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gkreps (Greg) and I launched from Tydings marina about 8:15 this morning. Although we had rain and drizzle the whole time we drove from our homes there, the precipitation stopped as we launched. I hoped that was an omen -- not so. We had overcast skies with an occasional patch of blue. The wind blew steadily from the east setting up steady 1 ft waves and occasional larger ones. We trolled for 3.5 hours covering over 6 miles. I trolled three rods most of the time and Greg used two. I did not get a single bite -- Greg caught one small rockfish while trolling and several more casting at the docks waiting for me.
With the combination of wind, waves, and low water, I was unable to troll successfully in the relatively shallow area where I caught LMBs last time. Our experience this morning parallels many of the other recent reports. Lots of luck to those who want to give it one last shot this week.
After lunch, Greg headed home, but I rode up to Lapidum for some shad fishing. My first stop is casting from the rocks near the boat ramp. Today started out great. The first cast yielded a 15" hickory.
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The third cast brought a shad doubleheader. Over the next five minutes, three more shad were caught. I stopped to retie some broken off darts. When I returned, the bite had stopped. I drove upstream to 3 more spots and caught shad at each. I left the shad biting after catching at least 20 of them.
At the last spot, I also found some very small white perch and one 12" striper.
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The water level had dropped quite a bit over the last hour. Typically that shuts down the bite, but not today. I got most of my bites on the longest casts. Many thanks to Bignose's tip to me last year -- use lightweight braided line when shad fishing to get the extra few feet of casting distance. I tried it this year, and my catch numbers are up.
The afternoon catching salvaged an unproductive morning. I am thinking of heading back there later this week to get another taste of excellent shad fishing.
With the combination of wind, waves, and low water, I was unable to troll successfully in the relatively shallow area where I caught LMBs last time. Our experience this morning parallels many of the other recent reports. Lots of luck to those who want to give it one last shot this week.
After lunch, Greg headed home, but I rode up to Lapidum for some shad fishing. My first stop is casting from the rocks near the boat ramp. Today started out great. The first cast yielded a 15" hickory.
001.jpg
The third cast brought a shad doubleheader. Over the next five minutes, three more shad were caught. I stopped to retie some broken off darts. When I returned, the bite had stopped. I drove upstream to 3 more spots and caught shad at each. I left the shad biting after catching at least 20 of them.
At the last spot, I also found some very small white perch and one 12" striper.
002.jpg 003.jpg
The water level had dropped quite a bit over the last hour. Typically that shuts down the bite, but not today. I got most of my bites on the longest casts. Many thanks to Bignose's tip to me last year -- use lightweight braided line when shad fishing to get the extra few feet of casting distance. I tried it this year, and my catch numbers are up.
The afternoon catching salvaged an unproductive morning. I am thinking of heading back there later this week to get another taste of excellent shad fishing.
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