Targeting other species

[baynovice]

Hello All - I've learned much about fishing techniques from reading the posts on this forum but I think the most important lesson for me has been developing a greater appreciation for protecting the various species of fish like rockfish in our local waters. Given all of the sad reports about the rockfish population, I've read posts from several folks about targeting other species that are more plentiful. I've caught my share of bluefish and the occasional Spanish Mackerel but I've generally found these two species to be mixed in with rockfish. I would appreciate any tips to more specifically target these two species while reducing the likelihood of attracting rockfish. Thanks in advance.


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[Slobber Bob]

Blues and spanish love speed. Try speeding up your retrieve considerably. If you do that and are still catching stripers, then go faster. Both blues and spanish have no problem crushing a lure you would otherwise consider a striper would have no chance of catching up to. A fast retrieve also helps keep the lure just under the waters surface where you have a better chance of hooking blues and spanish than stripers. This will likely mean trolling from your kayak is out of the question unless you can maintain speed above 5 mph.

And along the subject of bluefish - you may be aware of this already, but for the benefit of others - new regulations for bluefish has reduced the bag limit to 3 fish; 5 fish if you are on a charter boat.

[J.A. Veil]

2019 was a banner year for Spanish mackerel in the mid-Bay region. They showed up in higher numbers and hung around for much longer than usual. This provided more opportunities to target them. Most years, the Spanish show up in June or July and hang around for a few weeks then depart. They are not realistic targets for kayak anglers to target on a "normal" year. If we are fortunate enough to have a longer Spanish mackerel visit in 2020 or future years, then Slobber Bob's suggestions can come into play. Spanish swim very fast and can track a lure as fast as you can wind your reel. Throw a lure out and work it back fast.

I don't have any clear suggestions for focusing on blues and excluding rockfish. You can tell when the blues are around if you start getting bit off soft plastic tails.

[bluefishnc]

I'd throw in that you can target for specs and reds by switching your retrieve speed. Slow bottom bouncing retrieves with weedless gold lures for reds and slow bottom bouncing retrieves with soft plastic for reds and trout. You still get a few striper but not as many. The majority of my striper come in 3 feet of water on a straight medium speed retrieve with swimming mullets. I can catch 30 to 40 an hour that way if I want to. If I throw on a spoon or slow my retrieve I start to pick up reds and trout and cut my striper catch more than in half. My 2 cents based on 10 years in the lower Potomac.

[Mark]

I imagine that DNR officers will be paying more attention to motorboat anglers than kayakers when assessing whether folks are targeting stripers off season. Where I normally fish tidal waters in the mid-Bay region, reds and specks are rare. I never target them.

But catching stripers as I fish for white perch is a very common summer occurrence. In fact, some of the largest stripers I've caught in my kayak have been while I was perch fishing. When that happens this year, I'll just move to a different spot to spare stripers the stress of a warm water catch and to avoid any misinterpretations by eager DNR officers. I don't envy they job the DNR has in making these judgments. They've been given a difficult task in my opinion.

[ronaultmtd]

School Stripers are pests...they eat perch lures...baited double bottom rigs intended for spot and croaker...DNR has an impossible task...the only solution is don’t fish in salt water...I cannot think of any baits, lures or techniques that will exclude striped bass...I caught Stripers last year cranking spoons at high speed after Spanish mackerel. And I caught Stripers slow bouncing Gulp mullet on the bottom for flounder...

[Memory Maker]

Other species are also catfish and snakeheads.

[bunnielab]

I more or less gave up fishing for stripers a few years ago to focus on freshwater bass but still end up catching several every year. It's always a shock when I hook up with one miles past the tidal line in the rivers around here. My furthest catch was in the Pax just south of the Pax Refuge but I have gotten them right up by Daniels in the Patapsco as well.

I caught this little guy right at the Bohde Dam scar this past fall.

[BarefootPetr]

Other species are also catfish and snakeheads.

Agreed. I love fishing for Channel Cats. I wrote an article for FishTalk last year about it. http://bit.ly/3aMn8e2. Snakehead are also a great fish to catch, especially from a kayak. I think DNR is pushing people to go after them because they are fun to catch, good to eat, and there are plenty of them. They've got Caz Kenny banging the gong for em at Blackwater, though the report they put out recently is a bit suspect in my opinion.

[Mark]

My kayak fishing has evolved over the years from pursuing stripers and white perch exclusively to a 12 month hobby where I start and end the calendar year in freshwater ponds. Mostly, I seek tidal targets in the warmer months.

This season's return of tidal pickerel may alter that, especially as they grow larger in the coming years and provide a more desirable cold water tidal target -- and assuming they do not disappear again. However, the coming summer closure for stripers will definitely impact me because some of the Eastern Shore ponds I fish get choked with vegetation and algae at that time of year. I don't attempt to fish them then. I wait for those ponds to clear in the late fall before returning to them.

So my summer kayak trips for stripers in tidal waters will not happen this year during the pending closure. But the white perch will be present in shallow water in local creeks and rivers at that time. I caught channel cats last year during perch trips too. They hit the same lures. And if family circumstances and coronavirus allow, there's always the option of flying to distant waters for species not impacted by closures during the summer.

[rugbyfish]

My wife and I had a great time last summer switching over to crabbing instead of fishing for stripers. We plan to continue that this year, along with adding some more perch trips in as well. We still did a good bit of catch and release striper fishing in the fall, but crabbing was a fun alternative. We also plan to do our first snakehead trip this spring.