Skunked

[ronaultmtd]

Bill, Kevin and I launched this morning from Piney Point to fish the rising tide- we pulled stretch 25's, spoons, shads, bucktails, XRaps- nada- it was pretty cold this morning, but the weather wasn't a factor. The boats had pretty much the same luck we had- boat with four anglers had one fish for eight hours of trolling- Bill had a hit on a spoon and Kevin had a hit but I didn't. None of us caught anything- I had a concern the rain dumping the 3 1/2 inches of water into the Bay last week and cold front would shut off the bite- it did.

[nay_sayer]

I feel your pain, I had the same issue at Herring Bay.

[ictalurus]

Part of the problem was that I think my lures weren't as far down as I thought they were. Nearly all the marks were between 45ft and the bottom. After I switched my Stretch 25 to a big bucktail and 6" shad with a 3oz inline weight. I let out half a spool of line trying to get it down. On my other rod, I had a a #18 Tony, 4oz inline weight, and 3/4 spool let out. I left the lines out as I trolled into shallower water, and both rods starting bouncing on the bottom in about 35ft of water, so I was off by 10-15 feet. Oh well. I think the planer Ron was using was probably the way to go.

I only got two decent pics today.

Kevin trollin':


Ron at the buoy:


It was good fishing with Ron and Kevin again. I don't think I've been out with two other guys and covered so much ground while only having 2 hits among us. That's gotta be a record of some kind. A lot of guys were talking on the radio, and I only heard one guy have any success. I think he was up closer to the 301 bridge. Anyway, that'll probably be my last shot at stripers from my yak. Now it's time to target pickerel, perch, bass, and cats.

[kevinfry]

Well, all I can say is: Good exercise, Good company, did not have to get up early, did not die of hypothermia, did not have to watch the Redskins lose......in all a pretty good day. I to am likely done with strripers unless an experienced yakker can show me how to fish the outlet at the Nice power plant without getting dumped in the drink.

[tufnik]

Trolling that deep makes me a bit nervous about losing the lure, Bill. I typically go about a third deep. Maybe that's why I'm not all that successfully.

I wondering if it's time to hang it up for the year. So much for all the big ones that suppose be around.

[ictalurus]

Tuf--The bottom in that area is pretty sandy or covered with shell, but that doesn't mean there isn't something random to hang up on. My leader to braid knot usually pulls before the braid breaks with steady pressure, but those deep divers are expensive.

Kevin mentioned that we should've brought bloodworms. That way, we could've figured out if we were trolling over perch (and avoided the skunk), and we might've gotten lucky with a striper. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.

[nay_sayer]

Kevin mentioned that we should've brought bloodworms. That way, we could've figured out if we were trolling over perch (and avoided the skunk), and we might've gotten lucky with a striper. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.

I keep a bucket of 2" Gulp! Alive bloody sandworms in the crate for this very purpose. I have seen very little difference between how the perch treat those and the real bloodworms. If they still have them, I got mine from outlet baitandtackle.com on their 50% off sale for like $5.99 for the 32 oz bucket. Beats $10-$13 for a dozen bloodworms and you can keep 'em wherever.

[ronaultmtd]

I figure I peddled just a tad over 21 miles yesterday and was about four miles out in the middle of the mouth of the Potomac- I trolled the eighty foot channel and saw a huge school of fish twice on my Eagle 350 about forty feet deep- I had 250 feet of 20 pound Power Pro braid out on my Red and White Textured Stretch 25- according to Mann's Bait Company that should have driven the lure to near 40 feet of depth at 3.5 kts of trolling speed. I know one thing.... trolling nine hours, pulling two stretch 25's isn't for Sissies- It is like pulling a five gallon bucket on a rope behind the Yak-

And I had to get up this am, unload my car and go to work by 9 am...

[tufnik]

Nine hours of trolling!?!?

Not following you on the bws/perch thing, Bill.

[ronaultmtd]

Actually, it wasn't nine straight hours on the water trolling- I drove an hour each way, left at 8:45 am and got home at 6:15 p.m. so figure about 7 or so actually wet hull time hours-

[kevinfry]

My suggestion, tuf, was since we were making fish on the bottom...and the wind was not too bad... we should have set a big blodworm right on them...andf if the marks were perch or cats we might have pics them up, too. Bloodworms seem to be loved by rockfish in colder water.

[DOGFISH]

In the upper bay the NOAA buoy is reporting 43* water temperature. After the mid 40s the fish tend to do just that, sit near the bottom. I know in the South River and this area, at the mid 40s the fish move deep and hunker down. In addition to bait, take some vertical jigs with you next time. Verticlal jigging seems to be the way to go in the cold water. The fish want the bait or lure dropped right in front of them. They do not want to move much or chase a trolled lure. Good luck.

[ronaultmtd]

I hate to do it, but with my work schedule and the holidays on me like a hair shirt, looks like I need to put up my Outback for the rest of 2011...