Severn Report

[yakscientist]

Launched this morning from Jonas Green, was very humid but flat calm out there til about 10 when the wind and waves picked up slightly. Caught about 6-7 rockfish in the 10-12" range trolling paddletails, but not in my early morning trolling run towards the mouth, only when i was moving back to my favorite perch dock(s), and moving around in general. There was a channel marker where i wouldn't even have to let more than 10-15 ft of line out before either of my colors were hit. Caught about 10 perch, let a couple go, then moved to the side of weems creek closest to the 50 bridge to try some other methods. Dropped anchor, tried using cut bunker, and throwing out a liveline rig with some perch, no hits on either. Got my bait stolen probably by small rockfish when i switched back to the clams i had used for perch, then pulled anchor, trolled into weems, got some more small rock, then trolled back to the launch. scored my first double, had each trolling rod hit simultaneously in front of a crabbing boat, apparently crabbing was decent, guys said they had about 3/4 bushel but idk how long they'd been at it. All in all, good morning indeed. Really happy that i've caught fish trolling 2 outings in a row now, because for 2 or 3 previous attempts, i had not, and it's very frustrating to paddle 4-5 hours with 0 fish. This forum, and the people i've met from it, have really boosted my experience, and i am very grateful. saw a few more kayakers out there, and i said good morning to 2 that were passing by at diff times, though i dont think they said anything back, wtf. def not snaggedliners.

[manlystanley]

Caught about 6-7 rockfish in the 10-12" range trolling paddletails,

Nice job! I have only caught one monster rock in the Severn this year (all of 3 inches long).

tried using cut bunker,

How do you keep your yak from stinking of dead fish when using that stuff?? My wife complains that my hands stink of dead fish for days afterwards.

This forum, and the people I've met from it, have really boosted my experience, and i am very grateful.

You and me both!

saw a few more kayakers out there, and I said good morning to 2 that were passing by at diff times, though I don't think they said anything back, wtf. def not snaggedliners.

Yeah, it does seem that we love to flap our jaws (errr.... use our typing fingers). Part of the fun of going out is talking to new people. I got into some nice conversations with people on their piers. Other people do see to be into themselves. I believe the nicest folks are the waterman.

[Mark]

Thank you for the report.

The stripers in the big river have been small. I believe you're more likely to catch larger ones in the tributaries at the moment.

And yes...the crabbers in the Severn have been prevalent, both commercial and recreational. Their floats and lines can create an obstacle course for trolling.

I wasn't out yesterday...I definitely would have greeted you.

[yakscientist]

When i fish with bunker i bring a small cutting board and cut it over the side of the kayak, i try to keep the pieces in the water troughs that go around the sides of the cockpit in my sit-in, that way i can just dump some water in them and wash most of the remnants away. usually i like to get fresh stuff the night before and cut it and divide it into bags, but there's really no bait shops within 40 mins of my house, so usually i can't do that. as for bigger stripers, do they usually hit the 4" zmans and 1/4 oz jigheads ? not sure if rigging up 5 or 6" paddletails (though i don't think the zman style minnows go bigger than 4") would help, or if i should just find a new spot for trolling up larger fish. lowes wharf/poplar island were nice but a really far drive. any rivers been producing larger fish than others, patapsco, south, etc?

[Mark]

This is a very common scene on the Severn and I suspect other tidal waters at present:

P1010782.jpg

I took this photo during my Severn outing last Thursday. When these schools pass your kayak you'll see that the baitfish are small. I think 3 inch paddletails or similar sized crankbaits would be good imitations.

[yakscientist]

Those baitballs were everywhere! Though i never caught any fish when i trolled through or around them, all the fish i got were when there wasnt bait in sight. though i did notice the perch seemed to come out from the docks to hit the bait as it passed, then would retreat back under after they left. maybe i imagined it, but it seemed that way, as some places i would cast and get one right away then there wouldnt be a hit in the same spot a few mins later, so i would switch between the docks and the water between them til i found them each time.

[rob-kayak]

I am not sure exactly what type of minnows those are, I call them "glass minnows," which if they are that, are also known as bay anchovies.
http://www.cbf.org/document.doc?id=1941 a nice little read.

I haven't used "cut" bait fishing on the bay, well, except for squid on some occasions, and once at the bridge I cut up a spot because the blues were tearing them up, and hoped to catch a blue with it. Caught a small rock. Although I am sure somebody does use cut bait kayak fishing. Not sure about for trolling.

Anyway... I've been using 1/2 once chartreuse jigheads with a soft plastic white paddle tail with success. Also blue/silver, and black/silver suspending 4inch hardbaits (aka stretch, rappala types).
The last or month or so the water clarity hasn't been that great the days I went out (rain run off)... chartreuse color has a good UV reflective quality. I test my lures and jigs etc with a small black light, and make sure I use those on pour clarity days.

I troll two lines up front with the hard baits, two lines rear with the paddle tails. I mix the color and types up to test what is working.
But my main go to lures and jigs set up is what I described above and seems always what I fall back on for trolling.

[yakscientist]

Yeah if I had a pedal drive I might troll 4 baits but 2 is plenty for me with my paddle kayak. Might switch to 1/2 oz jigheads to fish a little deeper, and my try my umbrella rigs if I'm fishing much deeper water closer to main bay.

[FishMoken]

I might try and take the Moken out there Saturday and troll around now that I have the fish finder all set up.


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[supfisher01]

Everyone in the river should try 3/4oz-1oz rat-l-traps. I've have great success for the past month trolling off of my stand up paddleboard.

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