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I set out early this morning and was launching at Matapeake at dawn, just after the tide crested. I had been waffling between there and Beverly Triton. I opted for the lazy route and launched closer to home. The report from Anglers of "acres of Breakers" helped seal the deal.
When I got there, the water was like glass. I didn't see any sign of birds or breakers so I started trolling north in the shallows. I figured I had all day and they would show up when the tide had ebbed a bit.
All the latest reports were saying that there were lots of sizable fish close to shore in 5' of water, or less. I caught plenty of shoolies as I gradually made my way along the structured shoreline. I didn't find anything bigger than 16". Rather than turn around and cover the same (less than productive) ground, I set out towards the bridge figuring I would swing up to the sewer pipe and then jig some pilings. Maybe by then the breakers would be doing their thing.
I struck out at the sewer pipe (I always do...) and proceeded to see what was lurking around the bridge. By this time, the tide was falling fast. I only invested about 15 minutes at the bridge because the rip allowed one cast per piling before I was swept out of position. Like I said before, I was feeling lazy so I opted to forgo that effort. Th current had pushed me towards the old river channel so I rigged for some deep trolling with a tube / worm on one rod and heavy metal on the other. I continued to come up empty.
After fishing the ledge for about 3/4 of a mile, I headed towards shore and tried the shallow trolling thing again. Still no luck.
The water clarity was amazing. I had never seen the Bay look so clear. I was seeing bottom in 5-6' of water.
By this time it was close to noon and I decided to load up and drive over to Romancoke in search of surface action. I didn't find any so I didn't launch. I checked Little Creek with the same result. When I rolled into Goodhands, my expectations were low. I didn't see any birds in the back part of the creek and I wasn't willing to go searching the bigger water.
I was still being lazy, but I wanted to fish so I pulled out out the perch rod and started pitching a small spoon for the hell of it. After about 10 minutes with no results, I started to stow my gear in the car. Just then I heard a large splash over past the ramp. I went over and watched and saw a sizable swirl. I figured, "What the hell". It couldn't hurt anything if I gave it one last shot.
On the second cast of a small popper I had put on my topwater rod, the water blew up and hooked my keeper of the day (and only the second ever out of Goodhands). I had to walk the fish back to the ramp so that I could get the dehooker out of my boat. I snapped a quick pic, not because she was big (just over 20"), but because of the location - 15' from the ramp...
I enjoyed some more surface action an landed some more fish - nothing bigger than 18" though. The bite soon ended as the school moved on and I was left scratching my head. Every other time I have fished Goodhands, I have not had as much luck as I did standing in the parking lot....
That's why they call it fishing!
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As I was driving home over the bridge, I finally did find some birds / breakers. I was near the peak of the bridge, but could still see plenty of flash and froth way down below me. I let them be and went home to take a shower.
(Anyone have any luck at BT today? I wanna know what I missed....)
When I got there, the water was like glass. I didn't see any sign of birds or breakers so I started trolling north in the shallows. I figured I had all day and they would show up when the tide had ebbed a bit.
All the latest reports were saying that there were lots of sizable fish close to shore in 5' of water, or less. I caught plenty of shoolies as I gradually made my way along the structured shoreline. I didn't find anything bigger than 16". Rather than turn around and cover the same (less than productive) ground, I set out towards the bridge figuring I would swing up to the sewer pipe and then jig some pilings. Maybe by then the breakers would be doing their thing.
I struck out at the sewer pipe (I always do...) and proceeded to see what was lurking around the bridge. By this time, the tide was falling fast. I only invested about 15 minutes at the bridge because the rip allowed one cast per piling before I was swept out of position. Like I said before, I was feeling lazy so I opted to forgo that effort. Th current had pushed me towards the old river channel so I rigged for some deep trolling with a tube / worm on one rod and heavy metal on the other. I continued to come up empty.
After fishing the ledge for about 3/4 of a mile, I headed towards shore and tried the shallow trolling thing again. Still no luck.
The water clarity was amazing. I had never seen the Bay look so clear. I was seeing bottom in 5-6' of water.
By this time it was close to noon and I decided to load up and drive over to Romancoke in search of surface action. I didn't find any so I didn't launch. I checked Little Creek with the same result. When I rolled into Goodhands, my expectations were low. I didn't see any birds in the back part of the creek and I wasn't willing to go searching the bigger water.
I was still being lazy, but I wanted to fish so I pulled out out the perch rod and started pitching a small spoon for the hell of it. After about 10 minutes with no results, I started to stow my gear in the car. Just then I heard a large splash over past the ramp. I went over and watched and saw a sizable swirl. I figured, "What the hell". It couldn't hurt anything if I gave it one last shot.
On the second cast of a small popper I had put on my topwater rod, the water blew up and hooked my keeper of the day (and only the second ever out of Goodhands). I had to walk the fish back to the ramp so that I could get the dehooker out of my boat. I snapped a quick pic, not because she was big (just over 20"), but because of the location - 15' from the ramp...
I enjoyed some more surface action an landed some more fish - nothing bigger than 18" though. The bite soon ended as the school moved on and I was left scratching my head. Every other time I have fished Goodhands, I have not had as much luck as I did standing in the parking lot....
That's why they call it fishing!
DSCN3036.jpgDSCN3037.jpg
As I was driving home over the bridge, I finally did find some birds / breakers. I was near the peak of the bridge, but could still see plenty of flash and froth way down below me. I let them be and went home to take a shower.
(Anyone have any luck at BT today? I wanna know what I missed....)
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