[hedjug]

I started fishing the flats back in the late 90's, joined here in '04.

I lived on, and fished the flats/upper bay until '09. Fishing in the spring declined every year up until I left for South Carolina in '09.

I came back in 2017 - got excited to get back on the upper bay, dusted off all of my Redfins, Big Don's and Tony A's.

Launched the boat, came around Turkey point expecting to see the usual fleet of boats and bevy of guides - I didn't see one boat fishing.

I headed over to Sandy Point to cast some Tony's along the beach, picked a few shorts... another boat showed up. I landed a 26" fish & the other boat came over to see it. They said they've been fishing the area for the past few years and that was the biggest fish they've seen.

I went out multiple times doing the old patterns - back then I could go out and find a steady pick, herring slicks on the surface, and even rope into a 40"+ fish from time to time, even the rare 50"+. Some days you could find a school of 30"-40" class fish and just flat wear yourself out.

I've not caught a fish over 28" since I've been back. You can't use herring for bait. And now C&R is even shut down.

 

[Capt.Nick]

Same here! Jigging for trout, lol. I still have some trout bombs that we used to make by just painting an inline sinker! No, they are gone, at least from the Annapolis sector.
Yes, good guides can still get on some fish but I'm not that good! Caught a couple of blues off the bottom this fall but didn't see any breaking. Quite common to head out and never even see a bird!

It seems like the dead fishing zone in the bay creeps down the bay a little each year.Unfortunately , I live in the upper bay . More and more fishermen are getting kayaks and small boats then changing over to river rats. I belong to 5 other boards that are river fishing specific and they catch a lot of fish of all species .I have fished with several of them and they are dam good fishermen. We never had or needed that years ago when the Bay had good fishing all over. The Bay has changed .

 

[pkeating]

For me, Hedjug's summary is the saddest part of all.

Pat

 

[wyeknot183]

For me, Hedjug's sumTiderunners says it all…….

For me, Hedjug's summary is the saddest part of all.

Pat
Solomons. 1986. The Mud Leads. 12 plus # Tide Runners says it all….

 

[UncleRob]

Well that's sad. What are people *****ing about? In the fifteen years I owned the site I found that some people are going to go fishing, have fun and catch fish. Other's are going to bi$ch no matter what happens.

But...without moderation that b$tching will and can overtake a board.

I've pretty much checked out of here due to the trolls. Having moderated and been an admin on several sites, this place isn't some place I need to spend time. The blocking feature is nice, but seeing 1/4 of the convo because of all the blocked people is not what I signed on for. Several shots across the bow of the new owner garnered no attention. I said it before and I'll say it again, you can only collect so many ad checks and not put any work in for them before you have no forum.

Met some cool people off here, Gary, Andy and Steve and hopefully the other Rob this spring or summer some time fishing the Little Choptank.

 

[Dashaway]

Hi Brandon,

Doing well, a newly minted grandfather, happily retired, and mostly surf fish during travel. We did fish during a great time, it was a blast. Funny, yesterday while purging boxes of old receipts and tax stuff I found a stack of WWA posts, included was the introduction thread from Superfish. I'm just a lurker now, but the guys that poke at each other now are amateurs, I can't even count how many honeyholes got burned back then.😂

Hope all is well there.

 

[Brandon]

I started fishing the flats back in the late 90's, joined here in '04.

I lived on, and fished the flats/upper bay until '09. Fishing in the spring declined every year up until I left for South Carolina in '09.

I came back in 2017 - got excited to get back on the upper bay, dusted off all of my Redfins, Big Don's and Tony A's.

Launched the boat, came around Turkey point expecting to see the usual fleet of boats and bevy of guides - I didn't see one boat fishing.

I headed over to Sandy Point to cast some Tony's along the beach, picked a few shorts... another boat showed up. I landed a 26" fish & the other boat came over to see it. They said they've been fishing the area for the past few years and that was the biggest fish they've seen.

I went out multiple times doing the old patterns - back then I could go out and find a steady pick, herring slicks on the surface, and even rope into a 40"+ fish from time to time, even the rare 50"+. Some days you could find a school of 30"-40" class fish and just flat wear yourself out.

I've not caught a fish over 28" since I've been back. You can't use herring for bait. And now C&R is even shut down.

Reading this simply makes me sad man.

Freaking unreal how a fishery like that goes from world class to zero basically.

Brandon

 

[Dwayne E]

Reading this simply makes me sad man.

Freaking unreal how a fishery like that goes from world class to zero basically.

Brandon

Depressing. I watch the the striped bass fishing rebound after moratorium to a world class fishery and then start to crash again. I spent many of days on the flats and night in the susquehanna. Now I seldom target stripers. Maybe a few hours 1 or 2 days when I'm out chasing largemouth in the fall. As for the trolls on here, it's a shame individuals allow someone to run them off or become a lurker. Hoping vertiscope steps in at some time. I visit another site they own. They finally stepped in and it's turning around. Don't really know you Brandon. But thanks for putting this site together way back. Even if it's now a shell of what is was. Many from the past developed skills and friends from it.

 

[andypat]

Hi Brandon,

Doing well, a newly minted grandfather, happily retired, and mostly surf fish during travel. We did fish during a great time, it was a blast. Funny, yesterday while purging boxes of old receipts and tax stuff I found a stack of WWA posts, included was the introduction thread from Superfish. I'm just a lurker now, but the guys that poke at each other now are amateurs, I can't even count how many honeyholes got burned back then.😂

Hope all is well there.

It doesn't matter anymore. I fished with Superfish.

 

[V-Tinny]

Where's Evil Dick? RockSteady? Shawn Kimbro?

 

[pkeating]

There are a whole lot of good fishermen who used to post reports. I miss them all.

I have read just about every post on here. I don't see why anyone is getting pushed out of here by trolls. People have strong opinions on things. Opinions that I often disagree with. Opinions that I often do not respect. Some things posted are stupid and divisive and intentionally disrespectful. Block them - why bother? Ban them - why bother?

Skip is the perfect example. He posts more reports than just about anyone. Puts real effort into his reports. Helps people with information and, heck, often takes them fishing and shows them. Yet he is probably the biggest target for abuse. But he still fishes and posts. Thank goodness.

The only way this site improves is with actual fishing reports. Let us all try to improve in that area and the rest will resolve itself.

Pat

 

[pkeating]

Skip is the perfect example. But he still fishes and posts. Thank goodness.

Too funny - I just did a quick google search to see if there are any other fishing boards that I could participate in and learn from. The first one I looked at was less message board and more of an information site. I dug down to the most recent fishing reports for the Upper Bay and, low and behold, They told of "one angler launched out of Sandy Point" and proceeded to give a report that sounded almost identical to Skip's most recent report. Pretty sure it had to be Skip's 🤣

I guess I might as well stay here and put up with the trolls.

Pat

 

[Tom Hughes]

Hey Brandon: Good to hear from you buddy. Still doing some guiding. Trips include teaching anglers to understand and operate their electronics to catch more fish. If they want to LT or Fly Fish (still Orvis Endorsed) that's also part of the trip. I'm very lucky and still do a good amount of fishing on the salt and fresh-water. Gave a few seminars last year on Humminbird & Garmin units. My catamaran will be on the market this spring since I'm fortunate enough to have friends take me out.

Thanks for your post.

 

[Catch This]

Brandon,
This place isnt the same since you left. The reasons have been stated by others. I hardly ever post on here. I just come to check in maybe once a month. I do still remember your WWF sponsoring a team in the NC Beachbuggy Tournament many years ago; we all flew WWF pennants on our antennae. Hope all is well

 

[Capt.Nick]

I guess what it boils down to is that some people are more easily offended than others. Only the strong survive I belong to 5 other fishing sites because this one has gotten too redundant and boring. I like to fish and go when ever the weather suits me

 

[TQSOH2]

I know a lot of people want to say that the complainers are the ones that ruined the site, but unfortunately, the large movement of people away from forums has been a common theme over the last 10 years. People have gravitated to Facebook since it's a one-stop-shop for everything of interest in their lives. You have to actively go to a forum, whereas FB pops things of interest right in your face and cultivates interaction. There's TONS of trolls on there, but people still stick around. The sad part is that forums essentially provide an organized database to search for past information. FB groups just tend to regurgitate the same newbie questions over and over and finding the info you want is challenging, especially without having access to detailed search engine results like forums provide. Welcome to the world of short attention spans and lots of content working to grab people's interest...hence why Tik-Tok and YouTube Shorts are so popular.

I hope getting the site back works out for you, Brandon!

 

[longtail]

Buying this site would be like buying a dot.com now and trying to sell it. Just moderate, it’s been offered to everyone, and kick all us trolls off.

 

[hosim3]

I know a lot of people want to say that the complainers are the ones that ruined the site, but unfortunately, the large movement of people away from forums has been a common theme over the last 10 years. People have gravitated to Facebook since it's a one-stop-shop for everything of interest in their lives. You have to actively go to a forum, whereas FB pops things of interest right in your face and cultivates interaction. There's TONS of trolls on there, but people still stick around. The sad part is that forums essentially provide an organized database to search for past information. FB groups just tend to regurgitate the same newbie questions over and over and finding the info you want is challenging, especially without having access to detailed search engine results like forums provide. Welcome to the world of short attention spans and lots of content working to grab people's interest...hence why Tik-Tok and YouTube Shorts are so popular.

I hope getting the site back works out for you, Brandon!

Having had the pleasure of fishing and crabing on the Magothy and the bay for over 50 years I must agree that things have really changed, and not for the better. That said, I wouldn’t trade one minute of my life on the water for anything. I’m also more than happy to be part of this excellent forum. I’ve learned so much from my fellow anglers. A group Thank You to all of you. Tight Lines and following seas to all.

 

[graybeard1191]

Hi All,

I dusted off my fishing tackle the other day after going back through some old pictures and listening to some old podcast shows I did on the Lateral Line podcast.

Who is still hanging out around here?

How are you doing?

And how's the fishing in Maryland's portion of the bay?

Brandon

I’m still here

 

[graybeard1191]

LOL…..I’m still here