Saturday after action report- slower lower

[ronaultmtd]

Big Mike and I hit Smith Creek at 6:15 this morning- perfect weather, cool, cloudless, almost no wind...high tide was almost done...it started as usual with Mike scoring top water stripers...I was searching for reds and specks...and those darn pesky lizardfish...they destroy ZMan! They clamp down on the body and hang on all the way to the boat before letting go- razor sharp little teeth damage the bodies and after a couple of lizard attacks, the body of the ZMan looks like you put it in a blender..anyway, they were a pest again today...lost three ZMan bodies...caught two nice Bluefish...one big white perch and one 15 1/2 inch redfish...the red, white and blue! Mike found a big school of specks and we caught a bunch...I stopped counting but between Stripers and specks, I probably caught and released a dozen each...most were small, but there were several legal fish...it was a decent day...good actually...got to fish with my buddy and other than a few crabbers we pretty much had the water to ourselves...

[jjyak]

Great report, sounds like a great day on the water

[dsaavedra]

Nice report Ron. Sounds like a very fun day indeed. I fished with John Veil and John Rentch yesterday on the Little Choptank and you couldn't be more right about the weather. It was like glass out there and the cool air temps were refreshing. Unfortunately the weather might have been the highlight of our trip, the bite was relatively slow and the fish were small. We each managed to catch a few and have a good outing regardless.

I've been enjoying Piney Point a few times this season, I have not made it down to Smith Creek yet but I'd like to now the the grass has largely died back.

[J.A. Veil]

As Dave noted, several of us fished in the Little Choptank yesterday morning. The weather and water conditions were about as nice as it ever gets here. While all of us caught a few fish, we did not get as many fish as I had anticipated given the conditions. Larger fish eluded us yesterday too.

Yesterday's height differential between the 6:46 am high tide and the 1:03 pm low at that location was 1.2 ft (not too bad). I really expected to see moving water and visible rip lines off of some of the points during the morning. My best catching days at that location have featured clearly moving water. However, none of us observed any rip lines. The water did fall (more of the launch ramp exposed), but the outgoing tide did not flow strongly. I am curious to hear if the SMOG crew observed moving water yesterday morning.

I did achieve a personal best yesterday, but unfortunately it was not a larger fish. With the very calm seas, I paddled my 11' kayak for 11.5 miles over 4.5 hours. I cannot recall ever paddling that far on a single outing before. My Falcon 11 kayak is a great fishing platform, but it is not a fast boat. So covering that much distance burned a great deal of my energy, necessitating a nap when I got home. Toward the end of the trip I did catch a tiny speck that I estimate at about 8" (it may have been my smallest speck ever).

[J. Rentch]

Yes Dave, you were certainly right about the weather yesterday. I started some topwater with the fly rod. Perfect conditions, but the fish had other ideas. Found most of my fish in/near the Choptank-especially at points. Paddled over 8 miles yesterday-wasn’t hard due to lack of wind, shoulders a little sore today.
Heading to Janes Island State Park this weekend for the Free State Fly Fishers outing. Never fished there, looking forward to it. Hope the wind cooperates.

[Big Mike]

It’s rare to see “moving” water in Smith creek. It’s more of a gentle rise and fall. If you make it out to Kitts Point you will get more aggressive current in the Potomac. We’re keying on the edge of the dying grass beds, looking more for trout and reds than stripers, not that we won’t get stripers on occasion.

[Slobber Bob]

...and those darn pesky lizardfish...they destroy ZMan! They clamp down on the body and hang on all the way to the boat before letting go- razor sharp little teeth damage the bodies and after a couple of lizard attacks, the body of the ZMan looks like you put it in a blender..anyway, they were a pest again today...lost three ZMan bodies...

It's funny you mention the lizardfish and Z-mans. I found a bunch of big lizardfish this past weekend too and couldn't believe that they took the tail off of two of my Z-mans as well!