Last minute fun

A big storm moved through last night which kept me off the water. The wind forecast for tonight at Thomas Point was 25 knots, so it was Lake Riva for me. Hit the water around 6:45 and headed straight for the "nest". The tide was extremely low and still going out. Gave up after 30 casts or so, and moved to the "spot" on the broad creek side of the point. On about the 10th cast I had a nice blow up and quite a dance. After a good 3 minute fight, I boated a healthy 22. Headed in early and was home by 7:30.

Fishing with the boys

Had a few friends from work join me tonight. Picked them up at my friend John's at exactly 5 Pm. The wind was howling against an incoming tide and there were whitecaps on the river. Despite the wind we headed to Thomas point and Anchored up wind from the spot. Did not take long for me to pick up an 18 on the big Chugger. It was my friend Mike's first time fishing the bay, so I gave him the Black Stillwater and the hot corner. John and I picked up several more in the 20 class until Mike finally picked up his first topwater rock. Needless to say he was excited. Mako Chris showed up around 6 and immediately picked up 2 fish. It was steady action the rest of the night with 20 plus fish from 20-24 boated. The wind and waves never really laid down, but at least it was fishable. Great sunset to boot. I love Sept.

The gangs all here

Got out early tonight, so I headed to Thomas Point. The tide was still going out, but looked to be turning. Mako Bill was anchored up right on the marker, but moved over to make room for me. Not much was happening for the first 1/2 hour and Mako Chris showed up. Dab's saw the action from his house on the point, so called and said he would be right out with the beer. So by 7 we had circled the wagons with plugs flying everywhere. Finally the tide turned and I immediately hooked up with a nice 20. Fairly steady action until dark, with Chris and I having the hot hand. The biggest was a 24 boated by Chris. My final count for the night was 6 keepers from 20 to 23. Beautiful sunset to boot. Home by 8.30 to clean up a serious mess of blood.

Pressed for time

Had guests for the weekend and rain Sunday night, so I was anxious to get out tonight. Unfortunately, I had to pick my daughter up from school. With the Ravens on at at 7, the window was about a half hour. Figured my best shot would be the "nest". Made my first cast around 6:40 with black Stillwater. The water was very calm, but quite a bit of debris from all the rain. After 30 casts or so, I was getting ready to head out. When the plug was about 10 feet from the boat I paused to access the situation. Just then the water exploded and a nice size fish took off with my Stillwater. He darted left and right close to the surface, so I wss able to watch the entire fight. Grabbed the net and boated a 26 inch class fish that although fat, did not look healthy. Hit a few other spots on the way in, with no action.

They are in the river

Spent the Labor Day weekend in Ocean City. We returned home Monday afternoon to tons of boat traffic and a stiff breeze. I decided to fish close to home and was not disappointed. Started at the "osprey nest" and had several blow ups that missed. One of the fish was a biggie, but could not get him to come up a second time. Moved over to the river side of broad creek and picked up a nice 17. Finished the night on the broad creek side of point and had a nice blow up at "the spot". This was good to see, since this spot had not produced anything the last 2 years after being my go to spot 3 years ago.

Tonight I headed straight to the "osprey nest" to get the biggie from last night. On the first cast I had a huge blow up that missed. I continued a slow twitch on the way in and picked up a 16. Tossed back into the same spot and finally got the biggie. My tape measure is too worn to get a reading, but my guess would be a 24. Headed over to "the spot" and once again had a big boil followed by a blow up from a biggun that missed. Could not get him to reappear, so moved over to the river side of point and picked up a small one just as the sun was setting. The biggun at "the spot" is going down tomorrow night.

Picture Perfect

The weather this past week has been more typical of the picture perfect evenings of late August. I had the pleasure of taking my oldest daughter Katie, her boyfriend Charlie, and best friend Shaunie, out thursday night for a little topwater seminar. The humidity was low and the skies blue but we faced a bit of chop. We landed 1 barely legal rock to go with 2 lost plugs, one hook to the scalp, and several massive birds nest. We meandered in to a full moon and several cold ones. A great night with some great kids.

As I sat on my deck overlooking the glass of the South River with zero boat traffic, I was anxious to go fishing, so got an early start tonight. Arrived at the spot around 6.30, just as Mako Bill was pulling up his anchor. He offered me his spot and I quickly anchored. He tends to fish a tad bit more towards the lighthouse where the rocks drop off a few feet. I had very good luck there on sat and sunday, so I figured "what the hey". He has fished "the spot" a lot longer than I have and knows his stuff, and one is never too old to learn new things. The bay was dead flat with a strong incoming tide. It did not take long to realize why Bill had left..." no see ums". I was getting eaten alive with nary a swirl to show for it. Luckily, my buddy John showed up with bug spray and I was able to settle in. Just as the sun was setting, I had a nice swirl. Continued to toss to the exact same spot and on the 6th cast had a nice blow up that missed. After a dozen or so casts to same spot, I figured it was time to bring out the big guns and tied on the big Chugger. On the 2nd cast the fish finally blew up with some purpose and I boated a nice 25. The bigger fish tend to stay in the same spot, so you have to be patient and keep trying different things to entice the fish.

Ahh those August nights.

Left the dock at 6.30 to bathtub like conditions with the expectation that the bay would be chop city like most of the summer. When I arrived at the shoal, conditions where near perfect. The water was like glass, but the tide was barely moving at all. After anchoring, the boat was literally pointing east. Tossed plugs for over an hour with not even a swirl. Finally at around 8 I had a huge blowup just 4 feet from the stern. Tossed back about 8 feet and as the plug approached the same spot there was a huge boil, but the fish never came to the surface. The third try was the charm as a very fat 24 slammed right before my eyes and immediately went airborne. Not much happened until the sun set when huge bait pods started moving my way. They were obviously being slashed by fish from below. The sound was incredible as they surrounded the boat. Just as it was getting dark, I found out what was below...dang Blues. Good fight, but what a mess they make.

Lazy night on Lake Riva

A brisk wind continued from the south against the outgoing tide, so I decided to stay close to home. Started off at the inside bank of the Broad creek bank and immediately picked up a "too close to call" Striper on the yellow twisty. Tried topwater for my second drift with no takers. Moved across the river to "Mitch's Spot" and again picked up a 17 7/8 inch on the yellow twisty. Tied on the smaller chug bug and messed around the area for 15 minutes or so before moving back across the river to the "Rock Jetty". Thought for sure there would be some Topwater action here, but no luck. Moved over to the broad creek side of the point and did a slow drift with the wind. About half the way down, I had a baby slam and had my first pesky bluefish of the year. That spells the end of the twisty's and the start of 100% TW. Peaceful night.

A little Topwater action...yipee

I hopped on the boat around 6.45 and headed for Thomas Point. The humidity of July had finally moved out and the temp was just perfect. We have had a lot of rain the past few days and I noticed that the water temp had dropped to around 83. The tide was very low when I left the dock and appeared to still be falling. Anchored up at my spot and started with the big Chugger. Had a nice blow up on the 2nd cast, but it missed. After 10 casts or so, I switched over to the yellow twisty from weds. On my first cast I hooked a very nice fish that had the drag screaming. A great fight followed, with the fish coming to the surface several times. Turned out to be a nice 24. Picked up several more 16's on the twisty and played around with several different plugs for the next half hour. As the sun was setting, I finally had a blowup and boated a 18 on the big Chugger. Topwater is finally picking up. Had 2 spectacular blowups as it was getting dark. Both hit close to the boat and put on quite a show before throwing the plug. Great night.

Determination

Left the dock around 6:30 and ran directly into a terrible thunderstorm. Hid under the Riva Rd bridge until the storm passed and then tentatively made my way out to Thomas Point Shoal. The tide was coming in and wind was ripping. Could see the Annapolis Weds night races on the horizon and they were clearly heading in early. Waves were a good 3 feet when I anchored up. I knew it was crazy, but I had a feeling things would settle down...they never did. Tried topwater, but it was just too rough. I switched over to a 3 inch yellow twisty and immediately started picking up 14-16 inch dinks. After 10 or so, I finally landed a barely legal 18 (picture). Continued fishing until dark. Just as I was about to leave, a nice pod of fish boiled up right of the stern. My cast landed right in the middle and I immediately had a nice slam and the drag started screaming. Turned out to be a very nice fat 20 that bloodied my deck. After a 10 minute struggle to free the anchor, I headed in. Good night despite the lousy weather.

Bad couple of months

Been a long time since my last post. Fishing really turned lousy towards the end of May and stayed that way all through June. I caught a lot of dinks, but not one single 18 inch keeper fish. It was really frustrating, but I kept at it. Went on a great Tarpon trip to Boca Grande FL with college friends, but my home waters really let me down. Then a routine oil change turned into a 4 week "in the shop" nightmare. Got my boat back the day before leaving on a 10 day west coast road trip with my wife and daughter. The only positive was that I was able to have a new Lowrance HDS 10 installed. We returned late last night, so I was anxious to get out tonight. Unfortunately the skies looked ominous and I almost stayed home. Did not see anything serious on radar, so I headed to Thomas Point shoal and anchored up. Tried topwater for 10 minutes or so, but it was just too rough. I switched over to my last 3 inch twisty. I immediately picked up a barely legal 18 that actually took a good bit of drag as I reeled against a windblown incoming tide. Picked up another dozen or so in the 16 inch class until the twisty was shredded. Tried the longer 5 inch twisty but could not even get a bump. Found one last yellowed 3 inch twisty at the bottom of my bag and switched over. I immediately picked up a nice 20. I don't think the bigger twisty has the right action for 4 feet of water and it never seems to work. Let's hope August will be better than the first half of summer.

Banging head against the wall

Friday night I headed to TP despite severe thunderstorm warnings. The skies seemed sunny and the breeze had laid down nicely. The only thing that was working was the twisty and the fish were all dinks, but I continued plugging away hoping for the elusive topwater slam. My mission was interrupted by a phone call from a buddy who lives on Thomas Point and could see me from his back deck. He said that there were tornado warnings coming right at us from the west. NOT GOOD. So I raced home and got in my car just as the rain came down hard.

Did not fish saturday, but was out at 9.30 Sunday AM. It was quite breezy, so I fished marker 16. The only thing working was again the white twisty. I must have picked up 20 fish between 16-20 but no TW action. Tonight the wind had laid down so off to the point I went. Arrived at the spot and anchored up at 6.45. Fished until dark. I alternated between the black stillwater, white twisty, and the big chugger. Got a fish on virtually every cast with the twisty and one very nice 22. Just as the sun was setting, I finally got the slam I was looking for and boated a fat and healthy 20 on the big Chug Bug.

Out of Gas

Traveled to Charleston SC for my daughters graduation over the past 4 days, so I have not fished since last post. My fishing buds tell me it has been blowing 30 knots the entire time I was gone. Jumped on boat at 6:30. The wind had really blown a lot of water out of the river and the tide was still going out. My gas gauge said empty, so I stayed close to home. Ended up at marker 16 and had steady action on a the white twisty. Picked up 5 around 16 inches until finally picking up a legal 19 as the sun was setting. Turned out to be a perfect night for TW, but no takers.

Subpar Night

It was sunny, 85, and no wind all day. The water in front of my office was like a mirror all day, so I was anxious to get out there. Low tide was predicted for 6 PM, so timing seemed perfect. I arrived at Thomas Point at exactly 6 and found 20 knot winds and a 3 foot chop. In a nutshell, it was miserable. Tried both plastics and plugs, but the twisty was the only thing working. Action was steady, but they were all dinks. I stuck it out till sundown, but the winds never laid down. Final count was 7 between 14 and 18.

Big Chugger

Once again a stiff easterly breeze nearly kept me home, but decided around 6:30 to head out. The breeze was a nice warm breeze without the humidity of the past few nights and a bright blue sky. Arrived at TP around 7 and anchored up. Same conditions as the other night with John...Tide coming in and a stiff easterly breeze pushed the boat to a 90 degree angle to tide. Started with the Black Stillwater and shortly boated a 17. The only option was to toss straight out the back of the boat with the wind. Switched to twisty and picked up another shorty. Fan casted both the med and med-light rods with stillwater twice without a slam. Switched back to plastic and had on a nice size fish but lost her before getting a look. Finished the night fan casting both Stillwater rods 3 times...nada. Last fan I switched over to Bubba Chug. My first cast was into the wind off the bow. As Bubba was coming down the face of wave I had a huge slam and thought it might be a 28 inch class fish. Gave a great fight but turned out to be a hefty 5 year old 24.

Feels Like August

A series of things kept me from fish Fri, Sat, and Sun., so I was anxious to get out there tonight. Unfortunately the weather was calling for scattered thunderstorms. I jumped on the boat around 6 PM and planned on fishing Lake Riva. Not much was happening, so I decided to make a run for it. As I approached the bay, the water was completely flat, but a huge black cloud was hanging over the shoal. Just sort of drifted around for about 15 minutes and finally picked up a small 16 on a white twisty. Just as I tossed her back in the rain came. It was hot, muggy, and very buggy. Felt like a August night. After waiting out a short rain burst, I switched over to my black Stillwater. It was not long before I had a huge blow up. This fish hit only 10 feet from the boat so I was treated to a wonderful dance up close. A nice 24. Picked up and headed in to calm waters and a very nice sunset.

Summer Pattern

The last 4 or 5 days have been virtually unfishable. Not only has it been cold and rainy, but the winds on the bay have been consistently 20-30 knots. Today looked promising, so John and I agreed to meet at the boat at 4.30. After a few delays we headed out to the shoal. It was 70 and sunny, but the winds were still very high. The winds were from the west, which made for a difficult anchoring. The tide was coming in and the boat was pointing towards the eastern shore. There were a record 7 tankers anchored up and all pointing straight at us...a very strange sight on the bay. Fishing was steady and we each picked up 5 fish from 18-22. All of the fish appeared to be residents. All ten fish were caught on a white twisty on 1/4 ounce lead head. No topwater although we gave it our best.

Nice Saturday Morning

I skipped fishing yesterday and with rain forecast for most of the weekend it looked like today would be a washout also. Woke to sunny skies and a mirror like river. Jumped on the boat around 9:30 and headed to Thomas Point. Arrived to find flat seas and a slack tide. Threw plugs for well over 2 hours as the tide began to come in. The skies from the south were looking ominous and a slight drizzle was beginning to fall. Finally I had a huge blowup on the bubba Chug Bug. The fish missed twice. I let the plug sit perfectly still for several seconds and then as I twitched it lightly the fish came back around and slammed again. Turned out to be a 29 that seemed healthy, but had quite a few wounds from going down into the rocks below. On my way in, I stopped at the pier at the mouth of Broad Creek. Had a huge blowup from above and had my first, and hopefully last, osprey of the summer. Birds are the one part of topwater I really dislike. She wrapped me around the trailer hitch of the bow and flew away with a brand new white Stillwater. I hope she is ok.

Waiting out the tide

Two of my friends, both named john, came out with me tonight. I forgot the card to my camera so I will have to post some Iphone pics John took later. We anchored up on the shoal around 5.30. It was perfectly flat and very pleasant. The tide was going out which really confused me because I had thought it was coming in last night. Apparently it was the wind that made it appear the tide was coming in last night. Anyway, we spent the first hour trying everything in the box with nary a swirl. Finally around 6:30 the wind picked up and the tide changed and we had our first blowup and a small 18 in the boat. We all started using plugs and the blowups began. We ended the night with at least 4 each but had many more spectacular blowups that missed. John A. picked up the biggest of the night in a 28 inch class fish.

Survival of the fittest

When I got home tonight is was raining and breezy, but the river looked calm from my living room. Somehow I talked myself into giving it a go. Texted my buddy John to see if he wanted to hop on. He said he would be there in 15, so off we went. As we passed the Rt 2 bridge the waves began slamming the boat and white caps were everywhere." Can you imagine what the bay will look like" said I. Well lets find out. So 20 minutes later we were anchored up at "the spot". Since it was so choppy, I started with a white twisty and immediately had on a biggun. It was hard to keep your balance and fight the fish, but I was able to bring her close enough to get a good look before breaking off. There was no doubt it was in the 30 plus class. We proceeded to boat 9 more fish in the next 45 minutes. They were all 18-24, but a blast in the wind, rain, and ocean like waves. Just as john was about to pull the anchor, I decided to give my trusty bubba Chugbug a go. Just as the plug was sliding down the face of a wave, I had a huge blowup and it was "yeah baby". Got what appeared to be another 30+ close to boat and John took a few swipes with the net. The fish took one last run and cut me off on the prop. Oh well..11 fish in an hour in those conditions was quite a feat.