Post storm report

[Big Mike]

I fished this morning with Rugbyfish at one of my favorite St Mary’s spots. We were very curious how the fishing would be with the rapid water temperature drop and not knowing if the water would be muddy. Joe told me water was 58, but my foot had already determined that the water was much colder than even at start of the storm. As we rounded a bend we saw birds working and quickly our rods were bending like a limbo dancer on a Saturday night. Top water and casting paddle tails got us numerous fish over 20 and I don’t think we caught anything less than 15”. I ended up with 6 over 20 and a big of 23”. I’m guessing 25 fish or so for me. As the sun rose the fishing slowed but we would still find small schools cruising through to keep it interesting. The water was super clear, easily see bottom in 4’ or more. No trout or blues around for us. Action was so fast I didn’t take a picture of fish, but the thumb tells the story.
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[J.A. Veil]

I'm glad that your local fish decided to hang around. Plus seeing working birds was a bonus.

I worked hard yesterday afternoon and again this morning with not many fish to show.

Wed - fished for an hour in a Severn pond. I made a full loop around the pond without a bite. Just before leaving, I caught two pickerel near where I had started. I relocated to a nearby tidal creek. In two hours of fishing there, I caught one 8" perch.

Thurs - fished at two QA County spots. I launched at first light at the first spot to flat calm water. Things looked ideal. I caught a 10" striper five minutes into the trip, then no more bites for the next two hours. I relocated to a second spot in a different water body. I caught five stripers in an hour between 18" and 20".

Bait was conspicuously absent in all the places I fished. The water temp dropped 9 degrees in less than a week. I suspect the bait and the predators moved elsewhere. I hope I can track them down soon.

[dsaavedra]

I was hoping we'd see an influx of reports today with the bad weather finally gone.

I got out this afternoon, launching into the main stem of the bay near my home at 2pm. Similar to Mike's report, I was shocked at how cold and clear the water was. It was reading 62-63 degrees for most of my trip. I caught a 22" and 18" rockfish within the first 5 minutes of the trip and was expecting a banner day

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I proceeded to troll a paddle tail and crankbait for miles without a bite. I marked several huge schools of bunker but had no fish. I shifted my approach and fished closer to shore later in the afternoon and salvaged the trip. I put 13 rockfish in the boat within the last 1 to 1.5hr of the trip and 5 of them were over 20" (three 20", 22", and 24"). Of the remaining fish almost all were about 18" and put up a strong healthy fight. My friend caught a striper just shy of 27". The crankbait never got touched, all fish today came on paddle tails.

Here's a spry 20 incher that put up a strong fight

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And the 24" fish that joined me for dinner. You can get an idea of the water clarity from this picture.

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I saw a mid-size flock of birds working ~1/2 mile away in what I would estimate to be 11-12 feet of water, but I opted not to go after them because of the fish on my stringer. All in all this was an unexpected good start to Rocktober and I am looking forward to what the coming weeks bring.

[Mark]

Mike -- I haven't had a case of "striper thumb" this year. I hope to remedy that soon.

Dave -- Your first photo is a real Roctober football. It clearly has been eating well.

[Magothyman]

Put in Thursday morning at 9:30 in the Magothy on Wednesday morning. Trolling a yellow paddle tail mid-river I caught several small rock and a very feisty 20” rock. Flat river, no wind and sunshine was a nice change. Went out today (Friday) for 3 hours and got nothing in the E1C5C0F4-6DE7-4035-B2B9-5810D9A5DD42.jpg local tributaries except a perch. Water temp was 65 degrees each day.
Al