It has long been talked about that mycobacteriosis (myco) can cause death to Striped Bass in the Chesapeake Bay, but given it has not been that long since it appeared there have been no definitive study results saying exactly if it does kill stripedbass or it just looks aweful.  A recent study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has confirmed that mycobacteriosis can kill striped bass.  I tried to get the study, but was lead to a site that wanted to charge me $29.99 for it so I will have to order it from the library, however until I get it here is a good article that summarizes the findings.

Since Mother Nature is providing us with intermittent blustery weather, many anglers are making the most of inshore opportunities. Protected areas are providing decent catches, with flounder at the top of the list. Captain Steve Wray at Long Bay Pointe Bait and Tackle reports that anglers working the Lynnhaven River are finding good numbers of keeper flatfish on the moving tides. When folks can get out, they are still finding good numbers of keepers at the bend at the third island of the CBBT and along the Baltimore channel. Nice fish are also coming from the buoys along the bayside of Cape Charles, near the HRBT, and from inside Oyster. The top bait is flounder belly paired with a gudgeon. A few citation doormats are also mixed in with the masses.

Puppy drum are still a mainstay in the shallows and inlets, with Rudee Inlet and Lynnhaven Inlet the best locations to try your luck. A few speckled trout are still available in Rudee Inlet, as well as the Elizabeth River where interest is beginning to give way to newly arriving species. The folks at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center report that Taylor bluefish are also showing inside Rudee Inlet, as well as along the ocean front.

Croaker are hitting in the usual haunts within the lower Bay and along Continue Reading »

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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 »

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 »

Our friend Barrett send us this  picture from the other day from Patagonia.  He was fishing on Lago Wilimanco, just outside of Esquel, Argentina. The weather has been terrible, but he said, We had about 2 hours of great weather, sight fishing to big bows, and then a 40 knot wind beat the crap out of us, and we couldn’t row back to the car. Had to drag the 200lb boat 500 meters across a swamp of cat tails. Not too much fun. ”

Dragging the boat might not have been fun, but worth it for that nice rainbow trout!

Links to stuff in this post
* Check out Barrett’s Brand New book on Fly Fishing Patagonia called Fly Fishing Patagonia; A Trout Bums Guide to Argentina
* Lateral Line Crisfield Fishing Shirt – Check it out here
* Lateral Line Signiture Fishing Hat – Check it out here

Did you know outside of Europe and North America over 80% of sewage enters the coastal ocean untreated. Scary huh!