10 miles and 9" croaker @ Buzz's, 6/4

[ictalurus]

I haven't made a trip to Buzz's yet this year, and I wanted to try for some flounder and check out the Woodrow Wilson Bridge reefs. I saw lots of kayaks on cars on the way down and was wondering if they belonged to anyone on the board.

Anyway, I launched at 4:30 and was at the creek mouth a little before 5. I drifted for flounder for about 30-45min and covered the mouth pretty well without any hits. 6-8" menhaden were jumping all over the place, but nothing hit a 4.5" Bomber, Rattletrap, or Chugbug.

Around 6, I headed out to the WW reef and trolled a #15 Tony Spoon on the way out with no takers. I got to the reef, and there were fish marks all over it. I jigged a white BKD and missed a couple hits. The wind really started picking up something fierce out of the south, and the waves started picking up. I couldn't stay on the reef very easy, and it was surprisingly hard to find it again. I headed back toward the creek around 7 to see if there was any topwater action.

I trolled my Yozuri deep diver on the way in. I stopped about halfway back in about 15ft and tried shrimp on a bottom rig. I picked a double of 9" croakers on the first cast. I picked up two more doubles in the area and a couple singles closer to the creek mouth. None of them were over 9".

As soon as I got back to the creek, the wind totally died. At the creek mouth, the menhaden were jumping all over the place. I couldn't buy a hit on any topwater, shallow diver, or jig I threw. No luck with flounder, either. I called it quits about 8:45. On the way back to the ramp, I scared 2 really big things in shallow water by the mansion with the riprap. I don't know if they were rays or stripers, but they moved a lot of water when the bolted.

Water temp in the creek was 81* and 77* out in the Bay in about 15ft. Salinity in the creek was 7 and 6 out in the Bay. From the sound of things, I should've hit PLO. I should've ridden out the wind at the reef because I think it was going to turn on. Anyhow, it was a really nice evening on the water even if the fish weren't overly cooperative.

[MetroMan]

Nice. I'm envious of every report I read...productive trips or not

[mmanolis2001]

That's a heck of allot of water to cover in one day. I'm pooped after half of that.

Were there any other boats at the red roof inn looking for the top water bite? I was wondering when that area gets hot in the evening.

How far out is the bridge rubble?

I think most of the kayaks coming out of PLO yesterday were involved in the Swim event. They were grouped up with swimmers crossing the mouth of the Potomac.

Thanks for the recap

[surfdog]

thanks for the report bill. i know what you mean about throwing every thing at these darn fish and the reject all of them. probably interrupted cownose coitus

[ictalurus]

I was surprised to see that there were very few other boats out yesterday evening. Usually, it's just the locals in skiffs out for a quick evening trip before or after dinner. I see a lot of the same boats, even during the week. Most of the folks I spoke with were striking out at the creek mouth.

As for the topwater bite, everywhere from the red marker at the mouth to the big, long pier up toward Point No Point can be hot when the bite is in full swing. Most folks will jockey for position by the creek mouth when the action is hot and there are a lot of people out, but I've outfished the boaters by heading north a bit at Mike's suggestion. Running motors really can turn things off for a while. The area north of the creek mouth is pretty shallow, so the fishing is better around high tide. It was low tide yesterday, and that area is only 2-3ft deep, which is shallower than I like unless the area is packed with bait.

The WW reefs are about 2.5 miles out. There's 4, but I only visited the closest one. I have absolutely no spatial aptitude, so I couldn't figure out how to line up for a good drift. According to the Potomac buoy, that bit of wind only lasted about an hour.

Sam--you're probably right. However, I prefer to think that it was two 40-inch stripers hanging out there. That gives me something to shoot for next time.

Metro--are you going to make it out next Saturday?

[MetroMan]

Yep, I'll be there

[jffoley]

That's good work, Bill. And a lot of it! Gonna be down that way for the June M&G next Saturday. I hope there's more saltwater down there! I would really like to catch a few flounder!

[ictalurus]

Mike--Forgot to mention that 5mi is my usual trip. I'm still beat (and hungry) today after covering all that water. I wasn't paying attention to the tides and had to fight the current on the way back to the launch. The downside to launching at Buzz's is that it's a lot of traveling if the action at the mouth isn't hot. There aren't many drop offs or other types of structure except for the reefs.

Metro--Excellent. Should be a good trip if the croaker keep cooperating.

Jon--Yeah, the salinity is way down this year, even in this neck of the woods. It's usually aroun 10-14 instead of 7, based on the past 3-4 years, or so. I didn't get any redfish last year, and the low salinity will put a crimp in my shot for this year. The water clarity looked more normal, but it was still far from clear.

[kevinfry]

erratic croakers

For me out in main Bay has been totally erratic (up by spring ridge area). Tuesday my son and i went out and got skunked. Wednesday we caught them (croaker) like crazy in the exact same spot. Then, we had breaking stripers all around, but the would not concentrate so we chased without catching. It seems PLO's usual fish concentrating properties made the difference Sat.
One thing has been consistent for me, however. Croakers have been shallower than I usually fish in June. That true for anyone else?

[HokieDJ]

I don't think St Jerome's will be a good place to go until the stripers hold up at the bend and you can live line spot. I've given up trying to go for flounder in MD. I rather go south to VB for flounder.

[ictalurus]

Kevin--I didn't realize you were a member here. Welcome to the forum.

Dave--I think you're right. I do most of my fishing at Buzz's in the mid to late summer when things are going full swing, but you never know unless you go. I'm not sure if I can give up on flounder just yet. I got good at finding the just barely sublegal fish a few years ago, and the few keepers I got were really delicious. I thought last year would be an awesome year because it was so dry. I love to know what it wasn't...

[kevinfry]

Yeah...amazing the places you end up looking for a flounder report!

[ronaultmtd]

Bill- Moc and I are convoying down for the meet and greet- should arrive at PLO around 11 a.m. to fish the outgoing tide- are you going to fish early or after the M&G? I know flounder at hard to get in the Bay, we seldom even see one caught one up at the Cobb Island area where I do most of my fishing- mostly catch white perch, snapper bluefish, croaker and stripers- occasionally, we catch some small puppy drum and trout in the shallows around the docks and rocks when the tide is running hard- but almost never a flounder- so flounder is one fish I would love to catch-

[ictalurus]

Ron--I'll probably show up when everyone else does. So far, noon is leading.

Hopefully, there will be a flounder or two for you there, but this year isn't looking good at the moment. When they were thick a few years ago, I already caught a keeper by this point and tons of near-keepers without trying nearly as hard. I've hit all my hot spots except for the Patuxent and only turned up one short at Piney Point. Haven't seen any flounder pics at the Tackle Box, either, but I haven't talked with the flounder expert there yet. That big one caught on opening day at the Naval Air Station got my hopes up, but I think it might be too fresh this year unless it suddenly turns to a drought this summer. Last year was perfect, salinity-wise, and I don't think I caught a single one all year, which really surprised me. If you have time for a road trip, Lynnhaven and the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel in VA are two kayak-friendly flounder hot spots. I would spend a couple days there and hit Lynnhaven in the morning and the HRBT in the evening.

[ronaultmtd]

Bill- I lived in Tidewater for 36 years and fished salt water there- I still hold one VA state record - Great Hammerhead Shark...had all the hot spots programmed in my loran- my favorite flounder spot was over by Hospital point off Hampton bar- caught lost of monster Cobia at Blue fish rocks and Lattimer shoals- best baits were live menhaden and corn cob mullet, but spot worked, too-on a fishfinder rig on the bottom in a chum slick- problem at Bluefish Rock was the crab pots- big cobia over 60 pounds would drag you into a crab pot and break you off- place was littered with crab pots during the peak of the season- there is a big pile of rocks about a half mile off Grandview fishing pier, we used to have the numbers to that held nice tautog in the winter and early spring and big cobia at night during late June, July and August. At the VIMS pier in Gloucester Point, I have caught some nice flounder under the lights at night on bull minnows on a fish finder rig you drag by the pilings, but they probably won't let you do that any more- most of the tides run really strong in Tidewater so you have to really pay attention to tides- a 7-8 knot outgoing tide is impossible to paddle against-