First Post, Big Fish

[SurfBass]

Whats up guys, finally gettin a chance to post something on this site. Been catchin some big fish this week. Good sized rockfish are moving through the lower reaches of our eastern shore rivers on their way to spawn and have been relatively easy to catch from the bank. Some people have been on the fish, others have not caught onto the run yet but I imagine everyone will know soon. Personally, this week has been almost too good. Over the last four days i have landed no less then 15 rock over 35" from the shore. Even more under 30". All these fish have been from 3-5 feet of water and have been taken on a fat bloodworm on a 5/0 light wire demon circle. I want to take the chance to say this to everyone right now. A lot of people are catching these rock in the rivers right now, and it completely blows my mind how few people I see using circle hooks. We have to release these fish and the circle is definitely the best way to ensure a clean hookup and a healthy release. I have already witnessed two anglers kill rock over 15 pounds because of gut hooking (full of roe), and the guys couldnt do anything but watch the fish float. USE CIRCLE HOOKS- THEY WORK!! Don't be afraid to try them. Anyway, I imagine the bite will switch over to cut bait soon as the herring run picks up and the rock start to follow them, this week I tried spot, alewife, herring and bloodworm and the only thing I got bit on was the bloods. (Goin bankrupt tryin to buy them!!) All the spots I'm fishing are well known local areas on the Wicomico and Nanticoke. Everyone knows about the spots but the key is knowing when to be there and where to look for the fish. Tide has been very important and is the best thing to consider when about to go fishing. The bite has been consistent about halfway through both sides of the tide, but it seems to last longer and produce bigger fish on the outgoing. I did not have a bite all week on the slack tide, but have caught all my big ones including a fat 38" cow on the ebb. Ill get pics up as soon as i can figure out how to make them small enough to fit on here. The bite right before dark has been a good bet as well, mornings have been oddly disappointing but if I keep with it I imagine this will change. I'm usin a basic fishfinder rig with about 20" of 30 lb fluorocarbon as a leader, and heavy surf gear just so i can get these fish in a little quicker and back in the water, placing less stress on them. The fish seem to come in flurries, I suspect that what we are seeing is small groups of fish moving up onto the flats and crusing around every once in a while, and this is when we're gettin our bites. It may be hours between groups of fish moving through. Be patient and watch the tide- the fish will come.

[Coop]

great report :up:

[Sam]

Great report! :v: I had no ideas they were that thick at times. Yes, I agree about the Circle hooks. I'll not use J hooks again for large fish. I'm even going to try sharking with big circles. We'll see.

[Randy Stinchcomb]

thanks SurfBass 8) good info, nice write-up :up:

[chomper]

Sweet report. 8) Glad to hear of more pullage. You say the fish come in flurries. A good mental comparison is to visualize something we can see migrating; the birds, gees, ducks, etc. I envision fish swimming in like you said flurries or schools or flocks similar to the birds in the air. I always am wishing one of these schools, flocks, flurries, come past me as I am soaking bait.

[Steve]

What a nice way to join the forum, great post and welcome aboard!

Sam, circles will work for Charkey, just need to be big enough.
Caught a few in FL in the fall with circles.
Problem is, they are more expensive than the J's.

[SurfBass]

Sweet report. 8) Glad to hear of more pullage. You say the fish come in flurries. A good mental comparison is to visualize something we can see migrating; the birds, gees, ducks, etc. I envision fish swimming in like you said flurries or schools or flocks similar to the birds in the air. I always am wishing one of these schools, flocks, flurries, come past me as I am soaking bait.

definately a solid comparison...from what I have experienced, rockfish at this time of year seem to be in bunches, then I think they tend to scatter after the spawn and regroup on the schools of bait during the early summer, except for them big ones, they tend to be a mystery to me sometimes once the spawning run is completely said and done with, i think a lot of them run to the ocean and lower parts of the bay with just a few hanging out around mid-bay

[chomper]

Yet another reason to love fishing;... Mystery fish rule... :hiding:

:welcome: to the board Surfbass...