Goodhands Creek

[tarponguy]

New to the area and curious to know if anybody is having success fishing Goodhands Creek? Thinking about kayak fishing there since I live nearby but don't wish to waste the effort if some other place may be more productive. Any and all advice is appreciated - I live on Kent Island and reside in Chester.

[J.A. Veil]

If you only fish where you know the fish are, you may be missing some great opportunities. It sounds like Goodhands and other Kent Island launches are near your home. It is worth exploring to see if you can find fish and learn your local waters. The more often you fish the same areas, you can learn patterns (seasonal, tidal cycle, wind direction, etc.).

I have not fished Goodhands since last fall. In my experience over several years, the better striper bite at Goodhands starts early to mid summer. We are approaching that time now.

[tarponguy]

If you only fish where you know the fish are, you may be missing some great opportunities. It sounds like Goodhands and other Kent Island launches are near your home. It is worth exploring to see if you can find fish and learn your local waters. The more often you fish the same areas, you can learn patterns (seasonal, tidal cycle, wind direction, etc.).

I have not fished Goodhands since last fall. In my experience over several years, the better striper bite at Goodhands starts early to mid summer. We are approaching that time now.

Thanks for the quick reply. I see that you are a Native pro-staffer. I have a Slayer Propel and love it !!

[Mark]

Tarponguy,

Welcome to the area. You're fortunate to live close to Goodhands. It's my favorite kayaking stop on Eastern Shore tidal waters.

It offers big areas for trolling and also protection from the wind when needed on the lee side of Hog Island and in nearby Kirwan Creek. There are sod banks to target and other forms of structure that often hold fish such as riprap and a long breakwater.

I was there a few weeks ago and tangled with a couple of rays. Surface vegetation was thick in areas but that may have subsided by now. I caught schoolie stripers casting and trolling, nothing legal. Someone reported catches of larger stripers from Goodhands on Snaggedline shortly after my visit.

I suspect bigger fish may be prevalent now as John suggests.

Give it a try.

[rugbyfish]

I fished a little south of there Saturday evening. Caught plenty of 14-18" fish, but nothing over 20". I have a feeling the bigger ones were around, just not where I was.

[Crotalus]

Kent Island has a number of good launch sites and they're all worth checking out and learning since you are so close. I had good luck out of a different launch early in the month but have been out of town for a couple of weeks. Hope to get back out there later this week to see if the keepers are still around.

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[tarponguy]

If any of you are open to having somebody tag along when fishing Kent Island please let me know. I always enjoy having somebody to fish with instead of going out alone.

[rugbyfish]

Absolutely, I'll let you know when I'm planning my next trip.

[Crotalus]

I'll likely launch out of Shipping Creek on Friday morning.

[tarponguy]

Never fished out of Shipping Creek before. If you are open to letting me join you it would be a pleasure - just let me know approx what time you plan to launch and I'll see you there! Either way good luck to you & hope you find the keepers !

[Crotalus]

Sure thing. I'll probably get there 6:45-7:00 am. If you get there earlier or later, I won't be hard to find.

[tarponguy]

Hey Kevin, something just came up that will require that I am home tomorrow morning so unfortunately I won't be able to join you. Maybe next time ?? Hope you have a good day on the water and the fishing gods are good to you !!!

[Crotalus]

Hey Kevin, something just came up that will require that I am home tomorrow morning so unfortunately I won't be able to join you. Maybe next time ?? Hope you have a good day on the water and the fishing gods are good to you !!!

No worries. Some other time for sure.

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[J.A. Veil]

Here is a first-hand report from Goodhands. I knew the 14-knot SE wind would be an issue, but also knew I could find some sheltered spots. I launched about 8:15 with fairly high water and incoming tide. I put out four trolling lines inside the creek. At the creek mouth, I turned left to head north and had one rod go down -- 12" striper. At the next point I veered out a few yards and had a second hit. For each quarter mile I moved northward, the waves increased by 6". I turned right to head towards the yacht club and faced 1.5 - 2 footers. As I approached the point by the yacht club, these built to closely spaced 3 footers that came over my bow multiple times (fortunately I leave two large diameter scuppers in the cockpit floor open at all times -- the water ran out. I could barely make headway and decided to skip visiting the breakwaters.

I turned south toward Hog Island and had so much wave action, I actually hoped I would not get a bite. As I approached Hog Island, the water was sheltered somewhat by the island. Just then many small patches of floating grasses appeared. I could not keep my lines clean. I headed southeast into Prospect Bay and began catching fish every few minutes. They were all small. The grass patches were there meaning that I had to check and clean my baits frequently. After an hour of that exercise, I moved up into the shelter of Kirwan Creek. I found a few more small stripers, with my last fish of the day coming in at a whopping 15".

I pedaled for nearly three hours and got beat up by the wind and waves about half of the time. I wound in about 15 small stripers but got plenty of extra pullage from the grass clumps that fouled my baits. Most of the time I was trolling in depths of 3 to 6 ft. On several occasion I pedaled across slightly deeper areas that showed abundant sonar marks. I had no bites at all in the areas where these screen shots were taken. I really expected some pullage there, but it never happened.

001.jpg 002.JPG

This trip would have been easier on a day with less wind. I had no evidence that larger stripers are in the area at this time. I will wait at least a few weeks before heading back there.

[Crotalus]

I'm going to create a separate post for my day, but had a decent day in the end. Thought I could fight the wind but, like John, got beaten down and had to change my strategy and ended up finding some fish.