Another Decent Day on the Patapsco

[UnkleRob2020]

I left work a bit early on Wednesday and went to launch on the Patapsco. Memorial Day weekend turned out to be a busy for me and I needed to scratch the itch for fishing..

It is worth noting that I have been skunked here three out of the last 5 times I have fished this area...it is perplexing...the primary reason that I fish there is it is close to my home and traffic is usually not much of an issue. This area is also insustrialized and not aesthetically pleasing.

I started getting hits and catching fish almost immediately once I hit the bulkhead near the launch. I managed to put four in the boat and I lost two as my favorite thing hapoened....both rods went down at the same time...it was a lot of fun.

I caught five more stripers on the way to a spot that had been productive last Fall. As I approched, I saw birds working the surface and I headed towards them...both rods go down again...I caught 10 more stripers in this area before the action subsided and I paddled back to the launch. On tge way back I got two more stripers.

For the day I caught about 20 or 21 strioers....sometimes I lose count by a fish or two. The overwhelming majority of the fish were caught on 1/4 oz jig heads with an electric chicken paddletail.

I was hoping for a red-hot May of striper fishing and that has not been the case at all. Last May, I had multiple days with over 30 stripers which is approximately my total number of stripers for the entire month this year.

I would not have gone to this location if I wasn't pressed for time, but I'm glad I did...

Tight lines.

[dsaavedra]

Good work Rob. You're figuring that area out and developing your own mental map of hotspots within paddling range. 20+ fish is a great day

This May was a bit odd... I don't know if the fish were ahead of schedule from the warm winter we had or what... but I did not find the same concentrations of fish in the same places at the same times I found them last year. It took a lot more searching around to find stripers in numbers this year, but I did have a few great catching days.

[scorchy]

Last Friday, I tried to follow Rob's path and ended up with decent numbers - 10 rock and 5 white perch. The rock were all small but the perch were bigger than expected (no footballs though). The highlight (lowlight?) was a screaming reel once I got on the other side of the bridge. One of those things that where you're first thought is "giant rock!" and then you switch "ok, maybe a big catfish?" until you finally settle on "damn, it's a ray." I let it drag me around for 10 - 15 minutes just in the hope of getting some of my line back because it nearly took the whole spool. I started heading back after and not 5 minutes later same thing - this time I cut right away. In search of non-ray infested waters, I headed back near the train bridge where I can always find some small rock and perch. Damn if I don't spot another ray swimming near the kayak. I get my heavier line in but as I'm retrieving on my 6-lb test, boom then snap. At the point, I decided I was cursed and headed in.

Followed up yesterday afternoon but headed toward the back of the creek. Caught a small rock and half-dozen perch in the first hour, then nothing till one final perch at sunset almost four hours later. Lot of paddling for little results.

Yesterday was actually my 6th trip out from the same launch this year and the results have been all over the place. My first trip yielded the biggest rock (two fat 18"ers but not much in the way of numbers). A week later, I caught close to two-dozen perch and left them biting. Hoping to range farther afield in the coming weeks.

[dsaavedra]

Last Friday, I tried to follow Rob's path and ended up with decent numbers - 10 rock and 5 white perch. The rock were all small but the perch were bigger than expected (no footballs though). The highlight (lowlight?) was a screaming reel once I got on the other side of the bridge. One of those things that where you're first thought is "giant rock!" and then you switch "ok, maybe a big catfish?" until you finally settle on "damn, it's a ray." I let it drag me around for 10 - 15 minutes just in the hope of getting some of my line back because it nearly took the whole spool. I started heading back after and not 5 minutes later same thing - this time I cut right away. In search of non-ray infested waters, I headed back near the train bridge where I can always find some small rock and perch. Damn if I don't spot another ray swimming near the kayak. I get my heavier line in but as I'm retrieving on my 6-lb test, boom then snap. At the point, I decided I was cursed and headed in.

Followed up yesterday afternoon but headed toward the back of the creek. Caught a small rock and half-dozen perch in the first hour, then nothing till one final perch at sunset almost four hours later. Lot of paddling for little results.

Yesterday was actually my 6th trip out from the same launch this year and the results have been all over the place. My first trip yielded the biggest rock (two fat 18"ers but not much in the way of numbers). A week later, I caught close to two-dozen perch and left them biting. Hoping to range farther afield in the coming weeks.

The cownose rays have been an absolute menace in the main stem, mid-bay region. I've encountered schools of them dozens strong. Lost 6-10 lures to them in the last couple weeks. At this point if I so much as seen a ray I'll move on to a new spot. One night as I was heading back to the launch after sunset there were dozens of them in the shallow sheltered cove where the launch was. I could see their wingtips and wakes as I was heading in, but they did not see me. I bumped into several of them with my pedals and they all freaked out, causing a huge commotion in the shallow water with several of them ramming right into my kayak. I didn't have lines out at the time (I was literally 30 feet away from the launch) so it was actually a really fun and memorable experience.

[UnkleRob2020]

Thank you for the report Scorchy. My results at this location have been all over the place as well. If I include last fall, I have been skunked 6 of the last 8 or 9 times I have fished the location. I almost never know which direction to head (upstream vs downstream). Let's try to get together and fish this area soon if you are available and willing...I would love to watch you catch big pickerel and catfish while I am fishing right next to you :----)

I don't want to draw too many conclusions from a small data set, but as soon as I started going with a heavier jig head (the last two weeks), I started catching fish.

[ski357]

Thanks for the reports guys. I don't have much to add from the South end. We've been catching rock and perch, and while some down here have had success with the speckled trout-they continue to elude me. I have found a few CNRs though!