Magothy River, Thursday Evening, Oct 8

[Magothyman]

I couldn’t pass up the conditions of flat water, warm air, and no wind yesterday so I launched at about 5 pm from my neighborhood. Trolling a yellow twister paddle tail and also a rattletrap I headed towards Ferry Point. As soon as I got there I landed a feisty 17” striper on the paddle tail. I then concentrated on top water for about 45 minutes to no avail. Lots of birds in the area, but none diving and working the water. Water temp is still 76 degrees at the location which I think may be preventing fish from being more active. Home in an hour and looking forward to more active fishing trips.
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[UnkleRob2020]

That is a beautiful fish. I have wanted to fish the Magothy more, but I don't see a lot of public launches.

You mentioned a rattletrap. I have a couple and have never caught anything on them, but as I was setting up my rods last night for my trip this morning, I gave a lot of thought into putting a rattletrap on one of my rods.

I am going to Solley's this morning and hope the wind isn't too bad. Last night, I found myself wishing that I could take more rods with me. I currently take five rods, usually two UL, two L and one M. Earlier this year, I only took two rods with me on any given trip and now five is not enough?

At the beginning of the year, I had an old sit in kayak with two built-in recessed hull mount (I think this is the right term) rod holders. The seat was terrible, my legs would cramp up and there was very little room to store gear or to tie on lures, etc while on the water.

Now I have a Native Falcon 11. I have an elevated seat which is quite comfortable. I have more leg room. After fishing with Cliff, I rigged a milk crate with five rod holders for transporting purposes. I have four track mounted Omega lock-n-load rod holders...I only use three of them but they are great. I also received a fish finder from a forum member, although I have not mounted it yet. Today, I will try to learn how to use my new VHF radio as I have been convinced that it is important for safety and for communicating with fellow anglers on the water (which I am proud to say I have met a number of you this year and it has always been a good experience...thank you).

With all of these improvements in such a short period of time, you would think I would be satisfied, right? Why do I think I need more than five rods on a trip. I can change lures a couple times without it being the end of the world.

Ok, I am off to Solley's to meet a couple of you and hoping to catch some fish. Tight lines and thanks for a great year everyone.

[Magothyman]

Good luck at Solleys! I was considering going but I tend to shy away from public boat ramp areas on the weekends—too much confusion on the water near them. I just walked down to my neighborhood launch at 7:15 am and the Magothy is pretty rough so I guess I’m destined for yard work today.
Different sized rattle traps are often my go-to lure. Perch, rock, and chain pickeral all hit them regularly.
I usually rig 3 rods, sometimes four, before I go out. This time of the season if I’m trolling two rods and come upon working birds I want to have top-water lure all ready. Also, a rod with a smaller lure for perch around the docks. Saves time on the water.
I’ll probly try Solleys mid-week next week if weather is good.
Al

[Mark]

Rat-L-Traps and Rapala look-a-likes are great lures. They'll catch every fish species mentioned on this forum.

My only complaint about them is that they come with treble hooks. With the relatively short body of those lures, it was not uncommon for both treble to hooks become engaged in the mouth and/or face of the fish I caught with them. I just didn't like doing that to my catches -- in some cases removing 4 hook points from a single fish. I actually stopped using them for a while because of that.

Then I discovered inline hooks. I replaced the trebles with them and that solved the problem. It's rare that I have to remove both inline hooks from a fish.

One more thing, I don't see them discussed often, but I have a floating Rat-L-Trap. It darts under the water on the retrieve and floats back to the surface when you stop reeling. It's very good for this time of year when fish are more apt to be looking up.

[Magothyman]

Totally agree with you about the treble hooks on rattletraps-I snip off all the hooks except one before using them. I used to leave two on until a nasty chain pickeral took offense to being landed and managed to flip one of two hooks into my palm while I unhooked the other. (3 hours in the ER to have it removed).
Also agree on the floating rattletrap—I have two in my tackle box.