LOCATION:  Mid Bay

SPECIES:  Striped Bass

UPDATE:  October 26, 2009

FISHING CONDITIONS: After more days of fall weather and the changes it brings, this weekend gave a few clients opportunity to get out and catch some of the quality Striped Bass that are available.  Fish were everywhere from the creek where I launch, the mouth of the small river it attaches to and finally the Choptank River.  We chased birds which certainly were active, but often used the sonar to know when to stay or when to go.  Most fish were caught in the middle of the water column, although we caught many fish at or near the top, some were caught on poppers.  Slack tide was only a moment to deal with as the fish were quickly located in other areas where current had picked up a little.  This move occurred between high and low and well as low to high.    

WATER TEMPERATURE: 58 Degrees

MOST COMMON BAIT:  Bunker and silversides/bay anchovies.

“MUST HAVE” FLIES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF IMPORTANCE:

• Large, heavy Clouser deep minnow pattern, Chartreuse and white 
• Large bunker patterns and half and half’s 

RECOMMENDED LEADER:  most commonly I use short (7 1/2 foot) tapered leaders in 16 to 20 pound strength.  For spinning I use straight non tapered sections of fluorocarbon leader material in 25 to 30 pound test.  I use 9 to 12 foot tapered leaders for smaller flys fished in shallow water.

BEST FLY ROD AND REEL OUTFIT: with the exception of when I am targeting big game species I always provide the same basic outfit.  9 foot 9 weight Tip Flex Rod, paired with a light weight large arbor reel. 

IDEAL FLY LINE TYPES: I use two types when fly fishing on the Bay.  I use multi-tip fly line with interchangeable tips in floating, intermediate, slow sink and fast sink.  These allow quick change opportunity and coupled with the 15 foot length allows even the fast sinking tip to be “picked up” off the water easily.  The most common fly line I use is the full, fast sink line in 9 wt line size to allow me to fish the entire water column even in the deepest of areas.

SPINNING REEL OUTFIT: I have selected short, six foot to seven foot, medium fast action rod with 2500 F1 series Shimano Stradic reel.  This will be spooled with braided line of either 14 lb test for lighter lure applications or 25 to 30 pound test for heavier.  Jigging would work well as would many common lures at least 3 to 4 inches.

BEST TECHNIQUES: With the fish feeding all over the water column the best was still the full sinking line.  Cast, let it sink and start a quick retrieve and you were going to have a fish on.  For most of the day, the fly was the best choice, spinning was out-fished dramatically.

COMMENTS:   Today, fishing two different groups of three anglers each, we caught fish for 12 hours with only short periods of looking for fish.

7-DAY OUTLOOK: Every day has been good, incoming or outgoing tides, early or late.  Tight lines!

LOCATION:  Mid Bay

SPECIES:  Stripers, Spanish Macs and Blues

UPDATE:  September 15, 2009

FISHING CONDITIONS: Not much has changed with my reports except the weather pattern and cooler water temperatures.  Frequently the wind is Northerly with Easterly influence.  This is a clear sign of fall coming.  Cooler water temperatures will place more feeding fish in the tributaries and that is often where I am fishing now rather than on the main portion of the bay.  There are still great numbers of nice Striped Bass, mixed with blues and Spanish Mac’s, even occasional larger fish up to 28 inches.  Good feeding on silversides and bunker.

WATER TEMPERATURE: with this new cooler weather, low to mid 70’s

MOST COMMON BAIT:  Bunker, silver sides, and spot.

“MUST HAVE” FLIES IN DESCENDING ORDER OF IMPORTANCE:

• Poppers, poppers, poppers.
• Crease flys
• Larger deceiver patterns that have look and size of 3 to 4 inch bunker
• Bay Anchovy pattern, which you might also fish under a lure as a dropper behind the half and half or behind a spinning lure.
• Blue and White, half and half
• White over white, half and half.

RECOMMENDED LEADER:  most commonly I use short (6 foot), straight sections of fluorocarbon leader material for fly or spinning.  I use 9 to 12 foot tapered leaders for smaller flys fished in shallow water.

BEST FLY ROD AND REEL OUTFIT: with the exception of when I am targeting big game species I always provide the same basic outfit.  9 foot 9 weight Tip Flex Rod, paired with a light weight large arbor reel. 

IDEAL FLY LINE TYPES: I use two types when fly fishing on the Bay.  I use multi-tip fly line with interchangeable tips in floating, intermediate, slow sink and fast sink.  These allow quick change opportunity coupled with the 15 foot length which even when used with the fast sink tip can be “picked up” off the water easily.  The most common line I use is the full, fast sink line in 9 wt line size to allow me to fish the entire water column even in the deepest of areas.

SPINNING REEL OUTFIT: I have selected short, six foot to seven foot, medium fast action rod with 2500 F1 series Shimano Stradic reel.  This will be spooled with braided line of either 14 lb test for lighter lure applications or 25 to 30 pound test for heavier.

BEST TECHNIQUES: Mostly finding fish in small schools now and we are finding short fast strips are working to get good bite.  This applies to lures and flys, top water or sinking.  The silverside bait is frequently small and this short quick pull seems to get the best reaction.   Although mostly smaller fish we are still landing some of the largest blue fish of the season as well as Spanish Mac’s.  I am still moving to areas that are in stronger current like drop offs and edges near channels.  This is the time of less and more.  With less boat traffic, less angler pressure, less daylight there is more time catching fish each trip.

COMMENTS:   8 out of 10 trips we are still bringing over 100 fish to the boat.

7-DAY OUTLOOK: Every day has been good, incoming or outgoing tides, early or late.  Tight lines!