots I just cast.

On Hopkins Creek, I don't have great luck on the back side of that sand bar (entering) to that pier near the inside corner. At the moment I fish from my 25 foot pilot house, sometimes not the easiest thing to maneuver around in these creeks (especially with wind). I'm in the middle of re powering and rebuilding the transom on my 20 center console. I have a rear steering station on my starboard side, so entering the that creek I cast to shoreline and along side or under the piers (even sometimes start back near the month of Maynadier Creek). Just keep working the shore line until I get some good bites, I don't stay more than 5 to 10 mins in one spot if the fish are small and or I don't get any hits. If we find a area, I shut the motor and drop a weight to keep me on the spot. For the most part we use Woodys Lures (I recommend to pick some up from him) in all colors. Trust me, if I can catch these things anybody can. But for White Perch your closer to one of my favorite honey holes than I am.

[TDLewis]

For white perch & pickerel, I would recommend fishing in the round bay area around weed beds and piers. Look for weed beds up shallow next to steep dropoffs. For lures, Woody's would work great and you could also try some beetle spins with little white twister tails. Think shallow...!

IMO, the fish follow the water quality...and the RB area usually has pretty good water quality.

Shallow water structure in the severn usually consists of piers and points..

Good luck,
Trev

[27 sailfish]

From the movie " Jaws " - You need a bigger boat .

Don't sweat it - she'll get you fish next trip. The Severn is like that - some days it's easy fishing - other days you'll swear no fish are there at all.


Congrats on a new boat - looks great.

[J.A. Veil]

I fished on Thurs morning from Jonas Green park. I fished College Creek and two other nearby areas that usually hold summer perch. The water looked an unhealthy brown color. In 2.5 hours of casting to shorelines, I caught about 5 perch and one pickerel. So your lack of success may have been attributable to the poor water quality that day (if that makes you feel any better).

Last Mon evening, I did much better in the upper half of Weems Creek. It often takes some looking around to see where the fish are biting that day. Also, don't hesitate to try different lures with different functional features (for example try some spinner-type lures and try some soft plastic lures to give the fish a different look). When you first start out in a new area, you have a lot to learn. The more times you fish the same areas, you will gain confidence on what will work and which sections of shorelines or which drop offs are the most productive ones.

[NoleAnimal]

TD,
What do you mean by water quality? Water clarity? Because this river looks pretty muddy to me all the time, so far. So much so, that I am not sure how I will find the weed beds you speak of. I don't know how I will be able to see them.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I was much too overconfident (read: arrogant) in coming into a new area. Is there a particular depth I should be focusing on?

Axxell, that is the exact motor I am saving up for to put on my boat... let me know from time to time of your impressions of it.

- - - Updated - - -

John, the only way to build confidence is to actually catch something. Why were you fishing from shore and not out in the yak?

[J.A. Veil]

John, the only way to build confidence is to actually catch something. Why were you fishing from shore and not out in the yak?

I was fishing from the kayak. When I say "working shorelines" I mean paddling or drifting along shoreline areas that I have found often hold fish. I position the kayak about 1 cast length out from the shore and throw small lures (spinners, jigheads with twister tails or small paddle tails, spinner arms like TD shows, or even small hard plastic lures) toward the shoreline. I use ultralight rods. Other times if the wind pushes me up against the shore, I cast parallel to the shoreline about 5 to 10 ft out from the shore. Submerged branches are always a challenge and can hang up your lures. In one of my go-to spots, there is so much submerged vegetation that it is hard to retrieve a lure without getting covered in grass.

I will be happy to go out with you in the Severn creeks some time soon either in your power boat or in my two kayaks. I will show you some lures, techniques, and locations. Woody is the master percher of the Severn. He often takes fishing partners with him too.

I have never done very well catching rockfish in the Severn. Some of the other SRRKC members are very proficient at Severn rock. Ask around and you will find a club member to get you pointed in the right direction.

Going back to water quality, the color of the water during the last two weeks has been among the least desirable I can recall for the summer months. I hope that things will change soon from brown to more greenish.

[TDLewis]

IMO, good water looks more greenish and the bad stuff looks brown. I haven't had the opportunity to fish much this year, but there are usually plenty of weed beds in the RB area. It sounds to me like you are fishing too deep. One trick you can use is to see how long the piers are - long piers typically mean that there is a gradual dropoff, short ones mean that the depth drops off quicker. Short ones with weeds are usually the ticket.

I typically anchor up within casting distance when perch fishing & just cast along the piers, etc in order to fish 2' - 6' of water. If perch are in the area, you'll get hits pretty quickly using beetle spins, spinners, twister tails, etc. Due to the limited visibility even where the water "looks better", I think lures that "push water", i.e. have a spinning blade of some sort, will outperform live bait in a lot of cases.

Tight Lines,
Trev