Fresh from Florida | New to the area - not new to the sport ...

[Jerry White]

Greetings !

We just moved here (Dundalk) from the Tampa/St. Pete area of Florida. I'm anxious to get started making some informed casts, but to be honest, I haven't done my recon yet. I'm certainly browsing this forum, but any pointers you can give will certainly shorten the radius of my learning curve. Here's where I stand now:
- 99% lures (give me some ideas of what you use)
- most reels have #15 braid, and then flourocarbon leader (you tell me what you use, for what species).
- a couple reels have #65 braid (was used for shark fishing)
- used to shallow water inshore angling.
- used to targetting redfish, sea trout, and flounder. But I see that your snook have more stripes than what I'm used to.

With all that being said, I welcome your input ... bring it.

[Mark]

Jerry,

Welcome to the area and to Snaggedline.

Your existing tackle will do well for you here in the Bay. However the 65# line is overkill. If you hook something that needs that much muscle locally please let me know where so that I can avoid the area!

Light tackle lure fishermen here do quite well trolling and casting the shallows with crank baits and jig heads rigged with soft plastics. Popular crank baits are Rat L Traps and X-Raps. Three to four inch paddle tail and curly tail soft plastics are used often. As are scented baits like Gulp. Others jig deeper water with heavier lead heads and larger plastics.

If you're used to catching speckled trout and reds in the shallows, you'll do fine here.

Again welcome. I hope to see you on the water.

[whiskerfish]

Greetings !

We just moved here (Dundalk) from the Tampa/St. Pete area of Florida. I'm anxious to get started making some informed casts, but to be honest, I haven't done my recon yet. I'm certainly browsing this forum, but any pointers you can give will certainly shorten the radius of my learning curve. Here's where I stand now:
- 99% lures (give me some ideas of what you use)
- most reels have #15 braid, and then flourocarbon leader (you tell me what you use, for what species).
- a couple reels have #65 braid (was used for shark fishing)
- used to shallow water inshore angling.
- used to targetting redfish, sea trout, and flounder. But I see that your snook have more stripes than what I'm used to.

With all that being said, I welcome your input ... bring it.

Welcome! I moved to Southern MD from the Tampa metro area (New Tampa) in 2010. Definitely good fishing in MD. I almost exclusively hit lakes/ponds and rivers, but am looking at eventually getting into the salt. Everything you have looks good for the Bay from what I've been told or read, and the 65# would do nice on some big Potomac blue cats... :-) But I know that's a good way down south for you. Good luck on the water!

[Jerry White]

Thanks for the quick responses.

I'm in the Merritt Point Park / Chesterwood Park / Bullneck Creek area, and have tossed to soft plastics around the dock but no takers. I know rockfish season just opened, but what else is active right now? I'd just like to feel a tug and I'm not above using some sort of bait.

[mweber02]

There is a small quarry pond in Dundalk at Stansbury Park. I used to do well there fishing for largemouth from the shore line (a few around the 5lb range) but have never tried from a kayak. There are a lot of areas there where a kayak would be perfect though.

[DOGFISH]

Wow, if I were you, I would be in complete shock, coming from Florida to this area. I have lived here all my life and know some like the fishing here, but I have also done some fishing in Florida. In any event, welcome to the area. The one good thing is that you are into kayak fishing and this is a very dedicated group of kayak fishers. If you were into inshore fishing then the stripers will interest you, especially when the rivers open up to striper fishing. You can fish most now, for catch and release, but you will have to mash down the barbs and ruin some jigs. I must agree that your tackle seems right on the mark, except that I don't use above 30lb test in the bay. I use mostly 15 and 20lb test in the bay and 8 or 10lb test in freshwater depending on cover. As far as striper lures, jigs with a rubber swim tails or BKD type tails, bucktails, small spoons such as Kastmaster and crankbaits will get you well on your way. I personal am a diehard crankbait fisher. I generally live and die by the crankbait on most of my fishing trips. As far as freshwater fishing, don't overlook the smallmouth bass. That will be a little different than from warmer climates. Welcome and don't overlook the meet and greets, much fun.

[jet]

welcome!

[Jerry White]

My rigs are mainly #15 braid, leader depends on what I'm fishing for (normally #15 to #25 in FL). I wrote an article a couple years ago about "getting ready for spring" and I guess it applies here too:

http://www.paddling.net/guidelines/showArticle.html?683

Here's about all I'd normally take on a typical trip. I'm sure some adjustments will be made but it sounds like I won't have to venture very far ...
art683_tackle1.jpg
art683_tackle2.jpg

Bottom line, going simple with confidence baits WORKS ...
art683_redfish.jpg

[Mark]

Jerry,

Nice article.

I was introduced to 12 Fathom plastics last year by a member of this forum. You'll find that Fat Sam works as well in MD as it does in FL.

[Jerry White]

I hope you guys understand that for every question you answer, it prompts at least 4 more:

1 - On real calm mornings, when I look over toward Chesterwood Park, I see ~something~ rolling out there. What might that be, and what might I be able to feed it?
2 – What bait fish / food sources are in the water now? “Match the hatch” is always rule #1. Solve that riddle and you’re almost home …
3 – More about bait – any laws regarding using a cast net to collect the answers to #2?
4 – You just lost your tackle box. So, if you were going to spend $30 on items to restock it for Dundalk area saltwater fishing, what would you bring to the register?

[AbuMasgouf]

Welcome Jerry! Lots of good folks here willing to share info.

I have relatives in Tampa Bay area and wish I could go down more often.

The fishing here is great but not as a comparison. If I lost my tackle box and I had to grab something quick, as a few have said here, 1/4 oz jigs and gulp will catch almost everything around here...

[longislandtomd]

I'll say what others have hinted at but not quite said.... Fishing in the Dundalk and greater Baltimore/Maryland area will likely pale in comparison to what you are used to. As my screenname suggests I made the move from a great fishery to this area.....it was an adjustment. That said with some work and willingness to travel there is plenty of good fishing available.

[Jerry White]

I was definitely spoiled by both living in a great fishing area ~and~ living right on the water. Most mornings, I’d make a few casts from the seawall before work, and catch something. I know this will be different and pose more challenges – so be it – let’s go.

My plan Saturday morning is to head to Bluefin's Bait & Tackle (unless someone recommends a better place to get some local knowledge) and prowl around a bit. Even though I probably have what I need to start fishing, I’m not going to drive 1000 miles to a new fishery and not buy something new to fish with. That’s not normal. 

I’m looking forward to the freshwater side as well (eventually). Florida has some BIG largemouth bass, but they share waters with BIG alligators that will absolutely seek you out, especially when it’s breeding season – no thanks.

[J.A. Veil]

Jerry -

Welcome to Maryland. As you probably gathered by now, we had an unusually long and cold winter here that has pushed back the arrival of several of our usual spring target species. In another few weeks, the late spring/summer pattern will set up and allow us good fishing for much of the year.

I enjoyed your article. The tackle you describe there will work here too, but you need to size the jigheads and soft plastics for the depths in which you are fishing. When I fish in the Tampa area, I notice that most kayaks do not use fishfinders -- much of your flats habitat is so shallow that sonar is of little value. Here, we fish a wide range of depths. I often troll and cast in water less than 10 ft, but also jig on structure in 30-50 ft depth. Different weights of rods and lures are needed for those different habitats.

One other difference I notice in kayak fishing between here and Tampa is use of an anchor. When I fished with Neil Taylor, he uses his anchor constantly throughout each trip. Here I used an anchor only 2-3 times during the entire year. I rarely even bring it with me anymore.

Neil introduced me to 12 Fathoms plastics. I am now a big fan. I love the Fat Sam mullet. I caught about 50 stripers (12" to 19") on a single watermelon colored Fat Sam last summer. After catching the first 20 fish, the front end was slightly torn. I pulled it off, bit off the front 1/2", and rethreaded it. I caught another 20 fish, and rethreaded again. After a final 10 fish, the lure was so bedraggled that I retired it. When fishing with Neil last January, I did a similar thing with a 12 Fathoms SlamR -- I caught 30 specs on the same lure before it wore out.

Many of our members post notices about where they plan to fish on a certain date -- either at a meet and greet, or just a regular outing. You should try to take advantage of these opportunities to meet local kayak anglers and learn their preferred locations and techniques. I'm sure you have some good technique to share with them too.

I have no familiarity with specific fishing locations around the area where you live. I fish primarily in the tidal Severn River and its tributaries -- I probably get on the river 50 times each year in all seasons. You are welcome to meet up with me to fish for perch and stripers all summer and fall and for pickerel in the winter.

[RavensDfense]

Piggy backing off of what John said about a fishfinder, when speck fishing I'll use my FF to look at the structure of the bottom as opposed to specifically locating fish. In the Chesapeake you will find many mud and sand bottoms. If the water is more than a few feet deep, you will not have a very good idea of what type of bottom is below you and could spend a good deal of time fishing a less productive area. Especially if you are checking out an area for the first time. As you know, specks like grass. The bay is full of it, but there are places where it just isn't there. These beds show up well on most FF's.