Holiday Review

My youngest daughter Grace had planned on leaving to go back to grad school the morning of the 4th. Luckily, after breakfast, I was able to convince her to stay for a quick outing before leaving. We had not fished over the holiday weekend, so I was thrilled to have her for a few extra hours. Unfortunately, the forecast was for rain and wind all day. When we arrived at the shoal, things were worse than anticipated. It was not raining, but it was downright miserable. I attempted to anchor on "the spot", but the chop pushed me a good 100 yards towards the red marker. Since we did not have a lot of time before conditions were to get really ugly, we had to make due. On literally every cast from that point forward we each boated a fish. I lost count of the number of doubles we had. All the fish were between 20 and 24 inches. We fished well over an hour and then headed in both tired and exhilarated at the same time. I can not stress enough to my readers how good fishing is right now. There is no particular spot. The fish are everywhere. The key is to stay in the shallows. If you watch your depth finder, you can clearly see where the water goes from 6 feet down to 3 feet. Stay in the shallow area and use surface plugs. If you are off the ledge or using a subsurface lure like a spoon or rattle trap, you just will not do as well. These fish are feeding on the surface.

I arrived at the shoal to a picture perfect topwater conditions tonight. The chop was gone and the surface was like a bathtub. High tide was 6:30, so there was little or no tide. Fishing remained "red hot". I did not make a cast tonight that did not result in a boated fish. They were not as big as the past few outings, but I am sure at least 15 were keepers. There were a lot of boats scattered around the shoal. A few of us were doing quite well, but I did see several boats that came and went empty handed. Again, I think the reason they did not have success, is they were fishing the deeper water and using either live bait or swim baits. What works at the point is topwater....period. Most people I talk to are intimidated by surface lures. They should not be. There is no wrong way to work a topwater plug. Just cast it as far as you can and use your rod to move it along the surface in a erratic fashion. Any movement will do. Striped bass will react to the movement..any movement.

Heading into hell on the 4th of July

All is not lost

Bonus time with my Gracie

A 22 and 24. Could not tell you who caught which

Moms snd Popa Dogg

We head back in the rain. 

Perfect Topwater night

What a difference a day makes

I just love low tide

Fishing has been nothing short of spectacular this year, and low tide has consistently been the best time. Since low tide was 6:45 tonight, I left a little early with complete confidence that it would be excellent and I was not disappointed. When I arrived at the shoal there was one other boat, a Parker, there. It looked to be a group of mid 20's guys that instantly reminded me of the early days of topwater fishing with James and the boys. They were positioned a little too north of the rip to do much, but it was cool to see a bunch of plugs skipping accross the water. I anchored slightly east of the rip and went to work. On literally my first cast I picked up the biggest fish of the night, a very fat 26. I actually pulled down the net for that one.. From that point on it was non stop action. I lost count, but what I found interesting is that every single fish was around 24 inches. The other Parker slid back a bit and immediately started slaying them. They were having a blast, which is what topwater fishing is all about. It is so cool to see and hear about people having success with topwater all over the bay. My buddy Mike picked up a 30 one morning this week in 20 feet of water. If it keeps up like this, the planer board crew may have to start running light tackle party boats. How cool would that be. I dropped by Marty's to replenish my supply of Popa's and he told me that they sold over 100 last week. It was not even 10 years ago that talk of topwater fishing on the bay was a rarity.

People always ask me about the risk of "spot burn" by writing this blog. Yes, there are more boats on or near the rock piles this year, but I personally enjoy watching other peoples blow ups as much as my own, so it really does not bother me. What bothers me is when others just rush in with no regard for how or where they anchor. Late in the night, a yellow center console came barreling over from the eastern shore to check out the action. What some people do not understand is that at low tide the water is only 3 feet deep and engine noise can easily shut down the bite. These guys tried to literally jump into the fray between the young guys and myself, leaving maybe 20 yards between the boats. Of course they had their engine running the whole time. I don't care if the whole world wants to fish the shoal, just use common sense. It's a big area. There are literally hundreds of rock piles out there. Do I have my "spot", yes, but can certainly make do when others beat me to it. I just ask, that if you fish that "spot" because you read my blog or another reader told you about it, be cool and move about as quietly as possible...end of rant.

First of many tonight. A fat 26

Rainbow from last nights storm

Strawberry Moon

It has not happened since 1967 and will not happen again until 2062. A Strawberry Moon occurring on the same day as the summer solstice. This was according to the Article I read after work tonight. So despite 12-15 MPH winds, I was excited to get out there tonight. Summer would officially start at 6:45 tonight and I would get to experience this astrological event and have a shot at trophy sized fish in June..wow. I left the dock at around 7 and found a bay that was quite choppy and downright uninviting. It took me 3 attempts to get the boat anchored in such a way that I could cast with the wind and what I hoped would be a tide swing at some point in the evening. The wind was blowing hard enough that I was clearly positioned as if the tide was still coming in. High tide was 5:54, so I figured that within a hour the tide would change and I wanted to be positioned behind the rip should the boat fail to swing. After last nights delayed change I wanted be set up so that I would be casting with the wind and pulling Popa back through the rip. By the time I felt good about my setup, it was almost 8 pm. It was still quite choppy and breezy, but the fish started blowing up almost immediately. I picked up a quick 5 or 6 undersized fish exactly where I would expect them to be if the tide was coming in. It was not until around 8:30 that it became clear that the tide was actually going out and the fish were behind me. As soon as I found them things got crazy. The fish were off my port side and I was casting parrelel to the wind towards the eastern shore. Nearly every cast was met by a good sized fish. I boated several 20's and then had what felt like a big fish break me off by darting under the boat. That should not happen. I have literally fished the same leader, line, and Popa Dog since the season began, so it is time to retool my equipment. I have missed 3 fish in the last two nights that were probably north of 30 inches because my line broke. That is just plain stupid on my part. It has been a long time since I have boated a fish that big and there is no excuse not to be ready. It will not happen again. It was hard to get mad as I watched both a beautiful sunset and an equally beautiful moon rise. I took these 2 within seconds of each other. If I make it to age 101, I promise to be fishing, so I can experience it one more time. .

Strawberry Moon

Sun sets on the first day of summer 2016

Best Fathers Day EVER

Everything about this years fathers day was perfect. The temp was close to 90, but seemed like a perfect 75, since the humidity was so low and a nice southerly made it feel like a day at the beach without leaving home. I was looking forward to a Golden State win tonight, so had not planned on fishing, but when Katie called to see if I wanted to go tonight, basketball took a backseat. Low tide was 5:10 Pm, so I figured our 7:00 departure would be perfect. Alas, when we anchored it was dead slack tide. There was still a lot of boat traffic, so the boat was swinging with the wakes. The boat settled in as if the tide was still coming in. Danny was Fly fishing off the bow and crushing the smaller fish, while Katie and I had yet to get the Skunk off. All of Danny's fish were coming from exactly where I expected, had the tide turned. So when the boat finally swung around, the smirk quickly came off of his face as every cast of ours was met by a huge slam. I had a huge fish break me off and as I was re-tying, I  heard the biggest slam of my life, as Katie was hit by a huge fish. The fish jumped, so we all knew it was a trophy, especially when line started to peel off her reel at a rapid pace. It took a while, but she finally brought the fish to the boat and screamed "get the net". As we brought her aboard, I thought Katie was going to collapse. She was sweating, but clearly pumped by what was the biggest topwater fish of her life. A quick measure and it was confirmed. Her first 30 inch fish. NICE. I could not ask for a better Fathers day present than being there to watch the whole thing. Way to go Katie.

Yesterday, my boy Danny, also had a big day. They had run a 5K and he had come in 3rd out of 80 runners. Unfortunately it was a 29 and under division, and a running club of young runners had surprised everyone and taken the rest of the podium. What should have been a great feat, was replaced by the attached picture that will live in infamy. So when Danny landed one of his biggest Stripers ever on a fly, he was one again overshadowed . So I could not resist recreating the podium scene from the day before. Now is Lebron would just lose, this day will be tough to top.

Her first 30

Poor Danny 1

Poor Danny 2

Danny with a keeper on Fly or Poor Danny 3

Poor Danny 4

1950's Redux

My wife and I attended "Bands in the Sand" fundraiser for the CBF. The president spoke for a few minutes to thank everyone for coming and then discussed the results of the efforts of the past few years and how it is finally paying off. Anyone who has been out on a boat this year this year, has been amazed by the clarity of the water. I have no clue what we have to thank for this incredible turn of events, but it sure is great. I can actually see the rocks at the shoal, even at high tide. Every morning I wake up the all kinds of waterman working the waters in front of our home. There are actually "tongers" working several different oyster bars and "trot liners" galore. It feels like you have gone back in time.

I have had the sense all year that fishing was better than ever, but it was hard to confirm. After 18 straight days of rain, we have had to deal with 10-20 knots of wind nearly every night. The guides were telling me that they have never seen so many fish on the western shore as this year. Guys in their 40's were telling me that this was as good as they have ever experienced. Hell, even Capt. Karl posted a few videos, on his personal Facebook page, of several "over 35" fish he landed while just messing around with light tackle. I did have a few good nights by my standards, but nothing like that. He told me he has run into several trophy sized schools slamming baitfish on the surface and picking up 40 inch fish on plugs.

Well that all changed the last 2 nights. I can now say with certainty that fishing is very very good right now. Monday night was a near perfect topwater night. It was chilly enough that I wore my cool weather gear, an old pair of UA sweats and a sweet pullover my daughter Liz gave me for my b-day. It was breezy when I left the dock, but as the sun began to set, it became dead calm. Low tide was 6:30 and I was surprised when the boat began to swing not long after 7. With the tide shift came the slams. It was non stop action until I pulled anchor after 9. The biggest was a 26 that tail slapped literally 10 feet from the boat. Dabs was returning from fishing an area near the radio towers and had a similar experience with over 30's in ten feet of water, October fishing in June...SWEET.

I texted Katie and Danny that it would be worth their while to join me last night, so as we headed out into a mirror image of the night before. I was a bit concerned that things would not be active until closer to 8 as a result of the later low tide (now 7:30), but we were not disappointed. We had barely set anchor and the action began. Again, it was non stop until the DNR boarded us as the sun set (A story for another chapter). We did not break the 22 barrier, but lots of spectacular blow ups. Lost our last red and white Popa Dogg, but the "greenback" color filled in beautifully. For now, I am sticking with my theory about the red looking like flared gills. "Best night ever" as Danny likes to say and I concur.

Biggest of the night at 22 inches on a Popa

26 from Monday on Popa

Crushing it with a Zara Spook

Record Rain Streak

Last year by May 12 we had 11 days over 80 degrees. This year we have not had a day over 70 degrees. As a matter of fact, we are in the midst of the longest rain streak in history. It has now rained 15 days in a row. Record Rain Streak. It was still drizzling at 6:30 when I decided to head out. I was dressed like it was mid Feb., complete with a wool cap.After a lot of trial and error, I have concluded that the ideal condition for the shoal is 2 hours after a low tide. So when I noticed that low tide was 5:30 I just knew that tonight would be different from the miserable results this week. I anchored at around 6:30 and immediately went to work with Popa. After 45 minutes or so, I decided to switch over to a white twisty to see if the fish were there. Sure enough, on my 2nd cast, I picked up a very nice 22 that actually took a good deal of drag. I proceeded   to land several undersized fish. So the fish were there. Why are they not slamming Popa? As the magic 7:30 rolled around, I switched back to Popa. It did not take long to hear that sweet "thwack" of a big fish hitting a plug. The fish went straight down, so I did not get a good look at it, but knew it was big by the sound of my drag screaming. A week ago I was fighting a 150 pound Tarpon for a 1/2 hour at a time. Tonight the fight was maybe 5 minutes, but in Popa Dogg world, it was as good as it gets...A nice 26. She was still filled with eggs, so there was only time for a quick pic before releasing her to make some babies. .

26 inch female on Popa

First glance of blue sky in weeks

Back to the future

When I started this blog years ago, I really had no clue where it was going. I can't say the situation is any different after all these years. I have found myself recently using this blog , in a more traditional sense, as a "fishing log". In the fishing world, that term is not as prevalent today. Today, it is usually associated with those that monitor conditions in the watershed. For instance, our River keeper keeps "a log" of oxygen levels, water temp, salinity, etc, to monitor the river for potential problems. I have tried over the years to infuse this kind of hard data that I hoped would someday be helpful. Every fishing book I have ever read talks about patterns. Success in fishing is always attributed to the tide, light, thermocline, lure choice, etc. What I have come to realize over the past year, is that none of that really matters in "Popa Dog World" . If you look at the trails on my Lawrence, it's like someone drew a line with a crayon between my dock and "the spot" on the shoal. Most nights I anchor, according to conditions, within about 20 yards of the same spot as the night before and the night before that. Once at this spot, I break out the same red head/white body Popa Dog and go to work. There is no need to collect a lot of data because I have eliminated so many variables. I use the red head Popa Dog because it casts farther than any other plug I have tried over the years. At some point in the past 25 plus years I have tried them all. My first love was an old wooden Bassarino, but my last love will be Popa Dog. For years I switched off between a black Stillwater and a white Stillwater. It took a few years to conclude that color does not really matter. Now contrast?, that may matter. Thus the red head and white body. It is pure conjecture, but I think the red mimics the red of the open gills of a fleeing baitfish. I am sure that is utter nonsense because 95% of the time the fish can barely see the plug. That is why light conditions matter so much on the Shoal. I have caught plenty of fish at high noon, but let's face it, the best action is in that last hour of light. That is where "action" comes in. There are nights like tonight, when the water is really murky and choppy. We had friends coming to dinner at 7, so I ran out around 5:30. It was cold, rainy,  and despite the slack tide, still choppy. It is real hard to get their attention in those conditions and even harder to work a consistent walking pattern. I find myself using a similar cadence as a walking pattern with an added flick of the wrist that adds the spitting motion of a traditional popper. On nights like tonight, I need both Popa and Dog, to get their attention. The tide was quite low, so I was anchored in about 3.5 foot of water. I did a little probing with the white twisty and picked up a nice 20, so I knew the fish were there. Just as I needed to head in, as I flicked my wrist, a nice 20 slammed, A quick release and I was home just in time to jump in the shower.

The above post was left unfinished last Friday before leaving for the Silver King Lodge in Costa Rica. Our group of eight old friends has fished for tarpon in Florida for a week in May for quite a few years. This year we took a leap of faith and headed to Costa Rica. It turned out to be quite a leap. We found ourselves deep in the jungle in the very northeast corner where the Rio Colorado River enters the Caribbean. I found it interesting that our guides too had eliminated as many variables as possible, given the local conditions. The mouth of the river was quite muddy and relatively shallow. For most of our stay, our guides stayed within a couple 100 yards from this area. Since the water was cloudy we were able to use deadbaits. This was very different from Florida, where lively baits were crucial. My conclusion was that perhaps smell is another variable that matters in fishing. The fish certainly could not see the bait, so action was not important. I have never been big on fishing "advise", but in this case I will offer my opinion. It seems like the best way to approach fishing it to eliminate variables whenever possible. If the fish cannot see what you are offering then concentrate on sound and smell.

But I digress. My original post was intended to discuss how I find myself using the blog. I find myself     using the blog more for looking back to see what conditions were like in past years. I find it quite helpful to look back at the exact week in past years to see if it was cold or warm, windy or calm, etc. As I look back, the next few weeks should offer some very good "topwater nights". End of Rant.

Pictures to follow.

2016 Fishing Season Begins

I have been out a number of times the past few weeks mainly to take advantage of some great weather. It's a bit like fishing in a bathtub that you can clearly see contains no fish. In my heart, and in my notes, I know that several things must come together before the fish arrive. I have found that when the hanover from St. Patricks day abates, the water temp hits 50, the presence of Cormorants, and, last but not least, the return of nesting pairs of Osprey's, then the season can begin. We have a nesting pole next to our dock, that is wonderfully framed by the windows across the back of our house. Every room in our house has an incredible view of Lucy and Ricky, the names we have given our raptor friends. Lucy showed up one day a week or two ago. Osprey pairs do not spend the winter together and the male will normally show up a bit later to "summer" with his life partner. They really are fascinating. It was in the 70's when I left the office a little before 4, I could feel it in my bones. Not only had Ricky returned this AM, but March 22 has been forever etched in my memory as the day I caught my biggest Rockfish with a plug.

First of 2016

I arrived at the spot a little after 5. High tide was 7, so the water was ripping. Despite the 70 degree temp on land, it was cold as hell on the water. I was sporting a sailing jacket and wool hat. The wind was 12 knots, so the water was churned up quite a bit. Things did not look good for topwater, but hey, thats what I live for. So for the first hour I mindlessly fan casted with Popa, with no action. I switched over to a white twisty and on my third cast had the first hookup of 2016, right up against the rock pile. It was not a trophy, but a fat 20 this early in the season feels like a 30. With the skunk off the boat, I immediately switched back to Popa and continued to cast until 6:30. Mother Nature is one heck of a timekeeper. Picture courtesy of Donna Weaver Photography.

Lucy

Long overdue update

As I look back over my pictures since the beginning of August I would not say fishing has has been bad , but I definelty had quite a few less "perfect topwater nights" than past years. On August 16th I had my daughter Grace and her boyfriend Jack onboard. That was a great night. Jack had never topwater fished before and the smile on his face after his first blow made even Popa Dogg smile. We caught quite a few fish that night and enjoyed one of those sunsets that August provides. Besides that I counted 3 nights where I have pictures of fish over 24, including tonight.

It has been much breezier than years past, which has been great for playing with my new toy, a Harbor 20 sailboat. All I can say is fishing is a whole lot easier than sailing. It's been fun, but my learning curve has been steep. I say this because  Dabs tells me that fishing has been great. So it could be that I just did not go out as much. Things should pick up nicely from here out. The 24 tonight slammed Popa Dogg after the sun went down and we were well into slack tide. He was a good deal off the rip in a random spot, that normally would not yield a 24.

Tonights 24 

August 16th

Grace on Aug 16th

Jack is hooked for life....guaranteed

Good Week

Last Thursday I did a charter out of Harris' Crabhouse in Kent Narrow, put together by some work associates. I had heard from a number of friends that the primary biomass of bigger Stripers has been holding up north all summer. This theory was confirmed as we quickly limited out with 10 guys. A number of the fish were low to mid 30 inch fish.

This week was quite interesting. It was windy every day, so I was unable to make it out to the Shoal, That  did not mean I did not catch fish. On Tuesday, I ran across some working birds at red number 12. Normally I would assume that they were chasing dinks or baitfish. After all, it is July. Well to my chagrin the fish were mostly in the 22 inch range with several up to 26. All on Popa Dogg.

A big storm rolled through around 3 tonight, but things had settled down nicely by early evening. Low tide was 5:30 and the breeze was about 12 knots from the south, which meant for a choppy bay. I arrived around 6:30 and the tide was still coming in, or at least it seemed that way with the wind pushing the boat  to the North. I did manage a few 18's, but the action was quite slow, until the boat began to swing around around 7:30. This once again confirmed my theory that the best time for Topwater at the shoal is 2 hours after low tide. The action from 7:30 to 8:30 was nothing short of spectacular. I lost count, but I boated at least 15 nice keeper sized fish. (20 inches this year). Every slam was followed by a tail walking dance, each one better than the last. Great night.

Typical 20 inch fish tonight

The Eastern Shore Way. Make that 28 look like a 40.

The new "Mama Dogg" logo

Ouch

First of all, I need to correct and injustice done to my boy Danny. I said he had never caught a keeper sized striper, when in fact I meant "on my boat". He had indeed landed a very nice 24 which if I look back, was featured on this very blog. So when we anchored up Tues. night he had extra incentive to get the skunk off the boat immediately, which is exactly what he did when he landed a nice 18-20? on the fly. The conditions were just plain horrid. The tide was wrong, the wind was howling, and it was quite choppy. We did manage several more 18-20 inch fish, but it was a tough night,

Tonight could not have been more perfect. The wind was calm, the tide had peaked an hour before I anchored, and the humidity that has plagued us for weeks was gone. Unfortunately several other boats were anchored exactly on the spot. So I moved closer to the point and just plain murdered them. There were several times where 22-24 class fish were chasing the hooked fish to the boat. All was great until I got cocky and managed to sink a treble hook deep into the top part of my thumb. Last night I watched a film by Mark Wahlberg titled "lone survivor". Its a hollywood version of a true story of 4 soldiers that must escape literally an army of Afghan soldiers after their mission goes horribly wrong. These guys are subjected to the most gruesome injuries as they attempt to climb a mountain to call for help as the Afghans chase them down. The are shot, fall down ravines and break bones, etc. Like all great American war movies they just shake it off and kill hordes of enemy soldiers until just Wahlberg is left and miraculously rescued by the home team. I was thinking of them as the wrench turned over and ripped that sucker out. It hurt like a bitch, but at least I was not shot.

THE FLY GUY

The Golden Years

We moved into our new home or "final resting place", as I like to call it, July 4th weekend. It has been a long ordeal that took us 2 1/2 years, but boy was it worth it. Better than the dream, by far. So with things settled down and topwater season finally kicking in, I am ready to officially start my Golden Years.

I fished Sat morning, a rarity for me, before the boat traffic kicked into high gear, and luckily hit a perfect topwater morning. I picked up 2 nice 22's on Popa. Had a few more blowup's from larger fish that missed. When I pulled onto my lift and looked up at our new home, all I could do is utter NICE to myself. I left everything open and all the electronics still running.  I guess the plan was to, at some point that morning, clean the boat. Unfortunately, I completely  chilled on our back patio for the rest of the weekend and did not even wander down to the boat again until last night when I noticed a glow coming from the front window. So, I should not have been surprised to find a dead battery when Danny and I attempted to leave at a little before 6 tonight. Since most of my fishing stuff is still in boxes, finding my charger was futile, so we decided to take the Kayaks. As Danny was pulling them out of the boathouse, I decided to throw a Hail Mary. I jumped in the car and headed to Boaters World. I have never heard of a charger that will also act as a jump starter, but you never know. Sure enough, the salesman, who happened to be in that section, said that they did not carry anything like that. But wait!!! this one does say it will jump start an outboard. So I flew home and she (officially named my new 16 year old boat "Mama Dogg") fired right up. So by 7:15, we were anchored up at the spot. The outgoing tide was ripping against a 10 knot northerly breeze so conditions where quite choppy. Danny has yet to catch a keeper sized striper on his fly rod, so he started on the front throwing a small streamer. I of course was armed in ready with the dogg. It was no contest. By the end of the night Popa had boated 19 nice healthy keeper sized fish and the fly rod Zero. After the 14th, Danny reluctantly set down the fly rod and added to Popa's final total.

The view from my new lift.

Somewhere over the rainbow.

Light tackle fishing has been difficult this entire year. If it has been windy, or thunderstorms were on the horizon nearly every night. Last nights storm was one of the worst I have seen in my 50 years living in MD. The sky was black as coal. The winds went from 5 knots to 70 knots in a matter of seconds and Papa Dog sized hail rained down seconds later. Then, just like that, it was over. The sun popped out and a beautiful rainbow appeared over the bay and at the end of that rainbow was my pot of gold. 

I used my pot of gold to buy the perfect topwater night. I met Carter at the new house at 6 pm. It was the first time that he had seen the "new,16 year old, boat". I could tell from his reaction, that the decision to stick with Mama Dog rather than buying a new boat, was the right one.. It was still a bit breezy, but the horrendous humidity was finally gone. After a short jaunt out to one of the freighters to toss plugs up against the hull, we ended up at "the spot" around 7. Even though it was low tide was 5:30 the outgoing tide was still ripping. It was flat enough to work topwater but not ideal. Carter was tossing plastic while I, of course, was working Papa Dog. Around 7:15 I had a huge blowup and it was on. After several  drag screaming runs my line snapped. If I had to guess, I would sat it was a 26 or 28. All I know is that it was the best fish I have had in quite some time. A few tosses later, in the same spot, I picked up a nice 22. This was followed by a double as we both boated 18's. We continued  to work that spot for the next hour with non stop action. The biggest was a 24, which for the shoal in June is quite a feat. It was a great and welcome night after the crap mother nature has thrown at us the past month or so. 

Living the dream.

I have actually been working to make tonight happen for the past 2 months. I had taken my 1999 Parker 2520 in for a much needed facelift when she was pulled back in the fall. All winter, I could picture her sitting out on my new lift, at my dream home, looking straight down the mouth of the South River to "the spot". For some reason I have always referred to my boat as "my baby" and thus a woman. I had not seen the boat, but had talked to Chris and Harvey from Intrinsic Yacht numerous times throughout the winter. She was to get a new, "faster", Yamaha 250. The rub rails were to be replaced. The gouges from from 15 years of the wear and tear were to be re-gelcoated, and then hull was to be painted a "baby blue" color with complimenting bottom paint. When I set eyes on her last night, I knew the first part of the dream was complete. My little baby was all grown up and looked incredible. The lift had been quite a project also. Capt.Karl also owns a lift company and had installed the lift several months ago. The problem was there was no electric to the pier when we purchased the 1915 cottage that sat on the hill above the water. It has been more than a few years since

My new boat

The dream

 we sold the "family home" and began the process of building our final resting place. So tonight when my youngest daughter,who was home for a few days, asked to head out for a little topwater action , I did not hesitate. We drove to our unfinished house and lowered my lift for the first time ever and headed out in my new boat "Mama Dog" for her maiden voyage. The night could have ended there as "a perfect topwater night", but things actually got even better when we dropped anchor at "the spot". The water was bathtub calm, air temp perfect, and a strong outgoing tide. Minutes later Grace had a nice slam and quickly boated a nice 24. It was the perfect start to what will surely be a great year.

The post above was written on May 7th, over  a month ago. I had saved it as a draft, but never published.The house is still not ready and since that night we have experienced the most rain in 121 years. If it was not raining the wind was blowing 15 knots. I was only able to toss plugs on May 17th when I picked up a 20. That was it until tonight when the weather finally cooperated. I anchored at the spot at 6 pm with the tide still going out and hour after low tide. I picked up 4 quick fish in the 16 inch range on plastics before switching over to Papa Dog. I immediatly picked up a nice 20, but that was it for the night. Please  let summer begin.

May 17th 20

November Recap

The beginning of the month was nothing short of spectacular. The fish were staged between markers 1 and 2 at the mouth of the river 24/7. Most mornings and evenings I could run out, spot birds, and toss the Dogg with immediately hook up. Unlike most of the summer, the fish were mostly keepers with several in the mid to upper 20's. On November 4th I was able to capture on my Go-Pro the best topwater slam of the year. The fish was a solid 28 inches and danced for me for what seemed like 2 minutes (especially is slow motion). If you look right over my left ear you can see the fish slam.The middle of the month was quite breezy and it was difficult to work a plug. I still managed quite a few nice fish, but all by jigging a shad on 1 oz lead head.

Tonight was a nice surprise. The weather has been quite cold and windy for the past week and we been traveling quite a bit. I had fished Sunday for the first time in over a week and did not see a sign of life. So tonight my expectations were low. I anchored at the shoal around 4 pm. It was overcast, incoming tide, with a  water temp of 49. After a half hour of fruitless plugging with Papa, I switched over to a swim shad. It was not long before I picked up a football sized 18. I picked up another fish the same size a few casts later before hooking into something real nice. Although the fish was sluggish, it still put up a nice fight...a real fat 28. Great way to end the year.

Fishing for the cycle

I made my way out to the Shoal around 4:45 tonight. Low tide was 2:30, so I was surprised to find somewhat slack conditions. I must have hit it just right, because by 5 o'clock the boat began to swing around with the incoming tide. It did not take long to boat my first fish, a nice fat 20 inch fish. Up until tonight, fall fishing had been a real bummer. Between the wind, rain, and pesky trollers, I had not caught a fish over 18 in a month. So suffice it to say, I was pumped when the next blowup resulted in an even fatter 22. Just off the bow, I could see a nice slick forming. I had the shoal to myself and I am anchored within casting distance of feeding big guys...NICE. My next blowup resulted in a hefty 26 that I was barely able to swing over the gunnel. This was followed by a 24 and three more 26's that had my heart jumping. The blowups and dance's that followed were spectacular. If only my damn Go-Pro had power!!!!!. Every plug fisherman I know has told me that bigger plugs catch the bigger fish, so it was time to break out the big Zara Spook in black with a yellow head. I have had that sucker in my tackle box for as long as I can remember but have never had a situation that Papa Dogg could not handle. After three 26's in a row, Papa was a hurtin' pup. His back hooks were all mangled and I could barely hear him mumbling "please put me in coach". I tied the Spook to my slightly studier Med-Heavy St. Croix and cast with the wind towards a beautiful 30 foot "bathtub"flat slick. I never even got a chance to start my walk when something massive whacked the spook 5 feet in the air and tail slapped for good measure. Whoa. Ok, so now I am shaking. I "walk the dog" maybe two steps and wham, it was big fish-ON. Tail slap, tail slap, tail slap, and the ZZZZZ went my drag. The fish was clearly in control for a minute or three, but she quickly tired and swam gently into my outstretched net. It took a while to get a the hooks out and untangle the net, but I was able to get a quick picture and get this fat 28 back in the water safely. Since I practice CPR, it is rare for me to use a net. With two sets of treble hooks and a twisting fish, I have had several fish die when it took too long to get them free. Usually, I will just swing the fish over the Gunnel. This was my first "net fish" in 2 years. I know there are lots of guys on the bay who routinely boat 28's or bigger, but they are typically live lining, trolling, or light tackle jigging deeper waters on the Eastern Shore. I can assure you they are not working a topwater plug in 3 foot of water on the Western shore. A 28 on the Shoal is a rare and treasured thing.  There were two guys trolling nearby whom I suspected had watched me net the fish since they changed course and headed my way. It took a while, but I was finally  reloaded and ready to go. As I moved to the bow of the boat the trollers had closed the gap to maybe 50 yards and were heading right for the slick. Just as  my "Hail Mary" cast hit the water I had the greatest blow up and tail slapping extravaganza of my 25 years of fishing the Shoal. My drag was screaming as this beast slashed across the water for all to see.   I heard the trollers exclaim "wow look at that". Those that know me, know I do not like trollers. It's not just that they scare off the bigger fish, which they most certainly do, its that they are missing the whole fishing experience. When a 30 inch Striper explodes on a plug, its just you and the fish. You did that. You tricked that seven year old fish, who has successfully migrated up the coast to Maine and back, five times, that your plug is a wounded baitfish. You did not fool him with the real thing like bait fishing or have the boat catch the fish like trolling. The most incredible thing is that you get to witness the the initial attack and the fight in its entirety. So it's less about not liking trollers, and more about wanting them to experience the joys of Plug fishing. I tried real hard to maintain that brotherly love as they glided through the slick and ended my best night in 25 years. Oh well it had to end sometime. A 20,22, 24,26,28, and a 30 all in one night. Would that next cast have been a 32 or 34?

24

26

28

30

who cares. That is fishing and I just plain love it.

Trout...really?

I have fished the shoal for 20 plus years and have never caught a speckled trout. That changed today when a nice18 inch fish hit my white twisty at the spot.

Fishing has been slowing down on the shoal. My theory is the fish have begun to move into the river. I will be testing this theory over the next week and will update soon.

First Thomas Point Shoal Trout ever

VIDEO ADDED...PLS SHARE

I still get an nice rush from catching a 17 7/8 inch Striper on a plug. It's a good thing, because  legal sized fish have been tough  to find for all of August. I have still managed to have a great time. A night out at the shoal meant non stop action with the sub legals. It was great to introduce an old friend, Bob Murphy, and his boys to the wonders of plug fishing. They had driven out from NW Washington once before, but the boat was in the shop and we were skunked. So it was a great feeling to see his little guy, George, boat 7 beauties which somehow took top prize for the most fish. He tells his dad he will be back in October when the "big ones are running".

On Friday night I finally picked up a real nice 26 that hopefully marks the beginning of fall fishing. So tonight, I was real excited to get out there. I waited until the sun was setting and anchored up a little to the left of my buddy Dave. It was a perfect night after a very hot and humid day. The bay was flat with a strong incoming tide. As I was leaving the dock, a DNR boat had passed me entering the creek. Since it was past 7 and the creek was completely void of boat traffic, I thought it a bit odd. Fast forward a half hour and Dave yells over that we are about to be checked by the DNR guys from earlier. REALLY, one of the nicest nights of the year and these guys are going to do Safety Checks on three boats anchored in 2 feet of water just as the bite was kicking in. It is my belief that the bigger fish are drawn to the sound of Papa Dogg's melodious "click click" sound. So lets just say I was not a happy camper. I watched as Dave was harrassed for a good 5 minutes, and prepared what  I knew they would ask for. I was running my Go Pro the whole time, which my readers may find interesting. It is really sad how the DNR has morphed into a quasi police force who spend very little time actually protecting the bay and its precious resources. A dad fishing with his boy or a Man with his dog at sunset on Labor day is what this country is all about. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is sad that we must give up those rights the second  we push away from the dock.

A future #1 collegiate fisherman.

First good fish in a month

Summer Update

One of the 20's

It has been a long time since my last post. That is partly due to laziness on my part, but mostly due to the wind. There has only been a handful of nights since May that it was not blowing at least 10 knots out on the shoal. It does not take much wind to stir up 4 foot of water and the resulting chop. So most nights I have either thrown plastic, which is like kissing your sister, or just bagged it altogether. It has also been extremely humid, so it been hard to motivate myself.

The last two nights have actually been perfect. The wind finally died down and the humidity is gone for now. As far as fishing goes, it has been a ton of fun. Both nights I lost count early and had steady action all night on Papa Dogg. Every cast resulted in multiple blow ups. Most of the fish were in the 16 to 17 inch range, but I did manage a 20 each night. The good topwater nights are just getting started and I look forward to the mid 20's fish moving in. Both nights the tide did not reverse until 2 1/2 hours after low tide and the fish were hitting just north of the rock piles.

Been a long long winter

The best thing about living on Thomas Point Road is the close proximity to the shoal. A miserable winter has been followed by an equally miserable spring. We had 4 solid days of torrential rain last week, so I figured it would be the end of May before the bite would turn on. I have hit the shoal as often as the weather permitted, but have not even seen a baitfish.

My friend Jeff from work asked me to take him and his buddy Bob fishing on Saturday. I was actually dreading the outing, since I had yet to even catch a dink. The trollers have been doing well, but the thought of light tackle with plugs and plastics seemed like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It was  a nice day with a light breeze and sunny skies. We left the dock around 8 am and anchored up at "the spot". There has been an ongoing argument on Tidal fish about spot burning. Readers of this blog know that I am more than willing to do the work, so that those who can only get out periodically, can enjoy the splendor of a striper exploding on a plug. Striper fishing is not like fishing for largemouths. The fish are constantly on the move, so the idea of burning a spot, is really no big deal. It's all about patterns. Thomas point shoal is quite large, so its more important to adjust your position to both underwater rock structures and the movement of the tides. One of the guys who fishes the rock pile that I frequent, went so far as to place a marker right on the rock pile. It really does not bother me one bit. I will admit that it can get a bit crowded in Sept and Oct , but I love watching others get their first blowup. So anyway, after a solid hour of casts, I decided to shoot across the bay to give Poplar Island a try. The tide finally started moving around 11 and Bob immediately picked up a nice 26 filled with eggs. We were about 30 yards off the rocks in 10 feet of water on the north shore using 9 inch BA's with a 3/4 ounce candy colored jig head. That was it for the day. Still I was thrilled to get the skunk off the boat.

I left the dock at 5:30 tonight. Low tide was predicted for 6:30. Since the tide was barely moving, I never dropped anchor and moved around quite a bit. Fished just about every point up the South River as far as the Rt. 2 bridge. Again, not even a baitfish. As the sun was setting, I made my way back to the shoal. The tide was still going out, so I moved north of "the spot" and drifted south. Amazingly, just as I hit the spot where I normally anchor, a huge Mama slammed Papa Dogg, and I finally boated my first fish of the year....a good month and a half late.

 A selfie with my 28

Bob's 26

My backyard last week.