Bay Bridge

[Mmacro]

Up front... We fished from my skiff today, but I fish a kayak also. I figured the report would help someone.

Fished just off Hackett Point at 7 a.m. Today

Looking for rockfish and chummed, using cut alewife for bait. Hooked into four big rays, brought two up the the boat. The chum seemed to bring in a lot of big spot and small white perch that we were catching on bloodworms. In the end we caught three undersized rockfish on the cut bait, all in the 18 to 19 inch range.

After the bite slowed around 10:30 we moved to the bridge footings and pitched top/bottom rigs with shrimp and bloodworms. Lots of big spot and medium sided white perch there and one 17 inch rockfish.

The other power boats kept creeping in on us at Hackett Point. I guess we were the only ones with a chum bag out. One guy anchored right up from us. I was waiting for him to connect with a decent fish and tangle with my anchor line he was right over. Another guy to our right lulled anchor and came up behind us... About 30 feet close and into our chum slick and would drop bait and drift back... Then repeat. I was about to bounce a 2 ounce sinker off his bow.

The icing on the cake was the kayaker that paddled up to the bridge footing we were about 10 feet from and catching spot, perch and rockfish and starting fishing. Same deal... 50 other footings and this guy had to come try to poach our spot because we were catching fish.

Why can't people have some ethics and common courtesy for other anglers?

[Cowpokey]

The icing on the cake was the kayaker that paddled up to the bridge footing we were about 10 feet from and catching spot, perch and rockfish and starting fishing. Same deal... 50 other footings and this guy had to come try to poach our spot because we were catching fish.

Why can't people have some ethics and common courtesy for other anglers?

I can't answer your question about the kayaker, encroaching on your spot. I'd be willing to bet powerboats encroach on kayakers plenty more than the other way around. People are rude, especially when your fishing easy to reach locations...which is where you'll find most kayaks.

[whenican]

I hear you as that happens to me all the time, whether I am in my kayak, fishing from a bridge or fishing from shore. It's good to hear you were catching fish.

[Cowpokey]

When I'm in a location that people are fishing from shore, I do my best to leave their area so I don't mess up their chances. I felt really bad coming back to the launch one day last winter, when I didn't see/know anyone was fishing from shore and caught a line with my kayak.

[Yak Fish]

You got "Elwooded" :-)

[ronaultmtd]

In a couple of my fishing hot spots, folks seem to recognize my Kayak and come over and fish on top of me- It doesn't really make me mad as it is a complement- what they forget is most of the time it is the silence of a non powered craft that allows me to get into the fish and as soon as they run their motors they run the fish away- especially in the flats and grass beds-

[Backdoc]

I was hoping this would show up!

[daolai]

Sounds like a decent day minus the issues.. just curious how was the success ratio with the shrimp to bloodworms?

After the bite slowed around 10:30 we moved to the bridge footings and pitched top/bottom rigs with shrimp and bloodworms. Lots of big spot and medium sided white perch there and one 17 inch rockfish.

[phoenixkeith]

i wonder if people are really that disrespectful or just plain stupid and dont know any better . the guy that blocks the whole boat ramp while he unloads his gear from his vehicle to his boat then continues to un-strap his boat while people ( usually me ) wait , burns me to no end .

[rob-kayak]

... this won't help much.. but,

Hopefully karma and your respect for others will bring more pleasant experiences in the future.

[Mbae]

are the spot up in the upper bay in greater numbers now? the past two weeks, i made a trip down to solomons for spot/perch/croaker cause they were more abundant there.

[Mmacro]

They seems to work equally well. The Gulp bloodworms were a bust. But they were old, so that may have been the issue.

[Mmacro]

They were there in the morning, but they were all in the 8 inch range and a little too big for bait.

[Mark]

Retirement gives me the opportunity to avoid weekends and high fishing traffic. So I haven’t found the discussion on this thread to be a recurring problem.

Anyway, fish move about. Precise reports of locations, rare as they are, or even if I see folks actively catching do little to entice me because I know the fish will eventually move on and they just may happen to come to where I am fishing.

Optimism helps. If I don’t catch them one day I assume I’ll get them on another trip. There are enough fish in the water for everyone if folks would be less anxious about catching them. For me the enjoyment of fishing is being in their element and trying to deceive them into biting what I have to offer. Catching them is fun, of course, but it’s not the main reason I fish.

There is no need to crowd. I think those who do should learn more about the hobby -- the habits of fish, the effects of currents, tides, depth and structure, how to choose and work specific lures or baits, etc. -- so they can pursue angling with more proficiency than stealing the space of others. They might actually find that fishing is more fun that way.

[bignose]

Part of this is the "Bent Pole" syndrome. We see it all of the time. Our old captain would raise hell with us if we "showed the net" before the fish was right up along the side of the boat.
Nothing attracts fishermen like seeing a boat nearby catching fish, and they aren't.
We have guys troll thru our chum slick, and occasionally try to anchor in it!
Common courtesy isn't very common!

I'm glad to hear that Spot are being caught at Hackett's. This means that the live lining bite will pick up.
We've still had a decent bite above the bridge for a nice class of fish. What we have caught at the bridge haven't been as big or as healthy looking. Makes me wonder if the less healthy fish are using the bridge as a current break. But monster Perch at the bridge on soft crab.