Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Been a while since I've hit the Severn. George was willing to pay the exorbitant ramp fee (now $25) so we went out of Smith's Marina which is a most pleasant experience. Well, except retrieving the boat at low tide.

The ramp puts you in fishing territory almost immediately but I wanted to start at Brewer Pond (just under 2 miles from the ramp) since the tide was still 1/2 way up.

As we movred out, I turned on my FF and I must have hit the wrong button because it went to dark mode. I could never get it going again so I have no clue what the water temperature was. I also knew where the marina was (along with all the fishing spots) so I didn't need GPS. We went old school.

When we got to the opening, there was a lot of grass. I shut the jet down and started to try to get through with the trolling motor. We got kinda stuck so I retreated by lifting the TM and moving out at about a foot a minute. Major disappointment!   

So Plan A is shot. Plan B and C were to hit Hopkins and Maynadier Creeks.

But..on the way there something tugged at me and told me to go to St. Helena Island and try the south side. I had never hit that side.

We got to the 1st point and in no time, George figured it out. They were just off the grass and wanted a slow retrieve.

We both got our skunks off quickly.





Immediately, we realized that the fish where of much better quality than on the Wicomico and we were steady catching them. We moved to another point and it was the same. Lots of catching!



We then went back to the 1st point and caught a bunch.

Nearby, there was a fella fly fishing so we went over to say high. His boat was bigger so I suspect he didn't want to get as close as we were.

After catching many a dozen, we decided to move to another grass flat. We saw another boat there (a jet) and we chatted a bit. They were smallie fishermen fishing for perch just like we were. If there is no water in the smallie haunts, a white perch fix will always calm the nerves!

It was now late morning so I headed to Hopkins but decided not to go in. We fished some shore line and caught a few here and there.

Then, the water around us erupts! Fish flying out of the water while they crash a bait ball. George's rig gets messed up so he is out of the game. I throw (mind you, we are using Ultra Light tackle) in the mix and I get slammed. The reel is whining and then...nothing. Fish broke me off. Blues?  I pick up my other UL rod, make a cast and get slammed again. This time, I was ready. I had loosened the drag a bit and the fish took off for Canada. Finally, I was able to turn him and George did a masterful job of netting it. If that fish had run again, who knows!



Now we went in to Maynadier but the water was dirty. We caught some but it was slow. It was also 11:30a and I was getting hungry.

We found a bit of shade and it was about to get real.

I had  asked George if he could bring some of his famous Dagwood sammies since there are no eating places nearby. He obliged!





Good heaven these were good!

Pastrami, corned beef, prosciutto, Gouda, Havarti with some mayo and mustard. Then topped with seasoned L,T, & O. Oh my!

Food coma set in but we fished some more. I got out of the creek because of the dirtier water and hit our island but with the tide stalling and the sun blaring at us, the bite was slooooow!

We tried a few spots around the island but it never picked up so back to the dock at 1p.

It was time to go!

If I had to do it over again, I would have gone 30-45 minutes earlier and would have fished the island more. The water was clean there and the fish were hanging around the grass. Lunch could have waited. Well, not really because George had already told me what we were having and it was on my mind all morning!

I'm sure we caught near 100 but who knows. We had several in the 9.5" range but many 9's for sure. No monsters today.

Great day out and the only traffic we got on the way back was a brief delays on the Cabin John bridge. oh, the Potomac is really skinny!