Western view of the Bay Bridges
Got a late start today (my fishing buddy is not a morning person) and fished the first half of the rising tide at the Bay Bridges. We got to the put-in at Hemmingway’s @ 10am and fished until 2:30pm. While we were unloading two other anglers were just coming in from fishing the morning bite – Mike and Brian from The Maryland Fisherman’s Annual magazine. We chatted about their morning on the water and they gave us a few copies of their magazines. The said that they had picked up a few stripers early but that the fishing had been slow. They did mention that there were large white perch in schools along the pilings.
Working a wall piling
The tide was slack and temps were already in the 90s as we headed out. I wasn’t too optimistic about our prospects: fishing during the hottest part of the day with a slack tide seemed like a losing proposition but it was better than watching golf on tv. Ideally we’d all be able to fish at dawn and dusk with running tides – but this was when we could fish, so this is when we went.
Working the pilings
There wasn’t much current running against the pilings. We paddled out until the water depth was @ 17′ until we started fishing. I caught one nice white perch on a 3″ chartreuse Gulp grub on a 1/8th oz jig head. I marked big schools of perch deep in the water column behind some of the pilings. If I got my lure down to the bottom I could feel them hitting it. This was the first time that I had fished these small, scented offerings. I think these are definitely going to be part of how I target large white perch and croaker with light tackle from now on.
I only had two rods with me – a 6 1/2 foot medium action spinning rod that I used for the perch and a 6 1/2 foot medium heavy spinning rod that I used for stripers. I alternated between 1/2oz and 3/4oz jig heads and BAs on the heavier rod.
Another shot of the Bridge.
The water quality was great – probably the best I’d ever seen it in mid summer – with 2-3′ of visibility. There was very little wind and the chop wasn’t too bad at all. I think if we had had a little cloud cover the fish might’ve been a little more active.
We worked our way out to the first channel where the water was 100′ deep. I lost a nice fish from underneath one of the 4-piling platforms but ended up getting one decent schoolie on a 5″ BA on the way back in. I had wanted to get as far as the Eastern Shore rock pile but we decided to head in for lunch. The tide (and bite) was picking up at that point but my friend and I were too beat to care by then. Next time I’m going to time my trip with the tide better.
This was my first trip to the Bay Bridge with my Trident 13 and AT Fishstix paddle - very happy with how they work together.
I had a few new pieces of equipment with me on this trip: an Adventure Technology Fishstix paddle and a Simms Solarflex shirt. The paddle is incredibly light and really cut through the water effortlessly. Once you got moving with it, the boat seemingly paddled itself. The shirt is a tighter, long sleeved Under Armor type shirt that has a UPF30 rating that was a great layer underneath my pfd. It’s quick drying and very breathable, and I never felt like I was overheating at all. Best of all – I wasn’t at all burned when I got home.
There were a number of boats anchored up in the shade of the bridge, casting at the pilings too, and I noticed the looks that they were giving my friend and I. A few years ago they probably said something about how crazy we were to be out that far, but nobody said anything this weekend. If anything they looked a little jealous that we were so independently mobile, that we could get so close to the structure so quietly, and that we were getting some exercise. Kayak fishing is slowly gaining hold among Chesapeake Bay anglers.
