bay bridge report

[dhmjd]

Hit Sandy Point about 4:30 this afternoon and trolled across to the old river bed. Most boats coming in reported they were skunked. Water was dirty and a lot of trash coming down. Saw a few trees. Was trolling stretch 25s and then swiched to tandem rigs, chartreuse and speckled chartresue, about 90 and 60 feet back. Hadnt been fishing them long and bam, the speckled rig gets slammed. a nice 36" rock for the grill. A good fight and the fish was not happy to go in the box. I was over the old river bed when it hit. Only a couple of boats out during the afternoon and didnt see any other yaks out there.

[moc]

Congrats, that is one nice rock.....it must have been a blast to pull in or did it pull you ?

[ronaultmtd]

I went groundhog hunting in PA Saturday- around the Chambersburg area close to the Maryland/PA line- the farmers fields up in Southern PA are wet and many have lots of standing water- looks like lakes instead of alfalfa fields-all creeks and rivers are muddy and out of their banks with high water- One Amish dairy farmer we spoke to told us it was the wettest April in the area's history. So it is going to take a few more days before all this high water gets down into the Bay. All this influx of fresh water has to have an effect on fishing.

[dhmjd]

He definitely turned the boat around. When the water is this muddy I think the active fish tend to stay shallower-think light/visibility and the yak has the advantage. Of course this is just a theory of mine. I was suprised there werent more boats out on a gorgeous sat afternoon. I mean it was empty out there. Of course a lot of people probably headed South to get out of the mud. I opted for turking hunting in the am and the fields are so soft you cant get a tractor in them. I am sad to report that tom turkey is still alive and well.

[surfdog]

nice job. i think most rock are being caught in the upper water column to 20' or so

[dhmjd]

Most active fish in top 30 feet. to minimize speed troll cross channel and keep crossing the edges. Clear water white, dirty water Charteuse is a general rule. when a fish hits, pedal/paddle harder to help set the hook until you can clear the rod. If in shallow water, keep moving to keep the second line clear and off the bottom. Most of the time the fish will hook himself. Keep the lines fairly short, and add/subtract weight to get different depths instead of fishing wfb. And smile for the cameras, a lot of people will take pictures to show their friends "look at this idiot!" One guy laughed at my rig when I came in. I asked how he did, 2 bites all day, no hookups. Then I showed him my fish. I had a big grin on my face.

[jffoley]

Nice fish. Good job. I can vouch for boaters who were skunked. Ran southeast out of the South River and trolled plugs and tandems. Nada. Not even a knockdown. O' fer 2 for me now on the boat. I'm convinced there are fewer fish as I usually pick a couple in the spring.

Lots of trollers out there but not many reports. Wind was a b1tch early in the day. WX man don't know nuthin'! Settled down late afternoon when it was time to go in. Water was better down that way. No debris and only slightly stained...

[the_kegs]

Nice fish! Thanks for the report.

[tj06sti]

Congratz man! Very nice fish and excellent job pulling something out of the muck and floating debris.

[Greasyskillet]

nice well worth the paddle good job

[mmanolis2001]

great job on getting that slob in tough conditions. Did you put a trailer on the tandem bucktails? Shad / grub....

Where is the old riverbed off SPSP? Is it around the lighthouse? I have only fished the bridge pylons out of SPSP.

[dhmjd]

the old river bed is on the eastern side, very deep and a steep wall. look where the second, smaller suspension span is and thats it, Sassy shads were the tandem rigs, 6 oz/4 oz. finished it up tonight, olive oil, old bay, mccormicks fish seasoning and parm cheese, bake for 30 minutes at 415, broil to finish/brown the parm.....mmmm....tasty, fed 7 plus with multiple helpings and 1 piece left over for lunch tomorrow!