Nice Day at the Nice

[ronaultmtd]

I slipped out this morning around 11 am at Aqualand Marina to fish the Harry Nice Bridge in the Ugly Duckling. I had two reasons- one I had enough reading about others fishing and secondly I haven't had the Duck in the water since rigging it- I hadn't been in the water twenty minutes when the drag sang on my Curada- nice fish, I fought it for a long, long time and that is a bad sign- after about fifteen minutes the jig hook straightened. I was using a 1/4 oz jig head with a 4/0 hook and a three inch Mister Twister tail dipped in Garlic flavoring that turns the white curly tail Chartreuse on the Curado and a Rapala X-Rap blue silver crankbait on the Revo. Dang! I hate that, but the pullage was good- a few minutes later I had a fat Bluefish on the crankbait. I caught several blues and several stripers right at the 18 inch size but I was not keeping anything today- The rigging was what I wanted to check out- everything worked on the Cuda 350 Smap Fish Finder/GPS- the Carbon Visipole was flapping in the breeze and the Revolution rod holder worked like a champ. The PEPCO generating plant was in full swing and the discharge water was running strong- I zig zagged back and forth through it- every once in a while the drag would sing and I would catch another striper- nice fish, all about the same size- I headed to the PowerPlant pier and trolled next to its pilings- Blues, Blues and more Blues- they ate almost a full bag of Mister Twister tails- but they were a lot of fun to catch- i got one about two pounds- 17 1/2 inches. The Crankbait caught two of the bigger stripers and lots of Bluefish- The Jighead with white/chartreuse Mr. Twister tails caught the most fish. After four hours I put the Duck on top of my car and headed home- nice day fishing the Nice.

[WST120]

Ron,

Great report and pictures. How much does the marina now charge to launch from their beach?

[ronaultmtd]

They charge $8.00 for a launch no matter if you launch in the marina or the beach which is where I launch

[toadfinger]

I'm glad to hear a report from that area. Sounds like you had plenty of action.

The many-legged pier at the PP is a veritable perch factory. Get a bag of peelers and you can catch fish all day!

Steve, Greenbelt

[ictalurus]

Sounds like an excellent day, Ron. Now I'm really sorry I didn't join you. Do you think the fish you lost was a big blue cat?

[ronaultmtd]

It was heavy Bill, I first thought I had foul hooked a cable until it started running against the current. I never did much with it. It did whatever it wanted and took me out towards the deeper channel. Slow head shake with steady swimming- figured it was a big blue cat after I got the lure back with the bent hook. I didn't think I put that much drag to bend the hook so it must have twisted it's head when fighting and that big hard mouth did all the bending- the lure felt slimy but who knows? It definitely was not hung up on the bottom. But that put a smile on my face as a way to start the day.

[Shady]

Sounds you found some excellent fishing out there. I'm going crazy sitting in my office with all these mid-week reports!

[Shield]

Sounds like another nice day on the water.

[tufnik]

Have to join you next time. Hey, when are you going to Wachaprece(sp?) for specks?

[ronaultmtd]

I wanted to go last week but the weather was so rainy it didn't work- I sneaked in a quick trip to the 301 Bridge and caught some nice fish- water had a lot of debris but still had fish- I'll bet we could catch some monster blue cats at the bridge if we fished cut bait on fish finder rigs-

[moc]

Would be fun to catch a monster blue cat. I'll have to come on down and fish with you soon.

[ronaultmtd]

I am going back down to the Harry Nice one day this week- but I want the winds to lay down a bit- it chopped up like a big dog the last trip- bumpy as all get out with the 15-20 mph winds coming directly across the river towards the Maryland side- tough fighting both wind driven chop and the current together. Made me glad for the turbo fins and sail rudder. I am going to go by the Gun and Tackle shop and pickup a five pound pack of frozen bunkers for cut bait and rig up fish finders for the Blue Cats- should be able to get another sleigh ride across the Potomac...I figure to troll around and pick up a couple of Bluefish for fresh cut bait and rig one rod with bunker and the other with Blue chunks...I'll anchor up current to the bridge pilings on the edge of the first channel right before the drop off. If I remember right the water is about 17 feet right before it drops to 70-80 feet.

[MetroMan]

Nice going!!

[Redfish12]

Looks like a fun day out there! I usually fish that area quite a bit but have only made it down a couple of times this season. Maybe this weekend I'll sneak down there.

Good luck anchoring there, the current rips and the bottom can be sticky around the bridge. You might be better off sitting in the eddy behind a piling if you can.

[ronaultmtd]

Looks like a fun day out there! I usually fish that area quite a bit but have only made it down a couple of times this season. Maybe this weekend I'll sneak down there.

Good luck anchoring there, the current rips and the bottom can be sticky around the bridge. You might be better off sitting in the eddy behind a piling if you can.

The current does rip through there- but I was able to peddle back and forth above and below the bridge last trip- thanks to turbo fins- it would have been very difficult to paddle that, though. I plan to fish the bridge Saturday. I think I should be able to anchor in the shallower waters out of the main current if I am on the edge of the first channel nearest Maryland side- That is not too far off the beach. Catching a big Blue Cat will be my mission Saturday- I know there are some real monsters there. If I get a striper on cut bait so much the better. I don't think I will keep any fish- all catch and release.