FISHING IN AND AROUND MARYLAND WATERS
2002 FISHING NEWS

Thursday November 21, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Fished from 12 noon to 3 p.m.
The weather was mild, winds were calm, the tide was incoming.
There was no one fishing on the pier when I first arrived.
Two people did show up about an hour later, and that was all.
Used three fishing rods, two baited with cut up bluefish, and the other baited with bloodworms.
Did not catch anything, and did not see anyone else catch anything.

Friday November 15, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Fished from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Mild weather with temperature in the low 60's and light winds out of the southwest.
High tide was about noontime.
About 6 other people were fishing.

I used three rods because the pier was not crowded, two baited with cut up spot, and one baited with bloodworms. Did not catch anything and did not see anyone else catch anything. Did get one hit, but by the time I picked up the rod the fish was gone.

Friday November 8, 2002 -- ......

North Beach pier

Fished from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Mild weather, winds 5-10 knots from the southwest. Low tide.
Only a few people were fishing.

Did not catch anything, and did not see anyone else catch anything.

Tuesday October 22, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Fished from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Weather was cool, winds were from the north and light, tide was low in the morning and incoming in the afternoon. The pier was almost empty of fisherman the entire day.

Caught 1 bluefish at 16", one jumbo white perch at 10", and 4 undersize rock at 11" each.

Saw two other small rock and one white perch caught.

Friday October 18, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Fished from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. Mild weather, slightly cool temperatures, sun was out most of the day, light winds. Pier was never really crowded.

Did not catch anything, and did not see anyone else catch anything.

Thursday October 17, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Arrived about 8 a.m., there was one person just leaving the pier who said that he arrived at 5 a.m., caught 5 blues before 6 a.m., and then nothing. No one else was on the pier. Winds were light, and temperature was mild, slightly overcast skies.

Caught two bluefish in the first hour, one at 16" and the other at 12". Other fisherman began arriving, and by noon the pier started getting crowded. Stayed until 4 p.m.. Did not catch anything else the rest of the day, and none of the other fisherman did either.

Tuesday October 15, 2002 --

Fort Smallwood park

Fished from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. Strong winds from the northeast were causing waves to break over the rocks onto the bulkhead. Only a few people were fishing.

Did not catch anything. Did see one person catch about 4 very small rockfish in the 6-10 inch range.

Monday October 14, 2002 --

Fort Smallwood park

Arrived about 11 a.m and stayed until about 3 p.m. There were only two other people fishing when I first arrived, but soon thereafter more cars arrived, and by the time I left there were about 12 people fishing. It was really windy, and combined with cool temperatures, made for uncomfortable conditions. I left the rods sitting in rod holders and sat in the car to keep warm.

Did not catch anything. However, did see one person catch 1 bluefish @ 14", 1 bluefish @ 10", and 1 rock at about 20" (the rock had lesions, not a pretty sight). Another person caught a small rock, and that was it.

Wednesday October 9, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Arrived at about 9 a.m. and fished until about 3 p.m. Only about 5 people were fishing when I arrived. One person said he was there since 4 a.m., and had two large bluefish in his cooler at about 16" and 18".

Caught three bluefish at 10", 16", and 17". The largest weighed in at three pounds.

The weather was really good, slightly overcast, cool to mild temperatures during the day, and light winds out of the east. The pier never did get too crowded. Saw four rock caught, one at 19", and the others in the 12-14 inch range. The 19" rock had lesions, they did not look pretty. Also saw one other small blue and one small croaker caught.

Monday October 7, 2002 --

Fort Smallwood park

Fished from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mild weather, but extremely windy. Only two other people were fishing. DNR officer stopped by and checked fishing license.

Did not catch anything, and did not see anything caught during the time I was there. Twice while the rods were sitting in rodholders I did have good solid hits, there was no doubt that a fish had grabbed the bait, but both times when I picked up the rod there was nothing.

Friday October 4, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Fished from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nice weather, except for very windy conditions. The pier was crowded when I arrived, and remained that way throughout the day. Wind was out of the south at about 20 knots which made it difficult to cast, and because the pier was crowded with a lot of people fishing, caused a lot of tangled lines.

Caught 3 bluefish at 8", 9" and 16".
Saw one other large bluefish caught (about 16"), and saw probably 4 or 5 other blues caught that were in the 10-12 inch range. Also saw about 10 spot and two 12" flounder caught.

Wednesday October 2, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Fished from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. The pier was never crowded, at the most there were about 10 people fishing at any one time. The day started out hot and humid, but a slight breeze that started around noontime helped to make conditions a little more comfortable. Unusually hot weather for October.

Hooked a big blue, but lost it when the hook pulled out about 20 yards from the pier. Did catch two blues at 13" and 10". I was watching another fisherman's lines while he ran down the road to pick up some lunch, and I caught a 13" flounder (not a keeper) on one of his rods. Only saw one other fish caught all day, a blue at about 14".

Tuesday October 1, 2002 --

Fort Smallwood park

Fished from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tide was low and incoming. About 6 others were fishing. Did not catch anything, and did not see anyone else catch anything, except for one man who arrived about 1 p.m. and was casting a small silver lure about ten or 15 yards out and retrieving slowly. He was catching and releasing very small blues (4-5 inch range) on almost every cast.

Monday September 30, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Arrived at the pier about 8 a.m. and stayed until about 3 p.m. Almost perfect weather conditions, sunny and mild with light winds. The pier was never crowded, at the most there were 6 people fishing at any one time. Caught two spot and one bluefish (16") during the first two hours, then nothing the rest of the day except for two horseshoe crabs.
Saw a few spot caught, one small flounder caught, a couple small rock (12" range) caught, a couple small bluefish caught, and early in the afternoon one bluefish at 17" was caught. One person did indicate that last night (Sunday night) from about 8 p.m to midnight the pier was crowded and lots of fish were caught, but about midnight the wind picked up and fishing conditions deteriorated.

Thursday September 27, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Arrived at the pier about 9:30 a.m. There was a light rain, which stopped shortly after arriving. The wind was out of the northeast and really strong, about 15-20 knots. Six other people were fishing on the pier when I arrived.

After about two hours it started to rain, and it got heavy very quickly, so I packed up and left. I did not catch anything, but I did see about 4-5 spot caught, and one 14 inch bluefish. When I left the pier, only one other person remained.

Monday September 23, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Slow day. Fished for about 6 hours. Only caught two bluefish in the 10 inch range and one spot. The pier got crowded early in the a.m., at one time counted 11 people fishing and 24 (yes 24) rods lined up along the pier railing. but not much being caught. At the most, saw about a dozen spot and 2-3 bluefish caught. One of the bluefish caught late in the afternoon after some of the crowd had gone was about 15-16 inches.

Did hook two skates, and for the first time this season brought them both right up next to the pier, but they were too heavy to lift onto the pier. It only took about ten minutes to get each one to the pier. The skates are big (maybe 20-25 pounds) and strong, but in previous reports I may have overestimated their capabilities. They can be handled as long as you are patient and don't try to bring them in by brute force, which will only cause the line to break.

Thursday September 19, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Caught 16 spot, several of them jumbo size at about 10 inches. Also caught 6 bluefish, one at 16", one at 14", and the others in the 9-12 inch range. Also caught one undersize rock at about 12 inches. Also hooked another skate, broke the line and lost my tackle.

The pier was really crowded, at one point counted 15 people fishing and 22 fishing rods lined up along the railing. Lots of spot were being caught, but only saw one other bluefish caught, nobody else hooked a skate.

Tuesday September 17, 2002 --

Fished at the Key Bridge pier in the afternoon. Caught 5 spot, 6 undersize croaker, 1 small rock, and one tiny white perch. One man was using chicken livers as bait and was catching small rock in the 8-12 inch range all afternoon.

This is a good place to fish late in the afternoon, after about 3 p.m., because the fishing pier is in the shade of the bridge as the sun is going down. Downside is that the pier closes at 5 p.m.

Monday September 16, 2002 --

Fished at Fort Smallwood Park in Arundel County. Caught 14 small rock in the 6" to 12" range. All the rock were caught using bloodworms as bait. Also hooked a skate, was able to get it to the surface and about 30 yards from shore before the line parted. Hooked the skate on cut spot. Didn't expect skate this far up the bay, but some of the regulars that fish this location said they have been a real nuisance this year.

On the way home stopped at the Key Bridge pier which is again open for fishing. The pier was closed for security reasons for almost a year after September 11, 2001. Caught 6 spot.

IN REMEMBRANCE OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 --

In remembrance of the men, women, and children who lost their lives; and all those who sacrificed their lives; and in honor of all the Heroes that responded to the emergency on September 11, 2001.

Click on the button below to listen to "God Bless America"

Monday September 9, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Only caught one 9" bluefish and one small (12") rock. Fished for about 5 hours, pier was crowded, at one time counted 14 persons fishing. Only saw 2 small blues, 2 undersize flounder, and 2 spot caught during the time I was there.

Friday September 6, 2002 --

North Beach pier

1 flounder (19" & 4 lbs.) Typical Flounder

7 spot, 4 in the 9" range

1 bluefish @ 9"

4 small croaker

The pier was really crowded. At one point, counted 15 people fishing. Saw about 3 good size bluefish caught (14"+) and about a dozen in the 9-12 inch range. Also saw a lot of spot caught.

Wednesday September 4, 2002 --

North Beach pier

8 bluefish, six in the 14-15" range, the other two about 10".

7 spot.

2 flounder (about 12" - not keeper size).

One man hooked really big blue (probably about 20"), line broke when he tried to pull it up on the pier.

Friday August 30, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Caught 4 bluefish ( 8" , 9" , 10" , 14") and 1 spot.

There were only a few people fishing, nothing much of anything being caught. Good news is did not hook any skates.

Tuesday August 27, 2002 -- .......

Rocky Point Park

Caught 8 small white perch, 3 spot, and about 1/2 dozen small rock (10-12 inch range).

The huge school of white perch that resides there in the summer is already gone. About 6 weeks ago was catching perch on every cast, today was cast and wait type fishing.

Monday August 26, 2002 --

North Beach Pier

Caught 3 spot and 3 keeper bluefish in the 8-9 inch range.

Also hooked six skates. Broke the line each time. Three other people hooked skates and broke their line. Stopped at a tackle shop on the way home to replenish fishing tackle.

Wednesday August 21, 2002 --

North Beach pier

Nine bluefish ranging from 9" to 14".

Two spot

Lots of undersize croaker.

Hooked another skate, line broke.

Monday August 19, 2002 --

North Beach pier.

Two bluefish and two spot.

Also lots of undersize croaker.

One man at the other end of the pier hooked three skate in about two hours. Line broke each time.

Thursday August 15, 2002 --

North Beach pier.

Four bluefish, two @ 14" and two @ 9".

Monday August 12, 2002 --

North Beach Pier.

Fished for about 5 hours. Really hot and humid conditions. Slight southerly breeze helped some. Caught 6 bluefish, the largest at 17" and weighing 3 pounds, the others in the 12-14 inch range. Used cut up pieces of spot and bluefish for bait. Also used another smaller rod baited with bloodworms, went thru a dozen bloodworms and only caught one spot and two small croaker. Also hooked a skate on the small rod, kept it on the line for about 5 minutes before the line broke. Also missed a big fish on the larger rod, almost pulled the rod over the rail of the pier, when I grabbed the rod the fish was gone, couldn't set the hook in time. There were about 6-7 other people fishing on the pier, saw one other large blue caught, another skate hooked and line broken, and some spot and small croaker caught.

Thursday August 8, 2002 --

North Beach pier.

Nice day for fishing, winds light, temperature mild (only 80 degrees).

5 bluefish @ 14-1/2 inches (2 pounds), 13", 10", 9", 8".

6 spot, largest @ 9".

1 tiny croaker.

hooked two skates, line broke each time

Saw 20" rock caught.

Tuesday August 6, 2002 --

North Beach Pier.

Really windy day, winds out of NE @ 20 knots, making it difficult to cast, and tough to tell when a fish hits because the wind puts a big bow in the line.

3 Bluefish @ 8", 9", 11".

1 tiny Croaker.

2 puppy drum @ 12 inches apiece (minimum keeper size for Red Drum = 18")

Wednesday July 24, 2002 --

Fished at the North Beach pier. Arrived about 11:30 a.m. and stayed until about 4:00 p.m. Used two rods, one baited with bloodworms and the other with cut up pieces of spot/croker/bluefish. Had an outstanding day. Caught 13 bluefish, the largest at 14 inches, and a couple others at 12-13". Nine of the bluefish were keepers (8" minimum). Also caught 17 croaker, only one a keeper at 14", the rest were less than the 9" minimum. Also caught 3 spot, one was a really big size for spot, probably about 10" and really fat. The other two were in the 6-7 inch range. There is no size limit for spot. Also hooked into a big skate, but only had it on the line for about two minutes and the hook pulled out. Right before I left I hooked a horseshoe crab in the soft spot right under the shell. It was like dragging in a dead weight, it was heavy. Did manage to get it up to the pier and retrieve my bottom rig and hooks.

There were other people fishing on the pier. When I first arrived there were three young men fishing at one end of the pier and had 3 good size blues in the 12-14 inch range. I did not see them catch any other keepers the rest of the day. Another man fishing on the pier said that he fishes there regularly, but has never seen anyone have such a good day as I had. He was catching a lot of small croaker and he did catch some keeper blues.

Friday July 19, 2002 --

Went fishing with Jack on his boat. Tried drifting for striped bass just north of Pooles Island. Used live eels for bait. Spent about 3 hours fishing, did not catch anything. Saw dark clouds on the horizon, and heard some thunder, so we decided to return to the marina. Several other boats were in the same area, saw two fish being netted, could not tell the size.

Thursday July 18, 2002 --

Fished at Rocky Point for 45 minutes in the late morning. Left because it was too hot and humid to be comfortable. Caught 17 white perch in the 6 to 9 inch range, and one small rock. Used bloodworms for bait.

I heard that using red hooks improved fishing results, so I decided to experiment. I used a bottom rig with two hooks, painted one hook red, and left the other hook alone. I did not put any bait on the red hook, put bloodworm on the other hook. Sure enough, when I cast out I hooked two white perch right away. Tried it again a second time and again caught two more perch. I think that fish going after an unbaited red hook will only work well when there is strong competition for food like you find at Rocky Point when the white perch school up for the summer months. I doubt if it will work as well when the fish are not schooled.

Monday July 15, 2002 --

Fished at the North Beach pier for about 4 hours. Arrived about 11 a.m., there were only three other people fishing when I first got there, but people continued to arrive, and by the time I left there were about 10-12 people fishing. About 1:30 p.m. I caught a 13" 1-1/2 pound bluefish, the first fish caught since I arrived. Right after that the man fishing next to me caught an 18" striper, and another man caught an 8" bluefish.

Typical Bluefish

Then I hooked into a big Skate, which was a lot of fun. I did manage to get the Skate to the surface, but it swam back and forth about 50 yards from the pier, and I was not able to get the Skate any closer to the pier. The other people fishing on the pier all pulled in their lines so nothing got tangled. After about 15-20 minutes I realized that it would take hours to get the Skate up close to the pier, and decided enough was enough, and cut the line so that the others could get back to fishing. Fun while it lasted.

Typical Skate

From that point until the time I left I did not see anything else caught. One of the fisherman said that when the Skates show up, they chase all the other fish away.

Stopped at the old Severn River bridge (near the Naval Academy) on the way home to check on the fishing. Heard that the fishing was good at this location. About a 100 yard section of the old bridge was left up as a fishing pier. Only problem is that you can only fish from the sides, the end of the pier is blocked by an 8 foot tall chain link fence, probably to prevent fisherman from casting out into the boating channel. Whoever gets right next to the fence can cast out into deeper water, but others can only cast to the side. About 10 people were fishing from the pier, saw two croaker and one white perch caught during the 15 minutes I watched.

Thursday July 11, 2002 --

Fished at the Route 301 bridge that crosses the Potomac River. It is about 100 miles and a two hour drive from the Towson area.

Went to the Virginia side of the Potomac River first. There is a beach on that side that is easily accessible by turning right at the first road just as you cross the bridge. This is the first time I tried this location. The conditions were not favorable today, the wind was blowing straight toward the beach at about 15 mph, the tide was low, and the water was really muddy. Stayed about 30 minutes, did not catch anything, and headed back across the bridge to Aqualand Marina on the Maryland side. The marina charges $3 to fish from their shoreline.

Did better at the marina, especially during the first half hour there. Caught a 13" croaker. After that though I only caught much smaller fish (11 white perch, 2 spot, 3 rock, and 6 more croaker). All the others were in the 5-7 inch range.

Monday July 8, 2002 --

Fished at North Point State Park located near Edgemere in Baltimore County. Years ago this was the "Old Bay Shore Park". Admission is $2 per car. There is a small fishing pier near the parking area, but not many people use the pier because the water in this area is really shallow. I fished from the old concrete causway/bulkhead that extends about 200 yards out into the bay. The causeway is a longer walk from the parking area, but provides better opportunities to catch fish. Even this area is very shallow, especially at low tide (and it was a low tide today).

Caught 11 small croaker in the 6 inch range, 2 small white perch, and one small rock during the two hours that I was there. The tide was outgoing the whole time, and during the last half hour I was there I did not catch a thing. This is definitely a high tide fishing spot. Used bloodworms for bait. A group of three other people were fishing about 30 yards from me and were catching small white perch.

Friday July 5, 2002 --

Fished at Rocky Point Park for one hour in the morning. Tide was low. Temperature was close to 90 degrees, but there was a cool breeze which helped to overcome the high temperature.

Caught 21 white perch, all in the 5-7 inch range, except for one measuring 8 inches. Also caught two very small croaker. Surprising, but even the small croaker make a loud croaking sound when they are out of the water. Used bloodworms for bait.

Only two other people were fishing when I arrived at the point, they were using nightcrawlers for bait, but they were not catching as many perch as I was.

All fish were released. The herons which usually show up looking for a handout were not there today.

Thursday July 4, 2002 --

INDEPENDENCE DAY --

One Nation Under God --

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA --

Friday June 28, 2002 --

Fished at Rocky Point Park in Baltimore County for about 2-1/2 hours in the morning. The tide was high and outgoing. Temperature was relatively mild compared to earlier in the week, and there was a slight breeze, making conditions comfortable. Caught 30 white perch, three at 8 inches in length, the rest in the range of 5 to 7 inches. Also caught 3 very small croaker. Used bloodworms mostly for bait, except for a short time when I tried strips of squid. All the fish were caught on bloodworms, non at all were caught on the squid. There was no one else fishing during the entire time I was there.

Monday June 24, 2002 --

Fished at Fort Smallwood Park in Anne Arundel County. Arrived about 11 a.m., during the mid range of an outgoing tide. It was hot and humid and there there was hardly any a hint of any breeze. The surface of the water was like a sheet of glass, with barely any ripples. There was a heavy mist out in the bay, with visibility at about one mile.

I baited one rod with bloodworms and another with strips of squid. After casting, I place the rods in rodholders and retreated about 30 yards to the nearest shade tree. Even sitting in the shade was uncomfortable.

Caught three small rock in about two hours time, measuring at 12 inches, 9 inches, and 7 inches in that order. All three fish were caught on the bloodworms, nothing touched the strips of squid. There were several other people fishing, I saw one man catch some small white perch, no one else was catching anything. After two hours, decided it was a good time to leave, packed everything in the car, set the air conditioner on high and headed home.

Thursday June 20, 2002 --

Fished again at Rocky Point for about 2-1/2 hours in the late morning. The tide was low and incoming. Winds were light, out of the east. Used bloodworms for bait. The bloodworms were larger than the last batch I bought on Monday of this week.

Caught 36 white perch, three measured in at 8 inches, the rest in the range from 5 to 7 inches. Also caught 5 croaker, all of which measured in at 5 inches. If you think a 5 inch white perch is small, you should see what a 5 inch croaker looks like. They really look small, probably because croaker are more trim and streamlined than a white perch. Also caught one fingerling rock.

All fish were released, except for a few which I fed to two herons which returned again today for a free handout.

I also used another rod with a two hook bottom rig, with strips of white perch as bait. I cast it out and left the rod sitting in a rod holder while I was using the other rod baited with bloodworms. Nothing touched the strips of white perch the whole time I was there.

I was the only one fishing for about the first two hours I was there, then one other person arrived. I think he was using nightcrawlers for bait. He was catching fish, but not as consistently as I was with the bloodworms.

Monday June 17, 2002 --

Went fishing again at Rocky Point Park in Baltimore County. Bought a dozen bloodworms at one of the tackle shops in the area to use as bait. They were were the smallest worms I have ever seen, and the price is now up to $6.50 per dozen. I would rather pay more and get decent size worms.

Caught 37 white perch, one at 9 inches in length, two at 8 inches in length, most at 6-7 inches in length, and a few even smaller. Kept four of the perch to freeze and use for bait later in the season, and fed about a half dozen to the resident herons, which now number three. Also caught two fingerling rock, one very small croaker, and one 8 inch yellow perch.

Wednesday June 5, 2002 --

IT'S A BOY --

.................................... ....................................

Congratulations to Bob and Steph, the proud parents of a new baby boy.

Brandon Allen was born on Wednesday June 5, 2002, weighed in at 7 pounds 2 ounces, and measured 19-1/2 inches long.