Weems Creek - July 1

[J.A. Veil]

I fished this morning in Weems Creek with Zeebyrd (Laura). We had talked for several weeks about finding a mutually agreeable time to fish in the Severn. Even though today's forecast was not ideal, we decided to take a shot. We fished mostly small spinners - I used a Woody's feather jig and a Bignose green spinnerbait, both in 1/8-oz size. Laura used a beetle spin with Gulp and a Woody's feather jig. The Woody's and Bignose baits were very attractive to the perch today - the beetle spin less so. The water was fairly high and quite turbid -- having a spinner blade thumping through the water helped the perch to find our baits.

The sky was threatening for much of the morning so we did not venture too far. We slowly worked the shorelines out to the mouth. The sky looked clearer at that point so we moved out to the red/green day marker at the mouth of the creek to try some bottom fishing. Laura fished Gulp bloodworms and I used Fishbites. She caught croaker and spot -- I caught a skunk. After 45 mins we headed back into the creek and continued fishing shorelines. We found a few small areas where the perch were really thick -- we caught over 10 perch in an area the size of my garage. My biggest perch of the day came when I decided I would troll 4 rods for a while. The first line I set out had the Woody's jig on it. While I was tossing the second line out and the kayak was barely moving, the first rod began a beguiling dance. After winding it in, I found a perch just under 12". I had several others over 10" today (all went back to swim again).

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I managed a pale yellow perch -- just my third of the year in the Severn.

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Later I caught a 12" rock fish on a 12 Fathoms 3" Fat Sam mullet.

I enjoyed meeting Zeebyrd and fishing with her. She was a fine fishing companion and caught her share of fish today. I had never before seen a Nucanoe (her brand of kayak) and enjoyed inspecting its features at the end of the trip. We got rained on for 20 mins, but had a good time and caught 5 species of fish between us.

[mytmouse]

Thanks for the report John... what color spinners do you find best?(Woody's) I bought one that is a bright yellow, but I haven't had success with it, I think it might be TOO bright and look unnatural. I'ma have to try some other colors.

[bignose]

Martin Cove and Mill Creek were very murky today, and the rain gods were not kind to us out on the charter boat.
One can only get so wet........
We didn't try for perch in the creek today, but went out to fish Hackett's with the big boat.
Not so much today.
We practiced catch and release without the catch.


My spinner jigs use mostly a synthetic green chartreuse mylar material that I get from BPS in their flyfishing department. I find that this color works best, but the Perch like anything greenish and shiny.
Bright yellow should work O.K. I mean, green chartreuse certainly doesn't look natural, either. You could try green Spike-it dye on a couple to see if it makes any difference.
My back-up lure is 1/8 oz. jig head with a yellow-green 3" curly tail.

[J.A. Veil]

Thanks for the report John... what color spinners do you find best?(Woody's) I bought one that is a bright yellow, but I haven't had success with it, I think it might be TOO bright and look unnatural. I'ma have to try some other colors.

Here are the two lures that I used this morning. All the Woody's lures I bought had combinations of white, yellow, and chartreuse feathers with a tiny bit of flash material tied in too. The heads are either chartreuse or white. Bignose described his color combinations (his lure is on the right).


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My most effective other small spinnerbait is a Strike King MicroKing in sun perch color (oranges and yellows). It out performs the same lure in chartreuse and white, and red and white. But when the perch are hungry, as they were this morning, a wider range of color can be successful.

[mytmouse]

Thanks guys! Mine is similar to color to the one in the right, but I don't think it has the white. I could be wrong though. I have a darker green/white/sparkle combo that Grady-Black tied up for me that is a beast. I'll probably try a few more color combos, I know they work! LOL

[bignose]

The tailing material is called Baitfish Emulator Flash from BPS: Fluorescent Green.
It shouldn't be too hard to tie a clump of this to a standard 1/8 oz. jig head with thread and sealed with Sally Hansen Hard as nails, and attach this to a clip-on spinner blade jig, also from Bass Pro.
Not quite the same, but it has worked for me in the past.
Just remember to take an extra wrap of leader around the loop in the spinner or use a palomar knot so it doesn't slip. A regular clinch knot will pull loose.

[zeebyrd]

It was a good day of fishing Weems Creek with John today. The weather wasn't perfect, but there was some pleasant periods throughout the morning. Getting rained on while fishing feels normal to me. Fortunately no downpours though.

I enjoyed learning the Weems Creek area from John. Perch were plentiful in a number of areas. We both caught quite a few, though I think John out-fished me on the perch. I caught various sized perch, one of which is below.

Besides learning the area and just getting out and fishing, I think my favorite part was bottom fishing. I used Gulp bloodworms, cut up into small pieces. I think it was my very first attempt with the bottom rig which was greeted happily by a small croaker. But, that was my first ever croaker, so it was a good one for me. A few more croakers, one below, and a spot, also below.

It was a great learning experience and I really appreciated John's knowledge and experience in the area. He's a nice guy to fish with - and he shared a lot of good information with me. I truly appreciated it.

Thank you, John!

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