Patapsco Report 10 26 2013

[Yak Fish]

Hit the Patapsco for the first time this season, switching up from the Flats for a little variety. It was cold this morning and I got a late start debating whether or not I really wanted to go. I'm glad I did. There were schoolies blitzing all over the place with birds guiding me where to go. I caught several on top water, throwing into the blitzes. I almost caught a few birds too.

I fished until about noon and they were still biting, although with the 15 mph winds, it was more than I felt like dealing with so I headed in.

I caught a couple of keepers but the majority were just undersized. I wanted to go out to the deeper channel to find the larger fish but it was too windy. The stripper I cooked today had a belly full of small 4" fish. I guess those were the schools of baitfish I could see.

Also of note, there were tons and tons of jellyfish out there. Big white jellyfish with really long tentacles. I'd end up with two feet of tentacles on some of the lures. I don't remember seeing these up here before.

Great day on the water but hoping for some bigger fish.

[DOGFISH]

Thanks for the report. I hope the wind dies down for next week.

[kevinfry]

Did you find that when a bird is hovering over your lures the rockfish get even more interested? That certainly was the case last weekend when I was catching them on my walker-type baits

[Yak Fish]

Interesting. I didn't notice that because I was busy trying to keep the hovering bird away from my lure I was able to watch a fish emerge from the depths and stare at the lure before sucking it in. It happened just a couple of feet from the kayak. They are hungry right now.

[HJS]

Sounds like a fun, action-packed day of fishing. How clear was the water? The Patapsco's CBIBS bouy has been showing amazingly low turbidity readings, like 2 or 3 NTU, for the past 2 weeks. I don't think I've ever seen readings that low on the River... so much so that I'm thinking the turbidity meter might be sending false signals. Looks like we are having a good fishing week coming up.

[Yak Fish]

The water was relatively clear. I could see about 2'-4' I'd estimate.

[Yak Fish]

Water temp was upper 50's, low 60's

[CAGE RATTLER]

Did you find that when a bird is hovering over your lures the rockfish get even more interested? That certainly was the case last weekend when I was catching them on my walker-type baits

Had a bird keep messing with my popper today and finally picked it up out of the water and when he dropped it, it was hit right away by a 20" rock.

[CAGE RATTLER]

Sounds like a fun, action-packed day of fishing. How clear was the water? The Patapsco's CBIBS bouy has been showing amazingly low turbidity readings, like 2 or 3 NTU, for the past 2 weeks. I don't think I've ever seen readings that low on the River... so much so that I'm thinking the turbidity meter might be sending false signals. Looks like we are having a good fishing week coming up.

Hadnt been out on my boat in awhile which i keep on the patapsco. The water was so clear I could see bottom easily at my slip in about 5'.
Even saw an old crab pot sitting on the bottom right next to my boat. Have never seen the water that clear.

[HJS]

Hadnt been out on my boat in awhile which i keep on the patapsco. The water was so clear I could see bottom easily at my slip in about 5'.
Even saw an old crab pot sitting on the bottom right next to my boat. Have never seen the water that clear.

Thanks Cage. I guess CBIBS is spot on with the turbidity readings. I'm going today launching my canoe at HH ~9:00am or so. I'll have to check the pylons and see if the side rivers of the Bay are having another population explosion of false mussels. Last time there was a population explosion of false mussels in the Patapsco water clarity was up to 8'-10' and more in some areas. I think that was back around 2003-2004 and fishing was very good.

[camelbird]

Nice work on staying out there

[Yak Fish]

Had a bird keep messing with my popper today and finally picked it up out of the water and when he dropped it, it was hit right away by a 20" rock.

That is awesome! It makes great sense too. It's hard to believe they can see out of the water like that but I guess they can.

[Yak Fish]

Nice work on staying out there

Hey, when are you gonna make it back out fishing? I remember you mentioning a certain spot around this time of year.