Odd catch on terrible day

[kevinfry]

I met up with Comeonfish joe this morning at PLO.....though "met up" is a bit of a misnomer. I arrived 2 hours ahead and found the weather very bad with wind and rain. (This was the best weather I had all morning) While waiting for Joe ,Somehow I got it into my head that the west side of the point seemed fishable, so I tried drifting for flounder. I soon found myself blown all the way down to Cornfield Point....... facing a long slow paddle back to port. During the drift, I caught 3 Black Sea Bass.....a new species for me. I did not know they made it this far up the Chesapeake. It was so rough and bumpy that my picture taking was dodgy...this is the only pic that even slightly turned out. Still, there is the evidence! LOL If I mis-identified someone let me know.
I eventually met up with Joe, but the weather got even worse, got chased by lightning, and I called it quits. My only keeper a 15" bluefish. Of course, a bad day on the water is better than a good day in many other places.

[ronaultmtd]

Nope- you are right- that is a black sea bass or a black willie as they are sometimes called...

[J.A. Veil]

Kevin -

Many years ago I caught black sea bass near the Target Ships, so I am not too surprised that you found them near Pt Lookout. I have not fished those waters in a long time. This year, the black sea bass have made it up the bay as far as Annapolis, which is pretty uncommon.

[ictalurus]

Fishing with Joe @ PLO

Oooof. I can't believe you left Lake Conoy. I must have just missed you. Sorry about that.

There are some wrecks around PLO that are supposed to hold bigger black sea bass at times, but I've never found them. I have caught some black sea bass around Drum Point.

I met up with Joe around 2pm, but there was lots of thunder and lightning. We shot the breeze in the parking lot until it was safe to launch again. I showed Joe my redfish jigging technique and we set off around Lake Conoy in search of some bigger ones. The wind was blowing so hard that there were white caps in Lake Conoy.

Here's a shot of Joe in the waves:


Tour boat coming in:


I picked up a couple 12" reds and a 6" croaker as we worked our way to the riprap. As I looked out toward the point, it looked like the eye of a hurricane was passing over the Bay:






Shortly thereafter, the wind and rain started picking up, and the bite really turned on. I picked up a couple more 12-14" reds, one of which had a blue tail:




It actually got bluer when I put it back in the water:


Joe really had the hot hand and was catching them on almost every cast. Not only did he catch more than I did, but they were bigger. No fair--He was using "my" technique better than I was.


Joe hooked up:


Joe netting:


The fish:


He was even catching them from the riprap as we waited for the lightning to move off:






We called it quits a bit after 5pm when the rain and wind picked up again. I was thinking we should've stayed out longer as I drove home since it seemed to clear up, but then it poured when I got home. The water temperature was 74* in Lake Conoy, which is around 10* colder than it was on Tuesday. I hope it doesn't keep dropping like that.

Considering the miserable weather, it was a pretty good day of fishing. We both ended up with at least a dozen redfish (more for Joe), and some of them were in the 15" range. I also caught a little flounder. If I could've caught a speck, I would've had a miniature inshore slam. Gulp grubs were the hot lure, but Joe was catching more and bigger fish while using a Redfish Magic spinner arm with the jighead and Gulp. My catch rate increased when I started using that, too. It's been well over a year since I last fished with Joe, and I really enjoyed catching up with him again.

[kevinfry]

Bill and Joe.....one of my buddies who sea kayaks sent me this after yesterday. That big spike mid day is what chased me home!!

[ictalurus]

Holy cow! 46kts = 53mph. That's almost fishing in a hurricane. Are you sure Ron wasn't out there with you? Apparently, there was a 100mph gust in the evening. Now I'm really glad I didn't stay out longer.

[surfdog]

nice report guys, caught some sea bass in DE yesterday about half keeper size ): rain and wind sucked and the tide was really moving in the afternoon. GB got a keeper spec but didnt know it, in DE keeper specs are 12". fishing was slow for flounder but was picking up when i had to get back and close my truck window, good thing because it really poured 10 min. after i did.

[ronaultmtd]

Holy cow! 46kts = 53mph. That's almost fishing in a hurricane. Are you sure Ron wasn't out there with you? Apparently, there was a 100mph gust in the evening. Now I'm really glad I didn't stay out longer.

Now Bill- There have been some fishing trips with me that it wasn't blowing a gale...we only fished a few times in 40 mph winds...