The flats 04/25

[mi327]

Fished the flats this morning. Got a little bit of a late start, but launched from Tydings park on the way in past the Marina I could see where all the boats were all along the channel. Once I got out there I could see why, the bite is on. I was drifting and casting spinner and swim baits. I caught a few fish biggest one was a fat 20+ incher and missed a couple. Then ended my trip since the wind started to kick up and it got really choppy.

I am more excited since today was the first ever Striper I caught from my Yak!

[tufnik]

Congrats! I'll bet they'll be more stripers to come.

[jarradw]

I will be out there this weekend to see if they are still around Anyone know of a bait shop near there? I was thinking of trying some minnows on the bottom for random fish finds as well as the lures.

[MTDluvsFishin]

Nice catching mi327. I thought they would still be around as the water looked good.

Jarradw, your best bet for bait is Herb's Bait and Tackle in Northeast, MD. They have a really nice shop with a great selection of bait and lures.

Unfortunately, there are a whole lot of options in Harford County. There is Chesapeake Crabbing in Conowingo / Bel Air but it's a good ways from the Flats.

[jarradw]

Sounds good. I am coming from the west side of 695 where it meets 70 so I was planning on searching my path for anything worth hitting up. I knew there used to be one in Glen Burnie and I could get some the night before and put them in with an aerator. So excited to finally get out on the water this year. Been too long.

[Shady]

mi327,
Congrats on first Striper on the Yak and glad to hear they are still around.

Jarradw,
I'm somewhat near you in elkridge and I always get bait from Clydes on Hammonds Ferry rd in Halethorpe, they open early and close late. They also carry BKDs and other popular Striper softbaits or lures.

http://home.comcast.net/~clydessportshop/home.html

[jarradw]

Thanks, that will work well.

[DOGFISH]

Nice fishing. This is killing me. School will be out soon, and I will get some time to fish.

[HJS]

I will be out there this weekend to see if they are still around Anyone know of a bait shop near there? I was thinking of trying some minnows on the bottom for random fish finds as well as the lures.

jarradw - Although minnows may get you more fish, minnows are “bait” and you are required to use a circle hook while fishing for stripers with bait on the Flats during the C&R season. Plus stripers will swallow bait exceeding fast and may cause more problems for you and the fish than you may want to put up with.

Yesterday, all I used were 5” albino Bass Assassins on a medium weight jig. A ½ oz jig will work fine. See pic. The top lure is a genuine albino Bass Assassin and the bottom one, the one I used yesterday, is a look-alike brand. Stripers can't tell the difference between the two. You can see the abrasions on the bottom lure caused by the fine teeth of all the stripers that it caught.

Give soft plastics a try. They do work very well.

[jarradw]

Thanks for the info, I will give those a try.