Default Slow bite but good surprise off Mattapeake - 4/20 w pics
Got to Sandy Point at 6:00 am to find a very busy , crowded launch ramp.
WOW , for a weekday it was packed. Found an open ramp that did not have an island in front of it. These are much easier to back down. The ones blocked by the islands are tricky.
There was a center console tied up but they moved back so I could launch .
Onemorecast ( Dan ) met me and soon we were headed out. Radar showed boats everywhere to the south so we figured to try off Mattapeake where few were fishing. Put out the boards as the sun came up. We alternated between the tandems on starboard and singles off port. Had about 8 rods out when a 6 oz chartruese parachute with a Reel Dragon green glow shad got hit - 90 feet off the board. Dan drove all the way from York , Pa so he got first turn. Fish fought well but gave me time to get the net from the cabin. I do not use it for C/R fishing so this would be the first of 2010. Fish got close and I got the leader but the net was stuck on a cleat. Plan B - grab the fish by the jaw. Good luck and Dan had a nice 33 incher for dinner.
We finished getting the rods out and worked a more / less east to west pattern. Had to play dodge boat with some north / south trollers ( gotta love unpainted boards with no flags ). Heard a few on the radio but sounded slow. Worked to the bridge and tried an old trick - trolling close to the up current pilings. Ran the starboard board close as we went west. After passing each piling - we watched for a strike. Got past #34 and sure enough - a rod went down hard. Too hard - I misjudged by a few feet and snagged the far line. Golly - Gee - nothing to do but pop the line. Broke the uni knot and lost 300 feet of braid. At least the leader knots were good. Oh well , play with fire - get burnt. Swung south away from the lure eating pilings and got a hit off the tandem side - this time a fish. Fat 32 incher was iced for my dinner. It hit a beat up 6 oz chartruese with white shad. Trolled around the general area and then had a good hit on the wire line outfit. Reel made an odd noise - some call it drag . Dan let me reel this one in - it really pulled hard. Once near the boat - we saw it had taken a battered Tony #21 - that was white years ago.
Quick measurement showed 44 inches and she was released to get bigger.
We hardly had the line back out when a downrigger got hit. Dan reeled in a spunky 28 +/- that was released. It hit a chartruese umbrella with a 2 oz chartruese Alien with a green glow shad - set at 30 feet. We trolled for another hour and then brought in the lines. Found 4-5 had a tiny bit of seaweed on them but no jellyfish. I looked at the rod/reel that lost the line and came up with a plan. We ran back to #34 and trolled a single downcurrent of the piling. Sure enough - got the braid. Dan followed it as we drifted and once at the end - we tied it back to the mono backing. Working slowly into the current - he reeled in all the braid. Once at the front of the piling - I figured he would have to pop off the lures but Dan managed to somehow jiggle both free . Other then some rust on the hair - everything was fine. Ran back to Sandy Point about 1:00 so we would both beat traffic.
From what I heard / saw - slow fishing in our area. Sure not like last year , at least for me. Hoping it gets better next week or so.
4-20 off Mattapeake
2008 Maycraft 2550XL (The Hunter) - Yamaha F250 
...........Mark
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