On Saturday April 18,2008, the opening day of the Spring Rockfish/Striped Bass season I flew from the top of the Chesapeake at the Susquehanna Flats almost all the way down the bay to the Maryland Virginia line, making our turn to head back home at the Cove Point (aka the gas docks). What we witnessed was an incredible sight of the Chesapeake Bay filled with fishing boats chasing the elusive monster spring striped bass. It was an amazing sight. The pictures tell some of the story, but even they do not do the incredible amount of boats we saw justice. I shot over 500 aerial shots and a bunch of HD aerial video. Below are a sampling of some of the aerial photos. I will post more over the next two days as I get time to edit them. All the pictures are geocoded, however it was hard to be able to show you them in that format, so I took my handy Spot GPS tracker up and our entire trip is mapped as the last picture so you can see our route. Enjoy the sights.

* You can click on the photos and they will pop up in a new window. Each photo is 1200 pixels wide.
**Please note that all the photos are copyright of Brandon White and may not be used with out his express written permission.

The picture below is a view looking north up the Susquehanna River. Havre De Grace is on the left below the first bridge and extending left. The Rt95 bridge is the far bridge in the background. When you enlarge the photo by clocking on it you will see all the boats at the top of the flats easier.

The aerial picture below is a view looking northeast across the Susquehanna Flats. The point in the upper right is Continue Reading »

North Carolina has paved the way to build a first-class public waterfront access site in Manns Harbor for anyone who wants to fish or play in the Croatan Sound.

On April 1, the State Property Office closed on the purchase of a 13.45-acre tract at the foot of the William B. Umstead Memorial Bridge that has in the past served as a vibrant working waterfront.

“I am so pleased to see the Manns Harbor purchase finalized so that it will be a working and accessible waterfront for generations to come,” said state Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight. “This is exactly the type of project I envisioned when we set up the Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund. Protecting access to our waterfronts, and developing ways to support those industries that depend on water access, will preserve what has meant so much to our economy and our people throughout our history.”

The tract was purchased for $4.3 million, one of several waterfront properties the state has bought with a $20 million Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund created by the General Assembly in 2007 and administered by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries.

Future plans call for Continue Reading »

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The spring season for striped bass, known locally as rockfish or stripers, opens tomorrow Saturday, April 18, at 5 a.m. in the mainstem of the Chesapeake Bay, stretching from the mouth of the Patapsco River south to the Virginia line and including the waters of Tangier Sound. Because densities of striped bass can be very high, especially during the first two weeks of the spring season, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is encouraging anglers to place extra emphasis on practicing responsible angling ethics.

“Based on current water temperatures, the conditions this year are ideal and the expectation of anglers is high as they countdown to Saturday’s kickoff,” said DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell. “We ask all Maryland anglers enjoying what is sure to be an exciting weekend to minimize the catch and release of stripers when possible, and to carefully follow protocols when releasing fish to provide the best chance for survival.”

Anglers on private vessels, charter boats and those fishing from shore in the mainstem of the Chesapeake (tributaries excluded), including Tangier Sound will be allowed to keep 1 fish per person per day, 28 inches or greater in length. There are also specific striped bass catch and release areas that will remain open in order to provide additional opportunities to anglers.

DNR recommends minimizing the catch and release of striped bass once anglers’ daily bag limits have been achieved to minimize stress on striped bass. If anglers must release a fish, efforts should be made to release the fish at the side of the boat with a dehooking device, and avoid removing the fish from the water. If a fish has to be removed from the water, handling should be minimized and out of water time should kept to 15 seconds or less.

“Maryland fishermen look forward to the start of another exciting spring striped bass season on the Chesapeake,” said Ritchie Gaines, Chair of the DNR Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission. “At the same time, sports fishermen need to be mindful of their actions and continue to practice good angling ethics to provide adequate protection of the striped bass resource and ensure that our traditional spring fishery remains available to future generations of anglers.”

Striped bass begin spawning in April when spawning reaches the Bay’s tidal rivers. Spawning occurs when water temperatures are between 54 and 66 degrees Fahrenheit. The majority of stripers that are caught during the spring season are fish that are migrating down the Bay after spawning.

To view a map of regulations, please visit this link . For further information, contact Martin Gary at 410-260-8289 or by e mail mlgary@dnr.state.md.us.

I, Brandon White,  will be on CalZone Outdoors with Cal Sutphin on Fox 1370 Sports Radio in Baltimore, MD from 6 – 8 AM this Saturday April 18, 2008 for the Opening Day of the Spring Rockfish Season in Maryland’s Chesapeake bay.

If you do not get he signal you can tune in live through the internet at here, just click where it says “Listen Live” and a player will come up.
just want to talk fishing you can call in at: (410) 481-1370

The show will be rerun at 6pm on Saturday night in case you miss the morning broadcast.

We’ll be talking Opening Day of Striped Bass Season in Maryland, trolling for stripers, light tackle fishing, saltwater fly fishing, TidalFish.com, Lateral Line and whatever else fishing comes up.

Thanks
Brandon

Finally the first fishing report of the year for Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay area. I probably should have started the reports earlier for the white and yellow perch runs, but my fishing travel in the early part of the year seems to have gotten in the way. Translated that means, I have become addicted to fishing and working in Argentina in February and March, more on that in another report with pictures, and I figured you would be reading the message boards where you could catch those fishing reports.

So, here we are, Easter is already over, opening day of Striped Bass season is fast approaching, the cherry blossoms in bloom, the yellow perch run is towards the tail end, the white perch run, depending on where you are is doing OK, the herring are starting to run up the creeks in waves, I hear its just a matter of days before the shad fishing in Deer Creek and in the Susquehanna River breaks open (at least based on some reports I received from friends in Virginia who said they got a big push of them in the last week), and finally our striped bass friends are invading our Maryland waters in preparation for their annual spawning runs.

Catch and Release Fishing
Before I get to the fishing reports I wanted to say some things in regards to catch and release fishing since it has been recently debated on the Tidal Fish message boards, mentioned in the press, and generally garnering quite a bit of attention lately. I do not claim to know everything nor be the definitive position on the subject, but only offer you the following thoughts based on my own experiences and time spent thinking about the subject as well as some expert fish biologists feedback Continue Reading »

Sorry for the long delay in reports, but we have been super busy. North Carolina is seeing some awesome fishing now, with a lot of catches of blue fin and the tasty yellow fin tuna offshore. Also, dolphin and wahoos are starting to fill anglers’ coolers. Inshore, the puppy drum and bluefishing has been pretty good with some decent sized fish being caught. Some migratory shad and stripers are showing up as well.

(The picture was caught on board of TidalFish.com member, HIT N RUN’s boat.)

Bill from Oregon Inlet Fishing Center reported: ”
April 5, 2009 Fishing Report
Several boats offshore today. Although the catches of yellowfin were not as good as yesturday. Boats average about five to six yellowfin per boat, along with awsome bluefin fishing again today. With some wahoo’s, dolphin and makos. Our nearshore boat went wreck fishing and had lots of tilefish and seabass. We have charters available, so let one of our experience captains take you out and make all your fishing dreams come true.

April 4, 2009 Fishing Report
Even though today started out blustery, it turned out to be a beautiful day for fishing. A Near-shore boat caught and released a number of Sea Bass. One of the four Offshore boats who went out this morning came back at 1:30 pm with his limit of Yellow Fin Tuna. The next boat came back with a 130 lb Blue Fin Tuna and 15 Yellow Fin. Another boat came in with 6 Yellow Fin, and the other had Continue Reading »

Here is the action alert from John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance:
CSPA Action Alert 3-18-09
Legislation to Eradicate Striped Bass Fisheries Introduced! We need your letters and support!

AB 1253 (Fuller) Would abort the management of the public’s striped bass fishery, open it to unlimited harvest, and send it to oblivion.
Apparently not satisfied that the litigation filed last year by agricultural interests will succeed, Assembly Woman Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield) has introduced legislation to eradicate the fishery. She’s the front person for certain corporate agricultural growers and irrigation districts in the Central Valley that believe it is fine to destroy a public fishery to enhance their economic interests. They justify this based upon the contention that striped bass Continue Reading »