When I pulled into the ramp parking lot I was surprised to see a few anglers standing around their boat just talking. It was just before 6am on August 9, 2006. I parked next to them after launching my boat and asked if anything was wrong. “No, the wind should die down around 7am”, one angler answered. Then it hit me…how fortunate I was to have a 22’ powered catamaran that would take Justin and me safely across the Upper Chesapeake Bay that now had 3 and 4 foot chops without pounding or getting us wet.
We were greeted by
this at our first stop
Justin quickly
mastered the technique of jigging a Hopkins Shorty spoon
This is the largest
school of bait fish I’ve seen all year
We spotted quite a
few stripers mixed within the bait
Justin worked a Bass Assassin, 7”, Opening Nite rigged on
a 1 ounce jighead to fool this striper
A variety of techniques were used on light spinning tackle
that keep us catching throughout the day.
The largest striper
when using this technique:
Cast the lure out and let it hit the bottom. Pull it horizontally toward you in
a slow sweeping motion, with the rod tip just above the water, then lift the
bait off the bottom and vertically jig it through the water columns. A good
cadence is to crank the spool handle 5 cranks, stop, and vertically jig…..5
cranks, stop, and vertically jig. Keeping a tight line and do this cadence
backs to the boat.
Fishing Tip: When looking for somewhere to start go to ‘clean water’. Always were a PFD when on the water.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Tom Hughes