2007 » December » 20

Friend and colleague, Rick Swanson, had told me more than once that winter striper fishing was worth checking out.  Rick works in Washington DC and grew up on Cape Cod.  He knows fishing and knows that ocean fishing with light gear can be just as exciting as river fishing for salmon and steelhead.   He had mentioned to me that the stripers move down the Atlantic Coast in the winter and congregate at the mouth of the Bay to feed.  He has made the trek there several times in the past years.  I checked my calendar and that was good.  I checked the airlines and got an amazing price from PDX to Baltimore–it was a go.  

Rick collected me at the airport and we headed out trailing his 25 foot Parker.  It took 4.5 hours cruising through Maryland and then Virginia to make our landing at the Kiptopeke Motel.  It is in a rural area and is definitely a bit of the South.  We met up with Eric and Dave who rounded out our team.  The motel was about a third full on the first night which was Wednesday.  Other folks definitely knew about the action.  Nearly hallf the boats were guide boats.  Rick knew a number of them. 

Day 1.  We were ready to roll when the sun came up.  The only rub that the flags at the motel were rippling in the wind.  There were small craft advisories on the Bay.  It was a big “no go.”  We spent the day checking out the countryside and watching enough bad TV for a lifetime.  

 Day 2.  The winds were calm and we headed out.  The launch was only 10 minutes down the road.  We smoked across the Bay at about 30mph with Rick’s 225 Yamaha doing the work.  There was light wind and the temp was a brisk 38 degrees.  The target was a bridge and some rip rap about 5-6 miles away.  We fished the rocks with light gear (steelhead like).  We casted  jigs (3/4 to 2 oz heads) and plastic minnows like a mister twister.    We had action right off the bat.  These fish hit like a frieght train and fight strong and deep, a lot like a chinook.  It was all catch and release.  We would position the boat and then let the wind and tide slowly move us along the area.  We landed 10 fish the first day and felt good about the action.  We told a few stories around the motel picnic table and went to bed happy campers.  

Day 3.  Same scenario as Day 2.  The motel parking lot had filled up with 30-40 major league boats.  Most of the guys that we saw were named Bubba and were headed for the Bay.  There was a noticeable increase in the number of boats.  We had to wait 20 minutes to launch and hit the water.  We were ready for action.  The temp had creeped up to about 42 and the wind was light.  I bagged a nice 10 pounder on my first cast and figured this was going to be a fish fest.  Action from that point on was very slow.  We worked a number of areas and ended the day with 6 fish in the boat.  We all figured maybe tomorrow.  Returning to the motel we compared notes with other folks.  It sounded like no one had knocked em dead.  Rick’s friend and Guide, Captain Michael Critzer (website: www.coastalflyfisher.com) pulled us aside and said he had an offer for us.  We moved to a secure location and listened to the details.  Mike had heard through some buddies that they had gone out in the ocean, instead of the Bay and fished where they saw feeding sea birds.  It was not a for sure deal but Mike said that his clients were ready to give it a go.  We said “we are on.”  

Day 4.  We quietly headed out at about 7am and turned left up the Bay.  After a bit of a drive, we pulled into a nice launch adjacent to an old fishing town.  AmazinglyIt was overcast with light wind.  We headed out following the channel markers.  The first couple of miles were working through the flats and barrier islands.  We finally hit the open ocean and headed North and East to look for diving sea birds.  We kept the boats a couple of miles apart and stayed in contact over the radio.    After an hour of driving around, Rick said “Sit down and hang on. I see birds and were are going to make a bee line for them.”  As we pulled up near the birds, we could see fish slashing on the surface.  Rick told us to start casting anywhere near the action.  In no time we had a triple going.  The action was hot and heavy.  The birds would move and we would follow.  Rick hauled out some surface plugs.  We would chuck them in the middle of the diving zone and reel fast, popping them heavily on the return.  The bass would slash at them often knocking them in the air rather than taking them.  About anything was working including flies.  Mike and his crew were having a ball as well.  It certainly looked like the gamble had been a good one.  

The action continued.  The birds would move and we would follow.  Most of the time we had 3 on at a time.  Rick lost what was probably the biggest of the day when the fish straightened out the hook on his jig after about 15 minutes of towing us around.  I hooked a Dandy on my Curado and watched it take line on the first run.  I turned it and figured that was all of the major action.  The second run was even better.  The only problem was that I could see there was only about 30 yards of line left before i would get spooled.  I yelled at Eric that iI was about to be spooled and to follow the fish.  Unfotunately it seemed like he was not familiar with the meaning of “being spooled.”  I yelled again with more volume and urgency.  We turned and followed the fish until I had gotten enough line back to resume a fair fight.  After 25 minutes of battling, I boated a 20 pounder.  Great fun.  This was the day we had to drive home and after about 3.5 hours of crazy action we needed to leave.  Captain Mike stayed and we headed back.  We had boated around 30 stripers and 5-6 blue fish (kind of like a miniature tuna or mackeral–good fighters). 

It was a long haul back to the Baltimore area but it allowed lots of good discussion about the fishing.  Rick said, “If you think this was good, you will have to come back and try the fishing in the Cape Cod area.”  I told him that was a deal. 

Thanks again Rick, Dave, Eric and Michael for a memorable trip.   

The trip was a lot of flying but it was great to try a different kind of fishing and to get to have the proper appreciation for the striper as a major league game fish.  I would definitely do it again!

Sal