The fall bite is on

Its been an awesome summer for Stripers in the upper bay. Catching legal size Rockfish has been routine, had many days where I caught until my arms were sore. There were lots of spots that held good fish. one of my favorite spots this year held fish since June (and is still a reliable spot).  For half the summer I was the only person fishing there until a few people found out about it. The great fishing for large White perch has been an added bonus

The fall has started out very good with a larger grade of fish that moved in. Large schools of Menhaden moved in back in September and I knew it wouldn't be long before the fishing busted wide open. One method I have been doing lately is cruising around from spot to spot and if I notice a school of bait near one of the spots, I know my chances of catching will increase. usually the schools of baitfish will look like an area of slightly disturbed water,  Even spots that have smaller breaking fish will still have larger fish near by. normally the larger fish will be near a drop off. listening for larger splashes has paid off.

 

fishing this spring and summer

Haven't posted in a while. I live right down the street where the Train explosion in Rosedale happened and I've been busy replacing windows and carpet, plus it happened right when I started remodeling my bathroom and other rooms. plus I've been working more then usual. oh and I'm also really lazy ; )
But I have been able to get out and fish when the weather allowed, Which didn't seem like very often.
In the spring I got out a couple times and caught some trophy Rock while trolling (The picture below is of me and Anthony from a charter trip on the Katherine http://katherinecharterfishing.zenfolio.com/)

also had some good days in the spring and early summer casting lures alone the shoreline at loch raven and Liberty reservoir catching Largemouth and  Pickerel and the occasional Rockbass

jigging for schoolies in the upper and mid Chesapeake has been off the hook all year

One of my more recent trips I was casting lures along the shoreline in a creek that feeds into the Bush river, catching mostly small Bass, but I kept hearing large splashes down the bank aways, figured it was probably a beaver that was slapping its tail because it didn't like me in its territory, but when I worked my way down in that direction I noticed it was actually carp feeding in shallow water, so I went back to my truck and got a can of corn that I keep just for this type of situation, and started catching them right away. Carp have got to be one of the most under rated Sport fish, they put up a great fight!

first Trophy trip of the year

Finally got a day with calm winds on April 6 so I headed down near the Bay bridge and trolled 5 lines, the water temp was almost 47*, didn't see many marks but every once in a while I would see what looked like a Rockfish or two in 70' or more water, ...started to think I may get skunked but about an hour later I hooked up with a pretty nice fish, continued to troll with the remaining 4 rods and caught one more about the same size. I was satisfied with my first Striper trip of the year so I headed in early. Spring is here!

cold water fishing

Its been a cold winter, but there's always fish to be caught no matter how cold the water is, you just have to target fish that prefer colder water like Crappie, Pickerel, Northern Pike, Walleye ect...
The key to catching fish in cold water is to work your lures slowly with plenty of pauses, Usually the fish will hit when the lure isn't moving or the instant you begin to move it again after a pause. In winter fish don't usually move around much, so if you work your lure to fast it won't look natural. If you see a fish in cold water you will notice it hardly moves, and when it does it moves very slowly.
I know for me it can sometimes be difficult to work a lure slow, I have to constantly force myself to be patient and work the lure slower, but that's the big difference between catching and not in the Winter or early Spring. Even Summer and fall slowing you presentation can pay off big. I don't think theres to many times when a fish will ignore a baitfish because its to slow and easy to catch, but they will if it looks to frisky and speeds by them.
Also when fishing for most freshwater fish in cold water you have to concentrate on the bite, It will usually just be a light tap or you will notice your line slowly moving away, when ever you think you may have a fish on the end of your line, don't second guess, set the hook and ask questions later!  Its surprising how many times I felt such a slight movement on my line that I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination but it turned out to be a fish, sometimes the biggest fish give the smallest taps...
If you set the hook and it turns out to be a snag or nothing at all, just chalk it up as a part of fishing, but watch out for your lure flying back at you if it does turn out to be nothing.
This Winter (when I have had a chance to fish) I have been fishing mostly at Loch Raven for Pickerel and Bass (And wishing to get a Northern), Mostly casting Spoons and Sencos from shore. Its been pretty good but its been slow. Shouldn't be to much longer and the fish will begin spawning and the fishing should get a lot faster.

Liberty Reservoir bassin

Last year (2012) I decided to mainly target my
favorite fish from this area, mostly the larger predator/Sport fish, so I made up a list of the fish
I wanted to catch (Northern Pike, Rockfish, Blue catfish, Largemouth, Carp and Black drum), I also had a list of non priority fish that I could target if I finished that list, One of the fish on the non priority list was to catch a Smallmouth, the last time I caught a smallmouth was over 30 years ago when I was 18.  So I really wanted to catch one again, so once I finished my list, I started to see a few reports of people catching some real trophy Smallmouths at Liberty reservoir. I fished Liberty a few times over the years, but I never put a lot of time there like I have at Loch raven. So I decided to hit it hard last fall. I caught quite a few Smallmouths, a few up to almost 3lbs, but I never could catch a big one like some of the people from that area sometimes do. One thing I realized was, the guys catching the big Smallmouths were mostly locals that have fished the lake all their lives. it can be a tough lake to fish if your not familiar with the area. It seems that a lot of the Smallmouths are farther away from shore then Largemouths are, So getting a lure out far enough was one of my biggest problems. I did get a big largemouth, quite a few yellow perch, also my first Rockbass. Tons of small Largemouths, as hard as it was to catch quality Bass, I usually always caught fish, theres so many tiny Bass that getting skunked is a hard thing to do. So eventhough I had a fun year of catching lots of good size fish, I may have to try to make 2013 my year for a trophy Smallmouth. Some of the Smallies I caught may be considered big for some areas so I can't complain, even the smaller ones put up a great fight!