Good bite in lower Severn - ultralight tackle trifecta

[J.A. Veil]

I knew it would be hot outside today, but still wanted to get some time on the water. I launched my kayak in Weems Creek around 9:00 am and headed out to the river, then downstream. I fished some shorelines in the vicinity of the Naval Academy bridge. The first few spots I tried were completely unproductive. Finally I found an area that produced several perch from the same location. I moved further along and began fishing in a sheltered cove. Here I was protected from the light breeze and wakes. I started by throwing a gold spinner arm with a 4" chartreuse plastic minnow. I also threw a silver inline spinner and a multi-colored hard plastic lure I bought in New Zealand. I had hoped for a strong bite on the New Zealand lure, but did not get any fish on that lure today. The photo below shows the three lures, plus a Gulp bait (the one on the bottom not attached to a lure).

Both of the spinner lures produced fish. Surprisingly, in one location, the spinner arm worked better, but in other spots, the inline spinner produced more catches. I had brought along a bag of Gulp 4" swimming mullet baits in chartreuse color. The Gulp baits have worked well for me in the past (I out-caught a friend in Galveston Bay, TX last summer by using the same style of Gulp bait on my jighead while he used his regular soft plastics) As an experiment, I removed the chartreuse plastic minnow from the spinner arm and substituted the Gulp bait. Initially, the results were not too good, but once I found a productive spot, the perch came in fast and furious. At one point, I cast three times to the same location using the Gulp. On cast 1, I got a 9" perch. On casts 2 and 3 the perch were 11" and 10" (not bad for three successive casts). I caught quite a few other 10" and 11" fish (I have a stick on measuring tape inside the kayak, so these are legitimate measurements).

I caught mostly perch, although on two successive casts, I hooked a ~15" pickerel (it did a self release after several jumps) and an 8" rockfish. The air temp was definitely warm, but on the water it was not too bad. The water temp was in the low to mid 80s.

[Grady-Black]

Thanks for the report my friend, I'm going to try near there Monday if the weather is a little cooler.
GB

[ictalurus]

Gulp on a spinner arm is one of my personal favorites, too. I've found that they'll hit it even when the tail is missing. Next time you're out and the silver spinner arm doesn't work well, try a gold one. I cast 6 times in more or less the same spot one day, first with silver and then with gold. No hits on the silver but three consecutive perch on the gold. I was using a 2" white twin tail grub on both the silver and gold. Go figure.

[surfdog]

thanks for the report and lure selection! i bumed a in line spinner from medicyaker last sat. over on mill creek, a heddon spinner with a double hook on the back. he said it was a killer for wp and he was right. pulled them from the fragmites, docks and bulkheads

[mmanolis2001]

Nice job on the perch and Thanks for the report. That lure from the New Zealand looks cool. I love seeing tackle from other parts of the world.

[J.A. Veil]

That lure from the New Zealand looks cool. I love seeing tackle from other parts of the world.

I have had the good fortune to travel to a lot of interesting destinations. Over the past few years, when I am far from home, I look for tackle shops to see if they use any different sorts of tackle than we do here. A few weeks ago, my family and I were in Australia and New Zealand. I visited a tackle shop in Airlie Beach, Australia (one of the primary shore points to get out to the Great Barrier Reef). Most of the tackle there was pretty much the same as we use here, just more costly. I bought a few 3-oz jigs as gifts for some of my fishing buddies.

A few days later, we were on the north island of New Zealand and drove to Lake Taupo. The lake and several rivers that flow into it are considered world-class trout fisheries (3-5 lb average for rainbows). I stopped into tackle shops in Taupo at the north end of the lake and in Turangi at the south end. I was drawn to a display of lures that I had never seen before. They are made by Kiwi Lures. The are colorful hard plastic over a lead core. Most of them have fins off the sides to give them a wobbling action. They can be rigged with a hook out the bottom and a swivel at the top (as shown below), or the line can be threaded through a hollow tube in the lure so that the lure moves around on the line.

In the Lake Taupo area, the lures are fished either by trolling or by casting and retrieving with large trout as the target prey. I have tried casting them several times in the Severn for perch but have not found the right spot or presentation yet. I'm sure they will do well when breaking fish start showing up in the bay.

I bought several samples in two different sizes as shown in the photos below. Whether or not they catch Chesapeake Bay fish is yet to be seen; however, they definitely catch fishermen.

[Shady]

Thanks for the report! I like to use gulp minnows in either 1 or 3 inch exclusively for perch with a road runner jig or jig and spinner arm. In my opinion gulp simply outfishes regular plastic. I bet the swimming mullet would better isolate the big perch if they are around.

Those New Zealand lures look sweet, have you tried casting them under piers in the severn? I bet you'll find some takers eventually.