Susquehanna River/Flats

[manatee]

This will be my first year fishing the flats in early spring for stripers, up until recently I fished the Delaware River/Bay for them. I was on the MD dept of resources website to figure out seasons/regs. Not being familiar with the area I am left with a some questions and was hoping you guys could help. The main question is can I fish in the river for stripers? Where is the cutoff line? Just starting to do some research not looking for spots to fish just want to make sure that I am following the rules. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Out of Bait Nate]

These are the official maps:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries...bregmap02.html

Basically it is open for catch and release until it closes 5/4 - 5/15. 5/16 is the first time you can keep any up there.

In the Susky you can't target stripers above Tome's Landing until June and they are usually mostly gone by then anyway. The south dividing line for the flats is a straight line from Sandy Point to Turkey Point.

[Out of Bait Nate]

This might help too:
http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/12273.shtml

[Skmag357]

This year you are going to have to use all lures or bunker since herring is off limits. It really sucks because that is one of the main reasons the stripers show up on the flats (other than spawning) to feed on the herring. If you are fishing in the susky, you will want to monitor this site as well http://waterdata.usgs.gov/md/nwis/uv?01578310 This tells you have many gates are open and how much water is coming down the river. I have fished as high as 100,000 but the river was ripping. The small amount of snow fall should mean the water should be rather clean so hopefully there is a good lure bite this year. Personally, I have only caught a 2 dozen fish on lures down there. The line in the susky is slightly north of Port Deposit. You will see a fleet of boats with no one fishing above a certain line. I know that line just from sight but I can't describe it much more. The sandy point to turkey point line is typically marked by bouys which state no fishing below here. The flats themselves are in the dead middle and can get rather shallow pretty quick. Not sure what size boat you are running but you will need to be careful. You also have to be careful for floating debris. I have seen logs up to 36" in diamater flowing down the river and flats just below the water line. Personally my favorite lure for the flats is tony a's as they look similary in profile to the herring. The fish pictured below was one of the big cows that I caught down there last year. Good luck!

[WETDREAM]

I saw herring was closed in NJ but is it also closed in MD?

[Out of Bait Nate]

Yes Herring closed in MD too.

This is the best description I could find of where that line is:
Susquehanna River downstream from a line connecting the Susquehanna State Park Boat Ramp in Lapidum to Twin Rocks to Tomes Wharf in Port Deposit.

I agree you will generally see boats sitting right on the line fishing- because if they put the line there it must be the best place to fish!

[ZENFOLD]

Manatee I see you are from my neck of the woods. I plan on getting down there a day or two this year since I bought another boat. I like to put my boat in at Northeast and run down and fish the flats on the east side. My best day me and my dad caught over 100 before we quit counting. We just used a small buctail with a white Mister Twister. I went back to the same areas the next day and only landed 35 but my boat broke down so my day was cut short. What size boat are you running? I will ahve to watch the weather as mine is only a 16' heavy aluminum boat now.

[manatee]

Thanks for all the help guys, I saw the maps on the site but it is so small I could not tell where the mark was. I looked a little deeper and used Google maps to find the land marks they have listed, so I have a pretty good idea where I can't go.

Zenfold, I have a 16 foot aluminum cc jon, I no longer live in Birdsboro, now I am in Middletown just south of Harrisburg.

Skmag357, depth isn't a problem I am running a jet, but I am a little concerned about the debris.

I see that you can't use eels, anybody know why not?

[Flyguy784]

There are spots out there that at low tide that will litteraly come dry. Quite a few trees that stick up out of the mud. In fact theres one over by Turkey point that is a foot in diameter, been there for years, that just sticks up to the surface at low tide. Just be careful.

The southerly boundry between Turkey and Sandy points will more than likely be marked by a line of white buoys. There are times, when Aberdene is SHOOTING that they won't let you get too close to even that line. when that's the case, there will be a govt authorized (picket boat) drifting just below the line. Get too close and they'll motor up to you and have you move back up bay.
The line up the river will be easy to determine. There will be a line of boats from one side of the river to the other. Once you get in the river it's deep water until you get to within about a half mile of that line. At that point a rocky hump comes up close to the surface. That hump is closer to the southern shore, just throttle back and watch for it, it's quite large. Close to the line just below the little island it gets quite shallow and rocky. Learn it carefully before you star bombing around up there.

Fish the channel edges all around the flats. As they drop off into the 8-16 foot range. Fish will stack up on those edges. The channel over by Turkey point is generaly better on an incomming tide. Allow the current to push/drift you up onto the flats, fairly close to the channel edge.

Bigger fish tend to be caught in low light conditions, early morning/evening. Biggest fish tend to be caught at night, in very shallow water. If you run at night be very cautous of the gravel barges. They are huge. If you're traveling from North (Havre de Grace) to South (Sandy Point). STAY IN THE CHANNEL. It makes a dog leg to port after you squeeze thru the two little islands. It is veryshallow on either side. The channel is well marked.

It's not rocket science down there. Six feet of water, top water swimmers and poppers. Deeper water, white jigs and curly tails.

[AFISHN]

Flyguy's summary is dead on.Color wise think ,white,chartreuse, and white and chartreuse

[bottom knocker]

I see that you can't use eels, anybody know why not?

Stripers will swallow eels and there is worry about gut hooking..

Lures will work great. single hook jigs, spoons, etc..

Tony Acettas work great bass asssins, sassy sahds, BKDs, etc..
Also big spinner baits

Topwater too but crush the barbs..

This year looks great unless/until we get a deluge.. then all bets are off.

They are catching now..

[Duckty]

Is Turkey Point Kayak yakable ?

[DEEP POCKETS]

Is Turkey Point Kayak yakable ?

There is a launch out on Elk Neck State Park I believe, if so yes very close to TP.

Long paddle from Havre de Grace, but doable in good conditions. Fish your way down in the shallows

[Duckty]

Good Morning Deep Pockets Thank You For The Reply. Okay Elk Neck State Park Would Be Best Launch. Did not know what conditions or traffic to expect in that area? Good Luck and Tight Lines

[DEEP POCKETS]

Good Morning Deep Pockets Thank You For The Reply. Okay Elk Neck State Park Would Be Best Launch. Did not know what conditions or traffic to expect in that area? Good Luck and Tight Lines

Conditions near Turkey Point will depend on wind and boat traffic, that area can get busy on the weekends and can get rough depending on the wind and tide etc. Just be careful and have a flag on your yak and you should be OK.

I think you would be better off launching from the public ramp in Havre De Grace, it would be a 5 minute yak ride to some real good shallow water spots. Head straight out towards the middle of the flats or follow the edge of the channel down towards battery island, I have had some of my best days in 3-10 feet of water, just have to put your time in and be down there when the fish move in.

I havent fished down there in a few years, but the top water bite down there is awesome if you are there when the fish are in the area

Good luck and have fun