Flats Wed and Thurs 17th-18th...out of Perryville Community Park

[jbrown]

A slight change of plans... not going to Susquehana/Statue of Liberty tomorrow for the smallies trip... But I will be on the Flats tomorrow by Perryville Community Park... about 8 am and then again on Thursday AM 7am. Tan Hobie Mirage Drive Yak / Red PFD- Hope someone has the day off...its going to be nice. And I could use some helpful hints on the Flats... Is this a good place to enter the flats...any safety issues...- I assume good largemouth fishing as well in Furnace Bay/ up the NE river. I will be chucking some nice big Hogy soft plastics!- Hope not too windy!- John B.

[SteveM]

Great place to enter the flats. The mouth of principio creek is in furnace bay and can be productive(actually the whole creek). Its hit or miss though. The tides affect that place. But the herring run up the creek to spawn and you know what that means... . There has been some fish caught off of Perryville park pier the past two days. Tight Lines

[jbrown]

Great place to enter the flats. The mouth of principio creek is in furnace bay and can be productive(actually the whole creek). Its hit or miss though. The tides affect that place. But the herring run up the creek to spawn and you know what that means... . There has been some fish caught off of Perryville park pier the past two days. Tight Lines

Nice- I cant wait to get back there in the little creek area...looking for some largemouth. If the stripers are following those herring I'll be on them. I'll keep everyone posted. I wonder if any shad go up there... I'll bring some Tony spoons... - John B.

[HJS]

There's a nice channel just past the point (Stump Point) only a couple 100 yards from the put-in. It hugs the shoreline from Havre de Grace all the way Stump Point then goes straight across Furnace Bay to Carpenters Point and beyond. Just watch out for the big boats as they fly up and down the channel. I've had pretty good luck with the stripers in the channel. Fish on the edges of the channel. A fish-finder will a very handy tool while fishing the sides of the channel. Low tide is 9:17am. At times it seems like any stripers that are out in the shallows during high tides will hold up in the channels as low tide approaches waiting for the next incoming.

Good luck, and please report back on your successes and also water clarity.

[Yak Fish]

Howard,
I was up there on Sunday. Water temp was just under 60 and clarity was not very good. Debris was all over. The wind was about as bad as I'd ever seen and I was drifting at 1.5 mph. Waves all over the place.
I fished off stump point for a little while as I saw boats gather there early in the morning. No one caught anything and the boats scattered again. It was another day that I caught nothing but wind burn on the flats.
I can't hardly believe it. This season has been the worst that I can remember. The same reports are coming in from the captains...no good numbers of fish. We should be catching dozens of fish per trip by this point.
The yellow perch was the worst I've ever seen as well this year. In years past, I've literally caught hundreds of fish by this point. To date this year, I've got less than a dozen and that has been a lot of fishing. I sure hope things turn around because the flats are my favorite spot.

There's a nice channel just past the point (Stump Point) only a couple 100 yards from the put-in. It hugs the shoreline from Havre de Grace all the way Stump Point then goes straight across Furnace Bay to Carpenters Point and beyond. Just watch out for the big boats as they fly up and down the channel. I've had pretty good luck with the stripers in the channel. Fish on the edges of the channel. A fish-finder will a very handy tool while fishing the sides of the channel. Low tide is 9:17am. At times it seems like any stripers that are out in the shallows during high tides will hold up in the channels as low tide approaches waiting for the next incoming.

Good luck, and please report back on your successes and also water clarity.

[jhoss]

Hey, looks like I'll be up that way tomorrow. Maybe see you there. Did great for LM there in furnace creek a few weeks back. Still hitting zero on the striper bite. Anyone have suggestions for what to fish in the channel. I did well for the bass in the shallow parts up in the creek. Not real sure of what to try in the deeper channel in front of the launch. Thanks for any tips.

[SteveM]

This is a susky native Indian secret, fish where the fish are and use what they are biting. No but seriously, if they are there they will hit anything that looks like bait fish.

[jhoss]

Well, fished this morning until about 12:30. One little dink. That's all. Hope things pick up for the jamboree this weekend.

[jbrown]

Flats 4/17 results- Not good

Howard,
I was up there on Sunday. Water temp was just under 60 and clarity was not very good. Debris was all over. The wind was about as bad as I'd ever seen and I was drifting at 1.5 mph. Waves all over the place.
I fished off stump point for a little while as I saw boats gather there early in the morning. No one caught anything and the boats scattered again. It was another day that I caught nothing but wind burn on the flats.
I can't hardly believe it. This season has been the worst that I can remember. The same reports are coming in from the captains...no good numbers of fish. We should be catching dozens of fish per trip by this point.
The yellow perch was the worst I've ever seen as well this year. In years past, I've literally caught hundreds of fish by this point. To date this year, I've got less than a dozen and that has been a lot of fishing. I sure hope things turn around because the flats are my favorite spot.

So- I was really excited...on the calm water/ slight cloud cover 8:15 am (4/17). Off stump point and Furnace bay and across to NE river...Nothing!- Water temp 56 on surface/1.5-2.0 ft visibility (poor)- three other yaks there and a few boats with a lot of technology on board. Talked to them all. One yaker with some dinks caught off blood worms in 16-20 ft water. Otherwise nothing. I spoke to a guy on a 20 ft Mako with some serious technology on board and he and his mate were picking up tons of fish through the entire channel but nothing biting. A few glass boats back in Furnace bay catching just a few largemouth...but very slow. Freaking carp jumping 3 ft out of the water just about giving me a heart attack!- Later that afternoon drove up to Harrisburg and caught a 3 lb smallmouth under the CSX bridge parking lot... on x rap jerk lure (orange)- aggressive strike with front trebble hook half way down its mouth-brutal. But love the access at Perryville community park. Will be back and will look forward to more plentiful smaller stripers in June and on. All the best to all at the Jamboree... did speak briefly to the gentleman in the yak with the American flag with what looked like a POW flag under it. He was pre-fishing for the Jamboree...he was off the water early with no action. (sounds like I should have gone shore fishing at Deer Creek for shad!)- Peace out- JB

[HJS]

Dang... your report is as dismal as all the other dozen or so reports I have read since before the weekend, both on this site and elsewhere. What the heck has happened to the Flats?!?!? I don’t ever remember striper action dying like this without an obvious cause, like major flooding. We are running out of time… and some guys are getting nervous about the rest of the Flats C&R season… including me. Guess we shall see.

But still, thanks for the report. In this instance, non-catching reports are just as informative as catching reports.

[Yak Fish]

For what it's worth, the Patapsco was rather dismal for stripers this year...in the fall when I'd had great success in the past.
However, the flats was awesome for stripers this fall so I thought the spring would be even better. I keep fishing hard and I'll probably go up again this weekend which will make my 5th trip I believe (I live close so no big deal) but only 1 striper so far, unbelievable. I had a trip scheduled with Capt. Brady today but he cancelled because the no one is catching anything.

Dang... your report is as dismal as all the other dozen or so reports I have read since before the weekend, both on this site and elsewhere. What the heck has happened to the Flats?!?!? I don’t ever remember striper action dying like this without an obvious cause, like major flooding. We are running out of time… and some guys are getting nervous about the rest of the Flats C&R season… including me. Guess we shall see.

But still, thanks for the report. In this instance, non-catching reports are just as informative as catching reports.

[jbrown]

Patapsco ponds

For what it's worth, the Patapsco was rather dismal for stripers this year...in the fall when I'd had great success in the past.
However, the flats was awesome for stripers this fall so I thought the spring would be even better. I keep fishing hard and I'll probably go up again this weekend which will make my 5th trip I believe (I live close so no big deal) but only 1 striper so far, unbelievable. I had a trip scheduled with Capt. Brady today but he cancelled because the no one is catching anything.

Interesting...I read an old article about fishing the 'Patapsco Ponds'... in the Fall. Not sure if Stripers run up there in the Spring but I imagine they do. Looks like rather easy access and an interesting urban environment (Mike Iaconelli would probably like it)- should be good for largemouth/ pickerel etc... Your thoughts?-

[Yak Fish]

I've never fished the ponds, but the stripers certainly hang out along the channel edges in the deeper water.

Interesting...I read an old article about fishing the 'Patapsco Ponds'... in the Fall. Not sure if Stripers run up there in the Spring but I imagine they do. Looks like rather easy access and an interesting urban environment (Mike Iaconelli would probably like it)- should be good for largemouth/ pickerel etc... Your thoughts?-

[HJS]

Interesting...I read an old article about fishing the 'Patapsco Ponds'... in the Fall. Not sure if Stripers run up there in the Spring but I imagine they do. Looks like rather easy access and an interesting urban environment (Mike Iaconelli would probably like it)- should be good for largemouth/ pickerel etc... Your thoughts?-

Several years ago, when striper populations were noticeably higher, the Belle Grove Ponds were indeed a good place to fish for stripers at certain times of the year. I guess I'm talking at least 8 - 10 years ago. As of recent, I think striper action at these ponds has dropped off dramatically, as it has at lots of places that were once productive spots for stripers. Around a decade ago, it was routine to find breaking stripers with birds in the Patapsco from Harbor Hospital out to Fort McHenry. I had a good bit of fun chasing breaking schoolie stripers from my canoe with trolling motor. Guys thought I was nuts back then.

[Yak Fish]

...perhaps some things haven't changed

Several years ago, when striper populations were noticeably higher, the Belle Grove Ponds were indeed a good place to fish for stripers at certain times of the year. I guess I'm talking at least 8 - 10 years ago. As of recent, I think striper action at these ponds has dropped off dramatically, as it has at lots of places that were once productive spots for stripers. Around a decade ago, it was routine to find breaking stripers with birds in the Patapsco from Harbor Hospital out to Fort McHenry. I had a good bit of fun chasing breaking schoolie stripers from my canoe with trolling motor. Guys thought I was nuts back then.