South River Trolling

[DOGFISH]

Finally, the trolling bite has picked up in the South River. I went out for a few hours Saturday afternoon. I trolled around for about an hour, hour and a half and only caught one bluefish. I noticed some gulls further in towards the flat. Further in than where I usually fish. The gulls were not diving on fish, but were circling around the same area. I went in and made one pass and nothing. I swung around and came back through the same area but slowed down this time and immediately had a 24" rock on and landed. Before I could get that one in the other rod went down, and it was a 20" rock. Thereafter, I caught a couple of bluefish with two more rockfish mixed in, 22" and 18". All tolled it was 4 rockfish and 8 bluefish by the time I headed back. Some of the bluefish were about 20-22 inch fish. That was a pleasure, they were fun. They were alittle better than the typical small snapper blues. Things should keep getting better.

About mid way through catching the fish, in the same area, things broke loose. Fish started breaking all over an area of several acres. The trolling bite was good. However, I stopped to cast a spoon, and had no takers. I was quite surprised by that. So, I went back to trolling to catch a few more. Lesson learned, keep with the tactic that is catching fish.

I was trolling a #8 rapala shad rap, deep diver and a lucky craft deep diving minnow. The color of the rapala, I believe is called silver ghost, and the lucky craft minnow was silver with a green back.


Good Luck.

[Redfish12]

Sounds like a great day trolling out there! Do you troll your rods up front? How do you keep two plugs from tangling when you turn? I guess you can make some wide slow turns with the trolling motor easier than I can. I usually try to troll on lighter line long and a shorter heavier lure closer in to hopefully prevent tangles. Need to break out the lures it sounds like!

[surfdog]

nice job. i like to throw a bucktail with a soft plastic into the boil and let it drop a little to get to the larger lazy rock underneath

[ictalurus]

Sounds like an awesome trip. If I'm in a blitz where I know there's blues, I'll cast a 1.5oz (I think) Stingsilver into the mix and reel it as fast as I can. They usually slam it shortly after it hits the water. A 20-22in blue is an awesome fight. I haven't gotten one that size yet this year.

[DOGFISH]

I do make somewhat wide turns when trolling. The only time I have had problems with tangles is when a fish makes a hard run towards the other line. This is a rare occasion. I do have both rods mounted in scotty rod holders just in front of where I sit. There is a photo of the kayak, in the kayak rigging thread, from a few weeks back. The rods up front in that photo are in the position as when trolling.

When I stopped to cast, I was using a 3/4 ounce Kastmaster. That normally does the trick. I thought about using a soft bait, type of swimbait. However, I just went back to what was working. Its something about breaking fish, the birds are excited, the fish are excited and the fishermen are excited. Things just can't happen fast enough. Things will continue to get even better. My best day last year, in about the same area, was 23 fish, with the largest that day of 27". They were all rockfish, with none being undersized. A few were just 18". It was the best day of kayak fishing I have had.

Good Luck.

[Grilled]

nice job....do you use any weight when trolling those lighter lures?

[DOGFISH]

I don't use any weight. I use deep diving crankbaits. Most are rated 8-15 feet deep.

[chirotrout]

south river

Where do you put in?

[DOGFISH]

I put in at the community marina in Hillsmere, where I live. There is not that many places to launch on the South River. I mentioned Thomas Point park once before, but I agree with all others, it is a difficult place to launch. I noticed on the map, there is a park on the Selby Bay side of the river. It is marked with a kayak lauching icon. It is on the recreation and parks page for the county. Also, don't overlook the Severn River. You can launch at Jonas Green Park, on the North side of the River at Rt. 2. I have caught good numbers of stripers trolling in that area in years past. Go to the NOAA web site and study the area for drop offs and bottom contours. Troll those areas.

There are also the ends of the streets, such as Severn and Chesapeake Aves, in Eastport. You can launch from the ends of the street, then go park along the street. This is access to good waters. I see the wind surfers launching at the ends of the streets. You may want to look into that.

Good Luck.

[jet]

thanks for the report! have you ever fished spa creek?

[DOGFISH]

No, however, I hear its a sleeper. I have friends who tell me that around the docks with bucktails is good fishing. I know for myself, that the sea wall on the Naval Acadamey side will produce fish. When I had my boat, sometimes we would launch at Truxton Park. On the way out and/or back in we would stop along the wall and toss bucktails for rockfish with sucess. When we would be picking the boat up at the ramp, kids would be catching bluefish from the pier next to the ramp.

I have a friend who does alot of walking. He knows that I fish. He tells me of seeing large fish, which he says look like rockfish, in the water from the lights on the bridge at night during his walks.

I have fished the Severn River just off the mouth of Spa Creek. When the bay would be rough, sometimes I would troll inside the Severn. There is a deeper channel on the Naval Station side of the river, which is a good place to troll. I wrote in another post about the Severn. Jonas Green Park should be a good place to launch this time of year. The water temperature is about right. I think the late start this year was due to the hot summer. After my last day fishing, looks like things are under way for the fall on the South River. I'll be busy this next week or so, with the boat show. However, after that I will be able to do more fishing. When I go I'll post an offer to anyone who wants to go. Being retired, I mostly go during the week, when there are less boats. Sometimes I go on the weekend.

Good Luck.