Fishing locations and times

[sebby]

Apologies if this has been asked before, but i could not find it in my searches. I'm relatively new to kayak fishing outside of the upper Potomac and the Outer Banks, so i am looking for recommendations on where to fish and when. I think it would be a great resource to have a list of locations/times of year/types of fish so we can find places to go throughout the year. Does such a list exist? if it does not, i'd be happy to take down the suggestions from members and webify the list into something we can all use.

[ronaultmtd]

The "list" with times, baits, techniques, tackle, hour of day, weather conditions, phase of the moon, tides....is the true secret of being successful or getting the dreaded "skunk." The different species of fish require different tackle, different presentation, feed at different seasons, etc. There are whole libraries on the subject- and new books written every year- if you fish the wrong tide or the wrong presentation at the wrong time of year, you would swear there are no fish in the waters- other times it doesn't matter what you use , you catch fish when they are blitzing balls of bait- most anything you throw at them they eat- it is impossible to beat a basic white bucktail dressed with a Gulp 4 inch curly tail- it catches just about everything that swims-

[HJS]

Best thing to do to answer your own questions is to review posts on this site back at least a year or two. Most of the posts with fishing reports generally contain What, When, How and Where in various degrees of detail.

[sebby]

While i completely agree that fishing has it's nuances, there are definitive cycles of fish in different locations. For example, i know that if i go fishing for small-mouth in the Potomac with water below 50 degrees, I'm more than likely going to get skunked or if i try to fish for specks in OBX, spring is much more productive than summer. I suspect the same can be said for striper, flounder, specks, etc. I'm not looking for anyone to give up their secrets, more along the lines of "from January to February, we fish for X in these general areas and for Y somewhere else. Once I know what species are where and when in general, I am certain i can figure out what all the other specifics are and go target them. I guess I'm just looking for hints as to what to target and when. I've never fished this area in the winter time and I am itching to get out; and while i really enjoy just getting the lines wet, my ultimate goal is to catch fish. This link shows sort of what i had in mind http://www.fishing-nc.com/nc-surf-fishing-reports.php, they list the species and what is hot when for surf fishing. there are others for deep sea and inter-coastal that are similar.

[ronaultmtd]

A couple of us are going catfishing/crappie fishing at Mattawoman Creek tomorrow- (Directions to ramp- take route 210 south to Naval Station main gate- last exit before gate is Mattingly Street- left on Mattingly to end of road- park launch kayak)... I use cut bait ( big chunk of frozen Bunker) on fish finder rigs with 6/0-8/0 circle hooks with one oz. of lead in the deeper channels- temps are cold so you have to anchor up and wait for the fish to find and take the bait- same with crappie- slow jigging with tiny jigheads tipped with minnows and/or soft plastic bodies- smelly jelly helps- I use a slip cork setup about four or five foot deep- you need good electronics to locate the fish before you setup and anchor up- we are going to fish the incoming tide because that is what tomorrow has- I prefer an outgoing tide, but that just isn't to be tomorrow- that should give you the details enough so that you have an idea of how and where- the folks fished the opposite side of the river today on the Virginia side- mostly around boat docks and the marina jigging for crappie- same basic techniques-

[bignose]

Also:
Shawn Kimbro's book:
Chesapeake Light Tackle

and

John Page Williams
Exploring the Chesapeake in Small Boats

[sebby]

Excellent suggestions, thank you all.

[sebby]

Great suggestions, been reading he books, and started putting together the list i was thinking of. I'll probably start adding actual locations (Bay bridge, Mattawoman, etc.) to the list once i figure more things out. i hope this is helpful to others, but if it is not, i will just keep my trap shut about it...

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