It’ll cost you to venture out to Ocean City

Friday, July 18, 2008

Well, I received an e-mail from a reader a few days ago who told me he had just returned from a tuna trip there, and had actually paid closer to $3,000 for the outing.

He wasn’t unpleasant, but just wanted me to know.

Wow. I don’t usually do the grocery shopping for our family, but I’m guessing anybody could probably buy a whole lot of Bumble Bee brand tuna for $3,000.

Well, like lots of things, you might want to do a little homework first if you’re planning such an adventure. If you go to the O.C. Fishing Center Web site, www.ocfishing.com, and click on ‘‘charters,” you’ll be presented with a list of their entire fleet of boats and what each one is currently charging.

You’ll discover the costs range from $1,600 to a whopping $4,800 for the super-deluxe overnight, 30-hour offshore cruise. If all that’s a bit too much, the ‘‘Bay Bee” there runs a morning and afternoon trip every day into the back bays for flounder, and that will only set you back $28 for a fine seat along the rail. Take the kids along; their cost is only $20 a pop.

Southern Maryland lakes and ponds –– We’re at that point of the year when the conditions in our little waters are now pretty accurately described as bathtub hot.

The normal 9 to 5 business hours for fishing times will not work too well now. You’ll want to be out there at the crack of dawn or wait until late afternoon when the sun has dipped down below treetop level.

Topwater baits such as poppers, torpedoes, chuggers and the like should be your first to go with lures. Some of those new floating frogs that have come on the market in the last year or two should easily score, as well.

If you’ve got any little ones along, tip the back hook of a floating Rapala (I like the jointed models best) with a little piece of nightcrawler. This method surely isn’t for the purists in the crowd, but wait till you hear all those giggles from the kids when the bluegill start attacking their baits.

Mattawoman Creek –– The grassy areas around the mouth have been the hotter ticket in here this past week. The green stuff inside the Chicamuxen and nearby Chopawamsic have also been productive.

Upper Potomac River –– The guides from Life Outdoors Unlimited (301-937-0010) say the fishing is great and now shifted into high gear. There are actual reports of up to 200 bass per day.

Mizmo tubes, Case Magic Stiks and Bigmouth spinnerbaits and buzzbaits are the lures of choice. One of the better locations has been just upriver from the launch at Lander, in the calmer water around rocky flats.

Go deeper as the sun goes higher. Fly fishing devotees are doing well using elk hair caddis and standard mayfly fakes.

Tidal Potomac River –– The LOU guides are getting a nice early morning bite on top with buzzbaits, Case Buzzin Frogs (on the grass mats) and poppers near weedline edges. Once the sun gets overhead, they switch to un-weighted Case Magic Stiks and cast to grass edges along with jig and June bug colored worms.

The pros from Reel Bass Adventures (301-932-1509) tell me they’re concentrating their efforts on grass beds in the main river and on tidal creeks during lower tide phases. They prefer Spro Bronzeye frogs and Scum Frog poppers working them well over the thicker mats.

The guides from RBA also report they’re still catching lots of snakeheads and the best pattern for these toothy devils has been working marsh banks with less than three feet of water nearby. No single lure seems to have their preference but a chatterbait has produced a fair number of these creatures.

You’re reminded too that it is against the law to return one to the water, and that’s true even if you’ve already killed it. Take it home and give it to one of the neighbors’ kids.

Lower Potomac River –– I spoke to that lovely lady at Quade’s Store, Mrs. Quade, herself this week, and she tells me the croaker fishing has slowed down just a bit, ‘‘but, people are still tickled catching fish.”

Now, those croaker may seem to have gotten a little smaller, but the catfish hanging around in the Wicomico are more than taking up any extra slack in the fishing equation.

‘‘We’ve got catfish galore,” says Mrs. Quade.

Here’s another tip: that charming lady makes, just about, the very best crab cake sandwich in the whole world that’s still legal to be sold. If you get down around Bushwood to do a little fishing; I absolutely know the perfect place to have lunch.

Patuxent River –– White perch have truly invaded this water and they’re found now all the way up almost to Benedict. Bottom fishermen are surely connecting, but so are the casters throwing little Beetle Spin lures.

Get a little wimpy rod with nothing more than six-pound test on your smallest spinning reel and you’ll have a ball.

Lots of spot are around the mouth and flounder continue to be caught under the Gov. Thomas Johnson Memorial Bridge and just out from the mouth at the Three Legged Buoy.

Susquehanna River, Harrisburg, Pa. –– The smallmouth fishing continues to be fantastic although the water levels are now so low you’ll best get around in a small flat bottomed boat or canoe, and leave the gas motor back in the garage.

John Cunningham of Riverfront Campground (717-834-5252) will happily shuttle you and your boat upriver, or he can also rent you one, to float back down to his place. Topwaters in the early morning have been deadly.

Loch Raven Reservoir –– The white perch bite is on. They’re over deep water, and a nightcrawler on a harness rig, slowly trolled out there should find them. Spinnerbaits are also working according to Adam Montgomery at the Fishing Center.

Deep Creek Lake –– The LOU guides are landing plenty of small, 12- to 18-inch smallmouths on secondary points leading into uplake coves. Water temp is about 75 degrees. The largemouths are alternating between shoreline grasses and docks. Those huge bluegill are hitting pieces of nightcrawler under a slip bobber near docks and weedlines.

Lake Anna –– The word from High Point Marina is that the stripers are schooled and moving around the midlake region from the Power Plant up the The Splits. The crappie are very deep now, in the 20- to 30-foot ranges while the best bass fishing has been in the far uplake region.

Chesapeake Bay –– Darrell Noyes at the Rod ‘N’ Reel Dock in Chesapeake Beach tells me the spot have definitely improved in size recently with some true jumbos being taken. The rockfish are still abundant.

‘‘Huge numbers,” says Noyes, and bluefish, too, but most are not what you’d call ‘‘tackle busters.”

However, there are a few like the 35-inch, 22-pounder striper that was brought into the Rod ‘N’ Reel just last Sunday. There is also a lot of baitfish out there, and Christy Henderson, at Buzz’s Marina, tells me the first Spanish have made an appearance along with a few speckled trout.

Atlantic Ocean –– The fishing around Ocean City has been up and down, according to Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle. Flounder, especially any keepers, numbers are down in the back bays while the striper fishing around Indian River Inlet has been hot. Sea bass around the near offshore wrecks have been scarce but tuna catches, way offshore, are way up. Ocean water temps are in the 71-degree range.