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I have been fishing the Severn most weeks for the past two months. I have tried to keep track of whether the perch have moved into the shallows yet. I had some indication two weeks ago that their movement had started. Today confirmed that they are available in at least some shallow shoreline locations.
I fished from 12:30 to 2:30 today in areas between the two Severn River bridges and had a dropping tide. The water in the main river and in a tributary was the same light brown color (coffee with cream) I saw last week. Today, much of the surface had small white specks (I suspect they were some type of tree part).
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For the first 1.5 hours, I fished in a quiet tributary. I caught about 10 perch over grass beds. Most were small, but I did get an 11" and two 10" perch. The bottom depth here was less than 2 ft, and the water level above the grass was less than 1 ft. It was tough fishing because of all the grass that could easily catch on the lures.
For the final 30 minutes, I fished in an exposed cove off of the main river. I found a few small perch within the 20 feet nearest to the shoreline. The depth there was 2-4 ft. I caught 5 small perch in this location, particularly in one short stretch of shoreline that almost always holds perch in the summer.
I fished two ultralight rods. The first had one of Woody's feather spinner jigs in 1/16-oz size (Maryland Tackle). It was light enough to stay in the top few inches of the water and could skim over the grass tops. It accounted for 13 of the 15 perch. The second rod had a beetle spin, but I replaced the beetle plastic with a 3" minnow. It had a heavier jighead and was not practical for fishing in the grass beds.
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I observed a great blue heron with one wounded wing. It seemed incapable of flying and just walked and hopped around when I got too close. It must be tough to get by in nature with such a significant injury.
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The fishing was not fast today, but some perch are now in place in the shallows. It should continue to get better each week. I also was able to transition into my warm weather fishing pants and old sneakers rather than needing cumbersome boots or waders.
I fished from 12:30 to 2:30 today in areas between the two Severn River bridges and had a dropping tide. The water in the main river and in a tributary was the same light brown color (coffee with cream) I saw last week. Today, much of the surface had small white specks (I suspect they were some type of tree part).
002.jpg
For the first 1.5 hours, I fished in a quiet tributary. I caught about 10 perch over grass beds. Most were small, but I did get an 11" and two 10" perch. The bottom depth here was less than 2 ft, and the water level above the grass was less than 1 ft. It was tough fishing because of all the grass that could easily catch on the lures.
For the final 30 minutes, I fished in an exposed cove off of the main river. I found a few small perch within the 20 feet nearest to the shoreline. The depth there was 2-4 ft. I caught 5 small perch in this location, particularly in one short stretch of shoreline that almost always holds perch in the summer.
I fished two ultralight rods. The first had one of Woody's feather spinner jigs in 1/16-oz size (Maryland Tackle). It was light enough to stay in the top few inches of the water and could skim over the grass tops. It accounted for 13 of the 15 perch. The second rod had a beetle spin, but I replaced the beetle plastic with a 3" minnow. It had a heavier jighead and was not practical for fishing in the grass beds.
004.jpg
I observed a great blue heron with one wounded wing. It seemed incapable of flying and just walked and hopped around when I got too close. It must be tough to get by in nature with such a significant injury.
003.jpg
The fishing was not fast today, but some perch are now in place in the shallows. It should continue to get better each week. I also was able to transition into my warm weather fishing pants and old sneakers rather than needing cumbersome boots or waders.
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