4 species at oyster bar outside of Weems

[J.A. Veil]

I made a quick 2-hour kayak fishing trip this afternoon (5:00 to 7:00). I am on a mission to catch one of the redfish that have moved into the Severn. They are not abundant, but more than a few anglers have reported catching them. Most of my Severn trips over the last month have targeted shorelines using spinners. Today, I decided to drift over the bar just upstream of the red/green marker at the mouth of Weems and bottom fish with Fishbites. The DNR oyster survey chart shows a bar there called Wade. I drifted in depths from 10 ft out to 19 ft. The fishfinder showed lots of marks on the bottom and in the lower half of the water column.

I caught about 10 perch including two different double headers that each represented 18" of perch on one rod. I caught lots of small croaker on the bottom. While drifting, I cast a spinner tipped with a Gulp swimming mullet. I had several tails bitten off then eventually landed a 10" bluefish. On my final drift, I caught a baby rockfish.

On the way back to the ramp, I trolled three rods with spinners. I caught another striper and another perch. Sadly, I caught no redfish.

That oyster bar must have already been there in 2009 when the survey was done. I was fishing nearby in the early summer when a large vessel rode back and forth in the area adding more oyster shell and spat to the Wade reef. Whether you visit that reef or one of the other reefs along the river, plan to do some bottom fishing or jigging -- the fish are there.

[axxell33]

Thanks for the report! I've never fished on that particular reef but I did take my kids out last Sunday and fished over the Asquith reef. The fish there were also very abundant. I got them all set up and on the first drop my daughter pulls in 2 nice size perch almost instantly. I'm not sure why but she outfished my boys all day.. maybe it was her lighter touch setting the hook or had something to do with her short pink Barbie rod, haha. We had a blast and they really enjoyed dinner that night!

For those with families and children.. now is the time to get the out on the water. My kids had a great time!