Introduction

[DST64]

Hi All
I'm new to snagged line and this post is simply an introduction. I'm Scottish born and spent my 30 fishing years dry fly fishing for trout on rivers and eventually salmon flyfishing on rivers across Scotland and on occasion Norway. Since moving to the USA in 2006 I haven't fished much. However, retiring early at end of 2019 I've spent 3 years surf casting occasionally on the NJ shore for striped bass. I haven't caught a great deal, but the love of fishing has been rekindled. My focus species are stripers and bluefish.

I live in Baltimore County MD and in 2023 hope to change focus from surfcasting to kayak fishing. I'm in the process of acquiring the necessary equipment and hope to fish Spring and Fall 2023. The focus area for me would the Severn River north to Havre De Grace. In addition to equipment, I've been learning as much as possible with regard to kayak fishing with an obvious focus on safety. One of the guidelines is to fish in groups wherever possible. So, if there are groups of kayak anglers, small or large who don't mind having newbies along, teach them the ropes, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Thanks

[Mark]

DST64,

Welcome to the forum and to kayak angling.

You'll find lots of support and helpful advice here.

[Shoobs]

Welcome DST64 - I am new to Kayak fishing as well and have learned a ton from this board and reading many of the older posts and threads. I strongly recommend John Veil's books. I just posted a link to a recording of his lecture here in the general forum. They are a resource I go back to time and time again. And he is a snagged line member and very generous in his willingness to answer questions and comments. He is easy to connect with via Facebook as well. I bought the books directly from him which saved some cost. Alan Battista also has great books as well. Both authors provide some great winter reading. One of the things I love about Kayak fishing - especially compared to the Northeast surf gear - is using light tackle. Using 2500-sized reels paired with medium-power fast action rods is a lot of fun.
Welcome,
Nick

[dsaavedra]

Welcome to the forum. Several members fish in the greater Annapolis area, myself included, so you've come to the right place.

The forum underwent some server upgrades in the last year or so and as a result, any threads prior to the upgrade are no longer accessible via the search bar. A workaround is to use Google with the search parameter "site:snaggedline.com " followed by your search query. That will turn up some older threads than the forum's built in search bar.

[DanMarino]

Welcome! I'm more of a lake, pond, and stream fisher guy, so I'll let the tidal/bay guys help you out. If you enjoy fly fishing, I recommend you give that a go from the kayak. We need more fly fishing content on here. hahaha. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your trip reports.

[Redfish12]

Glad you found your way here! Looking to the SMOG to chime in about possible fishing outings in the spring!

[UnkleRob2020]

Welcome. As mentioned above, you are in the right place. Three years ago, if I was fishing from my old, sit-in kayak, I was bottom fishing (or bobber) fishing with live/cut bait and never caught anything that I could not have caught on the shoreline.

After joining this forum, reading many, many posts (the archived posts are a gold mine, but I just noticed Dave's post that the search bar doesn't reach them anymore), meeting angler's in person and fishing with them, I am now experiencing a whole new type of fishing that I did not know was possible before. My newest addition is a fish finder that will be an interesting learning experience for me.

Speaking of books...I have three of John's books and one of Mark's books....and they are amazing resources for the type of fishing that we do in this area.

Again, welcome....there is no shortage of help on this forum...all you have to do is ask.

Tight lines.

[Big Mike]

Welcome, the SMOG (Southern Maryland Old Guys), like many folks not as active on the board as we used to be but we are still fishing. If your job or life lets you head down to St Mary’s you’ll find that it has a different mix of fish. The speckled trout bite (not as good as Eastern shore) takes off around mid May, and June brings in puppy drum. While you may find one or two up north, they’re here in quantities that make them target species. We also catch a fair number of flounder (finding that 16.5” elusive) and on the rare occasion Spanish Mac will come in shallow. Let me know if you’re thinking of heading this way and I can join you or give you info on hot spots.

[dsitka]

I would like to fish for Salmon in Scotland! I guess the first question is how you approach the basic kayak considerations. Pedal of paddle kayak, transportation mode, car top, trailer,,, lots of gear questions that will determine your access areas to the bay and tributaries. I'm old and have back problems. I migrated from a Tarpon 14 paddle to a Hobie ProAngler14 for the stability and hands free mobility. The Bay is a great fishery. It is big water and weather, wind, tide all play into your gear choice. Snagged line is a great source of local experience. Try the Maryland DNR websites for access and fishing information. For kayaks and gear you probably watch a lot of You Tube videos. Snagged Line members are well versed so don't hesitate to ask for some advice.

[J.A. Veil]

Welcome to Maryland. You will find much of the fishing here to be quite different from Scotland. I have been fortunate to fish in Scotland on three different occasions, as my work took me to Aberdeen and Glasgow every few years. My first fishing was in 2006, when my friend Jon took me to some pay-to-fish ponds stocked with large trout located outside of Aberdeen. He provided a fly rod for me to use. Jon caught two trout that day, but I caught none (the fish that saw my fly ignored it and swam around it).

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In 2008, my friend Ming and two of his co-workers took me to a small lake (Loch Venachar) where we rented a skiff with tiny outboard. The scenery was lovely (sheep grazing along the lake's edge), but none of us got a bite that day.

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My third Scottish fishing trip (2017) was more productive. My friend Ming arranged a charter out of Dunbar on an old metal fishing boat “Fisher Lassie” has seen many years of service and was a no frills vessel -- the old captain was a crusty character too. We traveled out into the Firth of Forth and fished on the bottom. We each caught cod and mackerel. I loved the photogenic seals that hung around the docks when we returned.

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You said you live in Baltimore County. You can find fishable waters of many types within an hour's drive. Freshwater (free-flowing streams and rivers, ponds and reservoirs, and even some nearly fresh tidal waters) as well as brackish waters in the Chesapeake and various tidal creeks, coves, and ponds are all nearby. With a somewhat longer drive, you can get to the Atlantic ocean with full saline conditions. Most of these waters are fishable by kayak. There are some trout fishing waters in Maryland, but they may not be up to what you experienced in Scotland.

Several of the previous posters mentioned the fishing books I have written that focus on shallow water, light tackle fishing from kayaks. If you are interested, check out https://snaggedline.com/forum/snagge...iday-book-deal. I can get any or all of those books to you in a few days by mail or you can come to my house in Annapolis to get them and pick my brain on kayak fishing questions.

Good luck in exploring the many kayak fishing opportunities in Maryland.

[DST64]

Hi All
Thanks for the responses to my introduction post.
John Vell: I'm glad you had a few Scottish trips. I never fished saltwater growing up. Split winged dry flies on rivers was how I started. Salmon on rivers the length of the country was where I ended.
Big Mike: Come May / June it would be a pleasure to kayak fish with your group if that's possible. I fished for puppy drum in the Outer Banks but that was all cut bait from the beach. Speckled trout look interesting. In the UK we had a strain of brown trout that migrated to the sea. We called them sea trout. They were hard fighting and excellent eating. I hope speckled trout are similar.
dsitka & uncle rob: thanks for the pointers and advice
Shoobs: thanks for the advice and all the best with your fishing, Never know I might run into you out there.
Mark: Thanks Mark.

I've been gathering gear. Everything is ordered and the last thing to arrive will be the Kayak itself. I'm currently outfitting my SUV in order that I can solo car top the thing. I think the bulk of my fishing will be Mar - June and Mid Sept to December so I've bought a semi dry suit by Kotastat. Any advice on how tight or loose fitting this should be would be preferred. I can get it on with a sweatshirt underneath and sweat pants kind of thing but not more. I'm thinking perhaps I should have got a bigger size but then again I don't how insulated you feel in one of these out there on the water pedaling / paddling for a while.

[dsaavedra]

Any advice on how tight or loose fitting this should be would be preferred. I can get it on with a sweatshirt underneath and sweat pants kind of thing but not more. I'm thinking perhaps I should have got a bigger size but then again I don't how insulated you feel in one of these out there on the water pedaling / paddling for a while.

The drysuit should be loose fitting. The suit itself provides little to no warmth - it does cut down on wind chill and will encapsulate your body heat a little, but it is really just a thin waterproof shell. You want enough room underneath to wear as many warm layers as the air and water temperature dictate. Ideally you want to wear wool and/or synthetic layers. Avoid cotton because it will suck the heat out of you when it gets wet (even if it gets damp from perspiration in the drysuit). I'm a fan of thermal fleece base layers under my drysuit - they are lightweight and not bulky, warm, and allow good mobility. Sometimes I'll wear up to 4 layers depending on how cold it is.

[Slough Sleigher]

Welcome to Snagged Lines!
I'm NE of Baltimore in Baltimore County, retired and kayak fish the areas you mentioned.
Drop me a note anytime you would like to have some company on the water.

Room for woolies and sock(s) essential under the Kokatat dry suit when water below 60F. suit provides virtually no insulating properties. I protect the leg fabric on mine from slime and mud by wearing a pair of inexpensive Frogg Togg rain pants over top. The suit is not something I'm comfortable washing.

After you decide your kayak needs to be made by Hobie . Look at purchasing from Delaware Paddle Sports in Lewes, DE. Aside from good people and service Delaware is a sales tax-free State. (I have no affiliation with them except for allowing them to drain my pockets)

Best of luck and happy adventures for you!

[ski357]

Hello and welcome aboard! Glad to see new posters. I'm not a SMOG, but do fish Southern Maryland. Feel free to message me if you're headed down to St. Mary's in the warmer months. This applies to any of the newer posters as well. I hope to be fishing again soon!

[DST64]

The drysuit should be loose fitting. The suit itself provides little to no warmth - it does cut down on wind chill and will encapsulate your body heat a little, but it is really just a thin waterproof shell. You want enough room underneath to wear as many warm layers as the air and water temperature dictate. Ideally you want to wear wool and/or synthetic layers. Avoid cotton because it will suck the heat out of you when it gets wet (even if it gets damp from perspiration in the drysuit). I'm a fan of thermal fleece base layers under my drysuit - they are lightweight and not bulky, warm, and allow good mobility. Sometimes I'll wear up to 4 layers depending on how cold it is.

Thanks. I had my first delivery of a semi dry suit that I thought was a bit snug. Based on advice to have ample warm clothing underneath I've sent it back and getting a bigger size. So, thank you.