Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 7/30/2012 Stripers and Rays

Today I had a visting family from Wisconsin. With a good looking day, low winds and cloudy, we started trolling off the Magothy with the start of a strong ebb tide.
Hooked up after a about 5 minutes on a nice 23" rock that  we put in the box.

13 year old Tyler,  is an avid fisherman and had never caught any big fish, so he was really excited to bringing in the first 23" Rock.

 Started talking about the bigger fish like Cow Nosed Rays and Drum being caught in the area. Tyler was really hoping to get into a big ray, now that he knew how to handle the trolling rods. We worked our way into Podicory Point shallows. One pass and we  hooked into a big ray that started striping line. Tyler jumped to the rod and held on. This Ray seemed exceptionally big, so we cleared all the rods and tried to chase it down for a  good photo opportunity.Almost got to it when the line went slack. Great fun for about 10 minutes. Tyler is now really excited about catching a really big fish.

Trolled up several more Rock in the 22" - 25" class.
Birds were working on breaking rock on the shorelines in 3' to 5', and since we had the lines in the boat, we went to jigging on the working birds and smaller rocks. The first cast at breaking fish produced a feisty 15" rock. Tyler kept talking about catching a really big fish.

Bam! Tyler hooks up something big.. A very large ray gulped the small bucktail and the fight was on. This was a big ray about 40+ lbs and it ran to the boat for a quick release and some great photos. That was easy.
We worked the breaking fish for another hour, while some small rock feed on small shiners in the shallows.

Bam! Tyler hooks into another bigger ray. This one decides it's going for deep water. Tyler holds on and does a fantastic job of tiring the 50 lb ray. We chased this one down and brought it up the boat for some photos.

Finished the morning with some great memories and some good tasting fillets for the grill.

For more information visit www.DownTimeCharters.com

Fishing report 7/28

Fishing continues good even with the heat wave with nice rock .

Best fish were  hitting trolled small bucktails and #15 Tony's.

Nuila Family Charter

Fished the Podicory Pt area from Baltimore Light to Sandy Pt with good success on the moving ebb tide.

Nuila Family Charter

Chesapeake Bay Early Season Fishing for Striped Bass

Early Season Start for Maryland for Striped Bass
The official Maryland Striped Bass season is still several weeks away, but many fisherman are ancious to get a jump on just plain catching fish and a day on the Bay.

Lots of locals who have gotten out have found the big stripers more than willing to take trolled baits in the Chesapeake. Jigging the warm water discharges from power plants on the bay have also drawn an early start to Striper fishing on Maryland Chesapeake Bay.

Although many charterboats and guides are still getting their boats ready for the April Trophy Striped Bass season start, calls are coming in to get out on the Bay and catch these big stripers moving in the Chesapeake, fresh from the Atlantic.

Light Tackle Jigging or Trolling

Big or small fish, it does not matter, people enjoy catching fish and just being on the Bay! Many visitors do not want to keep the fish and only enjoy catching.

This World Class Striper fishery is growing rapidly as word gets out about this early season fishery can be great. Many Maryland sportsfisherman and vistors who want to enjoy our Maryland fishery are finding out about this Catch and Release only availability.

New regulations have been implemented to help protect this fishery. Limiting the number of rods fished to 6, barbless hooks, no stinger hooks and more are designed to insure a healthy release for our prized striped bass.

For early season Charters, be sure to check with me for dates and places to spend a day on the Bay and enjoy our World Class Striped Bass fishing.

We have fish for all sizes.. for more information contact Capt. Frank Tuma or visit http://www.downtimecharters.com/

Small Boat Planer Boards for the Chesapeake

Small Boat Planer Boards for the Chesapeake

Anglers with small boats have not been able to compete with larger vessels pulling PLANER BOARDS.

Things Have Changed.

Over the last 5 years Planer boards have emerged as one of the foremost components for catching fish in the Chesapeake Bay. When used properly, they have many advantages. Most anglers perceive them to be cumbersome and only workable on larger boats. This theory is no longer true.


Rigging Planer Boards.

Setup properly, Planer Boards are can easy to use and very effective, especially for Trophy Stripers that enter the Bay during their Spring Migration.
The design of Boards can vary.
Boards are designed to run as close to parallel to the boat when trolling. In the Bay our trolling speed is generally 2 -3 knots. The further back behind the boat, the less effective they are. The higher the speed the more pull they will have.

Size of the board makes a big difference. 2 board or 3 board models, 6 “ , 10” 12” Board depth all cause the boards to run deeper in the water, causing more resistance that maintains the tension on the Board retainer liner.

Attaching to Boat

Boards should be rigged to be attached to the boat at the highest point. Boats with T-Tops or hard tops have an advantage. The Board line will have a bow and may drag the water when out any distance. Without a t-top there are planer board poles that serve to raise the level of the board attachment



Generally you want the boards to run safely at 75 to 125 feet from the boat and be able to troll 2 to 4 lines.

Trolling with Boards
Boards are used to target fish that are in the top 25 ft of the water column. They are not designed for running deep lines. Generally trolling in the Bay consists of using Umbrella rigs with Parachutes. Bucktail rigs and double rigged rubber lures, Tsunami’s, Storms etc.
Spoons can be used on Boards, but due to to lures design, tangles may occur.

When attached to the Boards, my trolling rigs are about 20 feet apart and start at about 50 feet from the boat.

GETTING STARTED
ALL PLANER BOARDS are not created equal. Recently I tested and compared several popular models particularly designed for ease of use and small boats. All were effective and had their unique advantages and disadvantages.


Recently I took the time to try and compare several planer boards sold or made in the Chesapeake area.
With the popularity of Planer Boards now being used for trolling in the Chesapeake I thought I would try several models and see the differences.


I tested & used three types of popular planer boards
1) Production 6 inch 2 board set from Riviera
2) 6 inch custom 3 board set
3) 10 inch 3 board custom set I made from a model we have used for 5 years

I tested all models trolling at 2.5 – 3 knots in a slight chop.

Production Model from Riviera
These boards retail around $60- $70 each.
They are very light and made with plastic over foam. 2 Board model
They are made to fold up for storage – a plus











Setting out in a light chop these boards started to show instability and why these would have a problem in heavy chop


At 100ft – the boards run way back without anything rigged to the line


Started rigging with 1 umbrella and boards started pulling back further








With 1 umbrella @ 100feet, the boards start to pitch and pull and were close to flipping.

It is good that they fold and stow away .
That can be where they will stay!

Custom built 6 inch 3 board set
These were light and easy to carry. They did stack nice vertically.
Small eye bolt looked like it would come lose at any time.



Running and setting slow, the boards ran way back and low in water
At 60-75 feet out almost sunk and way back

Found that if I sped up to about 3 knots, boards started to work better

Setting out 1 Umbrella, caused the boards to sink further and run back.


In slight chop at 100ft – with 1 umbrella the board starts to disappear.



These boards were hard to pull in unless I came to a stop in the water.
This was probably because they were so far down in the water.
These may be ok for small 1 or 2 rigs and maybe only 50 to 75 feet out

Custom 10 inch – 3 boards Planer Boards

used by Down Time Charters


Setting out boards at 100 ft, boards are at a good angle - horizontal to the boat.





Board set out with 1 umbrella in slight chop shows good angle and no tendency to flip.
I run up to 4 Umbrellas on this setup

Plans for 3 board set here

Tips and Tricks
I use a reel to hold planer board line when not in use. Old open face reels work good to store line and keep from getting tangled when retrieving line.
I use 150 foot on each side with boards running out to about 100-125 foot with bow in line. Planer line MUST run to top or highest point on boat and out to Planer

Connecting reel line to running line is easy with a Scotty Clip setup.

www.downtimecharters.com/

Fishing Update - Chesapeake Bay Fishing for Trophy Striped Bass

2009 Fishing Update - March

Maryland's Trophy Striper season will be starting on April 18th.

Starting about April 1st Down Time Charters start fishing for the really big stripers moving up the Bay. These fish concentrate in the mid-Bay areas and warm water discharges of the various power plants on the Chesapeake. We will be targeting these fish in the mid-Bay area from Breezy Pt.

The big fish have already started to move into Bay with some hardy fisherman doing Catch and Release trips just to get out on the water. Some reports are coming in about surf casters catching stripers from the beach at Sandy Pt.

Big baits equal Big Fish.

During this early pre-season, trolling for these Trophy Stripers can be very productive. I try to down size and use lighter tackle than during the catch and keep season. We can usually stop and fight the fish one-on-one with less lines out and lighter gear.

When schooled up and the fish feed on herring and alewives in the bay, large Gulls and Petrels will feed on the bait being chased. These birds will let you know where the fish are. Following the birds can be exciting on these really big Striped Bass. Switching from trolling to meadium action spin tackle and casting jigs on these fish can be World Class Fishing.

I'll be posting fishing reports over the next weeks.

Hope you can join me on the Down Time and enjoy this fantastic fishing on the Chesapeake.

http://www.downtimecharters.com/