This past Saturday I went back to Hoopers Island to fish the upper bridge. I had done really well on the lower bridge a few weeks ago, so I wanted to try the upper one to see what it was like. It’s a smaller bridge, so there were less bridge pilings to fish. There were some very deep holes there though and the current really poured through the narrows between the Honga River and the Chesapeake Bay. The tide was going out when I put in. I certainly marked plenty of fish.

I fished the pilings first and caught one of the big fish of the day on my first cast – a very fat 23” striper. I pulled a few others off the first piling and then moved on to the others. The fishing just wasn’t on, but it was somewhat steady. The action eventually died down so I decided to give the bridge pilings a rest and try the shorelines and drop offs of the channel.

The main difference between the two bridges is that at the upper bridge, the fish just don’t school up as thick as they do at the lower one. You might pull some off a piling or shoreline here and there, but once they’re caught, the water is spooked. It was kind of like largemouth bass fishing. And because there are only 2 or 3 pilings, once you fish them, the bridge is pretty much fished out for a while.

Working the shorelines didn’t pay off like I had hoped. By then it was nearing 1pm and although the skies were overcast, the sun was starting to come out. Of the fish I did catch from shorelines, those had depths of at least 6’, while the unproductive shorelines were mostly 2-3’. So much for shallow water fishing – I guess I should try getting on the water earlier.

I paddled out of the narrows and considered crossing to Barren Island but the wind blowing against an ebbing tide made for some choppy water. I worked the water against the old barge on the north beach and some pilings and riprap on the southern shoreline, but still nada. I did pull a nice fish off of a marker buoy in the open water. I know that it’s fall and that the shallow water fishing is supposed to be great, but it seems like all the places I catch fish are in somewhat deeper water. I’m not complaining.

Another thing I noticed from this trip was that most of the times I could feel the fish hitting the lure before they hooked themselves. They might not all out smash it, but if I let it fall, they would hit it then. Best thing I can figure is that the fish would try to injure the baitfish first, and then move in once they saw that the fish was hurt.

With the action slowing down I decided to head back in to give the bridge another shot. I caught a few more stripers – finally a pretty nice 17” on my fly rod – and decided to pack up for the lower bridge.

It was around 3pm then and the sun was just starting to set when I got there. The wind was also picking up and my fish finder was full of fish. I started catching fish immediately – the same grade of striped bass from 2 weeks ago – fat fish from 17”-23” – with 2 pushing 24”. I caught most on 5” Bass Assassins with a 1/8 oz jig head. The fish really weren’t all that deep and they were not afraid to chase lures well off the pilings. I hooked and missed a few when they hit close to the boat.

The tide was really pouring in at that point and the wind was blowing perpendicular to the current so that made for some hairy conditions on the Bay side of the bridge. The river side of the bridge was more protected, but the real active fish were on the Bay side. At one point I could see the head of a fish as it was chasing bait on the surface. All I had to do was make a cast in front of the pilings and it would be a fish on. They were stacked up there that thick and feeding aggressively.

I only fished a few pilings and could’ve stayed longer fishing more, but I had caught a mess of fish and was ready to go home. I took on a little water when a wave barely crested over the gunwale of my kayak, so I decided to head in after that. I don’t know how many fish I caught. 3 were over 23” and the rest were between 16-20”. I released all of them.

I saw 2 other boats that day: a small center console at the upper bridge (they stopped and told me to head to the other bridge) and another at the lower bridge. It’s tough for the boats to really get in and fish the structure like I can in the kayak. Those that try either anchor far off the pilings, or they try drifting and end up out of position too quickly. Maybe that’s what keeps the boats away. In any event, the fishing is great from a kayak.

My biggest disappointment was that I didn’t get any of the larger fish on flies. I will probably need to anchor and swing flies through productive zones – either above the pilings or immediately below. I have yet to anchor because the current is so strong and the waves have been so crazy. Maybe next time I can set up earlier before the tide really starts running and hopefully the wind won’t be as strong. I also regret not taking more pictures.

There’s a lot of fishy water between Hoopers Island and Silver Spring that I could’ve fished. I know that there is great fishing in Eastern Bay and the Choptank right now, but the fishing down there was worth the extra hour of driving. I hope this lasts for a few more weeks.

This was the best trip of the year so far, and the best on the bay in a long time. Just lots of good fish on light tackle. The fishing was so good that I thought about fishing again on Sunday but just didn’t need to – I was ok with all the fish I had caught and didn’t need any more.