Hog Point Tues 5/8/12

[tufnik]

Did some shore fishing and had my lines touch water after 3 pm. Had three surf rods out, each with a tandem rig. Each rig had some combo of menhaden, bws, shrimp, and squid. Target was striper and croaker. Nothing. Lots of small nibbles, from small bait stealers.

Caught a small minnow of some sort off my light tackle rod with bws. It was over 3" long, silver and slender. I don't know what it was, but I hooked the back and threw it out as bait. Nothing.

I did catch the small minnow, so, was I skunked?

[MTDluvsFishin]

Nice looking place, I love fishing jetties. Sealine X 30SHA in the 2nd pic?

[mepps3]

That's exactly where I fished last thursday....but you gotta wait until 8pm or so for the bite to start! The croakers come shallow from the deep to feed. To my best knowledge, daytime croakers can only be caught from deep holes from a boat.

[tufnik]

It's an X20SHA.

I was actually targeting stripers, and "testing" for croakers. I fished almost till 9 pm. I heard stripers and croakers were caught off PLO pier a couple miles south, so I figured they would move up to the Pax.

[kevinfry]

As for whether or not you were skunked.....if what you catch is better bait than tablefare.....doesn't count!
Keep trying though!!!!

[ictalurus]

I disagree. If you encountered a fish that you didn't bring with you, then you weren't skunked. Hell, if I get a fish to the boat, and it jumps off the hook before I lay hands on it, I count it as long as I got a good look at what it was and its length.

Surprisingly, I've caught croakers in the day time in shallow water on the Drum Point side and by Solomons. They probably do bite better at night, but it can be done. I'm not sure what drives the croaker bite, but I've caught my biggest ones around a full moon. I've also caught plenty of spot (keepers and live-lining size) in as little as 2ft of water, even during the day, which is a little secret I try to keep from the power boaters.

[J.A. Veil]

I disagree. If you encountered a fish that you didn't bring with you, then you weren't skunked. Hell, if I get a fish to the boat, and it jumps off the hook before I lay hands on it, I count it as long as I got a good look at what it was and its length.

I agree with Bill. If you hook something other than what you put on as bait, then you caught a fish. It all depends on how you define a skunk -- no fish at all, or no fish for the cooler to bring home.

[kevinfry]

I agree with Bill. If you hook something other than what you put on as bait, then you caught a fish. It all depends on how you define a skunk -- no fish at all, or no fish for the cooler to bring home.

LOL...OK I'll concede. Still can't wrap my mind around herring, anchovies, bunker and Killies being "fish"...But I'll concede

[Memory Maker]

......... you guys are more generous than me ......... if I'm not satisfied with the catch than I'm skunked .......... catching bait doesn't count ..... only targeted fish ........

[MetroMan]

Surprisingly, I've caught croakers in the day time in shallow water on the Drum Point side and by Solomons. They probably do bite better at night, but it can be done. I'm not sure what drives the croaker bite, but I've caught my biggest ones around a full moon.

My best day of croaker fishing was with Foursteps when we rented a skiff from Bunkys. Daytime...Overcast, threatening to rain. We were throwing back 13" & below.

[jsnyd86]

Thats a tough one haha. I guess for me as long as my hook smells like fish, I didn't get skunked. Skunked, is compeletly not finding fish. No hook sets what so ever.
That being said, sorry you didnt catch much. Looks like a nice spot though.

[tufnik]

How about a skunk definition? Not a clean definition, but it's something.

4 Caught something and did a throw-back (e.g., short of legal size); or lost it during the landing/unhooking
3 Caught something, and used it as bait
2 Caught something and it came off the hook; could identify
1 Caught something and it came off the hook; could not identify
0 Caught nothing

Based on that, I got Skunk level 3.

So, maybe levels 3 and 4 are not skunks. Or maybe it's the proudest level of a skunk.

[kevinfry]

How about a skunk definition? Not a clean definition, but it's something.

4 Caught something and did a throw-back (e.g., short of legal size); or lost it during the landing/unhooking
3 Caught something, and used it as bait
2 Caught something and it came off the hook; could identify
1 Caught something and it came off the hook; could not identify
0 Caught nothing

Based on that, I got Skunk level 3.

So, maybe levels 3 and 4 are not skunks. Or maybe it's the proudest level of a skunk.

.01 caught nothing, told buddy I caught a "short" while his back was turned because he was shaming me by catching fish