John (SurfSam) wanted to try out Claiborne Landing on the Eastern Bay. I was thinking of fishing Weems Creek in Annapolis for perch, but instead decided on Claiborne after reading the weather report that put the winds at 5mph, which was great. The winds were important since Claiborne is so exposed on open water. The skies would be cloudy most of the day with a hint of a light drizzle later in the morning. The temperature was going to get up into the upper 80's or maybe 90 degrees.
The great thing about Claiborne is that it is in Talbot County, which allow you to launch your boat for free. The Claiborne ramp has parking for cars and vehicles with trailer. There is a small pier there that people crab off of. There is a porta john there, and that is about it. It is a nice place to launch from.
I met John at 5:00am at Anglers, where we got our bait. I picked up a dozen bloodworms and a pack of frozen bait shrimp. John had bloodworms and peeler crabs for his bait. When we got to Claiborne and launched the kayaks, it was just after 6:30am. I used a small net to catch a few grass shrimp to use as additional bait. So far my Hobie setup was working great. It is definitely faster than my Tarpon. I was surprised how stable it was since it was slightly more narrower then my Tarpon. The deluxe aluminum rod holders were a gem to use for both bottom fishing and trolling. I first fished a bottom fishing rig tipped with grass shrimp around a dock. I landed a small bluefish. John and I decided to head to deeper water to bottom fish since close to shore was pretty dead except for the small blue that I caught. Near the shore it was only 4 to 6 feet of water. I trolled a spinner towards 24 feet of water and caught a small rockfish that I released. When we made it to the 24 foot area, I drift a fish finder rig tipped with shrimp and a traditional top/bottom bottom fishing rig tipped with bloodworms. While drifting we nailed the fish. One of my better fishing experiences for the year. My fish finder rig with shrimp was my hot combination. I caught large perch, 15 inch croakers and jumbo spots on that rig. Not to be out done, my second rod with bloodworms landed its fair share of croaker and spots. Some of these croakers were hard fighters. My best rig that caught the most fish was the fishfinder rig. It seems that alot of the larger fish were on the bottom. I am still getting use to my new fish finder. I was not marking fish like I thought that I would. I definitely need to get a chip with the marine maps on it. Also I need to get a bigger capacity battery since the color unit with GPS will go through your battery.
By 10:15am we were off of the water. It was a very good day of fishing with John. We left the fish biting. I caught 5 different species, which was cool. There was also a tip from a boater that there are 17 to 20 inch croakers lurking in the area just south of Claiborne in 20 feet of water a short paddle south of the boat ramp. I must go back, weather permitting.
The great thing about Claiborne is that it is in Talbot County, which allow you to launch your boat for free. The Claiborne ramp has parking for cars and vehicles with trailer. There is a small pier there that people crab off of. There is a porta john there, and that is about it. It is a nice place to launch from.
I met John at 5:00am at Anglers, where we got our bait. I picked up a dozen bloodworms and a pack of frozen bait shrimp. John had bloodworms and peeler crabs for his bait. When we got to Claiborne and launched the kayaks, it was just after 6:30am. I used a small net to catch a few grass shrimp to use as additional bait. So far my Hobie setup was working great. It is definitely faster than my Tarpon. I was surprised how stable it was since it was slightly more narrower then my Tarpon. The deluxe aluminum rod holders were a gem to use for both bottom fishing and trolling. I first fished a bottom fishing rig tipped with grass shrimp around a dock. I landed a small bluefish. John and I decided to head to deeper water to bottom fish since close to shore was pretty dead except for the small blue that I caught. Near the shore it was only 4 to 6 feet of water. I trolled a spinner towards 24 feet of water and caught a small rockfish that I released. When we made it to the 24 foot area, I drift a fish finder rig tipped with shrimp and a traditional top/bottom bottom fishing rig tipped with bloodworms. While drifting we nailed the fish. One of my better fishing experiences for the year. My fish finder rig with shrimp was my hot combination. I caught large perch, 15 inch croakers and jumbo spots on that rig. Not to be out done, my second rod with bloodworms landed its fair share of croaker and spots. Some of these croakers were hard fighters. My best rig that caught the most fish was the fishfinder rig. It seems that alot of the larger fish were on the bottom. I am still getting use to my new fish finder. I was not marking fish like I thought that I would. I definitely need to get a chip with the marine maps on it. Also I need to get a bigger capacity battery since the color unit with GPS will go through your battery.
By 10:15am we were off of the water. It was a very good day of fishing with John. We left the fish biting. I caught 5 different species, which was cool. There was also a tip from a boater that there are 17 to 20 inch croakers lurking in the area just south of Claiborne in 20 feet of water a short paddle south of the boat ramp. I must go back, weather permitting.
Comment