Flats 4/25

[mweber02]

I was able to get out for a couple of hours so I hit the flats again despite the 20+ turbidity. I launched a little after 6am and within 5 minutes of trolling my bucktail with pearl ripple shad got hit hard. I also had a Boo Rig in front of the bucktail for some added flash.
042515.jpg

This fish was in about 16' and I marked quite a few others in similar depths. I should have taken a pic of the ff, at one point there was a school with a huge Mark just outside of it. It was the first time I've seen an arc big enough to have color under it.

I had a couple of short strikes after that but no hookups.

I met another snaggedliner fishing near the ramp as I was coming back but didn't catch his name.

I also saw yakfish about to launch as I was coming in. I was tempted to ask the wife for a couple more hours so I could fish with the legend again but I know better than that now.

Another noteworthy experience was watching a a cocky guy in a bass boat speed away from the ramp only to get stuck in the shallows. He was still out there when I drove away. Not sure when he got out, but he was 30 mins away from low tide, so it may have been a loooong wait.

[YakCapn]

Where do you launch from at the flats? I've never gone that far north to fish, maybe I'll try it sometime.

[sparky1423]

Beautiful Striper Mike, that Hobie has the good Juju

[J.A. Veil]

Congratulations on a long and fat fish. It is a beauty.

[mweber02]

Where do you launch from at the flats? I've never gone that far north to fish, maybe I'll try it sometime.

Millard Tydings park is free to launch from car top and puts you pretty much right on western side of the flats. There are launches on the north and eastern sides but I have never been over there.

With the current that was coming out of the Susky I decided to troll east/west instead of north/south (north/south was a painful return a few weeks ago when the dam was putting out a lot of water). I dont think I marked a single fish on the eastern side of the smart buoy.

[dkwon]

Nice fish Mike! Let me know if you're heading back sometime

[mweber02]

Nice fish Mike! Let me know if you're heading back sometime

Weekends are tight for me for the next month but ice got some vacation time to take at work. I'll probably take some Mondays and maybe Tuesdays off when the conditions are good.

[Salty Dog]

Nice fish Mike, good to hear of the activity. I was planning on being there, but woke up Saturday AM sick. Of course recovering just in time to go back to work.

[Yak Fish]

I figured I'd give it a shot after seeing you posted that you got one. I had my doubts with the cold trend and the muddy water, but I figured why not. I managed just one small fish, which besides yours was the only two I heard caught that day. I saw Archery Rob and his buddy who were coming in as I was going out and they didn't find fish. The conditions were tough so congrats on getting that one! Turbidity is still high!

[Yak Fish]

In true flats fashion it's been an unreliable place, similar to last year. There have been just a couple of fishable days. I like to get out with some buddies with a charter captain so we all have a good time together and can cover water pretty quickly. To give you a sense of the fishing decline Captain Brady and Walleye Pete no longer fish the flats. Those guys now fish elsewhere. I called them both this year and nada, making this the third year in a row I haven't been able to go out on our annual man-trip. The previous two years I had trips planned and they were cancelled on "lack of fish."

I remember years ago we could go out and catch 20 fish in an afternoon reliably. ...not sure what happened. We had a couple of quality days out there last year, but they all came in a one week window when the water had finally cleared.

[mweber02]

I figured I'd give it a shot after seeing you posted that you got one. I had my doubts with the cold trend and the muddy water, but I figured why not. I managed just one small fish, which besides yours was the only two I heard caught that day. I saw Archery Rob and his buddy who were coming in as I was going out and they didn't find fish. The conditions were tough so congrats on getting that one! Turbidity is still high!

Yeah, I saw your FB post. Just get a little creative with the camera angle and it would look like a monster!

The turbidity is down to around 15 right now. I'd love to think that it will keep dropping and stay low but the dam was flowing pretty hard when I drove over it yesterday morning.

[DanMarino]

Beast! Cool fish. I'd freak if I caught something like that. haha.

[mi327]

Yes fishing is still slow went out yesterday morning, got a little bit of a late start since there was a marathon or something in havre de grace, so there were road closures everywhere.

Trolled a couple paddle tails for a few hours only managed to snag a large clam somehow. Water was muddy still, also tried fishing the rip-rap for LMB to new avail.

[Yak Fish]

Yes fishing is still slow went out yesterday morning, got a little bit of a late start since there was a marathon or something in havre de grace, so there were road closures everywhere.

Trolled a couple paddle tails for a few hours only managed to snag a large clam somehow. Water was muddy still, also tried fishing the rip-rap for LMB to new avail.

We need turbidity under 10 and I think it'll get there this week, but the winds are high. Like today, it's a 14 mph sustained wind with good gusts. At 10 mph out there I cut it off because it gets too rough.

[Yak Fish]

Yes fishing is still slow went out yesterday morning, got a little bit of a late start since there was a marathon or something in havre de grace, so there were road closures everywhere.

Trolled a couple paddle tails for a few hours only managed to snag a large clam somehow. Water was muddy still, also tried fishing the rip-rap for LMB to new avail.

We need turbidity under 10 and I think it'll get there this week, but the winds are high. Like today, it's a 14 mph sustained wind with good gusts. At 10 mph out there I cut it off because it gets too rough.