Fished for: Striped Bass
Date Fished: 8/21/98
Boat Name: Attitude
Water Temp: 80
Water Clarity: 3 Feet
Seas: Slight Chop
Weather: Sunny Wind Out Of The South
REPORT:
Crew: Fred Kassakatis, Bill Kassakatis and Tom Hughes
Date Fished: 08/21/98
Location: UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY
Predicted Tides:
Water Temp.: 80 Degrees
Water Clarity: 3 Feet
Water Was: Slight Chop
Weather: Sunny
Fished For: STRIPED BASS
Boat Name: Attitude (Fred’s boat)
REPORT
Fred Kassakatis, Bill Kassakatis and I fished on Friday 08/21/98, from 7:00 AM until 4:30 PM, from Bodkin Creek to Pooles Island. We fished on the eastern and the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay.
OPENING NOTE: When fishing the Chesapeake Bay for Striped Bass it is hard to beat the knowledge and talent supplied by the ‘Kassakatis Brothers’. Fred and Bill have both been fishing the bay for years and know the location of productive areas and how to fish them. Every time I fish with them I learn, not only new fishing locations, but some historical facts about our beautiful Chesapeake Bay.
All fish were caught on light spinning and bait casting equipment using artificial lures.
WATER CONDITION: We caught fish all day. The most productive time was the last 2 hours of the outgoing tide. Stripers were feeding heavy on top water during this time. We followed and stayed just outside the birds when they were diving.
STRUCTURES FISHED: range lights, pound nets, points, bulkheads, rock piles, wooden pilings, shoals, sandbars.
LURES USED: Soft plastic baits rigged on 3/8 and 1/2 ounce round head jigs, lip less vibrating crankbaits, top water poppers, floating lures, and suspended jerkbaits.
TOTAL STRIPED BASS CAUGHT WAS 205. The Stripers ranged from 10 inches to 22 1/2 inches. The most productive structure was a shoal around Pooles Island. Landed 2 large Stripers. Both were 22 1/2" long. These large Stripers were caught on an incoming tide.
NUMBER OF STRIPERS CAUGHT DURING THIS TIDE:
5 - Incoming
200 - Outgoing
0 - Still
MOST PRODUCTIVE LURE: Bass Assassin, Salt Water, Sea Shad, Soft Plastic Bait, 4", Salt & Pepper Silver Phantom/Chartreuse Tail, #SSA25238
MOST PRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUE: Jig & Stop-cast the lure out let it drop to the desired depth (drops 1 foot per second), then lift your rod tip swiftly from 9 o’clock to 11 o’clock while taking up the slack line-pause for 1 second. Repeat this again and again, until the lure is back at the boat. The Stripers usually take the bait on the fall.
OTHER PRODUCTIVE LURES THIS TRIP:
Bass Assassin, Salt Water, Curly Shad, Soft Plastic Bait, 4", Rainbow Trout, #STS39332
Bill Lewis, Tiny-Trap, 1/8 once, Vibrating Crankbait, Blue Back/Silver Sides (the model with 2 treble hooks)
Nature’s Own, Tender Tubes, Soft Plastic Bait, 3 1/2", Golden Shiner
Storm, Rattlin Chug Bug, Floating Popper, 3 1/2", 3/8 oz., in the following colors:
White Sides w/Red Markings/White Back
Black Back/Silver Sides
Fenwick, Shallow Crank, Shallow Running Crankbait, 4 1/8", 7/16 oz., Chartreuse
Bull Dog, Rattling Pro-Pop, Floating Popper, 1/2 oz., Purple Shad
Rapala, Rattlin Rap, 1/2 oz., Silver Green Shad
Smithwick, Suspending Rattlin Pro Rogue, Suspended Jerkbait, 5 1/2", 1/2 oz., , Model SDRC 1200, Black Back/Silver Sides
Rapala, Original Floater Minnow, Floating/Diving Stickbait, 5 1/4", 1/4 ounce, Model F13, Blue Back/White Sides
OTHER FISH CAUGHT:
5 - Bluefish
2 - White Perch
FISHING TIP:
For more excitement use top water poppers when the Stripers are feeding on topwater. You get to see the Striper take your lure, or at times just hit it out of the way. Forty percent of the above stripers were caught on top water during the middle of the day with the sun shinning.
.
Good Fishing…..Capt. Tom Hughes
Mason-Dixon Outdoor Writers Association
‘Putting Together a Program to Catch More Fish’
http://www.WorldWideAngler.com/chesapeake/features/11-97/tomh.shtml