Piney Point - super slam

[J.A. Veil]

Big Mike and Ron continue to post strong reports from Piney Point. Given the calm winds and mild temperatures, I wanted to give it a try. I thought about cancelling because the tidal coefficient (water movement due to tides) was rated low for today, but I went ahead and made the long drive. The ride down the back roads from Lexington Park was more challenging than usual due to heavy fog. I launched at 7:20, roughly an hour before high tide into low light and 100-yd visibility. I immediately caught a few schoolie stripers near the launch, but that was not my goal for the day.

I set out trolling to some areas suggested by Big Mike. Mike has been a welcoming host to southern MD waters on several other of my road trips this year, but today he could not join me there. I set out and soon caught a few more stripers, including my largest of the day at 22". (Ironically, that big striper bit at full slack tide -- go figure). I was really looking for specks and reds, so I kept moving. 15 mins later, I caught my first speck, and an hour later got the first red. I stayed on the water for nearly 5 hours and caught a Southern MD super slam (4 redfish to 17", 7 specks to 14", 8 stripers to 22", and 3 modest white perch). Those catches exceeded my expectations for the day. I had one other bite that was really hard. I struggled to get the rod out of the holder and pulled back hard. The fish barely moved, then Snap! -- the line broke.

The weather remained foggy for an hour or so, then became overcast. The water was flat calm the entire time. I pretty much had the place to myself -- I saw one other kayak angler several hundred yards away and only one fishing boat 1/4-mile away.

The hot lure today for stripers was a 3" Fat Sam mullet paddletail. The trout and reds liked either 4" Gulp swimming mullet or a 4.5" 12 Fathom Buzztail in a green speckled pattern. The perch liked the Gulp.

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[J. Rentch]

Glad you were successful today, as you mentioned, southern Maryland has been hot all summer!

[Big Mike]

Very pleased that you had a good day. That was a quality puppy drum.

[ILV2F5H]

Very nice. Glad you were able to get out during the week and catch. Where do you guys launch when you fish Piney? I like the quick access to depth based on what I see on the map.

[ski357]

Very nice. Glad you were able to get out during the week and catch. Where do you guys launch when you fish Piney? I like the quick access to depth based on what I see on the map.

There is a county maintained (free) launch right before the bridge over to St. George Island. Ample parking and and two ramps offering access to to the creek or river.

[ski357]

Awesome report John. I had two friends launch out of St. Inigoes this morning and the had their hands full with rockfish up to 25 and perch too.

[ronaultmtd]

Congratulations John...not everyone gets the Southern Maryland Super Slam as the different species sometimes want very different lures and different speed retrieve- the specks and white perch want slower movement and hits on the drop back is a sure sign...redfish are finicky...they like different things at different times, but you can't go wrong with bright color 3 and 4 inch Gulp swimming mullet On 1/8 and 1/4 0z jigheads...

[J.A. Veil]

Ron -

I appreciate your posts and explanations of your preferred tackle and techniques over the years. It does help to have a game plan when you go to fish in unfamiliar waters. I see that you, Big Mike, and many others are fans of the ZMan plastics. They certainly catch fish for you. I have never done as well with ZMan as with the 12 Fathom plastics. Since I have a huge inventory of 12 Fathom plastics in my garage, that is what I will continue to use. I find that Gulp outperforms plastics for some applications -- on my trips to southern MD waters this summer and fall, Gulp baits gave the best results.

[ronaultmtd]

John- until I found the right jighead and lure glue combination, I despised the ultra soft ZMan lures- could not get them to stay on a jighead past one fish- I was big fan of the Bass Assassins because of their ability to last for three or four fish strikes. Once I got on the Deathgrip Jighead train and the Locktite Super Glue gel I switched over completely- still have a couple of bags of the 12 fathom lures, several bags of Bass Assassins, etc. but rarely use anything but ZMan plastics..they are bouyant and the softness of their plastic allows for great action at very slow retrieves using light jigheads over the grass flats for specks, reds and white perch. A 1/16 oz head With a Swimming Trout Tricks or Diesel minnow will barely sink..the only downside has been the limited color selection but last season they expanded the offerings a lot. Nothing survives longer fish, after fish than the ZMan correctly glued on the jighead. If I really want to get a redfish and they haven't eaten a swimbait, I sometimes breakdown and throw out a jighead with 4 inch chartreuse or hot pink Gulp swimming mullet. I cannot use the Deathgrip jigheads with Gulp...it is impossible to pull the Gulp off- so I use a 1/8 oz or 1/4 Oz Redfish Magic jighead for Gulp...that is mostly why I rarely use Gulp unless I am flounder fishing then I only use Gulp. My catches this year are better than the years past, although I have not caught citation size trout this year, yet and I did previous years. Those fish were all caught on Bass Assassins...like a lot of other fishermen, I believe any lure you have confidence in and use will catch fish if the fish are actively feeding. Again, congratulations on a great catch.

[ILV2F5H]

John- until I found the right jighead and lure glue combination, I despised the ultra soft ZMan lures- could not get them to stay on a jighead past one fish- I was big fan of the Bass Assassins because of their ability to last for three or four fish strikes. Once I got on the Deathgrip Jighead train and the Locktite Super Glue gel I switched over completely- still have a couple of bags of the 12 fathom lures, several bags of Bass Assassins, etc. but rarely use anything but ZMan plastics..they are bouyant and the softness of their plastic allows for great action at very slow retrieves using light jigheads over the grass flats for specks, reds and white perch. A 1/16 oz head With a Swimming Trout Tricks or Diesel minnow will barely sink..the only downside has been the limited color selection but last season they expanded the offerings a lot. Nothing survives longer fish, after fish than the ZMan correctly glued on the jighead. If I really want to get a redfish and they haven't eaten a swimbait, I sometimes breakdown and throw out a jighead with 4 inch chartreuse or hot pink Gulp swimming mullet. I cannot use the Deathgrip jigheads with Gulp...it is impossible to pull the Gulp off- so I use a 1/8 oz or 1/4 Oz Redfish Magic jighead for Gulp...that is mostly why I rarely use Gulp unless I am flounder fishing then I only use Gulp. My catches this year are better than the years past, although I have not caught citation size trout this year, yet and I did previous years. Those fish were all caught on Bass Assassins...like a lot of other fishermen, I believe any lure you have confidence in and use will catch fish if the fish are actively feeding. Again, congratulations on a great catch.

+2 on the Zmans paired with trout eye jigs. They are my preferred saltwater soft plastic. Used to only fish with Bass Assassins and Gulps. My brother uses the glue method and it works for him.