Suggestions

[Jigsup]

Brother in law is coming up from for the weekend with kayak and wants to go fishing this Saturday the 18th. I have only been out once with my kayak so far due to schedule. That trip was to catch catfish for dinner. While brother in law would love to wrestle a big cat, he isn’t to fond of the taste. He is looking for something better tasting but a good fight.

I very rarely go out for rockfish but I believe that would be the only logical species to target. Seeing that I don’t often target them I have the slightest idea of where to even start for them. Im not asking for personal hot spots but a general area for us to try and do some early morning top water. Maybe some jigging/trolling afterwards.

I had planned on taking him to spa creek to fish for perch around docks and was wondering if it is possible to catch a keeper rockfish this time of year in spa creek? Any suggestions?

[dsaavedra]

The weekly report from FishTalk says that many rockfish are schooled up north of the Bridge. They name a few hotspots. I don't fish this area so I'm not sure how easily accessible these spots are by kayak, but I know you can access the bay bridge and mouth of Patapsco/Key Bridge by kayak using the Sandy Point and Fort Armistead or Fort Smallwood launches. https://fishtalkmag.com/fishing-reports/upper-bay

Snakehead would be another hard fighting, good tasting target right now. The Blackwater area and all of the upper bay rivers have decent snakehead bite right now, based on reports. Snakehead fishing can be tough and frustrating though, they are fickle.

You might find a keeper rockfish in Spa Creek but I would not count on it. From my experience targeting rockfish in the Mid Bay over the past couple weeks, they are getting smaller and scarcer by the day. I think a lot of them are heading out to deeper waters and heading north (hence the good reports from boaters north of the bridge). If you use ultralight rods, even the small rockfish that stick around in creeks will put up a good fight. You should be able to catch enough perch to make a nice meal for yourselves too, they taste great.

[J.A. Veil]

You might try launching from one of the Queen Annes County launches and trolling paddletails. While fewer stripers are in these waters now than a month ago, the water in Prospect Bay and Eastern Bay is a better bet than the Severn at this point. The floating pondweed has been a problem in many places. I don't know the status in the waters near Goodhands or Little Creek for example.

[Jigsup]

“but I know you can access the bay bridge and mouth of Patapsco/Key Bridge by kayak using the Sandy Point and Fort Armistead or Fort Smallwood launches.”

Never fished the Patasco/Key Bridge area before. But am familiar with sandy point. Definitely wouldn’t want to take him out there anywhere near the bay bridge on his kayak. I myself wouldn’t want that adventure on a weekend. Hopefully I purchase a peddle kayak soon then I’d feel more safe to expand my fishing grounds ie the bay bridge. But snakeheads do sound tempting only I’ve only been to blackwater once and spent a better part of my day trying to figure out where to park. I always think twice now about taking that trip now.

“The floating pondweed has been a problem in many places. “

I’ve been reading reports about the pond weeds being a nuisance. Prospect bay and Eastern bay are unfamiliar territories to me as I do most of my fishing out of the patuxent river, spa creek, and weems creek. They do look like good places to try. I will do more research on possible launch sites.