Bay Bridge Report 7/11/14

[deleonjo]

Played hooky on Friday and launched from Terrapin Park. Was a little slow and bumpy in the morning, but managed to jig a few off of the pilings with a stingsilver, including my first shad. Not sure what type of shad this is (American, Hickory...???) so please chime in if you know. It fought well, like a striper. Thought it was a small bluefish when it first surfaced. Would love to catch more of these.

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Was feeling a little seasick from the waves and lack of sleep so I paddled back to the beach for a power nap. Felt a lot better after some R&R on the beach and relaunched to much calmer waters and ripping ebb current.

Glad I went back out because the bite turned on at the sewer pipe. Searched around the pipe and started marking large schools of baitfish with feeding stripers following in about 18-22ft on the down current side of the pipe. Started dropping/casting 1/2oz and 3/4oz jigs to the bottom and working them up through the water column to get the bites. From 12:45PM-1:45PM, was able to land 8 stripers, largest two were 26" and 21". And then it was over. Here are pics of the two largest:

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Must say that there's nothing like seeing the Striper marks on the sonar. The beauty of it was that all the boats were anchored up at the bridge so I had the pipe all to myself. Total at the end of the day: 10 Striper + 1 Shad + 2 very tired arms + 1 smiling face

[Shady]

The shad is a menhaden. They don't typically take lures as they are filter feeders. Nice job on the stripers!

[deleonjo]

OK. Thanks, Ryan. Shows how little I know. Just looked menhaden up and learned that it is a member of the herring family and not a shad at all.

[J.A. Veil]

Nice job John. I bought a Steve F custom jigging rod several years ago. The first fish I caught on the rod was a large menhaden. Since they are plankton feeders, it is not common to hook them in the mouth.

[daolai]

Nice work on the stripers - you are dialed into them

[Cowpokey]

Nice fish! That's a big menhaden, way bigger than any I've seen. I caught a couple of them in Choptank years ago, but they were tiny in comparison.

OK. Thanks, Ryan. Shows how little I know. Just looked menhaden up and learned that it is a member of the herring family and not a shad at all.

Well, American and Hickory "Shad" are in the herring family too.

[deleonjo]

Nice job John. I bought a Steve F custom jigging rod several years ago. The first fish I caught on the rod was a large menhaden. Since they are plankton feeders, it is not common to hook them in the mouth.

Thanks, John. I was targeting stripers but it's always fun to get a surprise fish species.

[deleonjo]

Nice work on the stripers - you are dialed into them

Thanks, daolai!

[Goody]

Great job! Nice fish!

[deleonjo]

Nice fish! That's a big menhaden, way bigger than any I've seen. I caught a couple of them in Choptank years ago, but they were tiny in comparison.



Well, American and Hickory "Shad" are in the herring family too.

Thanks, CP. I seem to possess an abundance of ignorance when it comes to saltwater fish species

[whenican]

Probably the only menhaden that made it past Omega's nets & spotter planes! Nice catch!!

[deleonjo]

Great job! Nice fish!

Thanks, Paul!

[Cowpokey]

Thanks, CP. I seem to possess an abundance of ignorance when it comes to saltwater fish species

"Ignorance" is such a dirty word...I'm in this adventure of learning too.

[Cowpokey]

I picked this book up when I got stationed here the first time (2001) and it stays in the bookstand next to my recliner. It has lots of pictures...so it has helped shallow up my pool of ignorance.

[HJS]

Yep... shad, herring and menhaden (plus sardines), all in the same family, Clupeidae. Here's a link to the "Fish Facts" section of the MD-DNR website. Bookmark this page for future reference. Just about every fish you can catch or snag in Maryland waters is described in laymen's terms along with good pictures.

http://dnr2.maryland.gov/Fisheries/P...cts-index.aspx