Sightseeing at Sy Leonard creek 9-27 (PAX lives upto "The Dead river")

[Slackdaddy]

I have fished the Patuxent river for 40+ years,, it has always been a "dead" river compared to other Bay tributaries, I have no idea why, but it is.
3 of us launched from Jefferson Patterson park at 10:00 AM, High Tide was at Noon.
SIL and I fished, the wife crabbed.
We were out until 4:00 PM
I trolled the mouth of the creek, in the creek, where the creek meets the river, in the PAX, up the pax, down the Pax, in 15', in 20' in 10', in 5'
I cast to the shore, I cast to the rocks, I cast to the open sea, I cast, cast, cast, cast.
Threw chartreuse, I threw white, I threw silver, I threw gulp shad, I threw flukes, I threw 5", 4" 3.5" 3", 2.5" ,, I threw matching jig heads, I threw underspin jigs.
I only marked a few fish on the sonar, A lone large fish every 20-30 minutes, bait balls about the same.
Not I SINGLE hit all day, nothing. But I DID loose a rod when I turned around to put my casting rod in the holder and missed.
Wife did get 1 male crab,, 99.999% of the crabs in the traps where female.

From what I have been reading, I was in the ideal situation, A creek 15-20' deep dumping into a tidal river no more than 4 miles from Solomans, heavy overcast all day.
I had high hopes for this outing, "On Paper" it looked perfect.

[clm]

I was out at 231 on Thursday....channel cats, blues, perch and a 16 inch striper....was using the jon boat, so we covered quite a bit of ground....The perch were very agreeable....the others had to be worked out....but yeah, it is slower....compared to the Potomac on the day before (Wednesday)...around Fort Washington...we filled a cooler of blues fairly quickly.1600966485919~2.jpg
IMG_20200923_161730.jpgIMG_20200924_165406.jpg

[Slackdaddy]

OK,
Yes the Pax is great for catfish, we used to fish for them up around lower marlboro and Rt 4.
White perch are plenty-full but nothing large, majority are 4-6" with an occasional 8"

If I sounded frustrated,, I am
Thinking I may need my lucky hat next time ?? lol

[clm]

I understand. I prefer to go elsewhere when I'm in a catching mood....but for relaxing and putting around the edges with light tackle, I will hit the Patuxent. Trolling the edges throwing light spinners and beetlespins is good fun...the occasional slam by a channel or a striper keeps me smiling....I can take my kid or the wife and know we will be entertained for a few hours...

[Slackdaddy]

Yup,
My SIL loves catfishing, we paddle up small creeks off the Pax, casting UL rods with 1/8 roadrunners.
It is an eye opener when a 3-5lb cat hits it instead of a 8" white perch.

I need to get back to my relaxing creak fishing,,, trying to be a big "Striper chaser" has left me tired and frustrated.

I understand. I prefer to go elsewhere when I'm in a catching mood....but for relaxing and putting around the edges with light tackle, I will hit the Patuxent. Trolling the edges throwing light spinners and beetlespins is good fun...the occasional slam by a channel or a striper keeps me smiling....I can take my kid or the wife and know we will be entertained for a few hours...

[Yak Fish]

I would argue that you fished the worst part of the day. You arrived at the time I normally am coming back in. And then you left at 4, which is a time I'd be heading back out to hit the afternoon bite.
There are always exceptions, especially on cloudy days, but the first few hours and last few hours are almost always the best time to catch....especially in shallow water.

[Slackdaddy]

We sure did,
When I fish solo, I fish the AM. Hands down my favorite time to fish is Pre dawn till about 10AM.
Unfortunately when going with the 2 women,,,,, well, they don't get moving early.

I really liked Jefferson Patterson park and that area of the river, the water is considerably cleaner then just 10 miles up river.
Unfortunately they do not open until 7:30 AM. But that would be still better than 10:00 AM

I told them for now on we fish ~3:00 PM till after dark when we go out as a group,, I'll do some early AM solo.

I would argue that you fished the worst part of the day. You arrived at the time I normally am coming back in. And then you left at 4, which is a time I'd be heading back out to hit the afternoon bite.
There are always exceptions, especially on cloudy days, but the first few hours and last few hours are almost always the best time to catch....especially in shallow water.