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I made an impromptu trip in the Severn this afternoon. I launched in Weems Creek about 2:15 and followed my recent pattern of trolling to the river then trolling upstream to other tributaries. The creek was nice and calm, but the river had whitecaps. The wind was blowing in an upriver direction making the water pretty bouncy. I had no luck in the river, so I headed into a tributary that had produced lots of fish last week. Today it was not productive -- only 2 or 3 modest perch.
I trolled back downriver and caught my first fish (small rockfish) on the edge of the bar at the mouth of Weems. My arms were tired from paddling for 6 hours the previous day, so I moved into Weems to stay out of the wind. Near the mouth, in an area that rarely produces fish for me, a light rod with a Gulp bait began a fast dance. I reeled it in and found an 18.5" rock -- as far as I can remember, that is my first ever keeper inside of Weems.
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I released the fish and kept trolling. I picked up a perch here and there, but nothing of note. After crossing under the Rowe Blvd bridge, I was moving along a shoreline in about 5-7 ft depth and had two rods go down with stripers of 12" to 15". I circled back and got another striper in the same spot. I planned to make several more passes along a 75-yd stretch. As I neared the end of the stretch, the rod with a 3" 12 Fathoms Fat Sam mullet went wild. I strained to get the rod out of the holder then held on as the fish pulled some more. I had it most of the way to the boat when I gave it too much slack for the barbless hook, and the fish got free. It behaved like a striper but definitely pulled harder than the 18.5" striper. My guess is that it was a 20" to 24" striper. I made several more passes along the stretch and picked up two more stripers, then the fish stopped biting there. I tried a few of my go-to spots in upper Weems and found some perch and one more striper. I noticed in several spots that as I retrieved the lure, lots of baitfish jumped out of the way. There was an abundance of bait there, but not so many predators.
I had not visited upper Weems in a while. My home waters certainly welcomed me back today with some unexpected striper catching. I ended the day with about 10 perch and about 12 stripers.
I trolled back downriver and caught my first fish (small rockfish) on the edge of the bar at the mouth of Weems. My arms were tired from paddling for 6 hours the previous day, so I moved into Weems to stay out of the wind. Near the mouth, in an area that rarely produces fish for me, a light rod with a Gulp bait began a fast dance. I reeled it in and found an 18.5" rock -- as far as I can remember, that is my first ever keeper inside of Weems.
001.jpg
I released the fish and kept trolling. I picked up a perch here and there, but nothing of note. After crossing under the Rowe Blvd bridge, I was moving along a shoreline in about 5-7 ft depth and had two rods go down with stripers of 12" to 15". I circled back and got another striper in the same spot. I planned to make several more passes along a 75-yd stretch. As I neared the end of the stretch, the rod with a 3" 12 Fathoms Fat Sam mullet went wild. I strained to get the rod out of the holder then held on as the fish pulled some more. I had it most of the way to the boat when I gave it too much slack for the barbless hook, and the fish got free. It behaved like a striper but definitely pulled harder than the 18.5" striper. My guess is that it was a 20" to 24" striper. I made several more passes along the stretch and picked up two more stripers, then the fish stopped biting there. I tried a few of my go-to spots in upper Weems and found some perch and one more striper. I noticed in several spots that as I retrieved the lure, lots of baitfish jumped out of the way. There was an abundance of bait there, but not so many predators.
I had not visited upper Weems in a while. My home waters certainly welcomed me back today with some unexpected striper catching. I ended the day with about 10 perch and about 12 stripers.
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