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!

[jhub]

The fish pictured below was one of the big cows that I caught down there last year. Good luck!

That fish looks familiar .

[Skmag357]

That fish looks familiar .

Hell yea! Can't wait to get down there again and catch some more monster cows again! The flats is a really unique and cool place to fish. I just wish I lived a little closer like you so that I could head out before or after work