Saturday Morning Upper PAX river Report

[BigRick]

Launched just north of the Jug Bay. Paddled around, scanning the fishfinder in the deeper holes, looking for yellow perch. Found lots of marks down deep in 25+ feet of water. Fished with Shad-darts, earthworms and live minnows. Caught lots of White Perch up to 8" Did find some big female Yellow Perch about 11-12" All of them are still pre-spawn, so only kept a few. Surprise Catch of the day was a 18" rockfish. Did not think they would be in the river right now, but you never know in the PAX. I checked all the yellow perch stomachs and they are feeding off mud-crabs right now.

Key to success was using the fishfinder and really anchoring up on top of the fish. Guys were fishing all around me without catching but the downscan never fails. Get on top of em, throw the right baits down and hook-up. Great early season trip. GL

[DanMarino]

Great report. That's how to get it done!

[D3NAL1]

I was up there about a week ago. Caught stripers and carp. Was looking for cats, but ended up with none. I didnt bring gear for perch. Its hard to find minnows right now.

[AintMisBehavin]

Anyone have a lead on where to get minnows if launching near Jug Bay?

Gregory

[CaptCHawk]

Anyone have a lead on where to get minnows if launching near Jug Bay?

Gregory

The nearest place is Bay Pro Shop on rt 260 ( road to Chesapeake Beach) Close for waysons but a hike from jug bay.
http://www.bayproshop.com/bait.html

[BigRick]

Anyone have a lead on where to get minnows if launching near Jug Bay?

Gregory

I normally throw the cast net to get mine, but haven't seen any yet this year. The tackle shops are starting to stock them so you might have to go buy some. The smaller the better this time of year.

[J.A. Veil]

Anyone have a lead on where to get minnows if launching near Jug Bay?

Gregory

I buy my minnows at Anglers on Rt 50 near the Bay Bridge. For many of you, it is out of the way. If you plan well, you can keep minnows alive in the cold weather for several weeks, allowing you to get more than one trip off of the same batch of minnows. I have gone at least three weeks on the same batch.

I keep my minnows in a minnow bucket set inside a 5-gal bucket in my garage. I try to refresh the water every few days even if I am not going fishing. I have used brackish water and fully fresh water in the minnow bucket -- these hardy minnows don't seem to mind. Check periodically for dead minnows and remove them -- once they die, they begin to decompose and foul the water. It is not necessary to aerate the water or feed the fish. You can do that if you want to, but the fish will be okay without those efforts.

When I do fish using minnows, I no longer carry the full minnow bucket with me. When I arrive at the launch, I transfer a batch of minnows from the bucket to a dry-roasted peanut jar with a screw-on lid. A few dozen minnows easily stay alive in the jar during a 3-hour trip in the kayak. I have a small plastic cup in the cup holder in front of my seat. I transfer a few of the minnows from the jar into the cup and use them until they are gone.

Please note that this procedure works in cold weather, but would not be as successful in warmer weather.

[AintMisBehavin]

Thanks John. Sage wisdom as expected. I am hoping that Old Man Winter is done with us, but I do have a Hobie livewell for the hotter months.