November Meet & Greet

[mmanolis2001]

I was looking into this several months ago. This might be an option for me next year. Its close enough to me to allow weekday trips after work as well. Thanks for the info.

[DOGFISH]

I have a call into the community association, about launching at the community marina for the M&G. No one has called me back yet. As soon as I find out something I will post it. In the mean time some work should probably go on with an alternative plan, in case the community gives me a negative answer.

I could not help but notice that big redfish caught out of Buzz's Marina. How far is it from the Marina to productive fishing water. I have never been there. Where are good launching areas near there, which are also near good fishing waters.

I am thinking about going up to the Potomac, around Harpers Ferry, tomorrow. The river conditions looks acceptable. The little rain yesterday would not have an affect. I'll post a report, should I go there. Otherwise, I might stay local and fish the South River.

[ictalurus]

The big drum are caught around the target ship near the Eastern Shore, about 8mi east of PLO. That's a long paddle.

It's about 1.5mi from Buzz's Marina to the mouth of the creek, which is a productive area. There's another 1.5mi, or so, of productive water (at least in the evenings) from the mouth north toward Point No Point. Two miles east of the mouth is one of the Woodrow Wilson reefs, which can be good at times, but I haven't fished it yet. There's some action inside, the creek, too. It's a long paddle to water deeper than 20ft, and I haven't found any humps along the way. You can also launch from a county canoe/kayak launch at the end of Fresh Pond Neck Road, which is free. It's $5 to launch a yak from Buzz's.

Someone asked about bars near Buzz's earlier. There's the Green Door in Ridge, which is where the St. Mary's College students hang out. I haven't been there. There are a couple bars in Great Mills, but they're often featured in county police reports. There are a couple local joints around Ridge, Scheible's being one, but I'm not sure if they're open in November, but I could check. However, I'm a Teetotaler, so I'm the absolute worst person to ask about bars.

There are a variety of restaurants on the way back to the highways, though. There's a pretty good Thai place, a solid Mexican place, and a really good Indian place all in the same shopping center in California, MD. There's a solid seafood joint in Lexington Park. Their crab cakes aren't all that great, but their scallops are usually awesome. There's a Greek joint in Lexington Park that may or may not be open, too. I believe adult BEvERages are available at each place, but some might be bottles only. I think that's all the options I hit regularly. Matt might know some better options around St. Mary's City.

[rol716]

I am a St Mary's college alumni and I will be down there this weekend to go hunting and fishing. A buddy of mine from college runs Blu Haven Piers in Ridge. It is on the Potomac side on Jutland Creek. For some reason, I remember St. Mary's having the highest number of bars per capita. Anyway, I'll ask him what he recomends. A few good resturants that I can remember off the top of my head is Cortney's, Spinnakers and Scheibles restuarants that are very close to Buzz's. You also could proably camp in Point lookout state park as well. There is also Solomons for a ton of resturants. I think that is about 30 min away though.

[Tucked In]

Hey Dog fish, I don't know if Solomon Island is to far but My sister and brother in-law live in A place called the ChesapeakeRanch Estate that has a beach that launches into the bay or a beach that launches into the Patuxent river right up from the bay, he is checking to see if we can launch from there, said it should not be a problem if Mayo does not work out.

[DOGFISH]

Thats good about Solomons. I have received a call from the community secretary. She said that it didn't sound bad to her, but the piers and harbor committee has to make the decision. She said that she is passing my request on to them. She said I should hear from them soon. Maybe it is not as questionable as I thought. It is November, after all. However, a backup is always good. As soon as I hear something, I will post it. If we do meet here, there is Davis Pub or the Boathouse Bar and Grill, which would be good places to go afterwards. If anyone is familiar with those places, you could think about that. However, lets see about the launch first.

[ictalurus]

Tucked In--that would be sweet, too, even if it's not until next year. The action around Cove Point can be awesome at times, but it's too long a paddle from Solomons.

Now if we only knew someone who lived close to the power plant...

[jffoley]

This is good stuff. Thanks, Dogfish for working the South River option. And Tucked In, I agree with Ictalurus. The more options we have the more we'll all learn and enjoy this great, great resource that is the Chesapeake. It's so big none of us will learn it all. But we can die trying!

John

[surfdog]

dogfish, is the marina by the rt 2 bridge too far from the good fishing grounds? used to be called surfside 7 or some thing like that

[ictalurus]

Any other thoughts about a November location? Should we do a poll?

There have been some good reports from the Severn lately. I saw on Tidalfish that one guy caught a mess of nice pickerel. I wonder if they launched at Truxtun Park? I would've thought it would be too salty there this year for pickerel. I caught some nice ones there back in the winter of 2006/2007, but it's been a few years since I fished it.

[DOGFISH]

South River.

Probably a few miles too far. Quiet Waters would be closer than that. There are a few deep holes off of Harness Creek. That is where you launch, from the Quiet Waters Park.

I have not heard from the community. I'll give them another call. If I get the go ahead from the community, it is only a few hundred yards to good fishing water where I launch. This would be perfect. Let me give the association another call and shake the tree.

A guy came in the store a few days ago and told me he caught sea trout from a pier at Highland Beach. Which is just North of the South River. Caught'em on cut bait.

[DOGFISH]

South river map

I am attaching a clip of the South River, from the NOAA web site. I hi-lighted the markers #4 and #6. The area on that side of the river, between those markers is good fishing. The white area into about 14 feet of water is also good water. Notice the area of about 28ft of water just off the #6 marker. The fish tend to stage here for the move to the shallow flats area. Outside the #4 marker is the open bay, which is also good fishing. I have caught a good number of fish on the opposite side of the river also. Mostly I fish between the #4 and #6 markers and on that flat. Further out from the actual tip of land, which is Thomas Point, is where the light house is at, for those who are strong paddlers.

Just below the +- signs on the map is where the Mayo Beach Park is at.

I typed in the community launch area and hi-lighted it. We would launch just to the left of the L in the word launch, on that little black point, which is the marina. I hi-lighted Quiet Waters Park. The little creek showing 11 and 12ft of water is where you would come out if launching at the park. I also hi-lighted Highland Beach where the guy caught the sea trout.

I will post something as soon as I hear from the association.

Thought this may help with the location for some. The actual NOAA map # is 12270, Eastern Bay and South River.

[DOGFISH]

Re-sized map

I tried to resize the map clip, to make it easier to read.






http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12270.shtml


Otherwise, I put the chart address here.

[jffoley]

Dogfish, I presume we'd be targeting rockfish. Any concerns regarding boat traffic through there on a Saturday? Not so much about handling wakes in the kayak but keeping the fish down. Summer would probably be tough. Maybe not so much in November?

[DOGFISH]

Thats correct, not so much in November. The boat traffic really drops off after September. Most of the boat traffic is in the main channel on the outside of the markers that I mentioned in the other posts. This time of year is ok, even on the weekend. I think I mentioned before, my best day last year was 23 fish, with the largest that day being 27". I also had quite few days of 12-15 fish. It can be a very good place to fish. In November the only concern would be weather, mostly wind. In the summer, it is a different story. The boats do keep the fish down. However, during the week, even in the summer there are fish in the area. The fish are mostly back up on the flat that I spoke of in the other post.

It is a rather large area. It looks smaller on the map than what it is. This is because it opens up to the bay the further out in the mouth of the river you go. If you look at the chart on the NOAA web site the mouth of the South River and the mouth of the West River almost become one small bay of their own. Fishing up that way, towards the West River is also good. It will be quite an expanse for one to cover in one day. I do recommend, if we meet here, that the kayakers look at the chart for the contours and dropoffs. Those tend to be the better fishing.