Saw red at Bellevue / Oxford 8-17-12

[chex]

I took Moc and Surfdog's advice and headed to Bellevue today, for the first time. Beautiful place... The launch is where the Bellevue-Oxford ferry is. You can use the boat ramp, but there's also a nice little beach there, which is where I launched.



The wind was pretty strong and the water rough, but I soon found a cove where things were more peaceful. I started casting a 3" chartreuse gulp mullet towards the grassy shore and started catching white perch right away.



The perching seemed easy, so I decided to try something else and started casting a spinner on the ultra-light... got some more perch.



I left my gulp mullet dangling in the water so it wouldn't dry out. While I was fishing with the spinner, something bigger took the unmanned gulp and took it for a spin! I quickly took the rod and reeled in my first red drum! A 14"er.



I crossed the river, battling the waves and went into Town Creek (if I remember correctly) and kept catching perch after perch... some pretty big ones up to 11". It's an awesome place, with gorgeous houses lining some of the most beautiful shoreline I've seen. It seems everybody was out having a good time and enjoying the weather.









I wanted to catch something bigger, so I tied on a big 'ol 5" curly tail... caught more perch!



I headed back in around 7:30 after trolling some xraps, with no luck.

Great day on the water. I probably caught 40-50 perch, a couple tiny stripers and the red drum. Took 5 big perch home.

[J.A. Veil]

That sounds like a fun day. Congratulations on your first red drum. At that size they are not too powerful, but when they get a bit larger, they pull really hard.

[ictalurus]

Nice report and pics, Mike. I especially like the sailboat pic. Congrats on the redfish, too. They seem to be less afraid of the yak than other species. I've caught a number of them bouncing a Gulp under my yak in 5ft of water or less.

[beerums]

When I was at Nanjemoy yesterday I tried using a jig with a curlytail for the perch but was unsuccessful. What's the best way to fish the jig, bottom bounce or keep it suspended?

[chex]

When I was at Nanjemoy yesterday I tried using a jig with a curlytail for the perch but was unsuccessful. What's the best way to fish the jig, bottom bounce or keep it suspended?

I've caught perch both bottom bouncing and suspended, but most were caught suspended. Vertical jigging seems to work well too, near dock pilings and structure.

[J.A. Veil]

What's the best way to fish the jig, bottom bounce or keep it suspended?

Nearly all the perch I catch are in relatively shallow water near shorelines. I cast the lure near the shore and work it back to the kayak. Or you can cast parallel to the shore. The key is to keep the lure moving at a speed that causes whatever part of the lure moves (twister tail, spinner blade, etc) to pulsate at a speed that looks realistic like some kind of prey item. Too slow or too fast does not look right to a predator.

Also during the winter, there is often a layer of slimy material near the bottom. It is necessary to move the lure fast enough to keep it off the bottom, yet slow enough so the cold-blooded fish can still react to it in the cold water.

Different reels have different gear ratios. You need to pay attention to the lure speed if you switch between reels with different gear ratios.

One other important point is to figure out what size of prey the fish are currently eating. I remember about a year ago, I was in a very productive perch hole and was casting a 4" soft plastic swimming minnow that had worked well in the weeks before. That day, the fish pretty much ignored it or gave it an occasional bump. I decided to switch to a smaller lure with a more slender profile. I caught perch on 5 of the next 8 casts in the same area that had not produced just a few minutes earlier.

You can fish bait on a bottom rig over a hard bottom (oyster shell areas are good choices). Then you can drift and occasionally lift the rod tip gently to raise the bait off the bottom. It works, but is less fun that catching them by casting.

[beerums]

John - Thanks for the tips, I'm going to have to get out and practice my jigging technique for the upcoming CBKA tourney! Are live-lining and jigging the only two ways to fish the BB for rock? I've been trying to find as many youtube videos and posts in here about fishing the BB, I'm sure my wife thinks i'm insane but that's okay with me!

So back in Maine we do a lot of striper fishing in the Kennebec river and my Dad's friend started making his own lures. Think these would be effective at all around the BB or would they be better for the Susqy or another tributary?

I attached the pic here and his website is www.riverstrikelures1.com

[J.A. Veil]

John - Thanks for the tips, I'm going to have to get out and practice my jigging technique for the upcoming CBKA tourney! Are live-lining and jigging the only two ways to fish the BB for rock? I've been trying to find as many youtube videos and posts in here about fishing the BB, I'm sure my wife thinks i'm insane but that's okay with me!

So back in Maine we do a lot of striper fishing in the Kennebec river and my Dad's friend started making his own lures. Think these would be effective at all around the BB or would they be better for the Susqy or another tributary?

I attached the pic here and his website is www.riverstrikelures1.com

Jeff -

I am not the best one to answer about catching lots of fish at the Bay Bridge. I catch a few jigging but have also caught some by casting relatively light jigheads with twister tails or other soft plastics in the quiet eddies behind the large pilings. Live lining can be very effective, but some guys are better at it than others (I am one of the not so good liveliners). You can also troll larger lures around the bridge and at structure nearby (e.g., the Kent Island sewer pipe, just north of the eastern side of the bridge.) It is not uncommon to find schools of sub-legal rock and blues breaking around the bridge this time of year.

The plastic lures you show in your picture look they should work well. The best way to find out is to try them yourself and maybe give out a few to some other anglers to get their feedback. I'm sure you would get some takers at the CBKA event in a few weeks.

[ictalurus]

Jeff--Those lures look pretty good and will probably work. I'm terrible at jigging, though, so my opinion probably doesn't matter much. Another way to catch stripers is by trolling crankbaits and spoons. Trolling around bridge will probably be difficult if there are a lot of boats around, but I almost always troll something any time I'm moving between spots. Casting spoons and crankbaits will work, too, if fish are schooled up or breaking.

[tufnik]

To catch more fish, I guess I'm gonna have to dangling my lures yak side too. Nice pics.