A Flat Bay, a Spectacular Sunset, and Decent Fishing 7/11

[Rivercat09]

A Nice Day on the Bay for Light Tackle, July 11th, 2013

Summary
Norm and I got out for a few hours last Thursday on the bay, and we were treated to light winds and mild temperatures. We caught rockfish at several mid bay locations, plus Norm caught a scrappy croaker and I caught a menhaden, all on the jig. The rockfish were all small, but we were not complaining, especially considering the weather. As a bonus, we were treated to an absolutely gorgeous sunset.



We wanted to do some live lining, but we did not have enough time to catch spot and get on some rockfish. So, we opted for jigging. I met up with Norm at about 4:40 pm, and we launched at about 5:50 pm. We pulled the vessel under cover of darkness at about 10 pm.

Conditions
The forecast was for a chance of rain and 5-10 knot winds. We didn’t get any rain, and the winds were next to nonexistent. Skies were overcast and there was rain in the area. Winds were light and out of the east when we arrived at about 5 knots, and decreased to 1 to 2 knots by sunset. It has been hot of late, but air temperatures today were only in the low 80’s.



The salinity at Annapolis was 5.1 PSU, and has been trending down from about 9 PSU over the past 30 days with all of the recent rain. The water temperature was about 81°.

High tide at Bloody Point Light was at 7:15 pm, and low tide was Friday morning at 12:59 am. The moon was only 5% visible, and it was waxing.

Plugs and Jigs
We caught fish on 6-inch BKD’s (I was using a pearl colored Z-man with a ½ oz head), Gotcha plugs (my old beat-up silver one with the red head is still around), 5-inch chartreuse Storm Chug Bugs on top, and I had some success with a Lil Jimmy (Specialized Baits) in a glass minnow pattern and with a 3/8 oz head.

Details may be found below:



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A Fast Start
The winds were light when we started out, and we started the evening under overcast skies casting at some structure. Before long, we had each caught several small stripers. We left the dinks biting, and headed east where we saw some subtle bird activity. We approached the scattered breakers, cut our engine, and drifted on in. We started casting our Chug Bugs, and we each quickly picked up several fish. Next, we switched to BKD’s and Gotchas, and let our baits sink to the bottom part of the water column in an attempt to locate a better grade of fish.



A Croaker, a Menhaden, and More Stripers
Unfortunately, the dink fest continued, and during this time, Norm picked up an 11-inch croaker on a Gotcha, and I caught a menhaden on my Z-man jig. During this time, the sun did make a brief appearance, but the big yellow orb was by and large obscured by clouds. We soon had our fill of more small fish, and with the wind lying down to almost calm, we headed for some shallow water that had produced for us historically.







Absent Fish and a Spectacular Sunset
To our dismay, the fish in the shallows were not cooperating, and we got nary a strike in 30 to 40 minutes’ time. With twilight approaching, we broke for dinner at about 8:30 pm. Norm and I started noshing subs in calm seas under overcast skies, and just when we thought the sun would slip below the horizon unseen, hues of orange started to appear in the western sky.



Over the next 15 minutes, the gray skies became a mixture of brilliant orange and bluish grey. The sky appeared to be on fire at times as Norm and I finished dinner and enjoyed the show. After dinner and with twilight now descending, Norm and I made a few last shallow water casts to no avail. We then stowed gear and screamed across a flat bay at 38 miles per hour as the skies darkened.

We made it back across the bay and pulled the boat without any issues, but unfortunately, our ramp was not lighted as it had been all last summer. Our hopes of casting at our lighted ramp were dashed. If we keep getting favorable winds and kind seas as we did tonight, the quality fish will come in time. We will return as soon as we can.