Not much to report from Crab Alley - Sunday April 24th

[jjflash68]

I thought I would start the season off in the same place I left it last October launching out of Little Creek Landing. I didn’t want to get up early to try to hit the ebb tide so I planned to be out for the flood in the afternoon. Also the forecast for the morning was still calling for more wind than I wanted to deal with on my first trip out by myself this year. My plan was to work down to Bodkin Island during the slack tide, stretch the legs, and then work back on the flood tide. As I was putting in around noon a number of boats were coming in from the morning and none had any good news to report. After clearing the landing I looked out onto Crab Alley and saw this:

Where did everyone go 2.jpg

If nothing else it would be a beautiful day. On the way out I marked 5 bait balls in less than an hour which I took as a promising sign but overall few fish except a small number holding the bottom. It was like traveling through a fish desert. I reached Bodkin, took a short stretch, and then began working back the way I came hitting the same edges and areas that had produced last season.

If you have never seen Bodkin Island it provides a stark image of the forces of the wind and tides. This small spec of land was about 32 acres in size in 1899 and down to less than 5 acres in the 1950’s according to an Army Corp of Engineers Habitat Restoration Study (http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a254012.pdf). There is a wooden bulkhead surrounding the island that is in poor shape but the island is still home to many birds in the spring.

Bodkin.jpg

With the flood tide I marked more fish, some up to 10 feet in depth but most were still near the bottom. My son has accused me of bringing too much in the way of tackle so today I was only carrying two small Plano boxes and was equipped to only troll period. I tried soft plastics, X-raps, Crystal Minnows big, small, every color I had, but nothing was biting at the depth I was running. Finally, while trolling 3 rods, I had a hit. I made sure the fish was on the line, and then pulled in the other two lines so as not to have a disaster. By the time I brought him into the boat, this guy was tired as I had kept tension on the line by pedaling while bringing in the other lines. I decided to not bring him into the yak and release him directly from the water. Sorry for the fuzzy image, but I estimate he was around 22-24 inches. He bit on a Lunker City 7-inch Limetreuse Fin-S Fish on a ½ oz jig head.

Charity.jpg

I continued to mark fish as I made my way back to the landing without another bite. 5 hours on the water, roughly 8 miles of pedaling in great weather and one single fish. I’ll take it. My impression is that the bite in most places for Stripers has not been great for most Yak fishermen these past few weeks. Is this typical for this time of year?

Jack

[J.A. Veil]

Thanks for that report from Eastern Bay. I had good success launching my kayak from Little Creek last Sept and Oct but never tried in the spring. During the summer and fall I often stop at Bodkin Island when fishing in Eastern Bay from my center console and throw small soft plastics up to the rocks and sheet piling. It is a neat place that provides a small amount of shallow water structure surrounded by deeper water. I catch stripers there on about half of the times I stop.

[Mark]

Thank you for the report and photos.

I've seen Bodkin up close courtesy of John Veil and his center console. I've caught stripers along its diminishing shoreline.

It is indeed a classic illustration of Chesapeake erosion at work.

It's also a bit rough on the nose when you get down wind of the bird colony that clings to it.

[toadfinger]

Keep fishing EB through this spring. It can have outstanding C&R for post-spawn stripers. During the day, fish deeper water contours and structures along the main shipping channel or the channel edge and lumps on the south east side of Kent Island. Usually a lot of bait out there in the spring so look for sporadic surface action.