Perchin at Sandy Point

[BigTim320]

Went to Sandy Point Friday morning and walked out on a Jetty with some Shad darts. 1st cast produced a 6 inch flounder. 2nd cast a 10 inch White Perch. 3rd cast an 11 inch White Perch. Even caught doubles. Caught a bunch of 5 inch Spot and the smallest Croaker ever caught in history.


I just went out there to have some fun, and did not keep any of the Perch.

I did see something that sure looked like a 5-6 foot shark. Have seen thousands of Skates, and this wasn't one of them. It was cruising along in fairly shallow water. Saw the top fin, and the tail fin but it didn't get close enough for me to make a positive ID.

Fished on the Jetty for about an hour and then met Rick and Chuck at the boat ramp. We went Perchin all over the Sandy Point area and did really well. Chuck had the hot hand at first and was putting some monster perch in the cooler. Then Rick and I began contributing. It was a fantastic day. We caught at least 4 perch over 12 inches and 15 over 11 inches. I was measuring one of mine on the rail of the boat....and let out a "woo-hoo" and said "12 and a quarter!!". About that time the savvy Perch decided he wasn't going to become a sammich. Huge burst of energy and that slimy rascal jumped back in the water. 'Bout an hour later Chuck was measuring one. It was 12.5 inches.......and you guessed it, same thing happened. We had a good chuckle...... but only because the bite was on.

I hooked something big on a shad dart at a piling in about 8-9 feet of water. 1st couple of seconds it felt like a good sized head shaking rockfish, but then it made a run heading for the ocean. Thought for sure it was going to spool me as there was no stopping it. Then the line broke (was cut) about 6 inches from my leader. Rick said he saw something brown from his vantage point, and we figured it must have been a Skate. Of course I was thinking 30 pound Cobia, lol.

Rick was masterful at guiding the boat through the bridge pilings with the trolling motor despite some big rollers coming in from tankers. How he can run the trolling motor and still nail fish after fish is a site to see. Here is a pic of him and one of those "Black Back Perch".



It was interesting how some of the perch had different color tone variations. Some silvery, some a light copper tint, and some Black Backs.

Have never seen so many 14 inch Menhaden caught on Shad Darts. Some were foul hooked and some the hook was in their mouth.

Thanks again for a great day Rick, and nice meeting/fishing with you Chuck!

Tim

[Roger T]

Love the LT perch fishing,never know what you might hook into out there.

Thanks for sharing your trip/pix.

[crabby and son]

Hate to beat your record croaker Tim, but Kevin and I caught several 2" croakers and 4" rock fish in the mouth of the South. Your croaker looks like a solid 3". I had good intel on the BIG perch but the threat of afternoon storms kept me in the river. I too have a small boat and didn't get out until 10:00. Getting Kevin out of bed is harder than getting a 13" perch. BTW them BIG perch don't get that way by getting put in a cooler. Great escape artists!..............Gary

[J.A. Veil]

Nice work Tim. There are plenty of fish out there for anyone who wants to go bottom fishing. You had quite a nice variety of fish.

Concerning your large mystery fish, don't rule out a channel or blue cat. About a month ago I caught a 20+" channel cat in Weems Creek on a small spinnerbait. Yesterday I fished in Mattawoman Creek (clearly much lower salinity than the bay bridge) and caught two 21" blue cats on another small spinnerbait that was sitting in the water while I tended to a second rod. The cats pull mighty hard and don't like showing themselves at the surface.

[Rick]

Great trip Tim lets do it again!

[Scott McGuire]

Nice Job Guys!

[RiverCat09]

WTG on the perch! Those are some good eating for sure!

Don

[StepChild]

Nice report Tim!! Glad ya got some pullage!

[Burchbeer]

Wait for me, wait for me. WTG Tim,Rick and Chuck!