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I launched my center console from Sandy Point at 8:00 am this morning. My original plan had been to jig the bridge pilings and run around looking for breakers or good screen marks. Then last evening I read a post by young kayak456 who reported catching small redfish there. That was intriguing. I changed plans and decided to spend half a day bottom fishing while still looking for other opportunities along the way. I rigged up two poles with double hook wire bottom rigs using small circle hooks. My only bait of the day was FishBites bloodworm flavor.
Once past the rock jetty, I turned south and headed toward Hacketts where I had found large numbers of small rockfish rolling at the surface a few days earlier. Today they were still there, but were not as obvious as they had been on Mon. I jigged a Specialized L'il Bunker spoon and soon had a spunky rockfish on the line. I picked up a few more by casting out twister tails on small jigheads. But this was just the appetizer - I had other fish to catch today.
As I headed toward Tolly Point Bar, I came across quite a few small slick areas outside the mouth of the Severn that gave off a fishy scent. I stopped at a few of them to see what the sonar showed (my fishfinder shows the bottom at all speeds but does not give good detail of the fish in the water column above 6 mph). A few days ago, someone on Tidalfish made a post and stated that he saw a clear demarcation about half way down with all the fish above that critical depth. He theorized that below this depth the oxygen was too low for the fish. At each of these slick locations I stopped at, ranging from 25-30 ft deep, I observed the same thing. There were many fish marks in the upper half of the water column, but none below that depth.
After reaching Tollys, I drifted a few times near the green marker and picked up more small rock and a few small spot. I picked up the lines and ran south to Thomas Point bar. I drifted at a spot about halfway out to the lighthouse from on top of the bar to the deeper water just to the north. On the first drift I picked up a small croaker, then was surprised to catch a small flounder a moment later. I don't know how common flounder are there today, but in 1994, my neighbor's son caught the largest flounder from the bay registered with DNR for the entire year while fishing on my boat at almost the same location.
The first drift there had a decent drift speed, but the incoming tidal current was dropping quickly. On my second drift, I did not move fast and caught no fish.
I headed to the mouth of the South River to see if there would be enough current there to drift by the last red marker. The drift was slow but I picked up a few more croakers there. I next headed up the South River to a day marker and oyster bar that has often had decent bottom fishing. This area was almost paved with small croakers, including what may be my smallest ever croaker at 4.5".
I picked up a few spot here too. Then I got a doubleheader with a croaker on the bottom hook and a different looking fish on the top hook. It looked to me to be a small sea trout, but it did not have the numerous spots that a speckled trout would show, nor did it have the markings that I recall seeing on weakfish. It was pretty much silver colored. It did have the characteristic canine teeth on the upper jaw. I hope one of our resident fisheries biologists can help with the ID.
I was drifting slowly in water of 6' depth. When the drift was too slow and the action dropped off, I turned on the motor and ran it forward at idle speed for 10-30 sec. I was amazed that every time I did that the fish seemed to get excited and bit immediately. I don't think it was the motor noise -- I suspect that having the bait moving past the fish a bit more quickly stimulated them to bite.
By noon I was getting pretty hot in my small boat without a T-top or bimini and decided to start heading back to Sandy Point. I made stops at Thomas Point bar, Tolly Point bar, and Hacketts with little success. I realized that I had caught 5 species of fish but had not caught a single white perch (which not too long ago were everywhere). I tried a few more spots before coming in, and finally got one elusive perch at the dropoff a half mile out from the Sandy Point jetty.
I caught six species of fish within a five-mile radius of our State capitol, burned less than 6 gallons of fuel, survived the heat, and had fun. It was simple fishing but made for an enjoyable morning.
Once past the rock jetty, I turned south and headed toward Hacketts where I had found large numbers of small rockfish rolling at the surface a few days earlier. Today they were still there, but were not as obvious as they had been on Mon. I jigged a Specialized L'il Bunker spoon and soon had a spunky rockfish on the line. I picked up a few more by casting out twister tails on small jigheads. But this was just the appetizer - I had other fish to catch today.
As I headed toward Tolly Point Bar, I came across quite a few small slick areas outside the mouth of the Severn that gave off a fishy scent. I stopped at a few of them to see what the sonar showed (my fishfinder shows the bottom at all speeds but does not give good detail of the fish in the water column above 6 mph). A few days ago, someone on Tidalfish made a post and stated that he saw a clear demarcation about half way down with all the fish above that critical depth. He theorized that below this depth the oxygen was too low for the fish. At each of these slick locations I stopped at, ranging from 25-30 ft deep, I observed the same thing. There were many fish marks in the upper half of the water column, but none below that depth.
After reaching Tollys, I drifted a few times near the green marker and picked up more small rock and a few small spot. I picked up the lines and ran south to Thomas Point bar. I drifted at a spot about halfway out to the lighthouse from on top of the bar to the deeper water just to the north. On the first drift I picked up a small croaker, then was surprised to catch a small flounder a moment later. I don't know how common flounder are there today, but in 1994, my neighbor's son caught the largest flounder from the bay registered with DNR for the entire year while fishing on my boat at almost the same location.
The first drift there had a decent drift speed, but the incoming tidal current was dropping quickly. On my second drift, I did not move fast and caught no fish.
I headed to the mouth of the South River to see if there would be enough current there to drift by the last red marker. The drift was slow but I picked up a few more croakers there. I next headed up the South River to a day marker and oyster bar that has often had decent bottom fishing. This area was almost paved with small croakers, including what may be my smallest ever croaker at 4.5".
I picked up a few spot here too. Then I got a doubleheader with a croaker on the bottom hook and a different looking fish on the top hook. It looked to me to be a small sea trout, but it did not have the numerous spots that a speckled trout would show, nor did it have the markings that I recall seeing on weakfish. It was pretty much silver colored. It did have the characteristic canine teeth on the upper jaw. I hope one of our resident fisheries biologists can help with the ID.
I was drifting slowly in water of 6' depth. When the drift was too slow and the action dropped off, I turned on the motor and ran it forward at idle speed for 10-30 sec. I was amazed that every time I did that the fish seemed to get excited and bit immediately. I don't think it was the motor noise -- I suspect that having the bait moving past the fish a bit more quickly stimulated them to bite.
By noon I was getting pretty hot in my small boat without a T-top or bimini and decided to start heading back to Sandy Point. I made stops at Thomas Point bar, Tolly Point bar, and Hacketts with little success. I realized that I had caught 5 species of fish but had not caught a single white perch (which not too long ago were everywhere). I tried a few more spots before coming in, and finally got one elusive perch at the dropoff a half mile out from the Sandy Point jetty.
I caught six species of fish within a five-mile radius of our State capitol, burned less than 6 gallons of fuel, survived the heat, and had fun. It was simple fishing but made for an enjoyable morning.
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