Suggestions for an Easy Paddle Fishing Destination for This Weekend?

[UnkleRob2020]

My girlfriend really wants to join me fishing this weekend. I had been planning to go to Solley's, but I do a lot of paddling at Solley's and I would like to minimize the paddling and also do not want to take her on large open water. I don't really consider Solley's to be large, open water, but I would prefer something even more sheltered for her.

Earlier this year, she ran out of steam on Eastern Bay and then also at Jonas Green and I wasn't sure how I was going to get her back to land. I do now have a towrope for emergencies.

I would like to find a destination for this weekend that meets the below criteria:

1) Tidal - with hopes of possible stripers, picks, perch, etc.
2) Sheltered water
3) Not a ton of paddling to get to and from productive fishing areas
4) Within about an hour of Columbia

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thank you,

Rob

[scorchy]

In any other year, I would say Weems is the obvious answer. If you head left from the ramp under the bridges, the water gets smaller and smaller. Unfortunately, the Severn reports may make goal #1 difficult.

Heading upstream from the ramp at SW Park in Baltimore Highlands and into the tidal ponds should also meet several of the criteria, but I've always struggled there.

[J.A. Veil]

Here are three suggestions:

a) Homeport Farms launch into Church Creek (South River) - This launch requires you to transport your kayak down a 75-100 yard hill. You will need a cart to do that. Once in the water, you will have easy paddling. That park is entered through a locked gate. You need to go to the AA Recreation and Parks website and submit a form to get the code (they change the code often). The tornado that came through Annapolis a month or so ago went right through this area. I have not fished there since then.

b) Thompson Creek ramp on Kent Island. I have used this launch 3 or 4 times and don't see much other traffic there. You can stick near a shoreline or go toward more open water.

c) Wye Landing - This ramp puts you onto the Wye River, a very scenic eastern shore river. You can paddle in several directions from the launch. This may be a bit mover 60 mins from Columbia.


Regarding productive fishing areas, that is up to you. I always catch perch and usually stripers at Homeport Farms. I have gone exploring at both spots b) and c) and needed to look around a lot before finding fish. But I did catch fish.

[UnkleRob2020]

I agree, Scorchy. Weems does sounds like the answer in other years , but if the other anglers on the forum aren't catching much in Weems then I will likely not fare too well. Also, and I didn't think to mention this before, I am hoping for an easy launch. We will be taking two cars and I will doing all the work to cartop them, launch them, etc.

I am considering going to Solley's and just taking it slow and working the shoreline, as opposed to trolling....so there would be less paddling on her part.

[Red_Beard]

Rob, I would still consider giving Weems a try. The perch bite has reportedly been slow there this year, but I regularly find stripers up there this time of year when the bait are up in the creeks. I've seen some good striper reports for the Severn so no reason to think Weems wouldn't produce. It was also a great producer of pickerel for me last year, and we are seeing more reports of them in general already.

Another option I might recommend if you are considering spots on the Eastern Shore is Wye Mills community lake. It is a short drive from Kent Narrows, and offers good fishing for bass, crappie, and bluegill without the need for much paddling.

[Mark]

Rob,

Are fish really that important on your outing with your wife? How about the scenery and the forecasted good weather? It's a great time of year to be on the water. It's not too hot and not too cold. Just go to Weems (because it's an easy launch and largely protected from the wind) and enjoy the outing.

That said, there are fish in Weems. It's not hopping with hungry fish but there are willing fish there. I caught the Severn Slam there this morning and mostly I tossed a fly rod. I got three white perch and a striper on the fly and a pickerel on one of my jig spinners. I think if I had cast a simple jig with a twister tail or relied exclusively on my jig spinner, or god forbid trolled a paddletail, I would have boated more than five fish.

IMG_4765.jpg IMG_4767 (1).jpg P1060425 (4).jpg

So go and have a good time. Any fish you catch are a bonus.

[UnkleRob2020]

Mark, I understand how it looks, so I will try to reframe. Sharon likes to accompany me on fishing trips sometimes. We also do separate paddling trips in which I do not bring fishing rods and we enjoy these trips very much. Sometimes she is in the mood to go fishing and by that, she wants to go "catching." Earlier this year, I took her out on Eastern Bay. To keep it simple, she was trolling a single rod. I did not have forward mounted rod holders yet so she was frustrated by not being able to see the rod go down. Next time I looked at her, she had wedged the rod in front of her and she was paddling backwards so she could see the rod. I thought it was funny and kinda cute....but then she caught her first ever striper and she was so excited that it brought me a great deal of joy. She caught 6 stripers that day, all while trolling a singe rod from a kayak paddling backwards. Each time she caught a fish, you would have thought it was her first. When she catches fish, it brings us both a lot of joy. Conversely, when she doesn't catch fish, she loses interest rather quickly.

[Mark]

Rob,

Got it.

But note that our hobby is called "fishing", not "catching".

I wish you much luck in catching wherever you go.