C. Boyd Pfeiffer, The Examiner
2008-06-20 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

After what appeared to be late spring and early summer fishing doldrums, the action — both freshwater and saltwater — seems to be picking up.

With the trophy striper season over and that short-lived and perhaps ill-fated Stealth Striper Season in late May on the Susquehanna Flats iffy, we are now into solid summer fishing.

Most striper anglers are varying between some light-tackle trolling or possibly chumming, with most of the stripers taken on spot while live-lining.

The basic method here is to get out early with bait (bloodworms) to catch spot on bottom rigs and keep them in aerated tanks for the day. When enough spot are caught, then the fishing shifts gears and areas for a try at stripers, according to Department of Natural Resources biologist Marty Gary.

Some charter boat captains are avoiding the spot angling and going to spot pots or cages (like minnow traps, but flat and square) to trap spot for bait. This trapping technique, a few years old now, even has some tackle shops selling the traps for serious live-liners.

A side note to all this is that with the increasing interest and commercial availability of spot traps, this summer the DNR will be looking for input into their use and possibly some standardization for some future regulations.

“If they can get the spot, they can catch the fish,” said Gary of the live-lining opportunities with this popular bait.

“It’s getting real good,” said Capt. Buddy Harrison Jr. of fishing out of Tilghman Island. “We’re doing several things. We’re light trolling in the morning for stripers and getting some stripers into the 34- to 37-inch range.”

For clients, that means that they can still take home a trophy line-sider as the one fish over 28 inches that’s part of the summer regulation package.

“Then after an hour or two, we are catching spot, getting enough for the day and shifting to live-lining for stripers,” Harrison added. “Last Friday I would have told you it was not that good, but it has definitely picked up.”

The spot fishing, according to Capt, Harrison and Gary, has been producing around the area between the Diamonds and the No. 4 buoy.

Popular areas for stripers have been south of Crab Alley, Herring Bay, Holland Point and Breezy Point, according to Gary.

Some 3- to 4-pound bluefish are around to add to the festive occasion, but these are mid-Bay “maybe’s” and usually caught during early morning trolling, mixed in or between trolled striper catches.

Croaker fishing has also picked up in the last week, according to Harrison, with 12- to 13-inch catches around the oyster bar at the mouth of Broad Creek and around the Airplane Wreck.

Good baits for both croaker and spot have ranged from crab to bloodworms to the biodegradable-packaged FishBites in crab flavor.

Gary also notes that the drum fishing is getting serious around the Stone Rock and other areas south of Poplar Island, around Janes Island, Hooper Island and west-northwest of Knapps Narrows. Most of the big fish seem to be feeding on razor clams over beds in the above areas. This fishing should continue through June and into July.

In fresh water, farm and community ponds are doing well with bluegill catches using worms, flies and small grubs. Bluegills are also hitting hard on the upper Potomac, according to Joe Bruce who has been wet-wading the river now that the water temps are around a comfortable 79 degrees.

The water is a little high now from recent rains but will be producing smallmouth as before once the river drops a foot. With lower water, Bruce was catching plenty of smallmouth and an occasional quiet-water largemouth (to 3 pounds) on watermelon grubs rigged Texas-style and fished on light spinning tackle.

In the reservoirs, mixed-bag catches of largemouth and smallmouth are doing well, according to Adam Montgomery, assistant manager of the Loch Raven Fishing Center. Plastic worms are best for bass, along with spinnerbaits for some faster action. Bluegills are hitting well, but most are off the beds now and in deeper water. As a result, the best way to lure them is with worms and small spinners. Some pike are hitting shiners.

Reservoir crappie catches are typically heavy in spring and fall, so crappie stringers are obviously much shorter now. But with other good fishing available, it is easy to stay happy with all the catches of everything else, everywhere else.

C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting, and the outdoors. He can be reached at cbpfeiffer@msn.com.