August Meet and Greet...St. Mary's River @ Dennis Point Marina

[kevinfry]

got you ttyakker and tango

i'll have more details when i get back in town

kf

[ictalurus]

Worst-Case Scenario Recon

I went to do some recon today. I forgot my pedals, the wind was blowing like crazy, and there were impending storms. All those signs pointed to staying in the creek (plus the fact that I know where to fish out in the St. Mary's), so I thought I'd poke around in case the same scenario sets up for the M&G.

I hit the water a bit before 11 and fished until a bit after 2, which was most of the incoming tide. The tide should be similar in two weeks. Water temperature was only 78-79*, which is really low for this time of year.

First, I started working the shoreline and docks for perch. There were smaller perch under the docks:


There were lots of small croakers by the docks and in the mainstem of the creek in 5-7ft of water:


The bigger perch were in the side coves. Some of them were close to 11":


There was bait everywhere and something smashing it every now and then. I managed to catch one 16" striper, which was a blast on my ultralight. It hit as soon as the lure hit the water, which got my hopes up thinking it was a redfish. No photo because I released it right away.

I spent 1.5 hrs looking for perch. I could only catch them on Gulp. The 3" grubs were the ticket for the bigger perch, but I didn't have many of those, of course. Smaller perch and croaker hit 2" Gulp, and I caught one big perch and a slightly bigger croaker on a 4" Gulp. The striper hit a Berkley Powerbait minnow grub. The bigger perch in the coves were under trees and by woody debris in 3-5 feet of water. Any shallower and the smaller perch and croaker dominated. Fortunately there's lots of water in the 5-7 feet range. Of course, there's always the oddball dink that hits something half its size:


I spent 45 minutes working the deeper water, which was 10-11ft, for croaker and spot using a bottom rig and Fishbites and came up empty. All the croaker were in shallower water, and I couldn't find any spot anywhere, shallow or deep. I spent the rest of the time looking for perch, croaker, and spot back in the shallower areas.

All told, I spent the entire time within a quarter mile of the dock and caught 10 perch, 13 croaker, and 1 striper. I probably could've caught more bigger perch if I worked the productive areas more thoroughly, but I really wanted to see what I could catch and where. If I can get out there again before the M&G, I'll try and post some info from the St. Mary's.

[groundhog]

Very good report, thanks.

[kevinfry]

Thanks for the recon Bill! I'll be back from Sacramento in a couple days!

BTW..feasted on fresh Dungeness crab on San Francisco's Fisherman's wharf today........could eat another doz.

[clm]

Ditto, Thanks for recon. Add me to the list. I will be stalking you guys to see what you are throwing. If it isn't catfish or bass, I'm at a loss. Last time I forgot my pedals, I caught 9 nice cats. Quite the workout towing them back. Looking forward to the outing.

[medicyaker]

Count me in. I switched with a coworker today to be off for this. count me in for lunch as well. Looks like a nice area. Can anyone give me a drive time estimate from annapolis

[kevinfry]

OK guys...I got you!

[kevinfry]

Things looking great for a good time!
updated attendance as of right now::
attending
Kevinfry (host)
Ictalarus???
Moc
AbuMasgouf
Groundhog
fishinggeek
driftwood
Daolai
Dogfish
Coop
Zeebyrd
Cody
Buzz
Jambone
Plastic boat
tall timbers yakker
tango
CLM
Medicyakker

[buzz]

Count me in. I switched with a coworker today to be off for this. count me in for lunch as well. Looks like a nice area. Can anyone give me a drive time estimate from annapolis

1 hour, 45 minutes


Sent from my PalmPilot

[WST120]

Thanks for the recon Bill! I'll be back from Sacramento in a couple days!

BTW..feasted on fresh Dungeness crab on San Francisco's Fisherman's wharf today........could eat another doz.

Kevin,

I was reading the posts on the M&G and wishing I could be there in August, but I retired in Dec 2013 and moved back to California in March. I then saw your post that you are in Sacramento and thought "small world". I live only 30 miles south of Sacramento on Hwy 99.

Enjoy California and good luck with the August M&G. I will be looking forward to reading the posts and seeing all of the pictures.

Dave

[kevinfry]

Kevin,

I was reading the posts on the M&G and wishing I could be there in August, but I retired in Dec 2013 and moved back to California in March. I then saw your post that you are in Sacramento and thought "small world". I live only 30 miles south of Sacramento on Hwy 99.

Enjoy California and good luck with the August M&G. I will be looking forward to reading the posts and seeing all of the pictures.

Dave

So dave......you get that Tarpon out on the sacramento River for trout or SF Bay for Striped Bass?

[WST120]

Kevin,

I haven't done either yet. I went to Rio Vista two months ago to check out the Sacramento River and the water flow was so fast, I said no way! I have been trying out the local lakes and the Mokelumne River in Lodi to get some kayaking in, but I am embarrassed to say I haven't caught a fish yet. Once the weather cools down just a little, I will be spending more time learning the fishing spots. I have high hopes for fishing the delta, but there are a lot of boaters to avoid in a small body of water.

I look forward to catching both trout and Stripers in the next few months.

Take care and have a safe trip home.

Dave

[kevinfry]

If anyone is wanting to camp the night before or after our meet and greet at Dennis point Marina on the St Mary's river, I certainly want to encourage you to do so at dennis point. they have a good set up there!


Also there are some big blues around that area right now, though they are a bit finicky! Bill caught a speck at PLO yesterday so I sure hope we'll find one as we explore that area. There certainly is good habitat for specks there. Please see the map earlier int his thread and develop a plan of attack!

I will be posting more tomorrow and Wednesday. Hope to see you all there!

[DOGFISH]

It looks like I am able to make this one. Is there a time when the campground opens? What is the launching arrangements?

[kevinfry]

also some recent reviews of the restaurant
http://forums.somd.com/threads/29177...o-Dennis-Point