Hoopers Island

[J.A. Veil]

John Rentch, Gary Grey, and I launched from Hoopersville (Middle Hoopers Island) this morning. We circumnavigated Lower Hoopers Island (about 8-9 miles round trip -- John and I paddled). The winds were light, but the tides were very slow. Although I cast to dozens of grassy points, I never saw current moving past the points or any obvious rip lines. The lack of current put a damper on the catching.

I caught a 24" striper, another 7 small stripers, and a 17.5" spec (just my second Maryland spec of the year). All fish came on 3" Fat Sam mullet paddletails on jigheads. I also fished with an XRap 10 and a popper and had no interest in those lures. I left my fishing camera on the dining room table, and when I went to grab my phone, somehow I slid the brightness slider to the minimum position and could no longer see the screen. Therefore, I have no on-the-water fish pictures. The spec came home with me for dinner and posed for a photo before the cleaning process began.

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Hoopersville is literally at the end of the road. It took over two hours to drive there, making this a non-frequent destination. I would like to return on a day with stronger tidal current. It is remote and very pretty there.

I have never seen as many jellyfish as I saw today. It was amazing. At the end of the trip I stepped out of the kayak into 6" deep water at the ramp. I had on shoes and long pants. There was a 2" strip of skin exposed above the shoe. Now, several hours later, my ankles are burning from the jellyfish stings I got getting out of the water.

I left while John and Gary were still on the water. They can add their own report.

[ronaultmtd]

Good report guys...glad you got some...

[Big Mike]

We were commenting this morning about how slow the tide was, virtually no current. Difference between low and high wasn’t much today. Glad you found a trout.

[J.A. Veil]

We were commenting this morning about how slow the tide was, virtually no current. Difference between low and high wasn’t much today. Glad you found a trout.

At Middle Hoopers Island, the differential between the early morning low and the mid-morning high was only 0.3 ft. The difference between the mid-morning high and the afternoon low was a more typical 0.9 ft. The differential between the afternoon low and the evening high tonight is a whopping 1.8 ft. I don't understand the science behind this, but I have observed it many times.

uneven tides.jpg


For much of the day, we had the mild tidal current moving in the opposite direction of low winds. Effectively there was minimal water movement. It made for easy paddling, but not great fishing.

I pan fried the trout fillets in olive oil with some Panko bread crumbs and Seafood Magic seasoning. We enjoyed the fish with greens beans and rice, followed by fresh cherries and blueberries for a fruit course, then home-made chocolate cookies for dessert.

[J. Rentch]

Even though I couldn't find many fish, the area was worth the trip. I did manage two schoolies, one at the southern tip and one at the northern tip of Thorofate Point. One other species I saw lots of were Terrapins. They would stick their small round heads above the water until my kayak came close, then down they would dive. When I completed the loop of Lower Hooper Island, I felt my shoulders throbbing a bit, so I decided to head back to the launch (over 9 miles for a 75 year of man is pretty good!) Once I got the kayak loaded on the truck, I went into the pavilion in the park, and ate my peanut butter/jelly sandwich with a gator aide. Like John said, this is a place to revisit-when the tides are running better.

[Redfish12]

hopefully you at least stopped at Old Salty's or the General Store for a cheese steak!

[J. Rentch]

No, not sure if Old Sally’s was open. Wasn’t aware of the cheese steak- maybe next time!

[Redfish12]

Both are worth the trap!

[Mark]

Fishing new locations is never easy, especially lacking the help of a guide or someone who knows nuances of the area. A contrary tide makes the task even more difficult.

Congratulations on the effort and the catches to both of you.

[whenican]

One of my fav places to launch.

[Dimo]

About 4-5 of my typical summer spots are not overrun with jellyfish. Very atypical over the last 54 yea I’ve been on the water.


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[zeebyrd]

Hi John - I have Labor Day week off and am hoping to go to Hooper Island. Do you have any general pointers for the area?


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[J.A. Veil]

Hi John - I have Labor Day week off and am hoping to go to Hooper Island. Do you have any general pointers for the area?


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Laura - I fished at Hoopers Island by kayak only one time -- it was early July this summer. Others who replied to this thread may have more experience and can offer better insight. Here are a few thoughts for you.

1) It takes a long time to drive to Hoopersville. From my home in Annapolis, it took nearly two hours to get there. That is at the very outer extreme of how far I am willing to drive out and back in the same day for a kayak fishing trip.

2) I chose not to spend the night in Dorchester County due to concerns over Covid. During a normal year, I would enjoy fishing there for half a day, spending the night somewhere in a hotel (maybe in Cambridge) then fishing there or a different location on day 2. I don't like to camp, but that may be an option for you.

3) The day I fished there had low winds, but also very low tidal current. I am confident that the area would have produced more fish if the tidal coefficient (differential between high and low tides) had been better. You can look up tides and tidal differential at this website. https://tides4fishing.com. For Hoopers Island, I chose the Middle Hoopers Island location
https://tides4fishing.com/us/marylan...-hooper-island. If you scroll down through the page, you will find a great deal of information and eventually will come to a table that shows tides and tidal coefficient for each day in the month.

4) I launched at the Hoopersville town ramp and circumnavigated Lower Hoopers Island. The total distance was about 8 to 9 miles. I wanted a low-wind day to make that long paddle manageable for an older angler. Check out the wind and tides to determine which way you want to move around the island. Or you can fish either the top or the bottom of the island if you don't want to paddle such a long way.

5) I like trolling paddletails and crankbaits in relatively shallow water (3 to 5 ft). Adjust the weight of your jighead and the diving depth of your crankbait to match the depth in which you troll. I used 3/16-oz and 1/4-oz jigheads most of the time. I tried crankbaits, but there was enough floating grass that day, that they were not effective and had no bites.

6) After leaving the ramp, I paddled out until the water was deep enough and deployed my trolling rods. The northern shoreline was deeper up close to the shore, allowing me to troll closer to shore there than on the south shore. I trolled most of the time, but if I saw a point or other structure that looked promising, I stopped and cast to it.

I hope that helps. Lower Dorchester County is full of interesting marshes and tidal waters to explore. Blackwater Wildlife Refuge is nearby, and has become a popular snakehead destination. Dorchester County has a lot of places where you can launch a kayak.

[Redfish12]

Get some weedless swimbait hooks (zman makes a nice one) or even the bass pro screw ins and some 3-5” paddle tails. I like bass assassin 4” sea shads in salt & pepper / lime tail, space guppy, or limetruese or zman diesel minnows in Houdini, white, or chartreuse. Look for grass beds and just slow troll the baits. When you see points or other shoreline structure, try casting there. Top water in the morning can be good there in the fall. Good luck!

[zeebyrd]

Thank you so. much for the great info! I have my paddle tails ready. Will have to check to see what hooks I have. I think I may have what I need.

I will update after I get there. Need to make it a priority as I’ve wanted to go there for some time.


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