beating the wind by perching in sheltered waters

[J.A. Veil]

The wind today was strong, as it has been frequently this spring. Mark, J.Rentch, and I launched and fished in Weems Creek and were able to stay out of the wind most of the time. I had low expectations for this trip with the wind and the brown water (courtesy of last night's storms). But I started catching perch right away and continued catching them in many summer shoreline locations until I got tired of catching. I caught somewhere between 33 and 38 perch -- I lost count after a while. While there were no whoppers larger than 11", but there were plenty of strong 8-9" perch, along with many smaller ones.

This is the first trip of the spring in the Severn tributaries where I was able to find perch in many spots and pull several perch out of some of the holes. (By contrast, yesterday I fished in two other Severn tributaries for a comparable amount of time and caught only 3 perch.) Until today, all of my recent trips to the upper reaches of Weems were impeded by extensive aquatic plant growth that fouled my lure on most casts. The storms seemed to have moved the grass to confined areas, leaving other areas open.

The key today was determining what lure they wanted and figuring out what type of habitat they were sitting in. I started by throwing an old beat-up spinnerbait (I think it is a spinner sent to my by sparky1423 a while back) that has been on my rod for several trips. It is responsible for many pickerel and a few perch in recent weeks. The remaining hair on the spinner was down to two clusters.

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After catching the first dozen perch, the lure was so beat up that I decided to retire it. Mark took it home and offered to tie new hair on it.

I found a new model of Bignose spinner in my tackle box and tied it on. He used a heavier spinner blade than the dimpled silver one on the old spinner and painted one side chartreuse and the other side green with a chartreuse stripe.

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Stu sent me these new lures last winter -- I had not had a chance to try them out on perch until today. I can tell you that this lure was very attractive to the perch this morning. The larger blade had a greater thump to it -- it was just the ticket in the muddy water. I caught many perch on the new lure and left them biting.

Earlier in the trip I threw a few casts to a productive hole using a small jighead and 2" Gulp twister tail. I had no bites. As soon as I picked the spinner back up, I began catching again. After that I stuck with the spinnerbait.

Regarding where the fish were, I found three factors that contributed to good spots today:

1) Find an area that was free from the aquatic vegetation -- the wind had cleared up some broad zones allowing me to cast and retrieve freely.
2) Find a spot where the wind would not push me too fast. The wind swirls around in high-sided creeks like Weems. In certain spots, it can be oppressive, while in other spots it was dead calm.
3) Cast to shaded shoreline locations, often under overhanging trees. It took a while to figure this out, but I was getting steady bites in shaded spots and only occasional bites in comparable sunny areas. Cast so that your lure spends a maximum amount of time in shallow locations. If you get a bite on the retrieve, remember where the bite came, and work through the same area again.

I don't know if those perch will continue to bite as well as they did today -- I sure hope they do. John and Mark can add their own experiences from this morning.

[On the fly]

Glad you guys caught fish today.

[Mark]

When John Veil and I addressed the Free State Fishers last week I told them I usually take a spinning rod along with my fly rods for occasions when flies don't work. Today was a day that flies did not work.

The water was a bit murky at the back portion of the creek, which is where John R. and John V. did most of their damage. I think that murkiness contributed to the perch's disinterest in in my offerings -- crystal buggers in blue and yellow. Additionally, for a good portion of the trip I threw a yellow foam popper to likely shoreline structure hoping to entice a pickerel. In fact I was really excited when I first saw the top water commotion in one particular cove caused by carp in hormonal ecstasy. I originally thought they were pickerel chasing bait and lofted numerous popper casts toward them. Of course, the carp did not have eating on their minds.

So I resorted to my ultralight spinning rod and put on a 1/8 oz. jig/spinner combination and immediately started getting hits. I'm convinced the pulsations of the spinner attracted the perch. John V. has already said where they were located. Those I caught did not deviate from his pattern.

Then, as I reported on another thread, I left active fish to explore the mouth of the creek. (Not a smart move.) The water was certainly clearer as headed in that direction but there were no perch in that section of the creek interested in either my flies or the jig/spinner combination.

What attracted them to the more turbid water is a mystery. I certainly did not think like a perch today. But as my two companions proved the perch are there and in good numbers and in good size. It will only get better from here on out.

[sparky1423]

That's great news!! My son has been asking me every week to take him out in his kayak...but I usually wait until warmer water and perch close to shoreline. John, I think that is one of my first spinners I mailed you before I purchased the correct mold and diamond dimple blades. I remember ordering some prepainted 1/8oz bullet spinners and used the cheaper BPS hammered blades.

I have around 50 of the Woody replica spinners made and always carry them with me as hand outs. I got some tips from Bignose and have them looking good.

[J. Rentch]

Not much to add to what John reported, but I wanted to post pictures of the lures I used. The first was a "Bignose spinner". This has really been my mainstay for Perch/Pickerel this spring. Also I use a smaller spinner today that got most of the hits. Not sure where I got this, maybe from Rapter at Trap Pond earlier this spring.
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It was fun, clear sky, low humidity and nice temps for a June morning.

[bignose]

John,
I am real glad to hear that my little experiment with the colored blades worked out. I plan on trying them out tomorrow.
I got them from a vendor on eBay.
They are a Size 3 Colorado blade for those make their own.

The pictures were originally posted earlier.

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Mark,
I've done the crystal bugger thing, too. Don't fly fish much anymore (used to be a "purist"), tears my shoulder up too much.
Give a shot to tying some up in the same Chartreuse Green, and Emulator Baitfish flash that I use on my spinner jigs the next time. For some reason those perch apparently can't resist that color! Wrap a little lead around the hook shank or use dumbbell eyes.
Yeah, it doesn't have the thump of the spinner jigs……...

[J. Rentch]

Sorry for the misquote. I thought that one was one of the lot I bought from you at the show in the Pasadena fireball in Feb (I believe). Anyway, it has been working for me this year.

[Fishinfool]

Nice report John. I'll have to try a couple of similar lures in my tackle box next time out.

First time out this year, I launched at the Rhode River last Friday and trolled a couple of spots that had been productive for me last October, hoping for a stray rockfish or two but nothing, not even a strike.

I had bought bloodworms at Marty's and tried them off the bottom on a standard hi-lo rig with a spinner under piers looking for perch around the Smithsonian, and not even a nibble. The fish, after that long, cool nor'easter last week must have stayed in deeper, saltier water.

Still, it was a beautiful day in the water and time well spent.

[J. Rentch]

Do fish out of Smithsonian often? Been wanting to try that area, what do you recommend?

[Mark]

Mark,
I've done the crystal bugger thing, too. Don't fly fish much anymore (used to be a "purist"), tears my shoulder up too much.
Give a shot to tying some up in the same Chartreuse Green, and Emulator Baitfish flash that I use on my spinner jigs the next time. For some reason those perch apparently can't resist that color! Wrap a little lead around the hook shank or use dumbbell eyes.
Yeah, it doesn't have the thump of the spinner jigs……...

Stu,

Thank you for the color advice. I'll check my inventory of stuff and see what I can whip up.

Never been much of purist with the fly rod. I understand in the U.K. wooly buggers are not considered a legitimate fly. I use them. And I just read a quote from a 1947 Sports Afield magazine that said bass bug fishing is not fly fishing because it's so easy a child could do it. (Never saw a toy Zebco bass bug rod!)

What did you use for tails on your crystal buggers? I used white or yellow marabou with a few strands of red or silver crystal flash. Darned things looked so good in the water I was ready to bite them! But maybe I should use something else for tails in addition to the body colors you mentioned.

My flies were weighted with lead on the shanks. I'm certain the depth was not a problem. I believe the perch were keyed on vibrations yesterday in the dirty water.

[bignose]

I finally got today and use the lures I made over the winter.
While I didn't quite achieve the numbers John did the other day, I certainly spanked em.
What was surprising was the fact that I also nailed 4 Pickerel today, one of which was almost a "gator" (any pickerel over 24").
Figure an eyeballed 22".
And the Perch were very chunky, an 8" fish was every bit of 3/4 ofa pound.
I tried several versions of the multicolored blades, and the winner was the one John had the best success with, Green body with a Green and Chartreuse striped blade.
The same info about where and how is much the same as John mentioned in his usual accurate report, so no need to repeat this. I had the stern of the canoe in about 10 feet of water and cast towards wood cover and dock pilings along the shore.

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Observe the wear and tear on the spinner jig compared to the originals above. It's missing about 1/2 of the tailing and one and half of the eyes are gone, Glad I know someone with a good supply.

Mark: I'd try to tie the buggers tails out of Baitfish Emulator flash or a little krystal flash, maybe some chartreuse marabou. I'd wrap the body with green olive or green chartreuse ice chenille or something like that.
I'll try to tie a couple up next week and post the photos.

[J.A. Veil]

Good report Stu. That was impressive for your first kayak/canoe outing of the season.

[Mark]

Nice job, Stu, especially with the pickerel.

Thank you for the tying tips.

[Fishinfool]

Do fish out of Smithsonian often? Been wanting to try that area, what do you recommend?

j. Rentch - Hi, There are three spots to launch to access the Rhode River. If you're a big water enthusiast, you can launch right at the northern mouth of the Rhode at Beverly-Triton Beach, and work the complex of jettys close to shore, or if you have a fish finder, head out in deeper Bay water trolling, and look for marks.

With a Pungo 120 sit inside and no fish finder, I am more of a sheltered type so I generally launch at the County Wharf off of Rt 214 down County Wharf Rd. I generally cross the river (it's not that wide), and troll a wide arc close to shore past the islands and the Smithsonian Environmental Research facility. If I have time, I'll head up in one of the branches farther up. I don't fish on weekends, but I am told the small parking lot fills up by sunrise, so get there early if you're a weekender. There's also a third launch at the Smithsonian for a $5 donation I am told. But, you have to be off the water by 4:30 pm as they close the gate where you park at 5:00 pm.

The Rhode has become one of my fav spots on the western shore. The water clarity and salinity is much better than the Severn, Magothy, or the South, because it's right off the Bay, and there's so much undeveloped land, especially on the south side and moving up river. I am talking at least three thousand acres of undeveloped land with the SERC, and Camp Letts closer to the launch, plus a couple of other farms that were preserved in perpetuity from development.

The scenery and bird life upriver is awesome!!!, which is why I really don't mind the skunk.

[sparky1423]

Taking my son to Weems today for some perch. Took the advice from Bignose and painted a few spinner blades. Will test them out today along with a few other color schemes I have been tying