Annapolis area trolling

[B-Faithful]

Good thing about a new boat means that new boat records arent hard to break. Trolled the area just south of the bridge this afternoon with my son. We got in the water and to my where I decide to drop the first lure around 12:30 after going to church in the am with my wife and daughters.

First thing we did while setting the 9 rod spread without planers was snag a crab pot in 70' of water Not off to a good start. We troll for close to an hour working east west to find out where the fish were when the first pole went down. A nice fish just under 40" in the box on a green umbrella with 20oz of weight out 7 bars. We put the line back out only to have it go down again 15 minutes later with another big fish come off at the boat. Trolled another 30 minutes or so and had a 3/6 white tandem go down out 15 bars sporting only 6" shads. Fish went just over 40" and was released. Things slowed down for over an hour when we had a hard pull down on the wwb 4oz white chute. Drag was too loose and it didnt stick. That was all the action we had before heading to SPSP by 4:30.

Things noted were that all caught fish came on 6" shads as my green umbrella has a 6" tailer shad. The missed fish was the only fish to even strike a 9". Fish were caught in 60-80' of water on the western side of the deepest water. I hope to fish Tuesday or Wed weather permitting.

 

[B-Faithful]

Hooking the crab pot made me miss my Optimax. I lost at $20 tandem rig that I couldnt get off . I never lost a rig to a crab pot when I had the OptiMax. When I hooked a crab pot in the spring with gw204 we were able to hook the same one later that day and retrieve the lure we lost earlier in the day. :lol:

Here is my bent fish that we kept. It was a hair over 39" when flat. A night in a small cooler had it curved pretty good :shock: The other fish were about the same size with one going just over 40"

 

[esfishdoc]

Nice Fish!!!!

Chris weighed in a 54 lber this morning caught out of Kiptopeake. I'll be looking for your boat soon down this way.

 

[Catfish]

B-Faithful

May I ask what is the term "out 7 bar" and "out 15 bar" reference to. Also can you take pictures of the complete rig set ups you use, with leader, weight, and umbrella? I have long been a fresh water fisherman and not familar with many salt water rigs and terms. Also SPSP.

Thank-You
Catfish

 

[B-Faithful]

Catfish. see the other thread and feel free to ask questions.

Richard, I will be down to the CBBT Dec 7 and 8. I cannot wait. I have never broken the 50lb mark. Hopefully this year!

 

[esfishdoc]

I'm scheduled to work the night of the 7th and 8th but if the weather is good I'll be looking to be out on the morning of the 7th. We'll have to hook up for some good pictures.

 

[susqking]

Greg,
Have you been getting out in any of the nasty winds lately? Just wondering how that Judge is taking the 2-3+ footers in the bay.

Nice fish by the way!

 

[B-Faithful]

I was out on a couple of fairly rough days, including the day of the Annapolis in Water show. (20 knot winds with gusts to 25 - http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/buoy/20 ... tplm2.html ) It was a strong North wind with and incoming tide so they were short, steep and tight as it usually gets when a strong current bucks the wind. I wasnt the smartest and ran with the seas from SPSP to BPL in hopes of trolling or jigging just south of KI. When we got there we trolled for about an hour picking up only a couple of smaller fish before before the boy wasnt having fun. We had to run all the back to the severn to perch jerk (skip 27sailfish was even in the severn that day with his Grady). It was a long run being that we were able to only make 16-18mph but we did it fairly comfortably. The boat has a deep v entry before flattening out at the transom. I use the QL tabs to get the nose down and she runs as nice as any mod v on the bay. I will say that into a head sea I think the Maycraft may have an edge but this could be due to still figuring out the trim of the Judge. However in a following sea the Judge is a dream compared to the Maycraft. There is a lot less bow steer. The relatively narrow beam at 8'10" (compared to a parker 9'6") and its agressively tapered deadrise hull gives about perfect blend of ride, stability and economy for what I do. So far I am very happy with the boat. Only issue I had was one of my tabs wasnt functioning properly for a bit but Judge got me squared away in a day.

Bottom line is that it isnt a contender, regulator or onslow bay but I will put her up against any mod v on the bay and a lot of deep v cabin boat of similar weight and size. Great part is that I have seen as high as 3.3mpg at cruise!