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It’s been a while since posting…life only lets me fish a few times a year these days. But my dad and I managed an epic 12 hour jig trip mid-bay at the mouth of a major river on Thursday, Nov 10th.
We assess the perfect conditions gave us some memories we won’t forget: pre-tropical storm wx, weekday fishing (no boats) big full moon tides, excellent bottom structure. We spent the morning ebb chasing birds for miles all over the place in 35-45 ft of water. Really fun but really tiring. I think we managed 12-15 total in the morning (all keeper size). Fishing slowed considerably during the tide swing, so we did a few miles of exploring. Got back to the major current break feature and found more birds getting back on acres and acres of big striper. The birds left, but the fish did not. Normally I’m accustomed to these large schools holding 16-20” fish. Not the case here: I boated at least 10 fish approach 30”. Never seen anything like it and likely won’t ever again. We had steady picking over this huge school with 0 boats for 4-5 hours. Several times I had to switch arms because my hands and arms were cramping up. Most fish around 25”. The conditions were challenging for a few hours with 2-3’ standing waves and required focus (current against wind at a rippy area). Demanded 2 oz jig heads.
That could have been the end to an unbelievable day, but at around 4 pm the madness started. Covering an area of several acres, the sound of baseball bats slamming the surface started up and bunker started flying out the water as these same huge striper got into a frenzy. I had one 30” fish launch out of the water at my jig as I was pulling it into the yak, she grabbed it nearly midair and rammed into the hull of my PA14 and took it down below the boat. Big schools of large birds descended all around us adding to the insanity. You could cast 360 degrees without prejudice and start ripping it back and would be guaranteed of a 25-30” striper. I’ve only ever seen anything like that on video. I’ve seen plenty of blitzes in the Chesapeake but nothing like the sound I heard last night due to the size of the fish and the bait. While the surface feeding stopped after 30-45 minutes, the bite continued well after dark until the tide finally stopped at 6:30 or so.
All told, probably 50 long, fat fish between the 2 of us. Maybe more, I dont know. Some parts remain a blur. I forgot to eat or drink while on the water it was so engrossing. took very few pictures as well. 15-18 miles and the Torqeedo 1103 hit 0% coasting in. I know it was an anomaly but it gives me hope that the Bay might be getting healthy again.
We assess the perfect conditions gave us some memories we won’t forget: pre-tropical storm wx, weekday fishing (no boats) big full moon tides, excellent bottom structure. We spent the morning ebb chasing birds for miles all over the place in 35-45 ft of water. Really fun but really tiring. I think we managed 12-15 total in the morning (all keeper size). Fishing slowed considerably during the tide swing, so we did a few miles of exploring. Got back to the major current break feature and found more birds getting back on acres and acres of big striper. The birds left, but the fish did not. Normally I’m accustomed to these large schools holding 16-20” fish. Not the case here: I boated at least 10 fish approach 30”. Never seen anything like it and likely won’t ever again. We had steady picking over this huge school with 0 boats for 4-5 hours. Several times I had to switch arms because my hands and arms were cramping up. Most fish around 25”. The conditions were challenging for a few hours with 2-3’ standing waves and required focus (current against wind at a rippy area). Demanded 2 oz jig heads.
That could have been the end to an unbelievable day, but at around 4 pm the madness started. Covering an area of several acres, the sound of baseball bats slamming the surface started up and bunker started flying out the water as these same huge striper got into a frenzy. I had one 30” fish launch out of the water at my jig as I was pulling it into the yak, she grabbed it nearly midair and rammed into the hull of my PA14 and took it down below the boat. Big schools of large birds descended all around us adding to the insanity. You could cast 360 degrees without prejudice and start ripping it back and would be guaranteed of a 25-30” striper. I’ve only ever seen anything like that on video. I’ve seen plenty of blitzes in the Chesapeake but nothing like the sound I heard last night due to the size of the fish and the bait. While the surface feeding stopped after 30-45 minutes, the bite continued well after dark until the tide finally stopped at 6:30 or so.
All told, probably 50 long, fat fish between the 2 of us. Maybe more, I dont know. Some parts remain a blur. I forgot to eat or drink while on the water it was so engrossing. took very few pictures as well. 15-18 miles and the Torqeedo 1103 hit 0% coasting in. I know it was an anomaly but it gives me hope that the Bay might be getting healthy again.
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