(Tentative) M&G At Smiths Marina June 16th or 17th.

[CarsonNash]

(Tentative) M&G At Smiths Marina June 16th or 17th.

Thanks to everyone that showed up today. It was a beautiful day with perfect conditions for being on the water. In my 4.5 miles of paddling and 5 hours spent on the water, I caught 4 little rockfish, and two nice white perch. Lots of my time was spent talking. I know Mark and John R took some pictures of the group, but here are the two fish I took pictures of. I hope to do this again sometime. Thanks again.

[J.A. Veil]

Carson organized an excellent meet and greet this morning. Launching from his community marina was very convenient and put us into beautiful waters. Most of us moved around and fished in a variety of tidal creeks, tidal ponds, and in the main river. With the exception of one participant, who fished in a different tidal creek than the rest of us and did well, most of us experienced very slow catching.

Conditions were excellent with almost no wind and comfortable temperature. I have been fishing in the Severn since early 1990s. I have never seen such a heavy proliferation of SAVs in many spots, including one large stretch of the main river. Ultimately the grasses should provide excellent habitat for small fish and other prey items. But sadly, the stripers don't seem to be around -- at least larger ones. Most of us caught tiny stripers -- my largest was about 10". Perch should have been plentiful above or along the edges of the grass, but they were not biting much today for me. I caught only 4 of them.

I was able to explore several tidal ponds in which I had never been before by kayak. There is so much potential there, but the vast spreads of grasses made casting difficult. Speaking of the SAV beds, I witnessed quite a few large carp thrashing around at the surface of the grassy areas. It is exciting to see a 2'-3' long fish just a few feet away.

Six of us had a tasty lunch at the nearby Ramshead Roadhouse. All-in-all, an enjoyable morning.

[bignose]

Carson,
Thank you for taking the time to set up and organize this event.
I hope you weren't too surprised by us "old retired guys" fishing today.

As always, it was a pleasure reconnecting with other Snaggedline members and swapping fish tales.

[Mark]

Carson,

Special thanks to you for arranging this outing and for allowing us to launch from your neighborhood into a portion of the Severn we typically cannot reach from Jonas Green or Tucker Street. The setting was simply beautiful and the weather cooperated wonderfully.

Here you are near the launch:

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We had a great turnout with Harlan and Don:

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(Sorry for the washout, Don. You were facing the sun.)

Here's Keith and Eric:

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Here's John Rentch, Keith and Stu (Big Nose):

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And here's John Veil:

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I think that's everyone.

We fished the area thoroughly. Some crossed the river and some stayed near the launch creek. The good news is that everyone caught fish.

I don't think it was a day of prolific catching in terms of quantity but we each caught white perch and stripers and I believe Don got a yellow perch.

My best catch was this 11 inch white perch:

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This one was pretty nice too:

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The most ambitious fish I caught was this little striper whose eyes were much bigger than his stomach:

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Everywhere I fished the water was pristine. I could actually see each of my catches strike the lures. SAV was also thick in areas. I spent considerable time removing it from my lures. But that's a small price to pay for sparkling water clarity.

So again, thank you Carson for inviting us on this outing. It was a very nice morning on the water.

[J. Rentch]

i want to echo the other reports to thank Carson for hosting this M&G in an area few of us have experience. I launched with several others at 5:30 to a flat surface and comfortable temperatures. Myself and Keith immediately headed to the rocks across from the launch and started throwing my chartreuse spinner. Got three hookups to White Perch within minutes. All were average size. From there I worked by way to the mouth of Brewer Creek, again working the shady areas and found a few more small WP. I then headed north to Brewer Pond. On the way I found a vast area of thick grass beds several hundred yards off the shoreline. There were numerous carp jumping area enjoying the early morning. I then went into the Pond-still amazed by the thick grass beds. I fished the entire shoreline and found a few more WP, plus four yearling striped bass. I also saw lots of Blue Herons nesting.
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After completing a loop around the pond, I paddled back to Brewer Creek, but further outside the grass beds. I trolled a small jig with a 3"yellow paddletail and landed four more yearling Stripers. They were so small, that once I thought it was some grass on the line. As I neared the creek mouth I ran into Harlan and our host Carson throwing some lures to some fish breaking the surface. By now it is around 9:30 and the wind has not shown it face yet-yea!! We talked a while and just enjoyed the morning. Here is a nice picture of our host
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After a nice rest, I paddled back into Brewer and continued throwing my spinner to shady areas on the south shoreline. Found a few more perch. Met up with Mark Bange also doing the same thing.
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By 10:30 the sun started getting hot and the bite had stopped so I went to the launch. Soon after that everyone had the same idea and got off the water. From there six of us "Old Guys" went to the Roadhouse and had a nice lunch. Great morning, really enjoyd fishing a new area even though the bite was hard to find.

Again, thanks Carson for hosting this, your area is one that is hard to find a launch.

[Yakmac]

Carson,

Thanks again for putting on an excellent M&G. The fishing area was beautiful and the opportunity to fish new water made it exceptional. The perch were there but you had to find them. It was nice to finally meet Bignose and Justeric and share stories and techniques for fishing. Thanks again for inviting us into your community.

[Big Mike]

Looked like a great day and good fellowship. Fishing will get better.

[Mark]

Looked like a great day and good fellowship. Fishing will get better.

Mike,

It certainly was!

Here's another photo from today I would like to share.

As mentioned above, the SAV was thick in places. The water was also extremely clear. At one point I dangled my perch spinner off the port side of my kayak and photographed it.

Here it is:

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The spinner was at least a foot deep in the above shot. You can see both how clear the water was and the extent of the SAV.

Now the big question: Why in the world do fish bite these things? They look like nothing alive that swims. Not only do bigger fish try to eat them, I saw many times today due to the water clarity that small schools of minnows would follow it until it broke the surface. They couldn't possibly eat it. But they were drawn to it like a magnet.

[mchottie]

Sorry I missed out (week-day work-flow) - There are reports from the Severn River Assoc. that SAV has returned this year to places it has not been seen in quite a few years. Fingers crossed we will see some reds bedded down in the Severn!

[justeric]

Great event Carson. I enjoyed meeting everyone and catching 5 WP too boot. I'm looking forward to more opportunities to fish with the Snaggedline members in the future.

[Yakmac]

Sorry I missed out (week-day work-flow) - There are reports from the Severn River Assoc. that SAV has returned this year to places it has not been seen in quite a few years. Fingers crossed we will see some reds bedded down in the Severn!

Mike,

When I saw the abundance of SAV it made me think of my redfish trip to Corpus Christi. Have reds ever been caught in the Severn?

[Yakmac]

Mike,

It certainly was!

Here's another photo from today I would like to share.

As mentioned above, the SAV was thick in places. The water was also extremely clear. At one point I dangled my perch spinner off the port side of my kayak and photographed it.

Here it is:

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The spinner was at least a foot deep in the above shot. You can see both how clear the water was and the extent of the SAV.

Now the big question: Why in the world do fish bite these things? They look like nothing alive that swims. Not only do bigger fish try to eat them, I saw many times today due to the water clarity that small schools of minnows would follow it until it broke the surface. They couldn't possibly eat it. But they were drawn to it like a magnet.

Mark,

That is an excellent picture and clearly shows how clear the water was. I also noticed much smaller minnows following my perch pounder literally until I pulled it out of the water. Perhaps the vibration from the blade causes a reaction strike from bigger fish and attracts smaller ones who want to bite. I’m just speculating though.

[moc]

Mike,

When I saw the abundance of SAV it made me think of my redfish trip to Corpus Christi. Have reds ever been caught in the Severn?

One year, I use to cach Red Fish or Puppy Drums near the mouth of the Severn, sometime around 2012 maybe. I cannot remember the exact date, but it was sometime around then.

[J.A. Veil]

I caught two reds in the Severn in 2012. They were both small ones, but it was fun catching an uncommon species. The first one came in Weems Creek on Aug 9, 2012. I never caught them in the Severn again. I also caught reds in Eastern Bay in 2012 and 2013, but not since.

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