Hitting for the cycle

Carter and his buddy joined me last night. We took a quick run out to the shoal, but it did not take long to realize that things just were not right. We arrived to dead high tide and a fairly stiff breeze, which made for some choppy conditions. So it was off for plan B, a little river fishing. Our second stop was "the cove". Not long after arriving I had a spectacular blow up in less than a foot of water. It was very exciting to see the back of the fish slice through the water on the way to the boat...a nice 22. The was followed by an even bigger blow up by Carter, but unfortunately the fish threw the plug.

The skies were overcast tonight and I had very little time to fish, so after checking out a few Lake Riva spots, I headed back out to "The Cove". I arrived at a little past 7:15 which would give me maybe a half hour of plugging. On my first cast I picked up a spunky 20. This was followed by a twenty two a short time after. My next blow up was right up against the bank in what could not have been more than 9 inches of water. The fish literally went nuts. He made two spectacular jumps and then made a beeline back into the grass bed. It took some time, but I was finally able to coax him back to the boat and over the rail. Since my third fish was a 24, I began to dream of the elusive South River Cycle (20,22,24,26). At this point it was beginning to get dark and I was getting ready to hang it up. All of a sudden...WAM, I had a huge blow up. Could it be? It sure felt like it could be a 26. I got several good looks at the fish before losing him at the boat...Damn, a bent hook. Oh well, I will never know, but that was one exciting half hour of fishing.

The 20

The 22

The 24

22 from last night

Sunset from last night

Three Dogg Night

My oldest daughter Katie and Boyfriend Danny joined me tonight. We hightailed it to the point to assure the prime spot. Mild bill was anchored exactly where I left him last night and the conditions were  as perfect as perfect gets. All three of us were locked and loaded with red and white Popa Doggs. It was a beautiful thing to see the plugs, three abreast  sliding across the mirror like water with the tell tell click click sound all around. We did manage to boat a handful of fish, but they were all sub-legals. The whole crew was anchored up close by, but not one legal size fish made its way over the rails. Great to spend some quality time with family and even better to see the results of my instructions over the years as Katie outcasted both Danny and Myself.

The 3 Doggs

Quick Report

I left the dock at 6 tonight to beautiful fall like conditions. My plan was to get out to the point a little earlier tonight since low tide was predicted for 8:30. I only made one stop, at the Brown House, where I picked up a 18. Anchored up next to Mild Bill at "the spot" around 6:45.  I figured that the outgoing tide should still be strong, but was surprised when the ships were all in various stages of a swing around. The tide was basically slack. It did not take long for the the first blow up to ocuur. I had the fish on for several excellent jumps before he threw the plug. The next cast resulted in another very good blow up from what appeared to be a bigger fish. It turned out to be a 24 that looked like it was on its way to the great beyond. That was basically it for the night.

I had meaning to post a picture of my buddy from Boston, Joe, who texted me a picture of a nice "Bass" he caught off his pier on Cape Cod using my beloved Papa Dogg, that he had seen in all his glory during our trip North. I look to see Papa to go international by the end of the year when my wife and I head to the BVI's.

Popa takes the North by storm

Love that Sept sky

The 24

Ahh Fall

Whenever the "loved ones" in my life give me grief about fishing every night, I explain that fishing is my "gym  time".  Since I missed last night, I was anxious to get in a good workout tonight. I left the dock at 5:30 to crystal blue skies and a near perfect 78 degree temp. My plan was to work the north shore of the river and do a little hunting for a new spot. I made quite a few stops, made 10 casts or so, and then moved on. It is always interesting to drift up to a spot directly in front of a complete strangers home and begin casting. Most people have no idea that 24 inch stripers lurk in the shallows right up against their dock or bulkhead in the fall. It was a little after 7 when I finally arrived at the shoal. My river adventure had proved fruitless, so I needed a little of "the spot" magic. For the first time in several weeks the tide was going out, so I felt confident. After a half hour my confidence was seriously waning. Finally at 7:40 I had my first blowup and boated a respectable 20. For the next fifteen minutes the action was scary good. Along with a half a dozen sub legals, I boated three more 20's and a rather sickly looking 24. I don't know what it was tonight, but the fish were really spunky. Lots of tail slapping and several fish that went airborne. The best part of fall fishing is the incredible sunsets and vivid colors that follow.

Sept 11th...a day to never forget.

Brown and White

Feisty 22 at the "White House"

Sun sets on summer fishing

I was amazing how a brief shower around noon today completely blew the bad air out of town. By the time I got home from work, it actually felt like fall. Not wanting to waste precious time running out to the shoal, I decided to give the river a try again. My first stop was the river side of the Broad Creek point. It did not take long to get a real nice blow up that missed. I worked that same fish for the next 15 minutes. There were boils, swirls, pops, and tail slaps, but no fish. I finally gave up and moved across the river to the "Birds Nest" and picked up a 17. From there I ran out to the "White House". The tide was rising, but was still very low. On my third cast I picked up a feisty 22. The fish exploded in less than a foot of water and went airborne several times. Now that was fun!!!. After picking up another 20 at the "Brown House", I decided to do a little exploring. After fishing the river now for close to 15 years, it is very rewarding to catch a fish in a new spot. I worked both the points at the entrance to Aberdeen Creek inside the channel markers. The drop offs on both points are quite dramatic, so you are quickly in 2-3 foot of water. I must have made 200 mindless casts as the O's game playing in the background. Lets just say I was in heaven when I had a huge blow up that missed within seconds of Matt Weiters hitting a 3 run home run against the Yanks, in what may be the biggest game since I graduated from college 30 years ago. As I write this post, the O's lead 5 to 1 and could share 1st place in the AM. Fall fishing and the Birds in a playoff race, can life get any better?

Puppy Dogg

Was out early this AM and was anchored at the shoal before the sun came up. Unfortunately, it was quite breezy and the tide was still coming in despite a 5.30 high tide. I fan casted for perhaps 15 minutes before heading back into the river. Fished the bayside of South River Farms Park to no avail. It was tough to find anything out of the wind, which was blowing straight down the river. At the "Brown House" I picked up my first ever Puppy Red on a plug. It hit the second the plug hit the water up against the rocks. Worked Glebe bay for another 1/2 hour before again getting a spectacular blow up at the white house in less than 2 feet of water. That was basically it for the morning.

Puppy Red

19 at the "White House"

A little river fishing

19 at the "Brown House"

I left the dock at a little before 7. As I approached the bay it became increasingly apparent that it would be a rough night. The wind was blowing straight down the river at 15 knots and with a nearly full moon, it was quite choppy. So I decided to give the river a shot. I do not normally start fishing the river until mid to late Sept. when the water temp drops into the 70's. I figured there was maybe 40 minutes of fishing to go, so speed was of upmost importance. I would hit each spot, make 10 casts, and move on. My first stop was the river side of South River Farms Park. I was pleasantly surprised when my sixth cast resulted in a nice 19. The fish hit in less than 2 feet of water, so I was given quite an aerobatic show. From there I moved on to the "Brown House" and immediately picked up another 19. Again, the fish hit in less than 2 feet of water and gave me a fight that easily rivaled the 22 inch fish I have been boating at the shoal.  My next stop was the "White House". This has traditionally been my most productive river spot, and tonight was no exception. Again the fish exploded from less than 2 feet of water and immediately went airborne. Wow..now that is why I love topwater fishing so much. At this point it was getting dark, so I hightailed it home in hopes of picking up a forth fish inside the Riva Road bridge, but alas time had run out. It may be river fishing from here on. There is nothing that compares to a fish exploding on a plug in shallow water up against the shoreline. Great Night!!!

20 at the "White House"

Sunset at the "Brown House"

Thats why they call it fishing

Arrived at the shoal to the same idyllic conditions from last night. Unfortunately, there were several boats already staged in the same spot where the fish had showed last night. Not to be deterred, I anchored as close to the rip as possible without infringing on the other boats. It did not help when one of these boats (name withheld) bugged out at full throttle ,which certainly scattered the fish even further.  After a half hour or so, with no success, I decided on one more move. and changed tactics altogether. I moved to the bow of the boat and casted up tide and let the plug slowly float with the current. Not long after, I had a nice blow-up and boated a 22. I had several other swirls in the same area, but they were not taking my offering. That was it for the night. I forgot both my IPhone and the card to my Cannon, so no pictures tonight. Suffice it to say, it was a beautiful sunset.

As for my Diamond Jim tag, once again, I was disappointed. It turned out to be a tag from an organization called the American Littoral Society. http://www.littoralsociety.org/. I mailed the tag in today will await the history of my fish that was needlessly killed in my quest for fame and 25K...my bad.

A Tale of Two Cities

My hopeful Diamond Jim winner (tag at top right)

Rough night for Popa Dogg

Diamond Jim, gut hooked fish, and one about to be released

My new Coast Guard buddies

Like the classic Dicken's novel It was the best of times, It was the worst of times. I arrived at the shoal a little after 7.  It seems like I always do better when the tide is going out and tonight was perfect. The tide was going out, the water was like a mirror, and for once, Bill was not trolling around randomly scaring all the fish away. I immediately set to work and boated a nice 22 on my second cast. Nearly every cast after that resulted in a fish between 20 and 26. I snapped a quick pic of every fish and the total for the night was 13. The "best of times" got even better when I boated a beautiful 24 with a yellow tag sticking out of its back. I have never caught a tagged fish before and the first thing that came to my mind was the Diamond Jim fishing challenge. I had visions of winning 25k, being interviewed on TV, and having this Blog go viral. Unfortunately, I could not leave well enough alone and continued to cast, with my winning fish laying safely at my feet. My next fish was gut hooked and made a huge mess of both me and the deck. Plus, in the process of removing Popa Dogg, I caught a treble in the thumb that will be sore as heck tomorrow. After landing another 24, I decided to call it an early night and head in. I had not gone far, when the Coast Guard pulled me over because my green light was out. So my early night was now a late night. Luckily the guys were cool and I set off with just a few warnings. It was when I returned to the dock and was able to look at the tag a little closer, that the "worst of times" worsened. I could not find the words Diamond Jim anywhere and I retuned home with a a heavy heart and a throbbing thumb. I had called several family members on my way in, so my wife had become an expert on the Diamond Jim contest. She informed me that the tag is Chartreuse."Damn, my tag is yellow". It turns out that Chartreuse is yellow. Well then why don't they call it yellow?!!. I still don't think I have a Diamond Jim tag, but will find out in AM. An eventful night to say the least.

Tashmoo!!!

I spent this last week on Martha's Vineyard with my family and 2 of my daughters boyfriends. We rented a wonderful cottage on the shore of Lake Yashmoo. I had never been there before and my vision was quite different from the reality. The island is actually quite rural and our place was more like a cabin in the woods on the shores of a freshwater lake. On Sunday a friend mine Joe, who has a summer place on Cape Cod, picked us up in his boat for some "Bass" fishing (stripers). We worked a long rip the runs the entire northern part of the island along the Vineyard Sound. While Joe and his boys worked bottom rigs, Danny and I had brought Popa Dogg north to show them how its done. It was not long before both of us had huge slams and boated 5 pound blues. Popa Dogg continued his dominance as we each boated 3 more blues, before Danny boated the first "Bass" of the day, a 24 inch beauty. Joe explained that their minimum keeper sized fish is 28 inches and that Bass in general had been few and far between. As a matter of fact, he said that was the first Bass for him this year. One of his boys boated a 20, which they called a "Schoolie". We continued bail blues when I had the biggest blow up of my life. The initial run was fast and furious but ended rather quickly, so I was sure it was a big Striper. When the fish got close to boat, it turned and peeled off 50 yards of line so fast that I knew it was something else. Joe said it was probably a big blue, but even he was not sure. After its third spectacular run he said it could not be a blue. Finally we got her close to the boat and his boys said it was a Mackerel.  When Joe got a look he exclaimed "Holy Sh*t..its a Bonito". The only other Bonito I had seen was Trolling the ocean off the Vineyard last summer with Joe. To get one on a topwater plug was a hell of lot more fun and is something I will never forget.

Lake Tashmoo is fed by freshwater springs and is connected to the Vineyard Sound by an inlet that was constructed by the Army Corp of engineers in 1938. Its a relatively shallow body of water and protected from the wind. This made for perfect topwater conditions. We has a blast catching "schoolies" (18-24 inches) by either wading in or fishing from the Kayak. Danny was even able to catch several from a stand up paddle board. It was a great vacation with some excellent fishing thrown in as icing on the cake.

Danny with his 24

The Bonito

Full Moon

The Wikipedia entry for full moon contains the following phrase "Full moons are traditionally associated with temporal insomnia, insanity (hence the terms lunacy and lunatic) and various "magical phenomena" such as lycanthropy." After tonight I am not so sure that it is all simply folklore. Carter, James, and I left the marina at 6:30 tonight with high hopes of the perfect topwater night. High tide was supposed to be at 6:35, so we figured we would catch the changeover perfectly. Alas, like last night, the incoming tide was still ripping when we pulled anchor at nine. Instead of the perfect topwater night we faced nightmarish conditions with 20 knot winds and a 4 foot chop It took as at least 7 tries to get the anchor to hold. This was followed by a good old fashioned beat down by Wild Bill for anchoring where he had been trolling. Other highlights included James boating the fattest sickest fish with "wasting disease" I have ever seen, a head to toe blood splattering by a 14 incher that had been gut hooked, and me somehow catching a hook in the back while helping to remove one of Carters fish. Despite these obstacles we managed to have a very good night. James had gone back to the big Chug Bug and boated at least 6 in the 20-24 inch class. Both Carter and I boated a twenty and 22 each plus a ton of unders. For the past three nights the fish have been staging in the 6 foot drop off rather than up near the rock pile. We were all actually happy to be back in the slip with no major injuries.

One of James many keepers

My 22

Fill moon fish

Carters 22

Does color matter

Carter and I left the marina at a little before seven tonight. The wind and chop was a good bit lower than the last few nights. We anchored up about a hundred yards from the rock pile near the spot that had produced so well the night before. I had purchased 15 red and white Popa Doggs on my last trip to Bass Pro shops. After having the hooks shredded Sat. morning, I was down to two to start the night. I have been surfing the internet trying to find more, but they are on backlog everywhere. So, needless to say, the last two were like gold. Carter has finally been convinced that topwater is just plain better fishing than using plastics, so he went to work with the second Dogg. It did not take him long to get the night started with a respectable 20. This was followed by 2 more 20's and a extremely bloated 22,that was clearly sick. Meanwhile, I had yet to even have a swirl. Finally, as our plugs landed yards apart, we had a double blowup. I knew instantly my fish was a big one. Within seconds the drag was screaming and then just as quickly she broke me off. I was really bummed to have lost that fish and then the dark cloud showed itself again when I realized the fish had my golden ticket in its mouth,,DANG. I did have one green and white Dogg in my bag, so I tied it on. Carter continued to bail 20 inchers with the blowups occurring in exactly same spot. In the meantime the Green Dogg popped and swam through the same section of water untouched. This went on for the next five minutes before I switched over to the white Stillwater and boated a nice 22. All of the action occurred in the first 45 minutes and then the bite shut down. The only other fish we boated was the first Bluefish of the year. It was a strange tide tonight, most likely due to the full moon. The outgoing tide was a good 4 hours delayed and was very week. I guess that's why they call it a flood tide. I guess color really does matter.

Carter with his sick 22

My 22

First Bluefish of the year

Incredible sunset

Got to love Google

After checking the internet for "prop not catching at high RPM's", I concluded that my prop needed replacing. Luckily I had a spare prop on board, so James agreed to meet me at the boat at 4:30 to attempt an "in water" prop swap. I told my wife we would be back in 15 minutes and was met with a high degree of skepticism. I think we surprised ourselves when 15 minutes later we had replaced the prop and took a quick test drive to confirm the diagnosis. So the dark cloud lifted and we were good to go.

James and Carter met me back at the boat at 6:45 and we headed out into a mirror image of last night. Again the wind was howling and last nights rolling waves had been replaced with a 4 foot chop. On my second cast a huge wake appeared behind my plug and we all watched one of the best blow-ups of the year by a nice 24 incher.  I quickly followed with a 22 and a 20. At this point the boys were getting a bit antsy. The bite shut down for the next half our or so until James finally netted a nice 22. Not to be left out, Carter finished the night with back to back 20's on my old go-to plug a white Stillwater. So 6 keepers in horrific conditions made for a fairly decent night.

The 24

James and Carter removing a sick fish

Blurry picture of the 22

Dark Cloud

My buddy James is in town from CA, and we were both anxious to hit the point for some serious plugage. Unfortunately, James always seems to bring bad weather with him. The skies to the South were filled with ominous black clouds, when we left the marina at 7 PM. I had a very bad feeling which only intensified as we approached the bay. The wind was howling against the outgoing tide and you could feel a storm approaching. The chop was just too much, so we bailed out and headed for Aberdeen Creek to get out of the wind. After several drifts along the shoreline, with zero action, I made an executive decision and headed out to the shoal. James is my original topwater buddy and I was determined to show him how good things have been this summer. We finally anchored up at the rock pile at 8 PM. Conditions were horrible, but workable, so I grabbed Popa Dogg and went to work. On my second cast, I had a nice blowup and boated a healthy fat 22. Not to be left out, James grabbed my other rod with a Popa Dogg and hit the same spot....BAM. We both knew instantly it was a big fish. With the wind and full moon tide, the drag was singing. I have fished with James more than any of my buddies, and I can honestly say this was the best fight any fish has ever given him. It turned out to only be a 26, but in those conditions it might as well have been a 36. The wind was now howling and the clouds getting closer, so we headed in. We were having a good old time on the ride in when all of a sudden my engine started to wizz and it was clear that something big was wrong. I was able to move, but could not push her beyond 500 RPM's. So when we finally pulled into the slip I felt a huge Dark Cloud over my head with the knowledge that I will probably be out of action for a while.

James and his 26

My 22

Decent sunset for such lousy conditions

Now thats a first.

I had the pleasure of fishing with several friends and family this past week. It had been extremely hot this week, so a stiff breeze has rolled in every evening. This has made topwater quite difficult, although I was able to boat a few barely legal sized fish. Fortunately, my guests have been kept happy on a steady diet of 14-16 inch fish on white twisty's. I had the lovebirds, Grace and Mark, out Tuesday night and they must have boated 60 fish between them. On Weds. Carters little brother, Trevor (11), had a blast bailing the little guys.

The 26

The sights of the AM

The Lovebirds

Rare Sunrise for me

I awoke before sunrise this AM, and decided to change things up a bit. The water was like glass when I left the marina at 6 am sharp. I rarely fish the morning and am always amazed how beautiful it can be. When I arrived at the shoal, there were birds everywhere and dinks slamming baitfish on the surface. I almost moved to avoid having to remove the big treble hooks from their tiny mouths. Luckily I stayed, because shortly thereafter all hell broke loose. The tide was going out and the outline of the rock pile was clearly visible on the surface, so was able to cast right into the rip. Nearly every cast resulted in a spectacular blow up and some incredible fights on the surface. My biggest was only a 26, but I also boated 6 24's, and way too many to count in the 22 inch class. Mild Bill was anchored a short distance away so I invited him to slide in and join the action. But, as is usually the case, the bite immeditely stopped. The highlight of the morning though, came just as I was about to head in. I picked up a small 18-ish fish and when she got within a few feet of the boat another fish, in the 24 inch class, slammed the plug hanging from her lip. For quite some time I had both fish on my line as the literally wrestled for the prize. I could not believe my eyes as the rolled over and over throwing up a huge splash and making more noise than a thrashing Tarpon. Looks like I may try mornings for a while. Great way to start a lazy summer day.

Rough Going

I had along my man Carter and his dad Doug this evening. We left the marina at 7 pm to nary a swirl of breeze. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the point the wind was howling and we faced a good 3 to 4 foot chop. Wild Bill and Chris had already thrown in the towel just as we anchored up. We had to move several times to get near the rock pile, but finally settled in and went to work. I as usual worked the Dogg while the two of them worked white twisty's. They caught a ton of dinks, but tonight topwater clearly won out as I was able to manage a very nice 20 and a 19. Not your ideal conditions, but good company and not a bad night of fishing.

Choppy seas, but nice sunset

The 20

Misreading the tide

First of the 22's 

I checked the tide when leaving the marina at 7 tonight. I thought for sure that high tide was expected at 7:20. So when I arrived at the shoal and saw the big ships sitting halfway into a swing around, I assumed the tide had started to come in and positioned the boat accordingly. It took about 15 minuted to realize that the tide had just begun to go out. So I repositioned the boat on the other side of the rock pile and went to work. The next half hour was fantastic. I boated two 22's, one 20,  four 18's, and a bunch of under's. By this time the tide was ripping. I rechecked the tide table and boy was I wrong. High tide was actually 4:20. The action continued at a fairly steady pace for the next half hour, but there were too many dinks, so I headed in. I actually hit bottom for the first time in many years which reinforced how wrong I had been about the tide.

Not another boat in sight all night

Deliverance from Hell

I had just returned home Friday night from the O's game in the best mood. I had taken Grace and her friend Kara and they had made it onto the big scoreboard. This was a first for them (as well as me) so they were obviously excited, especially after receiving several texts from young men in the crowd who had recognized them. Little did I know how much life would change in the next 15 minutes, as a massive wind storm tore through the area. What followed was 4 days without power during one of the hottest stretches to hit Annapolis in years. I rarely, if ever, fish on a Saturday, but just had to get out of the heat, so I headed out to the point. It was a great relief and a ton of fun as 16-20 inch fish slammed my plug nearly every cast. It did not dawn on me until the way in that there had not been a single boat in sight all night. Then it hit me...LIFTS, nobody could get their boat out without power. Ahhh...I was finally vindicated for being apposed to lifts all these years. With still no power Sunday, I headed for the Jersey shore for a wonderful unplanned vacation with my wife.

With power restored, I headed out with Carter tonight at our normal 7pm time. It was 100 degrees when we left the dock and the air was just plain disgusting. When we arrived at the point I checked the tide tables which indicated a 7:40 high tide. The tide was coming in at a good pace, so I was unsure as to whether the tide had turned early or had yet to change. It turned out to be the latter I positioned the boat for an incoming tide and we went to work. As usual, Carter worked the white twisty and I my trusty Papa Dogg. Carter immediately picked up several nice 18-20 inch fish, while I had several blow ups that were on but slipped away. It was crazy good for the next half hour as we both boated numerous fish up to 22 inches. I told Carter that there had to be bigger fish lurking out there and launched one of my longest casts of the night. Just as the plug hit the water we watched a huge splash encase the plug. This was followed by a fierce run that took quite a bit of drag. After several more good runs I boated a very fat 24.  Carter wanted to take a fish home to his parents so we set her aside. On the next cast he picked up a very nice 22 which was followed by my second 24 of the night. Unfortunately this fish gave little fight and was covered by sores. It was sad to see the difference in weight between the 2 fish from the same year. The one positive, is that it has been my only sick fish to date. To the Northeast of us we watched a huge thunderstorm approaching as we enjoyed a great sunset as we headed in just to be safe.

The first 24

Great sunset 

Healthy versus sick

The 22

24 versus 22