Susky river @ Conowingo

[toyomo]

I've got an 8 months pregnant wife at home and I been making an effort to stay close to home till the baby comes. So i cant explain the excitement i felt when i read shootnscoot13's report about stripers at the Conowingo Dam since this is maybe 20 minutes from my house. I have this overwhelming urge to fish and saw my opportunity so last night i went and grabbed some topwater poppers since i only had maybe 1 and was out of the house around 5 this morning. Got to talking to some fellow yakers at the launch so by the time i got in the water was around 540. It was a crazy feeding frenzy out there. All around there was splashes and tails flipping out of the water as all these fish were feeding on the surface. I have fished here a bunch of times from shore and wading but never in a kayak so i didnt really know the good spots i just headed for the island and started tossing some plugs. Caught a 17" Rockfish on a green and white hula popper that a friend gave to me. Not a keeper but i was super excited that there was stripers around at all. Had a few missed opportunities and top water bite shut off like a light switch about an hour after sunrise. Then the only thing seen on the surface was big carp doing their rolls. I hooked into a really large flathead that i lost right next to the kayak on a blue rattle trap which surprised me because i thought catfish were mainly scent feeders. I saw some decent size baitfish leaping completely out of the water and tried to pedal over to the action but my mirage drive didnt like the rocks. Got my first opportunity to paddle my outback for a good distance. It doesnt exactly glide effortlessly but it was doable against the light current.

turbo fins.jpg

[CB kayak 02]

I've got an 8 months pregnant wife at home and I been making an effort to stay close to home till the baby comes. So i cant explain the excitement i felt when i read shootnscoot13's report about stripers at the Conowingo Dam since this is maybe 20 minutes from my house. I have this overwhelming urge to fish and saw my opportunity so last night i went and grabbed some topwater poppers since i only had maybe 1 and was out of the house around 5 this morning. Got to talking to some fellow yakers at the launch so by the time i got in the water was around 540. It was a crazy feeding frenzy out there. All around there was splashes and tails flipping out of the water as all these fish were feeding on the surface. I have fished here a bunch of times from shore and wading but never in a kayak so i didnt really know the good spots i just headed for the island and started tossing some plugs. Caught a 17" Rockfish on a green and white hula popper that a friend gave to me. Not a keeper but i was super excited that there was stripers around at all. Had a few missed opportunities and top water bite shut off like a light switch about an hour after sunrise. Then the only thing seen on the surface was big carp doing their rolls. I hooked into a really large flathead that i lost right next to the kayak on a blue rattle trap which surprised me because i thought catfish were mainly scent feeders. I saw some decent size baitfish leaping completely out of the water and tried to pedal over to the action but my mirage drive didnt like the rocks. Got my first opportunity to paddle my outback for a good distance. It doesnt exactly glide effortlessly but it was doable against the light current.

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Just pull the fin off and put it back in correctly. you can patch the hole or put some duct tape over it. I've had that happen to me a few times, its not a big issue.

[sparky1423]

Not what I wanted to see Toyomo! I was thinking about hitting the same area early Sunday morning with topwater. I have been foaming at the mouth reading the recent threads about the Susky. If I limit quickly (a man can dream), I might pack up and re-launch at Lapidum for some white perch to finish the morning.

[toyomo]

Just pull the fin off and put it back in correctly. you can patch the hole or put some duct tape over it. I've had that happen to me a few times, its not a big issue.

It doesnt show in pic but other fin has rod sticking out also.I am glad to hear it is fixable. I thought it would be i was just wondering what i would use to patch the hole that would last and not create drag or a weak spot.

Not what I wanted to see Toyomo! I was thinking about hitting the same area early Sunday morning with topwater. I have been foaming at the mouth reading the recent threads about the Susky. If I limit quickly (a man can dream), I might pack up and re-launch at Lapidum for some white perch to finish the morning.

I met 2 guys on the water with Hobies(who didnt know about snaggedline) and one had regular fins and the other turbo fins..the guy with regular fins said he had way less bottoming out than his buddy so im not sure if its worth swapping out for a trip like this. I think its just unavoidable even my rudder kept hitting rocks. Next time i will take pics i just had my phone in a drybox but a pic would tell the story well...its basically a field of boulders under the water. When you launch it is 3+ feet and there is a channel that at one point was 17 ft on my depth finder but there is also spots less than 1 ft where i felt my kayak lift up and stop on rocks and i had a tough time getting out. Eventually i pulled up my mirage drive but one thing is you have to push both pedals evenly to remove mirage drive which is not possible if water is so shallow that fins cant go down. Obviously in those areas you could stand up but i would be very careful because you could be in 2 ft water on top of a rock and step off into deep water.

An older gentlemen that was shore fishing from the launch area gave me a few tips and tricks when i was taking out. One of the things he told me is that some people instead of fighting the current will just drift down river and have another car waiting to shuttle back. If you look on google earth it looks pretty rocky and treacherous but several people have said its doable.If i go again i will start even earlier probably as soon as the gate opens around 4:50 since there is clearly a window of opportunity that ends about an hour after sun has risen fully.

[Yak Fish]

How many gates were running? I'd been there and got swept away. I peddled like hell upstream to get back to the launch. I hadn't fished it in a kayak since.

To fix the fins, go buy some shoe goo. It works great for me.

[toyomo]

There was only 1 small gate running so light current. Ive been there before when its unfishable and scary...anyone who wants to go there should call the hotline they have first which tells that days or the following days dam schedule. That phone # is (888)457-4076. I believe at 6pm daily they update for the following day.

[Boondock_RES]

One of the things he told me is that some people instead of fighting the current will just drift down river and have another car waiting to shuttle back. If you look on google earth it looks pretty rocky and treacherous but several people have said its doable.

I do this all the time with friends for smallies. Can easily be done, but also a little tricky if the water level is low. We normally park the second car at the VFW on river road, theres a really nice path to pull that yaks up, or down at the Port depoit launch. Trips normally take around 4 hours to float that far if we dont stay in one spot too long. Pretty relaxing float as long as you got the time to fish.

[AbuMasgouf]

Oh man! Like sparky1423, I was so excited when I saw your post. I was totally thinking about you when I read rocks were being caught there hoping you'd get a chance to fish before the baby comes out. Sorry about the fins man!

Knowing you though catching that short rock is totally fueling your determination to go out again soon and the broken fins only add a turbo charge to your fuel! LOL!
I pray much success to getting your keepers bro!

[Goody]

The same thing happened to one of my turbo fin when I was out at the BB rock island a couple weeks ago. I bought one replacement fin and plan to patch the one that has the hole with a bike patch kit I just ordered. Now I have a spare fin just in case. I was more careful this past weekend when I went out there and live lined in the afternoon. I ended up catching around 10 stipers ranging from 17" - 18". Had two keepers.

[sparky1423]

Definetly going sunday morning. After seeing moc cook up another rock a la masgouf...I need a keeper striped bass!!!

[AbuMasgouf]

Lol!!

definetly going sunday morning. After seeing moc cook up another rock a la masgouf...i need a keeper striped bass!!!

[reel-em-in]

Definetly going sunday morning. After seeing moc cook up another rock a la masgouf...I need a keeper striped bass!!!

I went this morning. Caught 20+ fish but no keepers.

[zimm]

I hope to be there Sat morn. Maybe get together w someone for a float downriver