Eastern shore - six species today

[J.A. Veil]

The wind forecast looks dreary for the next few days. Today I decided to try some Eastern Shore spots that are somewhat protected from the wind. I’m glad I went. I fished in three different locations (one from the shore and two by kayak) and ended the day catching six different species.

I started the day doing some shoreline casting at a freshwater tidal location that generally has runs of different fish species during the spring. I caught a few small white perch then got one hickory shad. The bulk of the shad run will come through there soon – my fish was one of the front guard.

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Next I launched my kayak into the same stream several miles downstream where the water is wider. The wind was gusting in an upstream direction. Depending on which direction the river bed turned, I got more push from the wind or more from the downstream current. It made for minimal paddling effort. I caught three more perch there.

After lunch, I drove to a new-to-me pond at Urieville, about 10 mins north of Chestertown. This is a small, shallow public lake with two arms in a Y shape. Most of both arms are too shallow to fish, plus there is a bunch of aquatic vegetation and green slime.

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In the main part of the lake before it branches into the Y, the water depth was 3-5 ft. I was able to cast out and work the lure above the aquatic vegetation. During the first hour, I caught 2 largemouth, 3 pickerel, and 2 bluegills. For the second hour I got nothing other than a lot of green slime on my lures. I really wanted to get my first crappie of the year and was about to give up hope. In the last 30 mins I caught 2 crappie and another largemouth. All fish today were caught on 1/8-oz jighead with 2” twister tails or on a Bignose spinner.

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All three of these spots are less than an hour from the Bay Bridge. When Mother Nature gives us wind, it is necessary to be creative in order to go fishing.

[Mark]

Bridging East offers many fishing opportunities for those of us on the western shore who live close to the Bay Bridge.

That was a fun day, John.

[baitball]

Beautiful colors on that pickerel John. Congrats on a productive day.

[DanMarino]

That's my kind of fishing trip. Well done John!

[CHOC]

Nice fish, John. The large mouth just don’t get that big up here I guess. Most pictures I see are small guys. I’m from Georgia and remember catching largemouths as a kid that I could literally fit two fists into their mouth. Carolina rigs around stumps and structure all day. My PB down there was a 10 lb 6 oz and most of my buddies beat me by quite a bit. My friends dad caught a 20 lb lm bass that was just a few lbs short of the state record at the time.

Of course, our freshwater stripers in Georgia don’t hold a candle to the cows we get here in the Bay. For perspective, I’ve caught several stripers that were in the 30+ lb range. Overall, MD fishing > Ga fishing.

[CHOC]

Also, I grew up on a lake that was one of only 3 lakes in Georgia that had northern Pike. All three lakes were in the north Georgia mountains which allowed temps to stay cool enough. They look very similar to the pickerel that I see people post pics of only much larger. Dumb yocals down there consider them trash fish, break their necks and toss them overboard. Some of my best memories are trolling for Pike with a red and white spoon. Man did they jump and put that light tackle to the test. Amazing predators those fish. I’m assuming pickerel are the same.

[J. Rentch]

Nice going John, glad you were able to find some protective water that held fish.

[EMSer]

You put in the time and were properly rewarded! Nice job.

[Mark]

Also, I grew up on a lake that was one of only 3 lakes in Georgia that had northern Pike. All three lakes were in the north Georgia mountains which allowed temps to stay cool enough. They look very similar to the pickerel that I see people post pics of only much larger. Dumb yocals down there consider them trash fish, break their necks and toss them overboard. Some of my best memories are trolling for Pike with a red and white spoon. Man did they jump and put that light tackle to the test. Amazing predators those fish. I’m assuming pickerel are the same.

Hawg,

My only Georgia fishing experience was two trips in the mid-1990s to Clarks Hill Reservoir, also known as Strom Thurmond Lake to the folks in the bordering state of SC.

Your story of the locals killing pike reminded of some thing I saw there. Gar were prevalent. Even though I was on guided trips in a glitter boat, in the early evenings I would wade the shoreline near a golf course on the lake with my fly rod catching bluegills, or brim, as the locals call them. (I also found dozens of golf balls and filled my vest pockets with them each evening!) As I waded, these prehistoric-looking fish, gar, were rolling in the water near me. Despite their sinister appearance with the long snout, they didn't bother me. I think they were preoccupied with each other spawning. I never hooked one. However, during the trip, I saw anglers catch them. They broke their snouts and tossed them back into the water, an incredibly cruel thing to do. They said they were trash fish.

Regarding bass, I have read that there are strains of CA, FL and TX bass that grow larger than we typically find locally. I caught some nice bass in Clarks Hill but nothing exceedingly large. I did learn to use the Carolina Rig that you mentioned. That was the way of the locals. When in Rome...

Lastly, I don't know if Clarks Hill has stripers but it has Hybrids of White Bass x Stripers. I caught a bunch of them. They behaved just like our stripers boiling the water in feeding frenzies. Cast any lure into the fray and you hooked up.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice fish, John. The large mouth just don’t get that big up here I guess.

I am an inexperienced bass fisherman and catch a few here and there by luck. Don't judge the Maryland bass population or typical size by my catches.

I have far more experience fishing saltwater.

[CHOC]

John, you’re probably more experienced than you think in terms of catching largemouth. If you know how to catch striped bass, you know a lot about catching largemouth. Only big difference I’ve noticed is the schooling, blitz mode that stripers get into and the fact that stripers are easier to catch when trolling. Other than that, the lure choice is similar (although largemouth are a bit more color specific) and many of the techniques are the same (top water spooks, plugs, jigging, and soft plastics, fishing structure in summer patterns).

I’ve found the transition from southern largemouth to Chesapeake striper to be very natural. I’ve actually put a lot of thought into modifying the Carolina Rig used down south for striped bass. Based on my trials, I’d be willing to bet that if you changed out the purple/pumpkinseed/bubble gum colored plastic worm for a white plastic worm and fished it the same way, with maybe a few more hard jerks for the reaction strike, that it would be an effective if not deadly technique.

[Crotalus]

My friends dad caught a 20 lb lm bass that was just a few lbs short of the state record at the time.

That's pretty dang good, considering the Georgia State record is also the world record. I lived/worked a few miles from the lake it was caught, which is now an all but completely filed in oxbow. Never caught a big bass near there, but did get a 7-8 lber near Athens.

[RBobAnnap]

At home (Southeast Texas swamp and Big Thicket country) I caught gar on catfish bait (cubed liver or other organs pinned on snelled hooks and kept in a open jar with fly prevention for a week or more 'way out in the back yard) and kept them to eat (we was po'). Hard to scale and the very devil to clean, but bigger ones fileted nicely. I thought they tasted better fried than large- or smallmouth did.