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

Chesapeake Fishing report: Video Early season Light Tackle fishing for Chesapeake Stripers onboard the Down Time

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/

Chesapeake fishing: Video Chesapeake Rockfish onboard the Downtime