South River fishing report

[john from md]

Fished the South River at Quiet Waters Park today with John Rentch. I know I have mentioned catching "Aquarium Sized" fish in the past but this was the first time I actually targeted "Aquarium Sized" fish.

I was helping John catch Croaker for the Annapolis Maritime Museum. We were killing the baby Croaker with a few small perch thrown in. After John left, I caught and released a couple of 14 inch perch. Ha Ha, just kidding. If I had caught them, I would be eating them tonight.

It was a great morning, great conversation and companionship. It wasn't anyplace to be in a yak though. When I left about 1100, the water was hitting the bulkhead like those you see during an ocean storm.

I think the wind coming in at a 45 degree angle to the incoming tide gave us a faster current and made the fish more active. I was literally getting hit as soon as the hook hit the water. John pulled in several doubles and contrary to normal fishing, we where keeping the little ones and throwing the bigger ones back.

Next time I'm in Delaware, I may help my friends to catch and tag some fish in the Atlantic. I can assure you, they won't be little and they HAVE TEETH.

[Mark]

Nice report John.

You can tell John R. is on an aquarium collection mission when he has an orange bucket in the bow of his Ultimate with a aerator bubbling in it. (He carries a collection permit.)

I have donated a couple of fish to his cause.

One was a small striper I caught in Weems Creek. An hour or so later, I joined John at the museum and watched him release it into the tank:

aquarium1.jpg

Here's the striper in its new home:

aquarium2.jpg

No more worries about being tricked by lures or being eaten by its larger cousins in the wild. It can also look forward to a steady diet of minnows in its future.

John does a great job at the museum keeping the aquarium water quality in check and feeding its inhabitants.

[john from md]

I hope to get to the museum, maybe next Wednesday if God and my wife allow.

[Mark]

John,

I like to fish bulkheads and riprap when waves are sloshing into them -- perhaps not as hard as you described above. But bow waves from passing boats, moderate wind-blown water and fast moving tides dislodge bait near the structure and often lead to feeding frenzies by hungry predators. it's a good time to toss lures into the fray.

[J. Rentch]

Got a double this morning, thanks to John for the help. The fish are doing well in their new home.

img_0102.jpg

[john from md]

I'll keep that in mind next time Mark.

[CHOC]

Last time I was at Bass Pro Shops, I was looking at their GIANT aquarium. The only fish that didn’t look healthy were the striped bass. They had growths and sores on them. Have you found that stripers are susceptible to issues in an aquarium?

[J. Rentch]

Yes, we recently lost our Stripers (one was 18”) several weeks ago. They didn’t develop sores, but had lost their color. I am not a ichthyologist, so not sure what caused them to get sick. If a sick fish was introduced into the tank I am positive the condition would spread. Things are better now, so that is,why I wanted to put some Croaker into the tank.