Severn perch - Sunday 9/16/12

[Fishinfool]

Another great day on the Severn yesterday. Caught 7 keeper perch and one 10 inch rock while trolling. Two of the perch were very large ( see pic); 11.25 and 12.25 inches. Used fresh bait on the bottom; razor clams and peeler on the bottom w/ a small spinner w/ red beads and a # 2 hook.

I am an old school guy and grew up on the Severn and always used fresh bait, but it looks like I can save time and $'s using the jigs and gulp minnows you guys use. Any encouragement for this old river bird for where to get them and how to use them?

Last note: I used J.A. Veil's idea of rod holders attached w/ a rachet strap on the cooler. Thought about it, and bought two plumbing fixtures ( 1.5 inch connectors w/ a 45 degree connector on each (see pic) at $2.97 each and also had the guy cut two 5 inch long, 1.5 inch wide males to fit into the 1.5 inch female plumbing fixtures. I've learned you can never have enough rods either in the boat or in the water, and the holders come in handy. Next time, I'll position the holders on the wide side of the cooler so I can fit the cooler length wise between my knees. It ain't perfect, but it's all portable, and I am not drilling holes in my cooler or my boat. If anyone has other ideas on the cooler rod holder jury rigged set up, let it rip. I tried strapping on the boat, but too unstable.

Tight lines!

[<MIKE>]

Congrats on those two nice fat perch! There's nothing wrong with fresh bait. Jigs and Gulp work but I'm not sure if they are really that much cheaper especially when the tails keep getting bit off. Gulp can be pricy depending on where you get it which is just about anywhere that sells fishing stuff both Angler's and Marty's carry it. My favorite lure at the moment for Severn Perch is Worden's Vibric Rooster Tail Lure 1/4oz chartreuse model:456-CHMY which you can get a Bass Pro. The only issue with them is they're not rated for salt and they are cheaply made but if you wash them they last for about 3-5 trips. Beetlespin lures work great too.



I agree you can never have too many rods. Although the more rods you have the more likely one will fall overboard. I learned that one the hard way. I'm currently using rod leashes but I hate them. I see some people use floats directly on the rod above the reel. Not sure how that effects balance though.

The rod holders look good. What kind of Kayak do you have?

[Fishinfool]

Thanks Mike. I've got an old Mepps lure from way back that looks like the Vibric Rooster Tail, and another one that's similar that has a safety pin look to it w/ dark feathers. I've tried 'em w/o bait, and they just don't work that well.

I have a Pungo 120 Wilderness Series that's about 10 years old. I am starting to use it much more frequently, must be a late middle age crisis setting in, LOL. It's a good all around boat and relatively fast, but kind of tight for fishing.

[BassMoore]

get the spinner blade that have the clips.. 1/8 ounce jig heads and attach, and use chartuse or pumkin 3 inch grubs.. thats my money bait.. i caught well over 100 perch on sunday morning at the naval base

[dsiekman]

Congrats on those two nice fat perch! There's nothing wrong with fresh bait. Jigs and Gulp work but I'm not sure if they are really that much cheaper especially when the tails keep getting bit off. Gulp can be pricy depending on where you get it which is just about anywhere that sells fishing stuff both Angler's and Marty's carry it. My favorite lure at the moment for Severn Perch is Worden's Vibric Rooster Tail Lure 1/4oz chartreuse model:456-CHMY which you can get a Bass Pro. The only issue with them is they're not rated for salt and they are cheaply made but if you wash them they last for about 3-5 trips. Beetlespin lures work great too.




I agree you can never have too many rods. Although the more rods you have the more likely one will fall overboard. I learned that one the hard way. I'm currently using rod leashes but I hate them. I see some people use floats directly on the rod above the reel. Not sure how that effects balance though.

The rod holders look good. What kind of Kayak do you have?

+1. A Worden's Vibric Sonic (slightly different than above) in red or white are my go to lures for white perch. Where are you launching from? I'd be happy to show you some of my hot spots. I will say fishing has been a little odd for me lately. There have been far more schoolie rock and far fewer perch than I've seen in the past.

[Fishinfool]

Thanks for the tips guys. Thanks for the offer, but my schedule is unpredictable, so it's tough for me to plan. I generally don't know I'll be fishin' until that day or the night before.

I put in usually at a private community beach as a guest of a family member about a mile +- up river from the Rt. 50 Bridge, north side of the river in Arnold. I have been wanting to put in at Jonas Green too. I think those private piers towards the mouth of the river (on the Greenbury Pt. side) look nice and fishy if the water is deep enough. Perch are nice, but it would be good to catch a keeper rock, red drum, or blue now and then too, and I don't get too much variety where I put in now.

How 'bout those plumbing fixtures as rod holders, any bites (comments) on those?

[dsiekman]

I like the rod holder concept and had thought about doing something similar but ended up picking up a triple holder at the discount dock at Fairwinds and zip tied it to my crate.

I usually fish north of Round Bay. I'm self employed, so my schedule is all over the map, too - fished twice today . I have also always wanted to launch from Jonas but have never gotten around to it. It is just too easy to run down to the community beach and put in. Next time you get a chance to get out, send me a PM.

[<MIKE>]

How 'bout those plumbing fixtures as rod holders, any bites (comments) on those?

Why don't you want to put any holes in your Yak? You could easily do flush mounts or a Scotty type mount. There are many options if you're willing to drill. The nice thing about the Scotty style is you can adjust the angle.

Do you have a picture of your current setup with you in the yak showing how you're using it. That might help with suggestions and comments.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Flus...ngo-120-Kayak/

http://oakorchardcanoe.com/images/ac...od_holders.jpg

[dsiekman]

Mike, those twin scotty mounts on the deck in the first pic are nice! I had some scrap mahogany laying around in the basement and built something similar. My boat came with one scotty and I intend to install another and a fish finder between.

[Fishinfool]

Mike - Thanks for the links. Looks like a good winter project, I am having too much fun catching fish to spend time installing permanent rod holders right now.

Dsiekman - I grew up in Linstead, but live in Silver Spring now, about 40 miles from brakish water put in territory. A crazy idea I have is to explore the Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge by kayak, but put in at Queenstown and paddle across the mouth of the Chester River to get to it. I have a sister living about 20 min. from there in Great Oak off of Fairlee Creek, and she raves about the place. Good fishing too, from what I hear. The long paddle would save about 90 miles of driving round trip, but I would NOT do that alone. Maybe we could get a group together; it's a dawn to dusk refuge, so that's a long day too.

[Shady]

Nice report and Perch. I like to use small road runner jigheads with 1-3" gulp alive minnows. I've caught well on several different colors. I get everything from basspro. I'm not sure that it would be cheaper than using bait, but atleast you dont have to stop for bait everytime you go fishing.

I have a bunch of those roostertails and mepps and joes flies that I've found trout fishing and have caught a few trout on them, but have not tried them for Perch. I'll have to bring some along next time out.

As for the rodholders on the cooler, if it works for you thats all that matters. The easiest thing to do is find yourself a milkcrate and attach some PVC pipe for rod holders.

[Fishinfool]

Thanks Ryan. Will look for the milk crate, but are you talking about attaching the crate to the top of the boat, or just putting it inside the boat (Pongo 120)? Behind me, or between my knees?

[<MIKE>]

Mike, those twin scotty mounts on the deck in the first pic are nice! I had some scrap mahogany laying around in the basement and built something similar. My boat came with one scotty and I intend to install another and a fish finder between. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4444[/ATTACH]

dsiekman,
I like that setup you made. Very pro. It looks like you didn't need to drill into the yak. Does it just clamp onto the ridge around the opening?

[Shady]

Sorry, I didn't take into account the kind of kayak you have. Look's like there isnt really a good place to put a crate. Maybe you could strap one down with the deck bungees?

[dsiekman]

dsiekman,
I like that setup you made. Very pro. It looks like you didn't need to drill into the yak. Does it just clamp onto the ridge around the opening?

Thanks, Mike! Yes, it just clamps to the lip. I ran a couple bungies forward for when I want to troll. It takes a little load off of the wood. I still need to put some finish on the wood, but other than that I am pretty happy with it. It has forced me to slightly alter my stroke, but that seems to be a good thing as I don't get worn out quite as fast as I used to. I think I was being a little too aggressive before.