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I'm happy to report that my last outing was not a fluke, as far as activity in the Severn.
For this morning's trolling, I stepped it down a notch but still with tandem rigs and using my trolling rods. 2oz+3oz chartreuse and green with 4"+6" shads and white 2oz+3oz with 4"+6" shads.
I launch out of the upper Severn at 7:00am with the air temp at 38°F, a slight wind from the west, and an incoming tide til around 10:30.
I make my way down river to deeper water and set my gear deep in the channel, once again. I'm estimating my gear to be around 10ft-12ft and 14ft-16ft deep. I get no hits for 2 miles, just leaves and debris.
As I'm passing a very well known "point", I get my first hit. It doesn't feel too big but sometimes the bigger fish don't fight as hard as the smaller ones. Wishful thinking. I get it on board and turns out to be a 19". Good sign the fish are around though. I set my gear back out and before I can finish counting line for my "shallow" rod, my deep rod gets a hit and this time it feels heavier than the first. I get it on board and measures to 23" on the dot.
By this time I'm drifting in the wind and tide and am smack dab in the middle of round bay. I look in the distance and see a landfill's worth of birds working by a very well known "island". I troll over and half way from where I was and where the birds were, I get another hit. Again, my deep rod. This one's a fighter and taking drag. Taking any drag at all with my level wind reels is saying something. I get him top side and measures out to be smaller but a healthy 21" fish.
By now I've caught 3 fish in an hour and a half. With the time I have remaining and the odds I'll catch another within that time, I just went ahead and strung the 21" off with the 23".
I finally get to the area where the birds were working and I can't see any activity now. I pull in my lines and check for debris, none of the lures were fouled. I also brought my light spinning rod so I put a 1oz bucktail with 5" paddletail on the end of the line. Cast/retrieve and jig for the next 20 minutes and still nothing.
It's getting to be just after 9:00am which is the time I set for myself to start heading back. I secure my spinning rod back in its rod holder and start trolling again with my heavy rigs. On my way back, the deep rod gets another hit by the well known "point" and it feels big. I fight and it's fighting right back. The only tangle I get all morning if from this guy. I get this one on board along with a bunch of line from my shallow rod wrapped around him and man is he a nice one. A beautiful 25" fish. Knowing I had 2 keepers already I set this guy free to be caught another day. (Thank you Snaggedliners!) I weighed my options for taking a pic of this guy and if it wasn't so cold I would've taken my wetsuit gloves off to snap a pic. Sorry.
All in all, I caught 4 fish in 3 hours, coming home with a 21" and a 23" fish. All deep and still using bigger gear than I've been running with my spinning rods. I'd say it was still a productive day. Hope this helps anyone trying to get their lines wet soon.
Oh, and here's a shot of my rods I was using.
For this morning's trolling, I stepped it down a notch but still with tandem rigs and using my trolling rods. 2oz+3oz chartreuse and green with 4"+6" shads and white 2oz+3oz with 4"+6" shads.
I launch out of the upper Severn at 7:00am with the air temp at 38°F, a slight wind from the west, and an incoming tide til around 10:30.
I make my way down river to deeper water and set my gear deep in the channel, once again. I'm estimating my gear to be around 10ft-12ft and 14ft-16ft deep. I get no hits for 2 miles, just leaves and debris.
As I'm passing a very well known "point", I get my first hit. It doesn't feel too big but sometimes the bigger fish don't fight as hard as the smaller ones. Wishful thinking. I get it on board and turns out to be a 19". Good sign the fish are around though. I set my gear back out and before I can finish counting line for my "shallow" rod, my deep rod gets a hit and this time it feels heavier than the first. I get it on board and measures to 23" on the dot.
By this time I'm drifting in the wind and tide and am smack dab in the middle of round bay. I look in the distance and see a landfill's worth of birds working by a very well known "island". I troll over and half way from where I was and where the birds were, I get another hit. Again, my deep rod. This one's a fighter and taking drag. Taking any drag at all with my level wind reels is saying something. I get him top side and measures out to be smaller but a healthy 21" fish.
By now I've caught 3 fish in an hour and a half. With the time I have remaining and the odds I'll catch another within that time, I just went ahead and strung the 21" off with the 23".
I finally get to the area where the birds were working and I can't see any activity now. I pull in my lines and check for debris, none of the lures were fouled. I also brought my light spinning rod so I put a 1oz bucktail with 5" paddletail on the end of the line. Cast/retrieve and jig for the next 20 minutes and still nothing.
It's getting to be just after 9:00am which is the time I set for myself to start heading back. I secure my spinning rod back in its rod holder and start trolling again with my heavy rigs. On my way back, the deep rod gets another hit by the well known "point" and it feels big. I fight and it's fighting right back. The only tangle I get all morning if from this guy. I get this one on board along with a bunch of line from my shallow rod wrapped around him and man is he a nice one. A beautiful 25" fish. Knowing I had 2 keepers already I set this guy free to be caught another day. (Thank you Snaggedliners!) I weighed my options for taking a pic of this guy and if it wasn't so cold I would've taken my wetsuit gloves off to snap a pic. Sorry.
All in all, I caught 4 fish in 3 hours, coming home with a 21" and a 23" fish. All deep and still using bigger gear than I've been running with my spinning rods. I'd say it was still a productive day. Hope this helps anyone trying to get their lines wet soon.
Oh, and here's a shot of my rods I was using.
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