Hey gang;
This has certainly been a year like no other for me
I have to apologize for the lack of posts this season.
The Spring Trophy Season was a"bust" for me. I had zero fish in the boat my first three trips
This wasn't an unusual occurrence. I know most Charter Boats struggled the first two weeks as well.
Last year, the thought was that the waters were too warm, and the stock came in and got past us before the season opened. This year, the theory was that it was so cold, the stock hadn't begun the spawn until later in the season.
Whatever the cause, the last two season openers have "sucked".
Obviously, I didn't have much to report. Somewhere about the third week, fishing picked up and we were picking up enough fish to make trips worth while. It still wasn't "off the hook", but we could land enough stripers to make it interesting.
When the "normal" season came in (May 15th), downsizing a few baits made fishing easy. It was finally "game on". HOWEVER, because the fishing up to this point was sporadic, many of us on the board kept out "spots" close to the heart. We didn't post a lot of pic's or locations.
Fishing remained "hot" south of the bridge, and I even kept the boat in my Deale location for an extra couple of weeks
As in the last several years, mid June saw a huge number of fish above the bridge from Love Point to Tolchester. The fish moved steadily north as June and July progressed.
Unfortunately, my wife had a severe heart attack June 25th, and this took me out of the game for July and half of August. When I finally got back on the water, the spot (bait) were available and I relied on my network of friends to direct me to their favorite locations. I didn't feel comfortable giving out their information that they shared with me.
There were "pockets" of nice fish (30 inch) at different locations. Not only did my buddies share locations, one of my friends (Mlag) actually shared his spot (bait) with me to make my trips successful. Once again, this information was not shared on the board.
As the rains came and the debris floated everywhere above the bridge, I hit something and "spun a prop" for the first time in my boating career
As fall approaches, I will try to post more information. The waters are cooling off dramatically. Water temps in the mid 80's just a two weeks ago, have dropped to mid 70's now. As soon as Florence leaves and the debris washes up on the shoreline, I will be hitting the water "hard". My home waters near the Patapsco River should be holding fish and birds should be showing the way
Look for some posts in the near future. Mid Sept - late Nov are my favorite fishing times. If the weather holds, December, near the Potomac has fantastic fishing opportunities for trolling and jigging.
Mother Nature has kept me "licking my wounds" this year; but fall holds a lot of optimism.
5th