Fished for: Croakers & Seatrout
Date Fished: 6-27-98
Boat Name: Mary R
Water Temp:
Water Clarity: 2 Feet
Seas: Choppy Then Smooth
Weather: Cloudy Early Then Sunny-Wind 15 N
REPORT:
Crew: Tom Hughes, John Mace, Jeffrey Wible, Tiger Jones, Wayne Towson, Taylor Hale
Date Fished: 06/27/98
Location: LOWER BAY OUT OF ST JEROME CREEK (Western Shore just south of Pt. No Point)
Water Clarity: 2 Feet
Water Was: Choppy Until 4:30 PM Then Smooth
Weather: Some Cloud Cover Until 2 PM Then A High Front Moved In With 15 mph North Wind And Sunny
Fished For: CROAKERS AND SEATROUT
Boat Name: Mary R.
Licensed Guide: Captain Jim Gray
REPORT
The above crew of 6 fished for CROAKERS & SEATROUT on Saturday, 06/27/98, from 1:24 PM until 7:20 PM on the lower Chesapeake Bay. We fished areas from Buoy R "72" south to the Wrecked Ship(fully visible above the water). This Wrecked Ship is in the Restricted Bombing Area 334.200.
Fishing with Captain Jim Gray was a real pleasure and a learning experience. His boat, the ‘Mary R’, had more than enough room to fish a party of 6 and the ride was comfortable. The Croakers were suspended since the wind was coming strong out of the north. The sun was shinning bright on the water, and the tide running against the wind. The Captain’s experience and state of the art electronic equipment on the Mary R. allowed us to fish in productive waters. We would drift fish for short stretches, and if only a few Croakers were caught, we pulled our lines in and moved to another area. Captain Jim’s expert fishing knowledge, gained by taking fishing parties out for over 20 years, knew not to wait for, but to go after the fish. Around 4:00 PM we were located just south of Pt. No Point and were told to bring in the lines since we were going back across the Bay to anchor on a ledge in 28 feet of water. Captain Jim was still trying to put us on some quality Croakers. This time he did. As soon as the first line went over we were catching Croakers between 14 and 19 inches for the next 2 hours. The average size Croaker caught was 17". That’s a quality Croaker any day.
WATER CONDITION:
The tide was running against the wind. This made it choppy until the wind died down around 4 PM.
STRUCTURES FISHED (in this order): Shoal ledges, shoals, channel ledges
CUT BAITS USED: Chicken and soft crabs. Take the skin off the breast and cut up into 2" x 2" pieces.
LURES USED: Soft plastic baits rigged on 1/8 round head jigs and a special rig which I designed and have now tested. This rig will get the lures in the strike zone. Only one person was using artificial lures. I caught 30 Croakers on the lures listed below.
TOTAL STRIPED BASS CAUGHT WAS 175. The Croakers ranged from 10 inches to 19 inches with the average Croaker being 17". The most productive structure was a channel ledge in 28 feet of water.
OTHER FISH CAUGHT: (All were keeper size) 1 - Striper, 3 - Seatrout and 2 -Bluefish.
NUMBER OF CROAKERS CAUGHT DURING THIS TIDE:
170 - Incoming
5 - Outgoing
0 - Still
MOST PRODUCTIVE LURE- Bass Assassin, Soft Plastic Bait, 1 1/2 inch, Chartreuse/Silver Glitter, #SA01452
MOST PRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUE- Bottom Fishing-using a ‘Tom Hughes’ Croaker Rig. This bottom rig was designed to still or drift fish for Croakers.
OTHER PRODUCTIVE LURES THIS TRIP:
*All lure information is supplied for REFERENCE ONLY. These types of lures are made by other manufacturers which may be just as, or more productive than, the lures listed. It gives the readers an opportunity to see these productive lures through the Internet or in catalogs. Starting with the most productive.
Bass Assassin, Soft Plastic Bait, 1 1/2 inch, Albino Shad, #SA01330
Bass Assassin, Soft Plastic Bait, 1 1/2 inch, Crystal Shad, #SA01343
Bass Assassin, Soft Plastic Bait, 1 1/2 inch, Alewife Shad, #SA01108
FISH STORY:
Your boss has heard it through the grapevine that you know how to catch fish. He casually mentions to you, after the 9 o’clock staff meeting, how nice it would be if you could take him, along with 2 of his closest friends, fishing out on the Chesapeake Bay. He also advises you how nice it would be to have some fresh caught fish for the cookout he will be giving on Sunday 2 weeks from now. The relays in your brain are now in the overload mode. You,re thinking of the well deserved ‘brownie points’ you would earn (which could turn into cash-in-hand) if you could pull something like this off. Your answer is ‘no problem boss, will next Saturday fit your schedule and I if possible I would like to bring along a couple of my friends’? Your boss agrees with your plan.
Now all you have to do is supply a boat (big enough to go out on the Chesapeake Bay with 6 people), rods, reels, baits and make sure everyone goes home happy with freshly caught fish, especially your boss. This should put a great deal of pressure on you, but you already have the answer and it is evident because you have a smile on your face.
Last year you went out on quite a few charter trips with licensed guides and caught Striped Bass, Croakers, Seatrout and Flounder, using different methods to catch these fish such as trolling, chumming, bottom and drift fishing, and different types of fishing equipment from a heavy trolling rod to a medium spinning rod- - -and you still have plenty of fish in the freezer caught during these trips. Yes, you had everything under control because you know the answer- call a Charter Boat Captain and set up a fishing trip on the Chesapeake Bay.
FISHING TIP:
If you want to charter a comfortable fishing boat on the lower Chesapeake Bay with a captain who knows the waters and can put you on fish, give Captain Jim Gray a call at (301) 872-4022
Good Fishing….Tom Hughes