Severn Stripers 5/17/14 And Much Wind

[DanMarino]

Launched from Weems Creek today around 7:30AM. Things were nice. Paddled clockwise to the Route 50 bridge....down to the 450 bridge....then back to Weems against lots of wind and waves.
Caught these baby stripers. 3 came on a white Lucky Craft Pointer 78. 2 came on a 1/4 ounce jig with a white curly tail grub.











There was a place near the 450 bridge kinda near the support column with the blue painted letter "N" on it that had some sort of a hump under water with lots of fish around it. But couldn't fish it well because of all the wind and the waves.

I enjoyed the trip and I was back home by 11:15AM.

13

[Mark]

Good job.

Nice healthy looking fish.

[Goody]

Good job.

Mobile Phone

[Cowpokey]

Nice! I gotta get out and try some striper fishing soon.

[sparky1423]

Nice job Tom, a blast on light tackle!

[DanMarino]

I forgot to add that these are the first stripers I've ever caught from the Severn. So I'm happy with the results. Just need to upgrade on the size.
A question for those who fish that area year around...are the stripers in the area through the summer and into the fall? I imagine the big ones leave, but was wondering what I could expect if I made periodic trips once or twice a month.

Thanks,

Tom

[J.A. Veil]

Good work Tom. Welcome to the Severn striper club.

[Mark]

Tom,

Yes, the stripers will be there through the fall and even longer.

The good thing about the summer in the Severn is that you can catch 10 or 12 white perch in a row casting lures to the rip rap or dock pilings and then bam, a 14 to 20 inch striper will hit the same lure that the white perch were chasing in the same places the perch were biting. The stripers are a nice bonus when caught that way.

Congrats again on your catches today.

[Midnight Toker]

I forgot to add that these are the first stripers I've ever caught from the Severn. So I'm happy with the results. Just need to upgrade on the size.
A question for those who fish that area year around...are the stripers in the area through the summer and into the fall? I imagine the big ones leave, but was wondering what I could expect if I made periodic trips once or twice a month.

Thanks,

Tom

Stripers from 12 to 16" are your standards....18-25" are the ones that make your day...and the rare 25+" can make your year...or life... in the Severn. I would'nt expect to haul in a 30" from there in your lifetime. Those are a VERY rare exception...and one to tell your grandkids about. I've lived right on the river for many years...know people that have fished it from boats for 30+ yrs...and a 25-28" is about the going individual record based on numerous latenight campfire tales of the Severn.

Tell you what though....plan a trip w/ incoming tide from Jonas....paddle upriver to the mouth of Brewers creek. That is the deepest part of the entire river save for the Annapolis shipping channel at the mouth of the bay. It's a relatively narrow point w/ plenty of room in 4-5 ft of water on both sides(well away from passing boats) to cast right over some ultra steep dropoffs... that drop from 6 ft to 38 ft on a dime!!! Even Brewer's Creek averages 15-18 ft. Not to mention...MUCH more scenic than around the bridges. (There's SO much more to the Severn than around Jonas. From Cedar Pt to Rock Cove are my regular fishing grounds. LOVE it up here! A 24 ft main channel w/ creeks, islands, and ponds abound. Good fishing year round.)

[AbuMasgouf]

Congrats on the stripers Tom!

Question about the Severn. At what point does the river turn "fresh" and you end up catching more LMB and catfish?

[eyedaddy]

A trick that has worked for me when fishing Rip-Rap is to find a West facing area in the morning before the sun gets on the water. Shade is your friend here, ultra-light beetle spin lures with curly tails or paddle tails. Chartreuse spinners are also deadly on the perch. You get the occasional Rock fish (sorry I am old school) as a bonus. Hope it helps.

eyedaddy

[perchy]

Nice job! Those were the size of the ones I caught out of Rocky Gorge last summer on firetiger rapalas.

[Midnight Toker]

Congrats on the stripers Tom!

Question about the Severn. At what point does the river turn "fresh" and you end up catching more LMB and catfish?

The fresh/brackish mixing pool is almost at it's most northern point (off of Indian Bridge Road...you can see it from Rt 97 right before the Benfield Rd exit) I doubt you'll see any LMB...but you will see some cats....and humongous carp spawning in the shallows by the hundreds this time of year. The Severn isn't a river with a 1 main fresh water source...like the Potomac and Patuxent. It's fresh water source comes from dozens of small creeks. At it's northernmost point, you have Severn Run...which is also just a small stream that goes under Rt 97....and is at best 1 1/2 ft deep and 3-5 ft wide. Definitely not big enough singular fresh water source to support LMB like Jug Bay or Mattawoman does. It is a very pretty area though. I'll post a few pics shortly.

This is the very end of the Severn...the marsh Severn Run feeds through before entering the wide shallow mixing pool. (from here you can hear the traffic of Rt 97 just past the treeline to the back right of the picture.


The mixing pool....."here fishey fishey!"


"Dammit!"


I've paddled through here at night....and it was freaky as hell w/ thousands of large carp thrashing about....slapping into the hull of the kayak....and every paddle stroke was digging into the bodies of large fish. Definitely a strange sensation when you can't see what's going on. LOL