Patapsco Report 11 22 2013

[Yak Fish]

Launched from HH and headed inside the bridge where I saw birds working the last time. No trace of birds, but a LOT of REALLY BIG MARKS on the FF. There were so many but none would take a thing. I think they were probably not stripers, more likely carp. I wanted to try catching them so I took my granola bar and put it on a hook to see if I could get a carp. Eh, no dice. I wasn't really rigged for carp fishing anyway.

I headed out from inside the bridge with no luck and out to the channel. I landed some small stripers on the way. I caught 3 keepers along the channel edges all right at 19" and super fat. It was a slow pull, but there were some fish out there. A few guys were fishing in the vicinity of me and they were doing about the same. Both rock had small fish in their bellies. Water temp was around 50 degrees.

Patapsco seems to be slower than usual compared to years past. I struggled to catch 6 fish today. I would have expected over a dozen at the least.

[HJS]

Thanks for the report. The area of HH does seem to be slower fishing this year in spite of the good fishing to be had out by the Key Bridge.

Is the water still as clear as it was a few weeks ago? When I was there last I could see down 4'-5' in some area. Unfortunately, with water that clear, I could see trash on the bottom that I've never seen before.

[Yak Fish]

The water was rather murky this time. I couldn't see very far. I think a fresh slug of trash got released from somewhere because it looked like a concert had just taken place and everyone left their trash laying about. There was so much I could hardly troll without picking up some nasty stuff. The fish I pulled up were nice an healthy looking though. They couldn't look more healthy.

Thanks for the info on the key bridge. I haven't fished there for a long time as I never really did well there. I'd have to put in some time to find a few spots.

[echo5oscar]

Past the railroad under all of the bridges, it's really shallow. All week on my to work, I've seen a lot of the bottom, which could be part of why it wasn't as clear.

[HJS]

Yak - Been there... seen the new trash... looks like a floating landfill. But I like your analogy of looking like the aftermath of an outdoor "concert" better. There was a strong high tide the night before you fished there, and a south breeze pushed it 6" higher than predicted. So yeah, a really high tide re-floats all the trash trapped in the shallows and in the shoreline Phragmites. Makes a mess indeed.

Most of the good Key Bridge fishing reports were from other fishing forums. Hot action at the Key Bridge started a couple of months ago. But most of the catching was from big boat trolling out in the deep channels. Action there seems to have tapered off a lot in the past week or two.

echo - I've been back beyond the RR pivot bridge a couple times. I've even gone past the trash incinerator. Only once did I catch a few barely keeper stripers back there during a high tide period and that was back in the early 2000s... back in the good years. I haven't been back there in at least 5 years. Those mud flats you see from the bridges are made up of extremely fine sediments that will stir-up at the slightest provocation. One year I kept spooking schools of BIG FISH on these mud flats. I went into stealth mode and was able to sneak up on them for a positive ID. They were all really big carp!!!... dang it!!! My heart was racing there for a while and my visions of big stripers quickly vanished in a swirl of mud.

Under I-95. That's Raven Stadium in the background.
I-95 & Raven Stad - B.jpg

[Mattybofmd]

I took the day off work and decided I'd take your advice and launch at HH before the fish moved on. I didn't get any bites under the bridge but I landed a 16" striper while trolling the riprap across the way of the launch with a crack blue lucky craft. I then ventured out to try trolling the channel edges near Ft McHenry I was skunked. Freezing is an understatement even with the wet suit and extra layers. I'm sure getting an earlier start like early October should wield me some patapsco keepers next year. Was great to land a nice fish 3 mins from home ����

[Yak Fish]

Did you find fish on the fish finder?
I heard from a commercial guy that fort howard was good last week. I've never fished there, but it's on the other end of the patapsco.

[Mattybofmd]

I didn't see any large fish on the FF I guess I'm just not good at locating them

[Yak Fish]

I didn't see any large fish on the FF I guess I'm just not good at locating them

Nah, a little bit of practice and you'll get a sense where they'll show up. They are there and you'll get 'em!

[Mattybofmd]

I had to google earth fort Howard, now I've added that to my journal where Ill add that to my journal of places to try. Thanks for the tip