Fishing Blog
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 Unfortunately, my home state of New York will have a very short season, very high minimum size and a very small bag limit for summer flounder (locally called fluke) in 2009, while in adjacent states regulations will be much more bearable. Party boat captains and the tackle industry in New York will undoubtedly suffer as anglers flock to such states with looser restrictions. And, the majority of states will overfish… again. It certainly didn’t have to be that way. Based on the “best available science”, fluke quotas are set by the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council each August, for implementation on January 1 of the following year. Currently, states are allocate...
Fishing Reports
 Do not put those boats away just yet, if you have not heard the Maryland Striped Bass Season has been extended through December 31st. The recent cold front has lowered water temperatures, but there are still breaking stripers to be found and trolling anglers are picking up some very nice stripers. If you are looking for the bigger striped bass make your way to... After closing out the 2008 year with another great Bay striped bass season, the New Year already brings promise of a good ocean season. And since the closure of the Bay fishery on the 1st, even more boats are turning to trolling coastal waters with good results. Keep in mind that striped bass are only legal out to three nautical miles in ocean waters, and law enforcement is making a strong presence this season. Captain Steve Wray, skipper of the Ocean Pearl running out of Lynnhaven, put his crew on a limit of nice rockfish up to 25-pounds while trolling off Cape Henry this week. The best lures lately are white and chartreuse tandem parachute rigs pulled in about ... WRAPPING IT ALL UP
 I never really understood the majority of anglers’ behavior this time of the year. While the fishing gets better, folks begin to drop out. Boats are being shrink-wrapped, and gear is being stowed while the peanut-bunker amass and the feeding activity increases. I suppose there is the “freezing-your-arse-off” factor, which indeed can make things less fun, particularly when it’s windy. But there are still those gem days where the wind sits down, the water is glass and the air temp stays in the high 50’s. And those are the primo striped bass days. The ones where you can watch fish chasing down menhaden on the surface and where one can stick 20-plus pound bass with some frequency on topwaters… Yeah man, I live for those days.
Of course, as an angler, it’s always a good thing to have less folks on the water. Despite increasing fuel prices and an ailing economy, the boat traffic was as bad as it’s ever been this year. Thus, savoring the late fall days and the drastically reduced crowds certainly adds to... North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Reports  The new year and winter has taken effect since the last report here. Anglers are burdened by strong winds and larger winter waves, that are keeping those with small boats inside watching football. The rockfish have started to move farther north, with a few fish being caught around Duck and Corolla. Bill from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center reported: "
December 31, 2008 Fishing Report
One open boat went rockfish fishing. A blustery North West wind prevailed through out the day. The party had a good catch. I caught up with the fish in the fish cleaning facility. Some big blues were also caught. All but two were released. The big blues are toughe fighters. When they came back it turned out they kept a few more."
TW's Bait and Tackle reported: "
January 2, 2009 Fishing Report
Fishing news is scarce. One open boat went out on the 31st and caught Rockfish and big Blues. Birds were spotted a good distance from the Corolla shore yesterday. Oregon Inlet Marina tells me the water temp is 48 degrees this morning. That might be a little cold for Trout but the wind is suppose to switch to NW later and that is good Drum fishing."
Local Weather
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Featured Article
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| By Lenny Rudow |
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 Bottom bouncing may not be new, it may not be trendy, and it may not be “hot,” but it is effective, period. It’s also a fairly straightforward tactic and once mastered, can be applied to any drop-off, ledge, or channel edge holding stripers in the Chesapeake bay—or for that matter, up and down the coast.Bottom-bouncing is the only form of trolling that requires an angler to constantly work the rod, and it’s usually used to target specific fish in a very specific spot—on a small hump, wreck, or drop-off, for example. It requires some pretty stout gear, with conventional reels spooled up with monel line. (Steel and superbraid lines will both work, but not as effectively; monel cuts the water well and makes it easier to keep your line on bottom, it doesn’t rust, and it won’t cut into the spool if you hook bottom, as some superbraids will.) Rods should be... |
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| By Steve vonBrandt |
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 The Upper Chesapeake Bay has been receiving a lot of notoriety over the last few years due to the improved catch rates and overall weight increases reported in the tournaments. While the “true” river rats have known of this bass fishing hotbed for some time now, the recent success is attracting clubs from all over Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even as far away as New York. Most of this pressure has converged on the Elk River, and the Tyding’s Park area in Havre de Grace, Md., since these areas provide more than adequate launching and parking facilities that are necessary to hold the tournaments. Many of the smaller club tournaments also start from the Northeast and Elk River areas.
With this influx of angling pressure, many of the traditional “hot spots” have become increasingly crowded during the weekends, and have forced anglers to make longer and longer runs in search of untapped bass waters. Many of these anglers have now discovered that the twenty to thirty minute drive through sometimes rough and unsafe water, to the Sassafras River, has been well worth the effort. Upon arriving they realize that not only is this river not as pressured, but the fishing rivals or surpasses any that they previously encountered on any of the other Upper Bay rivers. Over the past five years, we have spent an average of four days a week on the Sassafras River, and over this course of time have learned many of the subtle intricacies of this scenic and fertile river. |
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| By Brett Gaba |
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 Typically in saltwater fly fishing, and more specifically with fly fishing on the Chesapeake Bay, heading out into the big water and searching for breaking blues and stripers is option #1, and fishing underwater structure is option #2. Both of these options require a boat that’s capable of moving from spot to spot, or from school to school.
I personally own a small, humble boat and I am on the water often, or as often as time and work permit. On good days, my boat is capable of getting from spot to spot, but not when the winds are over 10mph. Because of my restrictions I’m not typically in the open water of the Chesapeake Bay proper, or even the middle of Tangier Sound, but mostly about as far as my 16’ johnboat will take me on a nice day—maybe to the mouth of a river, or near a rip that sets up in a tributary creek.
This restriction forced me to discover an underappreciated fishery, a nearby fishery virtually unexplored and unfished with a fly rod. From a realistic standpoint, I could wait for that perfect, windless day to come in order to get out on the big water for stripers and blues, or I could explore the fishery that I had access to, nearby areas that held good numbers of croaker and the occasional seatrout.
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| By Maryland Department of Natural Resources |
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| Underwater bay grass acreage throughout much of Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay suffered a setback in 2006 as a result of high rainfalls in many parts of the Bay watershed. Total acreage in Maryland dropped to 32,586 acres in 2006, down nearly 9,734 acres from 42,320 acres in 2005. |
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| By Lenny Rudow |
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 You want a volcano-like explosion 30’ behind your transom? Tuna fish to come flying out of the water in attack-mode? Billfish to rise with their weaponry swinging? Then I sure hope you’re pulling spreader bars, because these lures will trigger more pelagics to attack than any other single lure in the water today.
Pelagic Magic
Spreader bars consist of multiple chains of baits—usually plastic squid, but also skirts or rubber ballyhoo in some cases—rigged to a single bar, which keeps them in an organized pattern as they troll through the water. The farthest aft bait should be a slightly different size and/or color than the other baits, and is rigged with a hook. Bars range in price from $40 (for a 32” bar pulling nine 9” shells, available from www.reeldraggintackle.com) to $210 (for a titanium bar rigged with 10 12” full-body squid, available at www.squidnation.com.) Some spreaders are also made with nylon bars, like those from www.fishmagiciantackle.com ($94 for a 10-shell rig made with 7” squid.) The nylon bars bend more than titanium but they have one significant advantage: thanks to light weight and flexibility, it’s possible to run them from much lighter rods than is the norm. In fact, you can run a light nylon bar from a 30-class rig or even a 16-S, while most full-size spreaders require a 50-class rig.
Naturally, you can also make your own bars by buying the squid, bar, and leader separately. This isn’t much work and there’s certainly a sense of satisfaction that comes from catching fish on a lure you made yourself. Don’t expect to save a lot of money, however. Since the tackle manufacturers buy their materials in bulk, when all is said and done, there isn’t a huge price difference between buying spreader bars and making them yourself.
Which colors should you choose when making or buying a spreader bar? As with other lures, the hot colors will change with the seasons and the hot bite. As a rule of thumb... |
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| By Brandon White |
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 The member profile highlights the type of fishing the member does, tells about their equipment (boat, reels, rods, etc) and a little bit about them as a person. This member profile highlights me, Brandon White, Chief Angler here at TidalFIsh.com.C Check out a little about me, what boat(s) I fish, what tackle I use etc... |
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