Weems - 2 hrs - 5 species

[J.A. Veil]

I made a spur-of-the-moment kayak trip to Weems Creek today at 4:30. I launched at 5:15 to very low water level and a stiff breeze. I worked shorelines upstream and downstream within 1/2 mile of the ramp.

Initially I tried casting. My first fish was a skinny 9" pickerel that was pale without the defined chain pattern. I found a few small perch, but the bite was slow. I decided to turn to ULTT (ultra-light tackle trolling) to cover more ground. I trolled 3 ultralight rods -- 2 had small spinners, and the third had a 1/8-oz jighead with a 2" Gulp minnow (no spinner blade, just the jighead). Over the next hour and a half I had a steady bite. I caught about 20 rockfish up to 14" (not a big deal on regular strength tackle, but a nice pull on an ultralight), a 13.5" redfish, one bluefish, and about 25 perch.

Because of the lower-than-usual water level, I worked a bit farther out from the shoreline than I usually do. That is where the fish were tonight.

The redfish gave a very nice fight. It was my first redfish to have more than a single spot.



The Severn River and the tidal creeks are full of fish now. If you have the time, get out and enjoy some fine fishing.

[ictalurus]

That's a heck of a catch rate. This year, perch fishing has been almost like bottom fishing--you never know what you're going to catch. Were you doing the super-slow ULTT?

[BassMoore]

Russ and I went out that morning and hammered good amount of fish at the naval academy. Bite was a little slow in the morning, we got there at just about slack tide, and then the wind picked up. We decided after only a few small fish wed head into that creek behind the naval base. On the way back around from the front of the rocks Russ hooked into a nice 20 inch Red Fish.

Once back into the creek we started tearing fish up. Id say over 100 perch between the two of us just in this creek. Russ produced 2 nice pickeral as well. I caught a few nice perch, 11 in being the biggest.

The creek was huge for us, staying out of the nasty winds. The water started getting high, wake was getting high, and even still blowing hard in the creek it was fishable.
We had a very solid day of fishing. I even managed one 16 in rock trolling on the way out.

All over the base we marked fish constantly, even in the channel of the creeks but couldnt get anything bigger to bite

[J.A. Veil]

I visited another mid-Severn area this morning for 1.5 hours. The water level was near normal (higher than yesterday). I caught 3 pickerel, 10-15 perch, and about 5 rockfish. The preferred lure today was a 1/8-oz jighead tipped with a 2" Gulp minnow. The spinners caught a few fish, but not as many as the Gulp. All fish today were caught by casting. Nearly all were caught in < 4ft depth, and some in 1 ft depth.

[J.A. Veil]

That's a heck of a catch rate. This year, perch fishing has been almost like bottom fishing--you never know what you're going to catch. Were you doing the super-slow ULTT?

Bill -

I thought I had answered this earlier -- I guess I forgot to push the submit button. I trolled at near normal paddling speed yesterday. However, I was in my OK Drifter, which has a speed about 1 mph lower than my Manta Ray. The fish were mostly in shaded areas -- the late afternoon sun was blocked by trees.

[russ498]

Russ and I went out that morning and hammered good amount of fish at the naval academy. Bite was a little slow in the morning, we got there at just about slack tide, and then the wind picked up. We decided after only a few small fish wed head into that creek behind the naval base. On the way back around from the front of the rocks Russ hooked into a nice 20 inch Red Fish.

Yes indeed, a fine day of fishing. This was my first ever legal Red, and it was delicious. And Zach, I saved you one of the filets.

[HJS]

There's nothing like variety to spice up a fishing trip. Those reds are getting bigger.

[Cal]

sounds like a great day on the water! Cheers.