Capt. Karl's Upper Chesapeake Bay/Susquehanna Flats Fishing Report
Thursday July 19th, 2007
Welcome Aboard! The bass are in their summertime pattern on the Upper Chesapeake Bay/Susquehanna Flats. The thick grass beds on the flats and the mouth of the Susquehanna River as well as many of the eastern shore tributaries are full of bait fish and the largemouth bass are there feeding on them. The smallmouth bite has been very good in the Susquehanna River above Garret Island. On the lower part of the tide we are fishing the Poppin Furbit Frog in the Sunshine Burst and Midnight colors. The Poppin Furbit Frog allows us to fish the very thick grass easily while the poppin action gets the bass's attention in the thick/dense grass beds on low tide providing us with some great top-water action.
We are closely watching the birds, Herons & Bald Eagles in particular in determining which of the large/vase grass beds to target, as these area's will have plenty of bait fish in these grass beds. This technique helps us to eliminate the less productive areas.
On the higher part of the tide we are fishing DTT ¼ ounce bream color spinnerbaits and shallow running crankbaits over the grass as the tide is moving out, targeting the edges of the grass beds especially the edges adjacent to the channel. Our best producing crankbait is a new prototype wake/shallow crankbait by ima Japan/Optimum Baits called the Roumba; the Roumba is scheduled to be available in mid September 2007.
We are also finding good quality bass in the back of creeks with small feeder ditch's and grass with a channel for the bass to hold in, for this pattern we are using a wide variety of lures.
The Upper Bay/Susquehanna Flats will be very busy this weekend, please be courteous and patient with the other fishermen as well as the pleasure boaters. Fishers of Men (FOM) is having a tournament out of Charlestown on Saturday. Anglers Choice and the B.A.S.S. weekend series are both having a tournament out of Anchor Marine on Sunday; these are both large tournament trails. The Captain John Smith 400 organization reenactment Shallop will be in the Perryville, Port Deposit and Havre de Grace Area this weekend with waterfront events planned. Unfortunately these area's shoreline grass beds may be too congested and busy for fishing.
We are using scent on all of our baits, applying CB's Hawg Sauce Bass Honey (gel) on our plastics and CB's Hawg Sauce Sweet & Sassy Garlic oil base on our hard baits.
Water Temp. 81 degrees
Water Clarity: 1 foot
Thanks & Good Fishing, Capt. Karl
