Fall catfish bite

[paxmule]

Well, I finally got my first stripers under my belt but it wasn't the way I wanted to go about it so I'm not counting them as my own catches. I was invited to go on a completely free charter off cedar point in a 41 foot boat. There were 12 of us and the charter keeps the fish and cleans them for the guests. I would have preferred to release them all but I was just 1 voice so that didn't happen. I was amazed at how fast the action is on these fish when you're on them. We caught our limit of legal size fish in 2 hours. I was so cold it gave me a headache. I did reel in 3 good fish but I was mostly observing because there were kids on the boat and we wanted to let them have most of the fun. It was trolling umbrella rigs on short stiff rods with massive bait casters and 22 oz sinkers. Next spring, or if we get a warm calm day soon, I'm gonna give that method a shot in my kayak in the same area but just with paddletails and less weight.

striper.jpg

[dsaavedra]

It was trolling umbrella rigs on short stiff rods with massive bait casters and 22 oz sinkers.

Oof, sounds like work!

That's one way to catch em, certainly not the only way. I have a feeling once you get into a school of stripers from your kayak using light tackle you will enjoy the experience a whole lot more!

[paxmule]

Well, there was a first mate on the charter, he was doing the work, we were just reeling them in. Thats why i kinda felt like i wasnt technically catching fish...lol

[Jigsup]

Nice. Trolling in a boat is fun. It’s an art. A lot of factors come to play to be successful. Not unless you get into a very hungry school of fish.

I’ve tried trolling in my kayak only to catch a blue fish. It was fun. If I had a peddle kayak it would’ve been better. But I think I’ll leave the trolling to a boat.

J.A Veil has some books on shallow water trolling. Other members say they are good and helpful. I’ve never read any of his books so I can’t speak on the contents. If not already he may chime in and promote it. Or others can vouch.

[J.A. Veil]

J.A Veil has some books on shallow water trolling. Other members say they are good and helpful. I’ve never read any of his books so I can’t speak on the contents. If not already he may chime in and promote it. Or others can vouch.

Trolling with heavy tackle on a boat is a totally different game than light tackle trolling with medium spinning rods in a kayak. I lost interest in heavy tackle trolling several decades ago. But I do a lot of light tackle trolling from my two 11' paddle kayaks (pedal drive kayak make for easier trolling, but you can do just fine with a paddle kayak). Two of my books include sections on light tackle trolling, but they also cover many other topics. If interested, check out my 2022 holiday book deal https://snaggedline.com/forum/snagge...iday-book-deal.

Even if you are not interested in devoting an entire trip to light tackle trolling, you can try it while you are moving between fishing spots. I nearly always toss out at least one line when I am paddling from a launch spot to a casting or jigging location. I call that bonus fishing since you have to paddle or pedal to get there anyway -- why not fish along the way.

[nhunter344]

Ive been having trouble getting fresh alewife the last couple weeks....

If your local bait shop is out, look at any Asian supermarket. They will always have fresh something that can be used for bait. You might pay a little more, but I'd spend that money in gas driving around to find a shop that has bait in stock anyway.

[paxmule]

Got out to Lower Marlboro for maybe a last catfishing trip today, put in at the lowest tide I've ever seen there. The floating dock was halfway in the mud. I caught 3 fish in the first 20 minutes and then not a bite for 3 more hrs so I headed home. Biggest was 15 lbs. 20221126_115337.jpg

[SpaceCadet]

I was out there the day before Thanksgiving and it was much the same. Crazy low tide, but I did manage a 16lb fish (my biggest blue so far!). What kind of depth are you catching at? I find it weird that can't get a bite at anything over 23ft, even though the fish finder shows fish down there.

[paxmule]

The ones i caught were in 12 feet. Those fish that are deep are likely not active with the water so cold. I tried deep water too without any luck there.

[paxmule]

Winter catfish bite? Went out in the normal locale today 12-4. Water was still at 43 degrees which made for some sluggish fish. Caught 6 fish total. 5 were eater size, 1 was around 12 lbs. All the fish I caught had mud on their sides from hunkering down. Bites were very subtle and not very enthusiastic. There was one spot I found with the graph where there seemed to be a lot of large fish on bottom in 17 feet of water, I anchored over them but they weren't feeding. It was very peaceful out there today without a boat in site. With the water and westher just getting colder, it's likely that I'll be out of the water until it warms back up into the higher 40s or 50s.

[Jigsup]

What was the bait of choice?

[paxmule]

I was using alewife. I didn't see much at all on the graph for baitfish. I have a feeling that the baitfish have moved downriver to warmer water. If the water is any warmer down at hallowing point, there might be a better bite down there for now.

[dsaavedra]

I was using alewife. I didn't see much at all on the graph for baitfish. I have a feeling that the baitfish have moved downriver to warmer water. If the water is any warmer down at hallowing point, there might be a better bite down there for now.

Not sure if you're aware already, but since you're new to the area... there is a power plant at Chalk Point, right up the river from Hallowing Point. I'm sure the area around the discharge channel stays warmer than surroundings.

[paxmule]

Jigsup was just telling me about that. Definitely gonna check it out if we have a day where the air temp is in the upper 40s or 50s anytime soon

[paxmule]

Decided to do some bank fishing today. Headed to clyde watson at 1000. Tide was coming in. No bites for a while on frozen bunker. 2 hrs in and no hookups, just short bites. a guy pulled in with a boat full of catfish. Said he was running trotlines. At least 30 fish and most were pretty big. He gave me some fresh mud shad and I baited that up. After he left I had what I thought was a channel cat hookup and reeled down. Surprisingly it started pulling drag and after a short fight I netted a 25 lbr. After that a 10 lbr. Nothing else after that and I called it. Before I left a guy came in with 4 big stripers in a boat and a net full of shad and some catfish. The game wardens were talking with him like they knew each other. I guess commercial guys have different limits on striper? 20221220_140241.jpg 20221220_112823.jpg