The Severn Remains Striper Stingy

[Mark]

John Rentch and I launched into the Severn this morning from Jonas Green on a flooding tide. It was beautifully calm but that was not to last.

I made a trip to the western side of the river but soon returned to the eastern side and that is where we concentrated our efforts.

I caught this striper by dragging a paddletail on a 1/4 oz. jig when crossing to the eastern side:

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A completely unremarkable schoolie aside from its healthy appearance. However, and I say this sadly, it is the largest striper I have caught in the Severn this year. How pitiful is that?

However, it got worse. Here was my next catch:

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A pre-schoolie! The good news is that he was learning his craft. He chased down my paddletail. Perhaps he'll do the same thing in 3 or 4 years and give someone a genuine photo opportunity.

I caught another like him on the same lure during my crossing. Then I switched to targeting white perch in 4 distinct areas on the eastern side of the river.

Each site was fruitful and I caught 26 perch in total on a jig spinner. These two were the largest and I happened to catch them on consecutive casts:

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The others were 6 to 8 inches.

We often talk about casting to shade when looking for perch. Here's a case in point:

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You can see John is straddling the line between sun and shade and casting into the darker water. Note also the phragmites. Perch love to be near them.

Of course the wind kicked up during our trip north on the river. After a couple of hours we decided to head back into the teeth of the wind. I was pedaling but John was paddling. He was a trooper paddling non-stop for about mile and half into the wind. He trolled back to Jonas. I just enjoyed the ride with my lines in and snapped this photo of him working his paddles:

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So ended our morning on the Severn. The perch are present and offer lots of fun as targets. But decent stripers remain scarce, at least for us they were.

[J. Rentch]

As Mark has mentioned, the Severn is Striper stingy. I trolled two rods (3/8 white bucktail and a 1/8 jig with a 3"PT from Jonas Green to above the Rt 50 bridge and back and not one hit. Yes the water was rough coming back, but I thought at least I would get a hit. Managed a few White Perch along the shorelines protected by the SE winds. Nothing over 9". This has been a crazy year on the Severn. Doing my fishing on the Eastern Shore for a whilte.

[bignose]

I fished in Weems Creek this a.m. from 7:30 tip 10:30, so I missed out on dealing with the wind.
I managed to catch a reasonable number of perch today, on the usual spinner jig and a #13 Tony spoon. Most were 5-7 inches but two were around 9".

I did catch a striper, all of 5" long, on a spinner jig. Can't call one that small a "Rockfish," more like a pebble. It's the third micro rock I've caught in Weems this year.
Still looking for that first Pikerel of 2018.

But for the first time in nearly a year, I was able to get my 16 foot Camper Canoe out.

[Mark]

Stu,

Congrats on getting the Camper wet. Your shoulder must be much better.

Regarding picks, I have not caught one in the Severn since November 2016. However, I know there is at least one in Weems. One of my friends from FSFF caught a nice one there a couple of weeks ago.

[J. Rentch]

Nice going Stu, glad you got out

[J.A. Veil]

For me, the Severn and its tidal creeks and ponds are home waters. I can get to several launch points quickly from my home, and I have spend hundreds of days on these local waters during my 17 years of kayak fishing. It is frustrating to see a decline in catch rates and in predictability of Severn species. Nevertheless it remains convenient, friendly, and beautiful. Mark posted a few days ago about his new touring kayak, which will get him on the water just for the joy of being on the water, without worrying about fishing. I feel that way about spending time on the Severn, even when catching is less that what I would like.

I have observed rises and declines in Severn pickerel populations over the past decade. Typically declines were limited to one or a few tributaries, unlike the widespread absence of pickerel in the past two years. I cannot figure out what caused them to die or leave all at the same time. I hope it is a temporary phenomenon.

Stripers seem to be hard to find in the river at this time, but I suspect they will be back in larger numbers later in the year. To the extent that the historical fish patterns in my experience have shifted, I take it as a challenge to learn the new patterns. For several years, I found great spring and fall striper bites in specific zones of the river, but not in other zones. I discovered these somewhat by accident, but the accidents were aided by me spending lots of time on the river and trying new spots when the old ones were not producing.
For now, the perch are still abundant and widespread in the river. They are fun to catch from mid-May to mid-October. Every now and then, a perch shows up when and where it is not supposed to be. Many of you have heard my story of winning the 2012 Maryland Fishing Challenge (and a Bass Tracker boat) as a result of catching a citation perch in a Severn tidal pond on Jan 1, 2012. By all of my river experience before and after that day, perch are not supposed to be in 3' of water depth in the winter. But that perch was there on that day and provided me with a wonderful catch and a great story.