slow on the patapsco

[Yak Fish]

echo5 and I headed out of harbor hospital today and fished all of my typical spots, from 7 to 2. All we had to show for it was a pair of small fish each. The water was like glass most of the time with almost no current even during the change of the tide. We saw a few others who hadn't done well either. When we got back to shore we heard a report of someone catching 4 fish, but in past years we each should have caught over a dozen or two. It has been slower than usual in the Patapsco this year based on the 3 trips I've taken this fall and I'm not sure exactly why.

It sounds like it was slower than usual at the BB as well.
At any rate, that's our report. It was still a nice day on the water

[HJS]

This was definitely not a good fall season for me on the Patapsco either. I generally fish the Patapsco thru the fall & winter when ever we get decent fishing weather. There is a WWD not too far away from HH (with sight of the HH) that can supply some decent action on some years. Maybe 1 year in 3 is decent. Seems when we have a good fall season on the Patapsco near HH then the winter is also good at the nearby WWD. Sooo, if you did bad and I did bad there this fall then its looking grim for any action at the WWD this winter. Each year is different though. You never know when the nice stripers will show up. Guess we will see.

[Yak Fish]

We fished the WWD hard, early in the day and then a couple hours later, and nothing. Water temp in the slick was 52 degrees which should have been perfect. Only marked a few fish there. I think I'm done there for the season. If I go out again, I'll try further north as there seems to be good reports out of the sassafras.

This was definitely not a good fall season for me on the Patapsco either. I generally fish the Patapsco thru the fall & winter when ever we get decent fishing weather. There is a WWD not too far away from HH (with sight of the HH) that can supply some decent action on some years. Maybe 1 year in 3 is decent. Seems when we have a good fall season on the Patapsco near HH then the winter is also good at the nearby WWD. Sooo, if you did bad and I did bad there this fall then its looking grim for any action at the WWD this winter. Each year is different though. You never know when the nice stripers will show up. Guess we will see.

[ronaultmtd]

A lot has to do with the salinity levels- we have had an exceptionally dry year this year, not a lot of rain on the Atlantic coast, so the bay is really salty- the brackish waters aren't very brackish- that might have a factor in where we are finding fish- I know they found some nice fish at Point No Point this week out of St. J's Creek and I heard reports of some nice fish caught around buoy 72 by the power boats- Solomon's boats are coming in with fish- not sure where they caught them but they all seem to have their limits of fish-

[Yak Fish]

That's an interesting point about the salinity level. I hadn't recorded the levels in past years, but I will say that a few weeks ago I found tons of jellyfish...mostly dead near HH. I thought they were little oil slicks/bubbles (which wouldn't be unusual for the patapsco) but there were so many that I used my net to scoop them and sure enough...jellyfish about the size of a half dollar. I saw a few that were like small pancakes. I associate jellyfish with salty water so maybe that's what's going on???

A lot has to do with the salinity levels- we have had an exceptionally dry year this year, not a lot of rain on the Atlantic coast, so the bay is really salty- the brackish waters aren't very brackish- that might have a factor in where we are finding fish- I know they found some nice fish at Point No Point this week out of St. J's Creek and I heard reports of some nice fish caught around buoy 72 by the power boats- Solomon's boats are coming in with fish- not sure where they caught them but they all seem to have their limits of fish-

[J.A. Veil]

That's an interesting point about the salinity level. I hadn't recorded the levels in past years, but I will say that a few weeks ago I found tons of jellyfish...mostly dead near HH. I thought they were little oil slicks/bubbles (which wouldn't be unusual for the patapsco) but there were so many that I used my net to scoop them and sure enough...jellyfish about the size of a half dollar. I saw a few that were like small pancakes. I associate jellyfish with salty water so maybe that's what's going on???

I'm not sure that what you saw were actually jellyfish. Over the past few weeks, I have seen large numbers of small ctenophores (aka comb-jellies or sea walnuts) in the Severn. Usually when I see them throughout the year, they are clear and gelatinous and about the size of an elongated golf ball. They have rows of waving cilia (hairs) along their sides. They are not part of the jellyfish group of sea creatures, even though they look somewhat similar. The ones I have seen recently are not much larger than a grape. On several occasions, I cast out a lure -- part way back to the boat I felt some extra weight but no head shaking. When the lure came up, the hook point had skewered a ctenophore.

Let me know if that is the same thing you observed.

[Yak Fish]

John, that's exactly what I saw. Thanks for the info.
I've still never seen them this far north. Do you know if they prefer higher salinity?

[HJS]

John - Are those ctenophores also called "box jellyfish", maybe a local name, dunno. I see them all the time on the Patapsco but they are almost completely transparent and you have to look very hard to see them. They are almost like ghosty remnants of bygone jelliefish.

Yak Fish - Last time I fished the HH-WWD was on Nov20. Lots of schools of baitfish in the plume plus the FF showed a couple schools of big marks that anywhere else would have indicated nice stripers. I jigged these big marks for half an hour without a single tap. Over the years I have spooked large schools of big carp several times feeding in the shallows near the RR pivot bridge just 150' away. they were big enough to roil the water bigtime as they bolted away. I know carp like WWDs too, so it's anyone's guess as to what those big marks were... probably carp. I'm pretty sure the WWD doesn't really kick in gear until temps in the rest of the Patapsco drop into the low 40Fs and upper 30Fs. Seems that WWD is not very warm at best. My temp sensor indicates the plume is only a few degrees warmer than the rest of the river. I've done well there at times that I had to break through a 100 yds of 1/4" ice at the ramp to get to the WWD.

[J.A. Veil]

I don't recall seeing the small ones before. But every year I see plenty of the larger ones (golf-ball sized) in the Severn and the main bay. For those of you who like natural history, the common ctenophore species here is Mnemiopsis leidyi. If you Google that name, you will find all sorts of information. I first learned of them when I was in grad school. I served as a teaching assistant for a course in Animal Diversity. We had some ctenophores in a tank in the lab. If you put the lights out, and gently bumped the animals with a stick or pen, their little cilia would light up. It made quite a cool light show.

[J.A. Veil]

John - Are those ctenophores also called "box jellyfish", maybe a local name, dunno. I see them all the time on the Patapsco but they are almost completely transparent and you have to look very hard to see them. They are almost like ghosty remnants of bygone jelliefish..

I think what is known as "box jellyfish" are scientifically called cubomedusae. They are found in some of the waters off of Australia and can be highly toxic to fish and humans. When I was in Australia in June 2011, we took a day trip out to the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling. All snorkelers wore a lightweight stretchy suit covering most of our bodies to protect us from jellyfish stings (they were called stinger suits - turquoise in the photo).



Here is a sign at one of the eastern Australia beaches warning swimmers about the jellyfish.

[chex]

I was on the Patapsco today too. I launched from the Promenade across from Ft McHenry. I didn't get a bite, though I was marking plenty of something.

[zimm]

Mike my troll back toHH was interupted by some towing
Cruise passengers were probably splitting their sides watching me attemted to pull tat 18'er back tothe launch
Managed1 fifteen incher on a shad imitation
At the dock i was told stretch25 was the ticket

[chex]

Oh man... Good of you to help. Was it that white boat that was stopped there? I was wondering what he was doing. I thought he was just enjoying the nice weather.

I was trolling a stretch25. Not a bite.

[Yak Fish]

That day I'd also heard the stretch 25 was the ticket (although I don't believe anyone had a "great" day). I didn't use it, but I did use what I consider my best lures for finding fish....my tried and true for the area, and it was way slower than I'd seen. Perhaps I was too hard headed and not changed it up, second guessing myself now because I'm not sure yet what was the issue. I don't like not catching a lot of fish and now I'm itching to figure out this puzzle!

[zimm]

"Was it that white boat that was stopped there?"
sure was and he was NOT enjoying himself. I watched him carefully after i saw the cloud of steam / smoke. when I saw activity I figured he was somewhat ok.
then I noticed he was paddling that monster with what looked to be a 1X6.a Apparently he had a bad water pump and overheated the 350.
fortunately a sailboat with a 5 hp came along tofinish the tow - otherwise I might still be out there pulling.

qualifies as my biggest catch of the year