Severn Report 10/28/19

[yakscientist]

I fished near the mouth of the Severn river on Monday, from 6:30-11:30am, and had steady success from about 7:15 on. I trolled a variety of lures but the 1/4oz red jigheads with opening night color z-man diesel minnows were the clear favorite. I caught a few fish on darker purple z-mans early, but not long after dawn broke, those colors were ignored. I think I caught 14 fish total, all except for 1 were between 15-23", and there was 1 dink at about 8". Most fish were caught in waters deeper than 15 feet, and the butter zone seemed to be at around 20 ft deep, though again, all the fish were hitting shallow lures. My 1/2-1.5oz jigs and plugs were untouched surprisingly, even though the FF showed most fish sitting at 10-20 ft. To me, that means visibility must be pretty good to hit a 1/4oz lure swimming at 2-3' , especially with that heavy rainfall on Sunday.

[Big Mike]

Interesting difference in where fish are. All of my fish today, except 1 came from 3-4’ of water. I did pick one up like yours while transitioning over a 15’ channel and the fish came up and hit my 1/8” oz jighead. The other thing I found odd was they had no interest in topwater on these shallow flats, but a lure trolled maybe a foot down was Halloween candy today. You never know what to expect.

[J.A. Veil]

I fished near the mouth of the Severn river on Monday, from 6:30-11:30am, and had steady success from about 7:15 on. I trolled a variety of lures but the 1/4oz red jigheads with opening night color z-man diesel minnows were the clear favorite. I caught a few fish on darker purple z-mans early, but not long after dawn broke, those colors were ignored. I think I caught 14 fish total, all except for 1 were between 15-23", and there was 1 dink at about 8". Most fish were caught in waters deeper than 15 feet, and the butter zone seemed to be at around 20 ft deep, though again, all the fish were hitting shallow lures. My 1/2-1.5oz jigs and plugs were untouched surprisingly, even though the FF showed most fish sitting at 10-20 ft. To me, that means visibility must be pretty good to hit a 1/4oz lure swimming at 2-3' , especially with that heavy rainfall on Sunday.

Thanks for that report. I have not visited the Severn downstream from Rt 450 since spring. In my trolling in the creeks and above the bridges during the past two months, all the fish I caught were in depths from 2' to 15'. I had no bites in deeper water. The fish I caught were almost all very fat -- they are feeding up for the upcoming winter.

[yakscientist]

Yeah I expected them to be in shallower water that would be warming quicker than the deeper waters I ended up finding them in. It's nice to be surprised sometimes. I had caught a few decent sized striper in the same general area a couple months ago, albeit in a shallower spot about 500 yards away, so it was nice to see fish still in the same general area. I have a feeling I'll only be consistently catching fish for a couple more weeks, then the long late fall/winter grind begins.

[Jman]

Thanks for the Severn report Pat. I’m glad you and others are able to make it out on some trips when the wind/rain is not howling.

[mjkeith13]

I had plans to troll the Severn between the bridges yesterday, 30 Oct, and any tidal creeks in the area between 1:00-3:30pm. I made it to the mouth of Luce creek before turning back to Weems, where I launched. The grass was everywhere on the Severn in that area so badly that trolling was impossible - all lures were immediately fouled with grass. However, there was no grass in Weems and I managed to catch 11 stipers ranging from 14-22", most around 18-19." Like John said, all were very fat and are still out there swimming after quick releases.
Weems striper 30 Oct 2019b.jpg
I did take a quick pic of this one caught probably less than 50yds from the launch as I waited for a power boat to load at the ramp. I caught 5 fish down creek and 5 fish up creek. Caught the last one above while in the holding pattern above. I tried many different colors but all 11 were caught on a 3/8oz bucktail with a white Shadzilla. I stupidly lost one large fish near the kayak as I searched for my fish grip; this one on a 1/8oz jighead with a white fat sam mullet. No hits on variations of chartreuse, new penny, speckled silver and gold. White was the ticket yesterday. All were caught almost exclusively at the 10ft depth.

While this wouldn't count as a very stellar day for most folks here, it was for me as these were my first stripers caught on the Severn or its creeks after 2 years of trying. I knew the Nats would win the WS later yesterday after that sign.

[yakscientist]

Looks like the Severn is holding fish in a variety of depths, which is great. I did forget to mention that leaves and other debris made trolling pretty difficult, but as long as I checked my lures every 15 minutes or so, it wasn't too bad.

[J.A. Veil]

I had plans to troll the Severn between the bridges yesterday, 30 Oct, and any tidal creeks in the area between 1:00-3:30pm. I made it to the mouth of Luce creek before turning back to Weems, where I launched. The grass was everywhere on the Severn in that area so badly that trolling was impossible - all lures were immediately fouled with grass. However, there was no grass in Weems and I managed to catch 11 stipers ranging from 14-22", most around 18-19." Like John said, all were very fat and are still out there swimming after quick releases.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]25731[/ATTACH]
I did take a quick pic of this one caught probably less than 50yds from the launch as I waited for a power boat to load at the ramp. I caught 5 fish down creek and 5 fish up creek. Caught the last one above while in the holding pattern above. I tried many different colors but all 11 were caught on a 3/8oz bucktail with a white Shadzilla. I stupidly lost one large fish near the kayak as I searched for my fish grip; this one on a 1/8oz jighead with a white fat sam mullet. No hits on variations of chartreuse, new penny, speckled silver and gold. White was the ticket yesterday. All were caught almost exclusively at the 10ft depth.

While this wouldn't count as a very stellar day for most folks here, it was for me as these were my first stripers caught on the Severn or its creeks after 2 years of trying. I knew the Nats would win the WS later yesterday after that sign.

Mike - Thanks for posting. You did well to find that many fish in Weems. That was a fine outing. I'm sorry that you turned around where you did, and did not venture farther into that creek. There is a lot of floating grass near the entrance, but it was clear once inside the creek, the last two times I visited there.

You mention the 4" white Shadzilla by 12 Fathom. Just coincidentally, I was contacted a few days ago by another Snaggedline member who had tried the Shadzilla and found it was outperforming his other plastics. I sold some to him at 3 for $1. This is about half of what the online order price is. If anyone wants some of them soon, contact me. I will most likely have more for sale at the HOW flea market next winter.

[mjkeith13]

John - your advice was spot on. I only wish I'd kept going into that creek. I was so frustrated by the floating grass on the way up there and I had great success back at Weems that I pulled all lures out of the water and high-tailed it back. Hopefully, I can get out to that creek before its too late.

I only use 12 Fathom plastics, thanks to your recommendation. I had great success with the 3" Fat Sam Mullet in a couple different colors while wading in the inlet down in the OB last week. Never tried the Shadzillas until you noted that the tidal creek stripers seemed to prefer solid colors. The only solid colors I had were the 4" white shadzillas and some chartreuse 3" fat sams. By the end of the day, that bucktail with the shadzilla was almost stripped. First time I tried the Shadzillas and am very pleased.

[J.A. Veil]

Trolling in smaller waters, like the tidal creeks, will be considerably tougher for the next month. After last night's strong winds, many leaves will have fallen. Floating leaves, as well as some residual floating grass strands, will catch on the hook and render your lures unattractive to fish. If you do try trolling, look for waters that are completely or mostly free from floating things. If you pass through a zone with debris, be prepared to wind in your lines often to check for fouling. Even when fishing in presumably clear water, check your lures every 10 mins if they have not gotten bit.

In the theme of Tips (Ron Ault's other post this morning) here is another trick I tried many years ago when pickerel were much more plentiful in Severn creeks. I would fish for them by casting a 1/8-oz jighead with a twistertail or a live minnow. If the waters where I wanted to cast had a bunch of leaves, I would cast out to a clear spot, then submerge my rod tip before winding back. It did not eliminate leave fouling, but did reduce it.