South River Report, 8/17

[DOGFISH]

No rock, No blues. However, I did bring home 8 nice croaker of about 12-14 inches. They are great on the grill. The croaker seemed to get larger after the sun went down. I fished from around 5 in the afternoon to about 12 midnight. It was such a great night. I thought I'd stay out well after dark. I started out trolling, with no luck. Further out toward the mouth of the river I did some bottom fishing with a few small croaker and spot. On the way back in I stopped off at an old oyster bar, which paid off with some larger croaker. Eight was enough, so the rest were spared. I was also catching quite a few white perch, to my surprise. Maybe it was that I was out after dark. I may invest in a head lamp. I came to this conclusion after I dropped my good LED flashlight over the side. I will probably also invest on some floats to tie on to my equipment.

I think until the Bay water cools down some I may do some freshwater fishing. Smallmouth in the upper Potomac seem like a good idea for my next venture.

[jffoley]

Nice. Thanks for the info. Sounds like success overall. Bummer about the flashlight. Would love to try one of those evening croaker outings. I've taken the kids out bottom fishing via boat but that is always during the day. Mostly WP. Much boat traffic out there?

Also let me know if you'd like company for a smallmouth run. I've gone 2x this year with only a couple small ones to show for it. I've heard Algonkian is a good area. Never been there myself.

[Grilled]

Awesome...thanks for the report. Croaker always bite better in the evening.

[DOGFISH]

Smallmouth

Sure company would be great. I generally fish above Harpers Ferry. There are areas there that are almost like lakes. The fish are generally small with an occasional large one mixed in. There is also the occasional Walleye. Sometime back the State stocked Walleye. I mostly fish lures. However, for a 25 to 30 fish day, live shinners do the trick. I generally do the shinner thing a few times a year. I may go Friday if the water conditions are OK and not too much rain. A good place to check the water conditions is, http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?01610000. It is a fed web site. It monitors the water of rivers all over. There are launch ramps or areas all along the river. I also hear Brunswick is a good area to fish.

Also, on the South River outing, there were a few boats during the day. However, shortly alfter dark, all of the boats had come in from the Bay, and I was pretty much alone. The conditions were great. Almost like glass, with the occasional breeze. It is different fishing at night, very pleasant. I was fishing the croaker with a very light rod. It was fun. They are a scrappy fish. I fish there mostly during weekdays. Its a retired thing or benefit.

[surfdog]

thanks for the report dogfish, going to head out friday evening to the mouth of the severn out of the navy marina. hope the hardheads are hungry!