Severn Stripers

[Mark]

The fish below is the last decent Severn striper I have caught. (Notice the Rat-L-Trap, by the way.)

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The problem is that I caught this fish in October 2017 – on the east shoreline right under the Route 50 Bridge. I hooked no Severn stripers close in size in 2018. This year is even worse. My 2019 Severn stripers have each looked like this:

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During the past two years, I have fished the river from its mouth at Greenbury Point to several miles above the Route 50 Bridge. That’s a lot of water. I used to know reliable sites on the main river stem for decent stripers accessible from Jonas Green. I don’t anymore. I believe something is very different in the Severn striper fishery. Either that or I was lucky in past years. Or maybe I have completely forgotten everything I learned about catching stripers from my kayak!

I do realize that spring and fall are the best times for sizable Severn stripers. But in 2018 that wasn’t the case (for me) and 2019 appears to be following suit.

Seriously, is anyone encouraged with the Severn’s kayak striper fishery this year? I’m not addressing those able to run and gun in a motorboat. I’m asking strictly kayak anglers. Severn reports here have mentioned improving white perch catches. But those reports have been sadly absent of mentioning stripers. Reports from other Chesapeake areas, mostly south, indicate improving striper numbers. But reports from the Severn have not been good.

Is it just me?

[J.A. Veil]

I make many trips in the Severn looking for perch in different creeks. While moving between creeks, I troll several rods looking for stripers. This year most trips have yielded no stripers from trolling, and when I do catch an occasional fish, it is small. There has been a decent late Sept/early Oct bite in some places in the Severn for the past few years. I still am holding out some hope that this will set up again in 2019. But judging by the lack of stripers above about 15" so far this summer, I am somewhat nervous about that fall fishery.

I reported on another thread (about crankbaits) that my friend and I found stripers (mid teens to low 20s) everywhere we looked between the South River and the Bay Bridge last Monday. We did not live line -- it was all artificial lures. There are stripers around, but I have not found them in the river or in places where I can easily reach them by kayak.

[Shady]

This one surprised me today while perch fishing near Jonas green.

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[Mark]

This one surprised me today while perch fishing near Jonas green.

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The way it should be!

Congratulations.

[Jim McFalls]

I used to fish the Severn River almost exclusively, launching at either Jonas Green or Tucker Street, and did pretty well most trips, catching at least one keeper while trolling or jigging, as well as a ton of smaller ones. Since the beginning of this year, I've fished the river about a half dozen times - I have been concentrating mostly on the waters of the Eastern Shore, the bay itself, and coastal North Carolina. I was on the river for the first time in 2019 in mid-March, and caught 5 stripers jigging that day that would have been legal during the season. Since then, I've caught about 10-12, just under size, including 2 this morning on topwater (very early). As always, I catch a gazillion perch at the spots on the river and on Weems Creek I generally hit for those small bombers.

Maybe the river needs a break from fishing. It was a little messy out there this morning, and the boat traffic became challenging - normal for a summer Saturday - as the morning wore on.

On a side note, speckled trout and flounder fishing at the Outer Banks this spring and summer has been epic. I went there for a week in May, fished practically every day in the sound and nearby canals, and routinely got my limit. I just returned from a 2-week trip there and saw the same results, with some blues and stripers mixed in for good measure. I even nabbed a small triggerfish and some pompano in the surf.

Hopefully, the fall will provide better results.

Catch 'em up!