Fishing Reports

It felt cold. Mitch and I went out today (12/29) for some end-of-year striper fishing. This video below is us breaking ice in our creek as we headed out. It has been freezing for a week, and the creek shows the effect. We didn’t make it out before this because it was too thick.

We headed for the RP, which is good luck for us this time of year, and from R62 north, there are just too many fish nets we can get in trouble with, so we went south. We marked a bunch of fish all day, but most were not having anything we put down. Finally, our chartreuse road runner running at the bottom and our all-white bucktails got us two keepers. Nothing huge but we got our limit and got out of there as the waves were heading to 3 feet.

High	Low	Average
Temperature	55.6 °F	30.7 °F	39.9 °F
Dew Point	40.9 °F	26.7 °F	34.6 °F
Humidity	97 %	54 %	83 %
Precipitation	0.00 in	—	—

	High	Low	Average
Wind Speed	4.9 mph	0.0 mph	0.7 mph
Wind Gust	6.7 mph	—	1.1 mph
Wind Direction	—	—	South
Pressure	31.04 in	30.92 in	—

My friend Mitch got Todd and I out for a quick striper run. We left the dock at first light, maybe 7:00 or so. The wind was mostly from the north so smooth until we got out to the bay. From there it was still only about 2 feet with a few rogue waves but overall, a nice ride out.

We went for the NNK Reef, got to the north side but the more we were there the more fish nets we saw. You really just couldn’t safely fish anywhere from R 62 to Maryland. I know they are not allowed to have a nets on the reef but they definitely blocked entry into the reef area. So, we headed south towards the “Asphalt Pile”, we didn’t see much but out of the corner of our eye we saw a few boats near the “RP” buoy. The closer we got the more boats we saw for what ended up being about 50 boats.

We did see a bunch of birds working so we dropped the lines well outside of the parking lot in the channel. We got to more like 50 feet and started to pick up a few. Not great numbers or big but we did eventually get our limit.

We were using the normal umbrella rigs you see on this site. Purple has been the best color for a few years and the all-white, red neck original bucktails continue to work well.

I went out in Scott’s boat with Scott, Cameron (that works with Scott), and Sammy (Cameron’s brother). We left the dock on Saturday morning approx 7 am. on the 17th. The wind was howling, so we stayed in the river. Overall, we did not like our chances because the river this time of year is too cold. Often, the fish have moved out to deeper, warmer water by this time of year. But, we headed for the 200 bridge area of the Great Wicomico. There was nothing in the water, but as we made our way next to the pilings, we caught a bunch and some bigger ones. We were trolling with our standard rigs and picked up one or so each pass. Sammy, of course, got the big ones; these were his first two keepers. I forgot to write the particulars about the water and tide, but it was a good day with friends.

Always good to have new people on the boat and adding another sport fisherman to the mix. We will definitely have these two back.

Had an exciting battle this morning. We had two young and two older Bald Eagles working on the same bait ball. They didn’t actually fight but they did try to run the other pair off.

It took a while for me to get my camera out and put on the longer lens but here are a few of the pictures.

We knew we were heading back to the Potomac, even though it was a good boat ride. It was a wild boat ride as it was at least 2-foot seas with a few 3+. My boat handled the chop like a champ, and I was very thankful to be in it as opposed to my previous one. 

We did get to the Potomac after about an hour’s ride. We saw a bunch of boats an excellent little way east of us, but I didn’t want to get into that amount of crazy until minimally we had the lines out and settled. 

We never settled the lines; before I could even get my side out, Scott had one on his side. Did I tell you I love my auto-pilot? Well, I do. It works so well when it keeps us straight when we need it most. We needed it most because, as it turns out, I had one rod in and one halfway out, plus he had two off with the third halfway out. It could have been a disaster of tangles, but I could go to his side and help get the fish while everything else just settled where it was out.

It turned out it was not a keeper, but we did confirm we were in a good spot. We caught it and all of the rest on the same old reliable umbrella rigs I have used. The old dedicated Colonial Heights (in honor of our friend) white bucktail with a red collar was very productive. Another classic that works well is the Purple People Eater, and finally, the Tequila Sunrise was the three most effective colors. 

We could have had our limit of 20” fish in about 20 min, but as long as they were healthy, we tossed them back. We ended our day with about 40 fish (we got tired of counting) and kept the ones below.

My friend Keats often has room for me for his yearly outing. This year we went on Dec. 7th. It is always a good time with Keats and his group of workers and clients. They are such good workers for the country and are definitely the backbone of what makes America Great. 

We left the dock on time and headed north. This time of year you can keep two fish in the Potomac (not the Bay). Maryland definitely has some unique rules. We got to the fishing grounds within maybe 45 minutes. There was very little question if we were there as there were many thousands of birds working the water. Ryan’s first mate was a good one, Shane is a very good fisherman as well and really nice to have on the boat. 

We quickly got our limit and headed back to the dock for another special day of fishing with friends.

Brandon, and his two sons, Sage and Asher, went fishing. We also had Mitch and his son Scott. You may remember them from our previous adventures. The last time I had them up was a great trip with Mitch. Mitch is our honorary member because we all went with him when my boat was on the mend. That year we had great success this year, we just had success.

We set off for the NNK reef with great intentions of filling up the boat. It sure started that way, we caught two before we even got started well. We quickly followed that up with another pair. Sadly that was the end of the bite. I didn’t take great pictures because at that rate I was sure we would have a lot of opportunities. Well, the best-laid plans. But…we did have a good time and we got to spend time with two great families.

I am finally returning to my blog after a hectic week. No excuse. I have been fishing but not blogging. I plan on fixing that over the next few days or so.

Went out fishing with the Sea Chaser which is a new to me boat. Scott and I went out Saturday morning for the first time. We knew the bay was at least 4 feet seas, so we went to the Rt 200 bridge. We did troll even though we believed that casting to the bridge we needed to get our bearings straight on the boat and get back in the groove on tactics and bait checks. Where does our baits go when moving them back to the boat from storage (who knows but I am sure I can’t find all of my gear).

We picked up this guy as soon as we put out first line. We didn’t even get all of the gear in before we got this hit. The water is still warm, and I am not have heard of many fish being picked up but let’s hope for a good year.

You can see the bait we got him on. I love that old school gear in a more modern umbrella setup.

Certainly one of the best things in my life are my friends and family. They are all really great people, that however does not mean they are not crazy. Well we all have a good time teasing one another. This video is two of them teasing our friend that is a commercial waterman. He does capture and sell a bunch of mud shad during the year along with oysters and crabs plus most every other kind of fish that can sell at market.

It may be that since I know them I can’t stop laughing at this but I’ll send it out in my message in a bottle for all to see. I won’t put their names on the net to protect the innocent…guilty…yes.