Severn surprise

[dsaavedra]

I did some trolling and casting at the mouth of the Severn tonight and had a stellar evening. It took me a long time to find the fish but when I did the bite was red hot. The preferred lure of the night was 4" pearl blue glimmer paddle tail on a 3/8oz head. It out-caught a 3" electric chicken on 1/8oz by about 4-to-1. By the end of the night I put 37 stripers in the boat with several hitting the 19" mark. They are starting to get chunky... they don't quite look like footballs yet but they have definitely begun their fall feast.

By far the catch of the night was this 15" redfish I caught while casting at some rocks. I have never caught one this far north before and this was the last thing I expected to find on the end of my line tonight! Note the bay bridge in the background

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A little while later I trolled up this 12" bluefish. Another first for me this far north, though this one was a little less of a surprise than the drum.

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The water was 73-72 degrees, hopefully the start of a kick ass fall bite in the coming weeks!

[paxmule]

37 stripers? Wow I've gotta get in on that

[J.A. Veil]

Congratulations on the puppy drum. You are the first person I have heard of who caught a redfish in the Severn this year.

[dsaavedra]

Congratulations on the puppy drum. You are the first person I have heard of who caught a redfish in the Severn this year.

I sent the picture to Lenny Rudow of FishTalk magazine and he said it was the northernmost red he's heard of this year too... and he collects a lot of fishing reports.

[dsaavedra]

37 stripers? Wow I've gotta get in on that

The cooler water temperatures, abundance of bait leaving river mouths, and impending winter triggers rockfish to feed heavily in the fall - it is one of the best times to target them in shallow water from a kayak. In Maryland we have a nickname "Rocktober" for the month of October. You should definitely get in on it while you can!

[paxmule]

Hopefully it happens down here too. I live less than a mile from the mouth of the patuxent. What kind of structure and depth do you target?

[J.A. Veil]

I sent the picture to Lenny Rudow of FishTalk magazine and he said it was the northernmost red he's heard of this year too... and he collects a lot of fishing reports.

Great. I caught a 17" speck in the Chester River last week. Perhaps some of the southern species are making a final northward push before retreating in the cold weather.

[dsaavedra]

Hopefully it happens down here too. I live less than a mile from the mouth of the patuxent. What kind of structure and depth do you target?

My fish yesterday were in 4-6 feet of water in areas where current and bait were funneled by the local topography and some rocks along the shoreline. I also caught a few fish on a wide open flat that happened to have schools of peanut bunker on it - it was by chance I ran into those fish. The stripers will be keyed in on peanut bunker over the next month so finding areas where the bait congregates and where stripers can abmush them should do the trick.

[Big Mike]

Hopefully it happens down here too. I live less than a mile from the mouth of the patuxent. What kind of structure and depth do you target?

I would recommend hitting the Potomac right now, Piney Point, St Inigoes, PLO are all producing stripers, mostly small trout but an occasional nice one, drum, and perch. If you fish long enough we’re getting a drum most trips. Oh and lots of blues and lizard fish to destroy your rigs.

[Shoobs]

Congrats Dave - Great job and awesome to see the Red!

[Jigsup]

Nice going! I may have to try targeting shallow water rockfish. Beautiful redfish.

[Shoobs]

Nice going! I may have to try targeting shallow water rockfish. Beautiful redfish.

J.A.Veil's books are a great resource for shallow water kayak fishing. I highly recommend it and I continue using it as a resource throughout the season.