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Tough to find pockets of fish

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  • Tough to find pockets of fish

    We had nearly a mini-Meet & Greet this morning at Jonas Green. When I arrived at 7:15, I could not even park with my tailgate to the grass because all the first-row spaces were filled. Mark, Yak67, mccray44, and MikeMike were there along with a guy named Joe and his daughter. They planned to fish from a tandem Hobie. There were two other guys already on the water when I arrived.

    I proceeded to the location that had produced steadily for me during the previous three trips. I quickly caught a 15” striper there on the first pass, but had no more bites over the next 30 mins and continued on to a second spot. I made several passes through that area before finding six fish there including a 22” and a 27”. I brought the 27” fish onboard for a photo and used my fish grips.

    001.jpg

    After taking the photo, I prepared to release the fish. I accidentally knocked my Hawg Trough in the water. I should have realized that the trough would float, but I instinctively reached out to grab it. In doing so, I let go of the Fish Grips and the fish. I watched the fish slowly swim down and away with the grips on its jaw. I hope the grips fall off soon so the fish can feed normally. If any Snaggedline members catches a fish with off-white Fishgrips, you can keep them, but please let me know where you caught the fish.

    As I returned to Jonas Green, I had a strong strike. While winding that in a second rod went down. I wound in a 24” on the first line and a 21” on the second line. I circled back and ran through the same zone again – two more fish over 20”.

    I attached two screen shots to show that the fish were bunched in just a few areas. If I moved even a short distance away from those hot zones, I did not get bitten. I covered 8 miles today but got 10 of the 12 fish in just these two small zones.

    The first screen shot has a 200’ scale bar in the lower right corner. I marked waypoints on three of the fish I caught – the others were in the same area too.

    003.jpg

    The second screen shot shows the tiny circular path I followed near the end of the trip – the scale bar here is 100’. Inside that tight circle, I caught four 20”+ fish in 10 mins.

    002.jpg

    I finished with 12 stripers including several at 20”, and others at 21”, 22”, 23”, 24”, and 27”. 11 of the 12 fish hit a 12 Fathom 4” Fat Sam mullet in pearl or light gold color on ¾-oz jighead. During most of the year I use a 3" Fat Sam mullet. During the spring, I use the longer and brawnier 4" version.

    004.jpg

    Once again, the 5” Storm Shad was not touched. I am done with that lure for a while – it produced only one modest fish in four trips. Last week I bought two new St. Croix rods. Today was the first time I used a 6'6" Premier medium action, fast power rod. It caught more than half of all the fish today, including the largest ones. It proved itself well on its maiden voyage.
    John Veil
    Annapolis
    Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

    Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

  • #2
    Very appropriate title for this thread.

    I followed your path briefly today and the pockets were empty!

    It was fun to see so many folks at the launch and to hear the chatter on channel 68.
    Mark
    Pasadena, MD


    Slate Hobie Revolution 13
    Hidden Oak Native Ultimate 12
    Lizard Lick Native Ultimate FX Pro

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    • #3
      Congrats John, sure is nice that Stripers are back in the Severn this early. Just hope they hang around for a while.
      John Rentch
      Annapolis

      Native Ultimate 12 FX Pro
      Hobie Revolution 11

      Comment


      • #4
        It was a fun morning on the Sevren with all the Snaggedliners. I got there about 615a.m. and Tightlines and his friend were rigged and ready to launch. Then a bunch of folks rolled in and we fished and had fun. I finally got the skunk off my Hobie Outback LE, this was the fourth trip with it and I finally landed some fish, 10 in all with the biggest at 20 inches. Lots of fun chatter on channel 68. I saw another blue Hobie on the water and I thought it was Joe, but Tom L. had joined in the fun late and was going at it. When I came in a DNR officer was helping Mikemike change his flat tire. Thanks DNR Officer G. He came up and talked a while about kayak fishing, he owns one and I recruited him to Snaggelines

        Yak67
        2015 Hobie PA-14
        2016 Hobie Outback LE

        Comment


        • #5
          Hey Folks,

          Long time lurker, first report. It was great to finally meet many of you that I've been reading of from this forum! I've learned a great deal from the knowledge that is generously shared here, and for that my daughter and I are grateful. Thanks to some insightful tips from John and Tom, my daughter and I managed 5 rockfish. 3 were around the 18" mark, one at 20" and one at 24". (Tied for my PB off the kayak). Caught them all on paddle-tails (3-4") and in about 10-12 feet of water.
          IMG_7088.jpg
          I look forward to fishing with many of you again soon!

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by zspook View Post
            Hey Folks,

            Long time lurker, first report. It was great to finally meet many of you that I've been reading of from this forum! I've learned a great deal from the knowledge that is generously shared here, and for that my daughter and I are grateful. Thanks to some insightful tips from John and Tom, my daughter and I managed 5 rockfish. 3 were around the 18" mark, one at 20" and one at 24". (Tied for my PB off the kayak). Caught them all on paddle-tails (3-4") and in about 10-12 feet of water.
            [ATTACH=CONFIG]18580[/ATTACH]
            I look forward to fishing with many of you again soon!
            Well done. I'm glad you and your daughter had a fun morning. And don't wait so long before posting again.
            John Veil
            Annapolis
            Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

            Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

            Comment


            • #7
              Zspook, the look on your daughters face was priceless as she pulled in that 20 incher under the bridge.
              I love to see youngsters out fishing and having fun That made my day!

              Hope to see you on the water again!

              Yak67
              2015 Hobie PA-14
              2016 Hobie Outback LE ( The Skunk is Off!!)

              Comment


              • #8
                Sorry I'm late to post. Me and my buddy got out on the water just after sunrise and that's when we had our best bite. Caught fish in about 10-15 feet of water. Since we were satisfied with the catching we had right off the bat we called it an early afternoon with about 10 fish each with the biggest being 24 inches. Hope to see you guys out there soon!
                Malibu x-13
                Andy

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