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Welcome Light Tackle Anglers - Introduce Yourself

51K views 44 replies 29 participants last post by  senkosam_1316 
#1 ·
Hi

We had a bunch of requests lately to have a forum solely dedicated to saltwater light tackle fishing, so here it is:thumbup: Let's see what we can do. I would ask that we keep the fishing reports to the regional boards unless others disagree?

I will start with my introduction. Hi I am Brandon and I have been addicted to saltwater light tackle fishing since I was a kid. I grew up on a farm and we light tackle fished for Largemouth Bass, sunfish, catfish and anything else we could throw a lure at. Since I live on the Chesapeake Bay I mostly target striped bass in the salt, but have light tackle fished for bonefish, jacks, barracuda, black fin tuna, false albacore, white and yellow perch, croaker, redfish and trout. I am completely addicted to light tackle fishing with popper and will throw a popper at anything to get the blow up strike.

Brandon
 
#2 ·
hi, my name is jeffrey...and i am a light tackle fisherman. i just got my start saltwater fishing last year after i moved to newport news from charlottesville. same as brandon so far as the getting started bass fishing on farm ponds. my favorite bass fishing is to work the milfoil beds with a pop'r or tiny torpedo. for that reason, i am really looking forward to learning how to work the seagrass beds with topwaters for specs. if anybody has any tips, i'd greatly appreciate it. i intend to spend a good deal of time in the lower mobjack this summer (severn river and guinea island areas). last summer i focused on puppy drum with jigs and spinnerbaits in back river.
 
#3 ·
Hi, i'm Jamann4 and I'm a speckaholic. I primarily target specks in the backwaters with light spinning gear. I Like the stripers, flounder, and pups on light tackle too but the specks are really what get me going. I fish prmarily out of a kayak. I have way more light tackle gear, mirrolures, soft plastics, etc. than I need but it makes me happy and I guess that is all that counts. Looking forward to some more posts on this board.
 
#4 ·
I'm Charlie and I have been flyfishing since 1960 at age ten when my uncle taught me to cast with his 7.5 ft Shakespeare Wonder rod with automatic reel. I cut my teeth fishing farm ponds with him for Bream and Bass. I also attended summer camp in Goshen VA and waded the Maury and upper James for smallmouth, bream, redeye and pickeral. I have fished the Shenandoah Park for brookies while back packing. The Rose River was my favorite mountain stream. I love dry fly fishing with goofus bugs and terrestrials and casting white Marathon poppers to rising fish in rivers and spawning fish in ponds. I moved to White Stone VA five years ago and have fished the bay using fly tackle and light spinning tackle. We also chum, live bait and troll for Rock when appropriate. I began fishing this area out of Deltaville in the late 60's through when you could walk across the Bay on the backs of the the blue fish. Eight pound Gray trout were caught in those days at night off of Tangier usiing bottom rigs and and peeler crabs. Some of the Croaker we caught on those trips were a large as serving platters and must have weighed 4 lbs. I fish with my two sons who also love the sport. They now fish Offshore out of Wanchese with their 33 Bertram and have done well there. My oldest son lives in DC now but soon after graduating from UVA lived in Norfolk and we fished with him out of Little Creek. There we eeled the tubes and had a great time live baiting for rock, and flounder. I also hunt ducks and geese, doves, qual and grouse, turkey and deer. I guess you could say that I enjoy the outdoors and the rod and gun sports. I'm still working in the insurance and financial services business and have my office in Irvington, VA. Most of my clients are in Richmond which was my home until 2005 but I have clients all over the state and the East Coast. I currently live on Antipoison Creek and am lucky to be able to watch the sunrise over the water looking out of my front picture window. I look forward to meeting you guys and sharing experiences.
 
#5 ·
Jeffrey,

I seem to do best with the specks in the fall. Although most folks will say the spring is better. In my experience they are keying on different baits at both times. In the spring they are after the peeler crabs that start shedding around here in May. In the fall the shallows are loaded with finger mullet and peanut bunker and thats what they're after. Specks should be arriving on the shallows in about a month. Last year was a good one for me and I have high hopes for this one. Hopefully the fish kills from the winter freeze down in the carolinas won't affect the speck fishing here in the bay. Many specks died down there during the freeze. I am considering the fish tagging program this year as I release most of what I catch, occassionaly keeping one for dinner.
 
#7 ·
Hello everyone, My name is Shayne. I live in Poquoson and do 80% of my fishing right here at home on the flats and in Back River. I am also a light tackle fisherman. I enjoy fishing for reds, specks and flounder mainly. Although the striper on the flats in the summer are fun also. Really started fishing light tackle last year. Byrd, a member here on TF pretty much got me addicted to the skinny water fishing. I fished as a child on the stern of my dads workboat as he would go clamming in the summer time. I would catch croakers, spot and the occasional flounder. He has since left the water enabling me to use his 218 DLX Carolina Skiff for my flats fishing. Excellent boat for that by the way. Reds are my kryptonite. If they are around, that's what I am going after. Though this year I certainly intend on speck fishing alot more. Looking forward to some great tips and alot of pullage. Good luck and tight lines everyone.

Shayne
 
#10 ·
Hi, I'm Bill.
I cut my teeth fly fishing for trout in very small Pennsylvania streams, and did a lot of light-tackle spin fishing for smallmouths on the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers. I used light gear on quite a few bluefish charters and sea trout charters on the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and never could see the attraction of trolling with heavy rigs for striped bass in the Chesapeake. Looked so unappealing that even after I moved to this area, I couldn't really get excited about striper fishing.

These forums introduced me to the light-tackle angling for stripers in the Bay to the extent that I picked up a boat a number of years ago to do just that. Various things have kept me from doing a much of it as I would like, but now I have repowered the boat and am nearing retirement or at least semi-retirement, so I expect to have more opportunity to get out.

Because I don't trailer, I am sort of limited to the area from the Susquehanna Flats down to the Bay Bridge.
 
#11 ·
Hey guys, as you can see my name is Steve and all I do is LTJ and have been for about 17 years. You can find me in the Patapsco River or at the Bay Bridge and points North to MOW. There’s nothing like jigging for stripers and I think it’s the most challenging way to fish. I have nothing against guys trolling and I know that they will catch the bigger fish than me but that’s OK. I usually only fish on Saturdays but do try and get off work every now and then during the week to get out. As you can see I build Custom Rods and I have built a lot for guys that are on this board. I personally use a 6’ M/H with a fast tip or my new rod that I have been building a 6' 2” M/H action with a fast tip and this rod is my favorite rod now. I wish everyone the best of luck this season and I’ll try to post some reports this year.
 
#12 ·
Hi, I'm Joey
I'm living in Hawaii but have been fishing stripers for 30 years since I was a 12 years old growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've fished for stripers in San Francisco Bay Area, Lake Mead in Nevada and Lake Lanier in Georgia. My striper experience has included both salt water and fresh water fishing. I hope to expand my striper fishing experience to more areas. I started fishing for stripers using traditional tackle but for the past couple of years my tackle has gotten lighter and lighter. I just got back from the San Francisco Bay Area from a two week striper fishing trip with my 11 year old. We fished both salt and fresh water all on 3 and 4 pound gear using ultralight reels and rods. It was a blast to catch and release 72 stripers in 10 days ranging from 1 to 10 pounds all on 3lbs and 4lbs test lines. We caught the stripers while trolling, casting lures and dunking cut bait. We also used a 2wt fly rod and caught about 10 of the fish on a fly.

Now that's what I consider as light tackle. We also use light tackle for fishing in Hawaii. We regularly troll for small tuna using 10lb test line. Even though we live in Hawaii nothing beats fishing for stripers!!!
 
#13 ·
Hi My name is Gordon and I too am addicted. I fish around Fleets Bay area and love light tackle and fly fishing for specs and what ever else I can catch int he shallows. You may see me on a 17' Key West "Lil Dab" around the creeks, or in the Bay on the "SeaSetter" 23 WA Parker. I Live in Kilmarnock (Indian Creek) and work in Irvington. I have a beautiful and understanding wife and two great boys. My oldest earned his Junior Angler on Sunday. He too seems to be showing signs of the addiction. Lets get this board rolling.
 
#14 ·
hi, i'm mark. I'm a little late,12/22/10. I fish ligt salt, middle bay, lower james down to CBBT. Fish for every thing, still trying to fine tune my light trolling, I mean LIGHT compared to other boats I've fished on. I will stay tuned to this site every time I log in from now on. Tight lines an happy holidays!!!!
 
#15 ·
Dave Huz here. Pulling a 19' Sea-Pro skiff (yes, they made one in 2000-2001) out of the Magothy River/Sandy Point area and working light tackle stuff down on the Eastern Bay side down to Hooper's Is. and occasionally down to Chincoteague. Prev. ran a 16 CS in the same areas but with the bigger boat expect that I can spend more time on the water w/o putting myself in an uncomfortable sea state. Still have the trolling equipment that comes on board once in a while but like the running/gunning fishing when I can't get to the flats fishing in FL. Primarily a gLoomis rod user with my Penn 360s. Will be visiting this forum on a regular basis and hope to see some of the guys at the early shows and later out on the water.
 
#16 ·
As a native Marylander, I have enjoyed the sport of fishing for over forty-five years. One of the first fishing trips I remember is catching striped bass and perch with my Dad under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. As teenagers, my friends and I would often rent a wooden rowboat out of Dundee Creek and fish for whatever we could catch including bass, bluegills, catfish and perch. Little did I know then, but I was already hooked on fishing.

In the mid-80s, I became involved in competitive bass fishing. My skills increased by fishing as often as I could and by reading every book, magazine and newspaper article about fishing I could find. I watched countless hours of fishing shows and attended numerous seminars. I fished with many accomplished anglers and well-known guides. During that time I owned a 1989 Ranger bass boat. I learned more about fishing the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, the Eastern Shore Rivers and the lower Potomac River. Competing on the club level for over 10 years, I fished over 100 tournaments including two Mr. Bass and four State Qualifying Tournaments with the Maryland Bass Federation.

By the mid-90s, I focused my attention on striped bass. Since then I have pursued stripers from the Susquehanna Flats to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

In addition to exploring the Chesapeake Bay, I have traveled all over this country fishing for different species using different techniques. I have fished from the surf of Assateague Island to the offshore canyons many miles out of Ocean City, Maryland; from Maui, Hawaii for marlin and tuna to Homer, Alaska for salmon and halibut; from flipping lures in the shallow bayous of Louisiana for redfish and flounder to trolling spoons deep in Minnesota’s Lake Superior for lake trout and walleye; and from casting plugs to striped bass off of the rocky coast of Maine to fishing for tarpon in the Florida Keys.

I have visited all 50 states and fished in many of them. I have caught over 100 different species of fish including over 40 freshwater species and over 60 saltwater species.

My favorite technique is light tackle jigging but I like to fish a variety of ways. Among my most noteworthy catches are reeling in a 100 lb tarpon in Islamorada, Florida on 25 lb test line and landing a 40 lb striped bass in the lower Chesapeake Bay on 17 lb test line.

Conservation and protection of the environment are of paramount importance. Educating new anglers about ethical fishing practices is rewarding and sharing the sport with young people is key to the future of recreational fishing.
 
#18 ·
Fishman - thanks. I usually post most of my reports on the Chesapeake Angler - Original Board. I just happened to see Brandon had started this Light Tackle Angler forum and thought I'd add my introduction. Please see My Profile for more information and pictures.
 
#19 ·
Guys my name is Luis, I grew up spearfishing and bottom fishing the reefs of Puerto Rico. I moved Annapolis 3 years ago and quickly caught the rockfish fever. After attending a seminar that Shawnkimbo gave at all tackle last year I went and caught 21 incher with a BKD under the bridge and the trolling rods have been collecting dust since. This year I had the privilege of discovering fly fishing on a trip to Montana for trout and have been obsessed with catching a Rockfish on my new fly rod. Im lucky enough to have a job that allows me to fish during the week and travel rods are part of my carry on all my work trips.

Ill take a moment to thank all of you that share your advice and knowledge so easily and help the guys like me get started, move foward and enjoy the sport we love.
 
#21 ·
My name is Miles Suttle and I spend a lot of time fishing for all species with light tackle. I love fishing for specks, drum, and stripers with light tackle under 12 pound test and fly rods. I am an avid cobia hunter and love catching them with light tackle as well! I will try and give reports on these species soon. Hopefully will be speck'n soon the weather is getting RIGHT!
 
#22 ·
My name is Woody and I own Maryland Tackle.I also have been fishing for over fifty years and making tackle for forty years.I love to fish,so I fish about three times a week and write reports on SRRKC fishing club on the Severn river in Maryland.The light tackle I make catches fish and here is some pictures.............woody:bigfish::yes::thumbup::clapping2::photo4::fishing2::cowboy:

PS we caught 119 fish that day
 
#23 ·
My name is Mike and although I've lived along the Chesapeake (Beard's Creek off the South River) for 10+ yrs now I just stowed the clubs and bought my first fishing boat in August. Can't claim to be a strictly LT fisherman - or anything else for that fact - though a recent WO LWT charter out of Solomon's got me "hooked" enough to start outfitting my boat with light rigs. My previous SW fishing experience has been summer OBX gulf stream charters, and then way back in the 70s as crew aboard family/friend's boats trolling LI Sound, Montauk & BI. So, after a LONG break (and now at 50+) I'm having fun learning to captain, and loving the notion of SW fishing on light gear!

Tips, advice, critique welcome... and if you're near the South River interested in fishin, albeit with a newbie, give me a shout.
 
#26 ·
Greetings, My name is Tom Granger TomGlenBurnie
I have been fishing, since I was a little stinkybutt boy.

I remember trolling the bay, when all you could hope to catch was Blues.

My Unkle Jim took me when I was 14, to magothy R, where they rented boats.
[ Near that bar shooters on rt 2 ], Jim live lined a big purty minnow, and
let her run into the weeds.

Jim was whispering, just keep quiet tommy,
they can hear your feet and your voice.

Jim lit a camel, and it was like he had lit
the fuse on a stick of dynamite.

The weeds exploded , there was a flipping beast in there.
Jim fought the chain pickeral for what seemed like a long time.
I'll never forget it, 26" prehistoric chain pickeral,
prettiest thing you ever saw.
That was the king of the river : Majestic

When i was very small, I fished a tidal salt water pond in rivera beach.
I used to catch sunnies pumpkinseed in their breeding nests.
I was fly fishing, but did not know it... muddy feet, angry mother.

I want to learn to jig up some rockfish. I live and work on Patapsco river.

thanks, tom g.
 
#27 ·
As my board name indicates I used to bottom fish for croakers and anything else that would bite on sqidd or bloodworms or shrimp but now I light tackle fish out of my kayak.Not very good ad it yet buy I'm going to keep practicing as long as I can. Love it and some days I get skunked bit I just say had a good paddle.When I do catch a fish its just a plus to the "nice paddle"! Life is good!:fishing2::thumbup:
 
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