February Fishing?

[brianisoutside]

Is anyone planning to take a February fishing trip? I’m thinking about going down to the Potomac for some cat fishing or somewhere for yellow perch.
Keeping an eye on the weather forecast for the next niceish 50 or so degree day ( with any luck )


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[Jim McFalls]

Yessir. I've been fishing practically every day this month so far, but only twice from the Hobie. I'm thinking about a 2-day jaunt to Rudee Inlet mid-month for speck action. Crappie and bluegill fishing now is pretty solid, and the end of Feb thru April will be great for yellows, shad and trout on the fly.

Catch 'em up!
Jim

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[rugbyfish]

Im interested for sure. I was hoping to get out for yellows one day, but I’m open to anything.

[Mark]

Well, we still have two weeks in January. This month and February, when the wind allows and the water is not frozen, I'd like to continue fishing our local creeks in the Patapsco, Magothy and Severn. The reemergence of tidal pickerel in those waters starting last winter has been very welcome.

For a change of scenery and to avoid dealing with tides, I'll travel to Eastern Shore ponds in MD and DE also for pickerel and an occasional bass and crappie.

No long distance overnighters for me until this damned pandemic is over. Fortunately, there many excellent launch sites in the areas I mentioned above for winter kayak outings in small waters. Some are only minutes away and some are within reasonable driving distance of my house. Those are the places my kayak fishing trips will be in the foreseeable future.

[ronaultmtd]

I hear you Mark..I had considered visiting some of my old honey holes in Tidewater Virginia, but not with a raging pandemic...even local ponds and lakes have lost some of their allure for me until things change...this is no joke...over 400,000 Americans are dead...that is unbelievable...

[moc]

I want to fish but my job has me in a grueling class until the end of Feb I will feel free. So I cannot focus on any fun stuff, because my mind is telling me that that is the time I need to devote to my studies.... I cannot wait until I am done. The class is 7 days a week.

[DanMarino]

I need to renew my fishing license this weekend and hope to start giving some attempts at it. Fishing is usually terrible for me in the winter and I normally don't begin catching anything until April though. haha.

[ronaultmtd]

Depends on what my target species are...put and take stocked trout is like shooting fish in a barrel...usually limited out within an hour...bait fishing for panfish...for catfish...is a bit more " iffy "...but usually productive...

[Mark]

Winter fishing hint when using artificial baits:

S-L-O-W D-O-W-N the retrieve until you find the speed the fish are willing to chase on that particular day. It varies and it's not always dependent on water temperature. I've seen very fast strikes in clear cold water. But I believe slowing down the movement of lure allows fish in cold water to approach it gradually, assess it as a potential meal and then quickly hit it.

It's easy advice but sometimes hard to do. Generally, your lure is moving faster than you think.

[HJS]

Several years ago I use to fish the WWDs (warm water discharges) during the hardcore winter months for stripers in the tidal section of the Middle Branch Patapsco. There are several WWDs within the Patapsco estuary that attract stripers, but the one I fished by far the most was the WWD coming from Baltimore’s Resco trash incinerator. I’d launch my canoe at the Harbor Hospital (HH) ramp. That’s was the only WWD on the Patapsco that was easily accessible by canoe/kayak from a nearby boat ramp. Incredible fishing there at times for nice sized stripers. Very spotty fishing though with way more skunks then successful outings. A FF was nearly mandatory to find the schools of stripers as they roamed through the relatively large area of influence of the WWD discharge. During late winter the plumb of the WWD would be absolutely loaded with gizzard shad and tons of smaller baitfish, which attracted stripers there in high numbers. But the rare good day made it all worthwhile, and some of the trips would rate as major banner days. The trash incinerator’s big smoke stack is quite recognizable as you drive into Baltimore from the west on I-95. It’s located right beside I-95 and within sight of the Raven’s Stadium. My last good year there was back in 2012 and haven’t been back since. I’ve heard reliable rumors from big boat guys that increasingly restrictive releases of warm water from the various WWDs on the Patapsco has had a major negative impact on the ability of the WWDS to attract stripers. Dunno if that is true or not but when I last fished the WWDs I’d notice that water temps at the discharge was not that much warmer then when away from the discharge, maybe only a degree or two difference. Not to mention the parking area at the HH ramp has become sketchy with broken glass scattered about and lots of trash… so I don’t go there anymore.

[thedutchtouch]

I've spent the last few months trying to learn to (bow) hunt deer but with that season coming to a close at the end of the month, time for me to get back to fishing so I'll be out there in February. Likely will make a few meat trips to soak some bait for blue cats and test the panfish eaters. I'm getting pretty tired of put and take trout, fished them pretty hard the last few years, never too difficult to catch but IMHO they taste somewhat muddy. Need to give smoking some a try. Anyhow, it's been a while, but I'm back.

[moc]

Glad you are back. You actually live not to far from me. I should be back fishing in late march due to my Job. So good luck and post a report.

[beachmover9879]

Fished there today for while. Tons of fish on the FF .
Nothing was biting though. One of the WWDs was definitely pumping a ton of water today.

Several years ago I use to fish the WWDs (warm water discharges) during the hardcore winter months for stripers in the tidal section of the Middle Branch Patapsco. There are several WWDs within the Patapsco estuary that attract stripers, but the one I fished by far the most was the WWD coming from Baltimore’s Resco trash incinerator. I’d launch my canoe at the Harbor Hospital (HH) ramp. That’s was the only WWD on the Patapsco that was easily accessible by canoe/kayak from a nearby boat ramp. Incredible fishing there at times for nice sized stripers. Very spotty fishing though with way more skunks then successful outings. A FF was nearly mandatory to find the schools of stripers as they roamed through the relatively large area of influence of the WWD discharge. During late winter the plumb of the WWD would be absolutely loaded with gizzard shad and tons of smaller baitfish, which attracted stripers there in high numbers. But the rare good day made it all worthwhile, and some of the trips would rate as major banner days. The trash incinerator’s big smoke stack is quite recognizable as you drive into Baltimore from the west on I-95. It’s located right beside I-95 and within sight of the Raven’s Stadium. My last good year there was back in 2012 and haven’t been back since. I’ve heard reliable rumors from big boat guys that increasingly restrictive releases of warm water from the various WWDs on the Patapsco has had a major negative impact on the ability of the WWDS to attract stripers. Dunno if that is true or not but when I last fished the WWDs I’d notice that water temps at the discharge was not that much warmer then when away from the discharge, maybe only a degree or two difference. Not to mention the parking area at the HH ramp has become sketchy with broken glass scattered about and lots of trash… so I don’t go there anymore.

[HJS]

Beachmover – Thanks for the report. I guess at least a couple of guys are still fishing the HH WWD. Were there any other boats there? I may have mislead you about the degree of warmness of the release water from Resco. What I meant was the volume of release water is still about the same, and it is indeed a ton of water, but that the release water is not as warm as it once was back years ago by a couple of degrees at least. Good to hear the forage fish still congregate there in high numbers. On occasions the gizzards were so thick that I had to clean off dime sized scales of the point of the jig after every couple of casts. Some of those gizzards were chunky monsters up to 17”.
On rare occasions stripers would show up within casting range of the piers by the HH. That would be a rare event though. I had maybe 2-3 decent days fishing from the piers over a span of 10 years. Pier fishing at the HH piers is very far from a good bet.
My first time fishing the HH WWD was February 23, 2004. Back in that time frame I think striper populations in the Bay were definitely more robust than they are now. On a couple of trips I’d have to paddle my way through a couple 100 yds of 1/4” skim ice to get to more open waters nearer to the discharges. Those were the days.