[CapeMayRay]

Ended 2020 on a high note. I sailed the Good Bye to 2020 regatta up in Ocean City yesterday. I was our last hoorah for the season where we raced our model sailboats. Weather was super for this time of the year. It was mild with light winds and I ended up coming in first place.

As far as Fishing????

Well it is the start of another year. Let's hope 2021 will be better all the way around. Until I launch in April my only shot at fishing will be for Largemouth and Crappies when the lakes are not frozen over. It is usually very cold and you have to push yourself to get motivated to go, but it is the only show in town. My normal trip to Florida for fishing and remote control sailboat racing is off for this year. With all the Covid, just too risky and not worth taking the chance. Right now it is looking like it is going to be a long winter especially with the Fly Show cancelled for this year. I will miss that as it is always fun to go up with friends, talk fly fishing and pick up a few odds and ends.

Did send in to the State my recreational voluntary catch reports and my Striper Bonus Tag reports.

Did fish for stripers 69 times and caught a total of 291 for the year so it was a pretty decent year. Most were small, but fun on the fly rod and just had to work harder for them.

The year before I fished for stripers 61 times but caught 342 stripers, so 2020 was a down year. Long gone are those days in the early 2000's when you could catch more than a hundred stripers in a week at certain times of the year and you would be treated to some nice size fish in-between the smaller ones.

 

[CapeMayRay]

Got a nice surprise this morning. A fishing buddy Paul dropped off a dozen flies for me. Two poppers, and 10 small chartreuse/white clousers. (wonder how he knew that was my favorite combination) He said he had time on his hands and thought he would tie up some flies. So far 2021 is going very well. I am calling the flies that he dropped of, the Dirty Dozen. Hopefully they will Kick Some Bass this year.

 

[CapeMayRay]

My buddy Paul went out this morning got a couple of freshwater fish on the fly. He uses smaller flies. He got 5 hits and landed a sunfish and small largemouth.

With the weather so nice and with a light west wind I decided to go this afternoon. Started fishing at 2:00 pm. and fished till almost 4:00 pm. Using a baitfish pattern and sinking line I had 5 hits and was lucky. Hooked and landing all five fish. Caught two nice size largemouth, one smaller one and two medium size crappies. Got my first trip in for the year, caught some fish and first fish it was very pleasant fishing. Still very cold on the legs with the breathable waders and a bit cold on the hands from always being wet from the fly line. About 2 hours was about all I wanted to take. Went home a happy camper.

 

[CapeMayRay]

Cloudy cold and damp day. Temperature is the low 40's with very light wind so I decided to hit the freshwater. Started Fishing at 1:00 pm. and fished to 3:00 pm. Had a total of 4 hits and landed all 4 fish. Caught one small crappie, two big crappies and one nice size pickerel, which have been few and far between. Everything caught on small baitfish pattern using sinking line and worked very slow near the bottom. Cold fishing, but felt a little warmer when you had a fish on. Had a good afternoon and it felt good to get in the car and blast the heat.

 

[CapeMayRay]

Fishing buddy went out Wednesday in all the wind and got 5 fish. A 1 large sunfish and 1 a large Crappie on the chartreuse fly and 3 small Largemouth on the dark bead head fly. Again working flies slow near the bottom. He did say it was pretty cold with the wind, but it was worth the effort.

 

[CapeMayRay]

Got the call this morning that they could work on my boat today, so I trailered it up. On the way home, since I had my fishing gear in the car I decided to do a quick hit and run freshwater trip. Fished from 1:30 pm. to 3:00 pm. and caught 2 nice crappies and one small largemouth bass. Only got the three hits and the temperature 41 degrees and all the wind it felt much colder than on some of my past trips, plus since I was not planning to fish when I left the house, I really wasn't properly dressed for the weather. Caught a few fish but was chilled to bone by the time I was done. Did notice that the bass I caught was a lot more brownish green than the ones I have been catching. Don't know what that might be from, but the ones I have been catching have been brighter and the bellies very white.

 

[CapeMayRay]

Buddy of mine tried our usual freshwater spot, where we have been catching. Air temperature was in the low 40's and it was sunny without much wind. Thought he might have a good day, but it was dead. He said he might of had one small hit, but didn't catch a fish. He only fished for about an hour and said it was super cold. We think with the super cold nights that have gotten down into the 20s, that it may have really dropped the lake temperatures and the fish have just slowed down.

 

[rob]

Buddy of mine tried our usual freshwater spot, where we have been catching. Air temperature was in the low 40's and it was sunny without much wind. Thought he might have a good day, but it was dead. He said he might of had one small hit, but didn't catch a fish. He only fished for about an hour and said it was super cold. We think with the super cold nights that have gotten down into the 20s, that it may have really dropped the lake temperatures and the fish have just slowed down.

About time your hotspot cooled off (words of jealosy)

 

[CapeMayRay]

Indeed it has cooled off!!!!

Drove by lake today and it had thin ice out along the edges. Would be impossible to wade in and flies do not break the ice. Not even my big saltwater clousers. Will have to wait for a 50 plus degree day to even think about fishing. With the nights in the 20's ice will be a problem. Will start working on the pile of boat stuff in the garage to get ready for spring and there is always tying up a pile of clousers for the up coming season.

Also have been thinking of making a freshwater fly with just enough foam in it to make it float with sort of a neutral effect. Thinking I can put a split shot a foot or so in front and when it sinks to the bottom It will just sort of twitch a little and maybe in the super cold water the fish will find it more attractive. Been watching some ice fishing videos where they have camera down and it seems the the fish that strike like very little movement. The guys with their little ice fishing poles just sort of jiggle their presentations on the bottom.

Just got my new transducer for my Garmin plotter/fish-finder. Wire went bad where it connected into the transducer. It worked perfect at speed, but when at slow speed or when stopping it would twist the wire and it wood disconnect and I would have to recycle. Had to wait for the boat to be pulled to get it off and had to pay for the new transducer as warranty ran out. Their policy is that you return the old one and get the transducer for $99.00 if you do not return the old one it is $199.00. Did remember to tie a heavy cord to it when I pulled the wiring out so that it will be easy to pull it back through the wiring tube in the hull.

 

[CapeMayRay]

Buddy Paul tried Saturday and had no luck catching. He thought he had one hit. He only fished for an hour and said it was just too dam cold to fish longer. This morning it was sunny and zero wind and I decided I would give it a shot this afternoon. Just as I left to go fishing the wind kicked up a bit. Not too strong but enough to make it feel a bit colder, especially with wet hand. I fished for not quite and hour and half and had one hit and landed a decent largemouth bass that was nice and chunky and looked to have a little belly. Cold fishing and felt good to get in the car and blast the heat.