Fishing Report and Walk-On Trips!

Been a while since I’ve updated here….need to quit slacking!

young angler with a 30″er! Good stuff!

I worked the waters from above the bay bridge to Sharpes Island while slipping the boat in South River.  Had a great couple of months up there but am glad to be back to Beacon Marina at Solomons.  Masses of Stripers and Blues have certainly entered the waters north of Solomons and the catching is great!  Most days I’m finding nice fish on structure along with huge numbers of Stripers and Blues in the main stem of the bay.  Also I’ll be going to the eastern shore islands from Solomons hunting down specks.  Cobia, Reds and Blues to the south could be interesting when the conditions are good!  All in all it’s been a great summer and I’m thrilled to be back at solomons.  Hated the hour commute before and after trips out of south river.  Anchor Yacht basin was a great place to slip my boat…..clean, organized and they really keep track of all activities……good stuff for sure!

 

WALK-ON TRIPS!

 

Short Notice Walk-On fishing trip this Thursday, 10 August and more dates……14, 15 and 16 August walk on trip dates.

Updated 8 Aug-915am

Thursday 10 aug- booked solid
Friday 11 aug-booked solid
Monday. 14 aug- booked solid
Tuesday. 15 aug- booked solid

Wednesday 16 aug- booked solid

 

More walk ons to come

 

703-395-9955- call or text to reserve your spot

I’ve moved the boat to Beacon Marina out of Solomons. Thursday’s weather looks perfect! We will be running early to shallow structure surface plugging then rolling open bay finding breaking Stripers, blues, possible Spanish mackerel and even a shot at a giant red. Also eastern shore island speck fishing could happen.

Cost: 140 each

Launch from Beacon Marina (260 Lore Road, Solomons) at 530 am and returning around 2pm

I provide licensing, all baits and tackle and fillet fish at the end of the day. You can bring your own gear if you want. Medium sized tackle recommended. Bring what you want to eat and drink.

If you are interested in going on any of these trips contact me via text or call or message on Facebook to reserve your spot. First come first serve. 703-395-9955

Trips will be comfortable in my judge 27′ Chesapeake. This boat allows us go anywhere we need!

 

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Short Notice Walk-On Trip for this Thursday, 27 April!

We got a Speck! Lots of Stripers!

 

Short Notice Walk-On Trip

4 Spots Available!

This Thursday, 27 April! Weather forecast shows S/SE breeze……great temps and warming waters should inspire a great shallow water bite in the islands. Will probably start the day shooting for big fish on plugs/jigs then roll to the islands to shoot shallow structure. Warming waters may give a shot at a Speck! I’ve seen a couple already so maybe we’ll see more! We’ll launch at 530am and return around 230pm. We’ll cover lots of water and catching should be good!

If you are interested in going give me a call or text at 703-395-9955 to reserve your spot.

Cost is $140 each

I provide all baits and tackle…..bring your own if you want

We’ll cover around 90 miles by days end

I will fillet any fish we keep

Launching from Beacon Marina at Solomons, 260 Lore Rd,

Give me a call, text or message here if you’d like to go!

Come on out and give it a shot!

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Updates to the boat…..thanks Judge Yacht, Annapolis Boat Sales and Reliable Marine!

Bill Judge and Walter at Annapolis Boat Sales finished up work by late Jan.  Since then I’ve ran the boat, tested the systems and love whats been done!  Reliable Marine joined the upgrade train by taking care of some electrical issues 7 years of corrosion can cause…….

I’ll start with what Bill Judge did at the Judge Factory, www.judgeyachts.com  Starting at the bow of the boat they installed a bow pulpit and new Profish 1000 windless

new windless and pulpit definetly improved greatly the situation I had. Good stuff!

Next up front are my bow rails……had some problems with loosening of bolts.  They reinforced the rails by getting up under the rails and affixed backplates and bolts…..totally fixed that problem.

Next down the line I have new windows and frames installed.  I had one window with a crack and others had an issue or two…..the frames were starting to show corrosion so I had those replaced also.

the new frames and windows are updated from when my boat was built. Everything is very sturdy and easier to operate!

My floor  got sanded and recoated with non-skid.  So many folks on my deck and scrubbing often knocked the non-skid off the floor.  (no jokes! Yes I scrub the floor often!)LoL

new floor came out great!

not a good shot of the floor but you get the idea!

Love my new Captains Chair………it has a leaning post along with the chair. So far I love it! Very comfy……..expecting to be on the boat a record amount this year…..I need a good chair!  I’m not getting any younger…….

leaning post in postion……..great for the back when I don’t feel like sitting

Next in line is the L-Bench seating.  Now that i’ve done some trips and received feedback from folks on the boat I’m VERY happy!

plenty of room for 4 to sit……5 if you are good friends!

built in cup holders! I needed those!

Under the seat is also lots of room for stuff!  Very happy with the seating and storage!  Cushions make it comfy to boot!

The thing I like the best is the new heater!  It’s a Webasto 3900 marine heater.  The Judge boys had to custom install this thing and I know it wasn’t easy!  The end result however is spectacular!  I’ve ran it about 100 hours so far and it is flawless to this point.  I”ll add it’s not a cheap gadget by any means.  I love heat…..hate trying to think while freezing and it’s awesome for folks fishing on my boat in the cold.  Wether it’s a chilly October/November morning or a freezing cold day in the winter this thing is a HUGE asset!  It puts out a max. of 13400 BTU’s and burns 1 gallon of deisel fuel per 20 hours of operation set at medium.  Medium setting warms my cabin nice even on 22 degree mornings with the back curtains down.  Here are some shots of the install and unit.

Unit is mounted up under the L-Bench along the side, up off the floor.
Red hose is exaust covered with a heat resistant covering. Fuel pump is mounted just under the heater

Heater is the size of a loaf of bread……Judge did a great job with placing duct work, exhaust etc…….freak’in great!

Walter George from Annapolis Boat Sales had a great idea for my boat and man was he right!  He installed an incredible light bar called Fathom lighting www.fathomlighting.com.  This thing lights up the world up front.  The first night I tried it was reality…….won’t live without this type of light on a boat ever again!  I also had Walter install new flood lights for the back deck and blue lights under the gunnel.  You can find Walters great stuff at www.marylandboatgear.com.  Thanks Walter!  Great job by you and your crew!

low profile spot/flood lights for the bow…..they are awesome!

Two of these light the back of my boat UP! Little LED’s use little juice to do it!

 

My Shop! Love these guys!

Next on the list is some stuff recently done by Reliable Marine in Solomons, MD, www.reliablemarineonline.com  Now that I have more room to install stuff I had Dave at Reliable Marine install an onboard battery charger which he tied into my shore power hook-up. No more problems with a dead battery because of something left on or other battery issue.  This thing manages the batteries and lets you know of any problems before you break down!

This gadget is installed under my L-Bench…..it’s up and out of the way and easy to see. Dave at Reliable tied it into my shore power making it real easy to use!

After renovations done…..lights….Heater….etc I noticed some funny electrical things going on. Main thing was upon start up of my engine my fishfinders were shutting down.  Never did that before!  I start and stop often so fishfinders going on and off is a NO GO!  Dave at Reliable told me what he thought, I listened.  Pulled the boat and ran it over to him.  He thought a battery isolater would benefit me and he also found plenty of issues in my battery compartment caused by 7 years of corrosion!  He knocked that issue “out of the ballpark”!  Did alot of rewiring in the battery box etc…….cleaned it all up well and installed the battery isolater……electrical issues GONE!  I hate trying to figure this stuff out!  Thanks DAVE!

wires re-done…..cleaned up and labled……gives me piece of mind!

 

new battery isolater won’t let my fishfinders shut down ever again while turning on and off the engine! I like that!

 

Had lot’s of stuff done!  I’m very happy and feel like I’ve got a new boat!  Based on last year and what trips I’ve got booked already it looks like this is going to be a great year!  Can’t wait to get lot’s of sticks bent this year!  Thanks to all who fish with me and hopeful future folks who will be on my boat!  Let’s go fish’in!!!!!!

 

HUGE THANKS TO:

Dave at www.reliablemarineonline.com

Walter George at www.annapolisboatsales.com

Bill Judge at www.judgeyachts.com

 

 

 

 

 

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Presentation Tomorrow Night In Cambridge, MD……come on out!

Light Tackle Success

Come on out tomorrow night, (Thursday, 19 January) to the MSSA Dorchester meeting where I’ll be chatting about Winter and Spring Light Tackle Catching! I’ll be talking in depth about how, when and where I do it on light tackle……no tricks or riddles! Straight talk on how, when and where! With over 200 trips a year guiding for the last 13 years I’ve got lot’s to share!

Meeting starts at 730pm…..I’ll be arriving around 645 to set up and run videos……..address is Elks Lodge 1272 located at 5464 Elk Lodge Rd, Cambridge, MD. If you have any questions give me a text, message or call at 703-395-9955

Come on out! Will have a couple GIVE-A-WAYS!

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Calvert Cliffs Report and What To Expect……

upper 40’s inch whopper…..early A.M.   (March 2016)

Catching right now at the power plant isn’t blockbuster for sure.  It is however not horrible!  With that said it’s about normal for this time of year according to the last 20 years I’ve recorded it.  One thing for sure is you won’t catch a fish if you don’t go and you might not catch one if you do go!  None-the-less it’s fun and it’s a way to have a good shot at catching a Striper in the dead of winter.  Big fish can and will happen in the dead of winter, just not consistent or reliable.  Some winters we get more large fish in the flow than other years in Jan/Feb.  Mid-March usually begins a more reliable and consistent flow of big fish into the outflow.  One “first” for this winter is specks in January!  A few Speckled Sea Trout have been caught. I hadn’t seen  this ever!  So……that is pretty cool.  You just never know!  Also some small Puppy Drum have been caught……Jan 2 the boat I was on caught 4 I think.  The Specks and Reds were caught on 6″ BKD’s loaded on 1.5 or 2 ounce heads.  Trick with them is certainly maintaining bottom with a sharp short twitch while maintaining a snug line which enables the detection of a strike.  If you get hits and miss several they may be Specks, Reds or very small Stripers.  To catch the missed fish downsize your bait and jighead weight if possible.   The Specks have been located for me more down the flow just past where the boulders end.  The bottom is oyster shell and easy to detect bottom without snagging.

A true 50″er caught in April 2015

 

Evaluation of the extended temperature forecast indicates about average temps from here to Feb 4.  Some above average temps and some below.  Bottom line is overall about average.  Now we all know that can change!  Ice will be a factor on some occasions out of Flag Harbor but probably not from the Solomons boat launch.  I don’t have enough experience from Chesapeake Beach or Breezy Point to comment on ice. I expect fishing to maintain an Avg. historical bite this winter from now till Mid March.  I don’t expect any blockbuster runs of crazy great fishing but for the persistent guys who just want to get out there and take a shot at some fish I think it will be good!  A 4 hour trip with 4 guys who know the game should be able to hit 20 or so fish.  A big one right now is 28″-33″……haven’t seen any true big ones yet.  Could happen though!

Luke with a big March fish!

 

March 10, 2015…….Most ice ever this winter!

One thing for sure is winter is dangerous!  Water is deadly and fast!  Anyone running their boat in winter needs to take xtra care to make sure you are prepared.  I don’t have my boat back yet but when I do it will be readily available and I can get to it very quickly if anybody has a problem out there.  I would roll out there quick if anyone called and needed help.

We don’t want this in 2017!

So…..as of now we do have some fish at the plant.  It’s average over the long haul and I hope it gets real good!  Nothing would surprise me, either way good or bad can happen any given year.  A boring average report and winter outlook.  Good luck fishing and STAY SAFE!

 

TRIPS TO THE PLANT

As of now I don’t have a hard date on when I’m getting my boat back.  I’ll find out later this week I hope. If Flag Harbor is iced in I’d go from Solomons.  When I do get my boat to Flag Harbor I plan on running 1/2 day trips starting at daylight till 11ish and 1pm till darkish.  If you want to book the boat for anything in Jan or Feb give me a call and I’ll throw you in the book, I will take up to 4 for these trips.  The boat booked will be 375 for up to 4 anglers until March 15.  Walk-On Trips will be $70 each before March 15.  When you book the boat you are guarenteed that date for your crew.  All walk-on trips will be relatively short notice.   I will provide all baits/tackle or bring your own, licensing and HEAT!  These trips will be focused on proper technique…having fun and hopefully catching some fish!  Prior to our trip we’ll talk about whats going on with the fishing and of course weather and we’ll decide to do or not do the trip.  The winter fishery is “iffy” with weather and catching……I’ll tell it like it exactly as I know it.

if this guy can catch a 45″er ANYBODY can! Lol
Great fish John!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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