Nice Perch - 11-12

[Skip]

Fellow TFer Thrillseeker ( Larry ) met my at 7:00am and off we went to Sandy Point. Had fog in some low laying areas but not at the ramp.

Ran out near bridge and out going current was moving nice. New moon on Tuesday so tides are higher and lower then normal.
This makes for longer and stronger current.

Decided to LTJ and went about looking for fish with meter. Found some over a piece of structure I know very well. It's roughly the size of a pool table in 38 feet of water - tough target and south breeze against current made it interesting to hold above it. It's fun to jig over though and very productive. We tried BKD's on 1 oz heads but no luck.

Switched over to 1 1/2 and 2 oz green / yellow Sting Silvers with single feather hooks ( Anglers and Marty's ). This was the ticket and soon we were bringing up nice Perch and some Rock but all the Rock were short by 1-3 inches. It was tricky holding boat over the target with 200HP engines being pressed into service as a trolling motor. No way to drop anchor as area is snaggy. Water too chilly for me to go diving after my anchor.

We caught Perch as long as we were over the " pool table " and right corner pocket was hot for bigger Perch. Few were pushing 12 inches.





Larry and I both caught a Toadfish on the lures - one ugly fish.





Current slowed and so did the catching. Ran to check out other spot as wind was picking up. Never saw anything good and decided to try the area we left when current begin incoming. Ate lunch and watched Pelicans flying. Funny birds to see - look like a dinosaur. Wind started pushing white caps and had to try another spot other then pool table. No way to hold the boat over it in 2 foot chop.

Found nice marks in 50 feet not too far away and took two tries to get over them on anchor. Had to put out 250 foot of rode but anchor held firm as winds picked up to 15 to 20 from south. Current was flowing hard and we had to toss lures up past bow to get them to hit bottom. Tricky feeling the tick of a fish as wind pushed line but we managed a nice pick at Perch and more short Rock. Had one or two waves about 3 foot roll under boat and stayed behind curtains to break the wind. Stayed until about 4:00 and left the Perch biting.

Had about 30 in the cooler - nice mess of fish for a choppy afternoon.













Got home and washed the boat down as wind really picked up. Glad we headed in before dark. Once boat was cleaned - took about an hour to fillet and skin the Perch but well worth it as they are one tasty fish.





Might not have caught our keeper Rock but it was sure fun just fishing for the Perch.

[seahuntr]

Very nice mess of perch! I grew up primarily perch fishing, with family fish fry following, and still enjoy it.

I hope you don't mind a slight change in topic - Is there any reasonably sure way to go out and target/catch a toadfish

[garlien]

Wow Don you really do miss those "toadfish"....

Not sure they go for the umbrellas...

[Skip]

If you honestly had your heart set on a Toadfish - I'd try around the bay bridge rock piles right now.

Frozen peeler or cut bait will likely draw one in.

Trick is to get bait in the rocks - Toads love those nooks / crannies.

Summer - you'll get them near the base of pilings - often near slack current.

Most oyster bars have them too - one nickname for them is " oyster cracker ".

They wear that name for a reason - watch your fingers when near their mouth.

I've had them break #4 hooks. Their jaws are very powerful.

[seahuntr]

Anna wants to get another toad. I probably really should have concentrated more on toads while the weather was nice.

Now if I can get a decent enough day for her out on the bay, we'll probably be heading well south of the BB. I think I can find some shell bottom without going out of the way too much, so I'll try to take bait along and give that a go and see if anything's biting - thanks.

[Spot77]

Originally Posted by Skip

If you honestly had your heart set on a Toadfish - I'd try around the bay bridge rock piles right now.

Frozen peeler or cut bait will likely draw one in.

Trick is to get bait in the rocks - Toads love those nooks / crannies.

Summer - you'll get them near the base of pilings - often near slack current.

Most oyster bars have them too - one nickname for them is " oyster cracker ".

They wear that name for a reason - watch your fingers when near their mouth.

I've had them break #4 hooks. Their jaws are very powerful.

Lucky for me, the first time I caught a Toadfish (I was about 14) there was an old timer sitting on the pier who warned me about their destructive jaws. Otherwise I'd probably be missing a finger or 2 now.

I've never caught one in the Chesapeake, but I've hooked plenty down in the bays behind Ocean City. Just using good ol' bloodworms if I remember correctly.