Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Fly Fishing

 Noah and I did an eel pickup down in Maryland a little while back. It was a one stop shop and we had a fair time window before the scheduled pickup, so we of course decided to fish first. Noah had already fished the area on previous pickup trips, so he had a pretty good idea of where we should fish. He'd caught spot, white perch, and some exceptionally tiny striped bass previously but we hoped to add Atlantic croaker and some other species to that list. 

We awoke in muggy conditions at our hotel and drove to the area we'd fish in darkness. Upon arrival, there were vague signs of false dawn but it was mostly still dark. The little public fishing dock we'd found had a light on it that was attracting some needlefish, which proved too finicky for us to catch. It took a while before we were actually catching anything. The spot croaker came along first and they were a lifer for me. 

Lifelist fish #181: Spot croaker, Leiostomus xanthurus. Rank: Species

I was using the 1wt, and on such light fly gear that little spot was a fun scrap. I was essentially nymphing, using BHHESH and bouncing along the pilings. Sometimes I'd make short casts and figure eight retrieve. Both strategies worked fine. As the sun rose the action picked up a bit.

Working long the bulkead towards the exit of what appeared to be an old boat basin I caught something different. It was clearly another small drum of some sort and certainly a new species but for a while we weren't sure what it was. Noah did a bit of research on the way out and determined that these were American silver perch. 

Lifelist fish #182: American silver perch, Bairdiella chrysoura. Rank: Species

As things progressed we got more spot, more silver perch, and soon some extremely tiny striped bass and some pumpkinseeds as well. The water in this part of the Chesapeake was just fresh enough that there were a few sunfish kicking around. Catching them adjacent to the other species would seem stranger to me had I not already experienced catching bluefish, stripers, pumpkinseeds, and common carp on the same day in the same estuary in CT. The tininess of the stripers was to be expected, since the Chesapeake is the most important spawning ground for striped bass on the East Coast. Unfortunately it is also one of the most environmentally damaged waters I have ever seen. The Chesapeake is being killed from pesticides and nutrient runoff at an alarming rate. It is also being severely over-fished. It's unfortunate that this is far too often ignored as a part of the equation in the decline of striped bass stocks, especially when you talk to fisherman. 

After a little while we decided to move just a little bit south to see if we could find something different. Indeed we did, under a bridge not far away. Tiny bass were blitzing on silversides and juvenile spot in the shadow of a bridge. We began hammering them, as well as the white perch that the were schooled up with. 

It was fast fishing that kept my 1wt bent and the little click and pawl reel singing, and in time I also discovered that there were quite a few spot hanging around as well. I actually caught them by indicator nymphing. I employed this tactic in salt water in Florida to great affect last March, and indicator fishing in saltwater is something I intend to delve deeper into soon. Float fishing saltwater isn't non-existent but it isn't common either, and using an indicator while saltwater fly fishing is even less frequently done. The possibilities interest me. 

Noah was fishing a small soft plastic on a jig and mostly catching schoolies and white perch. Lots of them, actually. They were pretty fired up. I kept with my nymphs, but switched up when Noah caught something that surprised us both- a speckled trout! Speckled trout aren't unheard of in the Chesapeake but it was pretty far from my mind when considering likely species in the are we were fishing. It was a tiny little thing, but any speckled trout is a speckled trout and it would be a lifer for me. I up-sized a bit and after more of the same old same old, I eventually and pulled up a baby trout! I'd missed so many opportunities to catch this pretty, toothy drum species in Florida. I honestly didn't think for a second my first speckled trout would come from Maryland. 

Lifelist fish #183: Spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus. Rank: Species.

None of these fish were big. None of them were rare either. They were definitely all fun on the 1wt though. It's unfortunate that the Chesapeake Bay is in such a bad way. If its possible to have this much fun there now, I can't even imagine how good it was years ago. Like the Everglades and so many other places, we have lost so much and continue to lose so much more. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, Streamer Swinger, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version.

Brackish Flies

Because the Covid19 outbreak is hitting the economy hard and those who stand to lose the most financially are small business owners, I find it pertinent to use this space to promote my friends in the fishing industry. I very rarely use this blog as a platform to try to sell anything, but with trade shows getting cancelled and the economy absolutely tanking, I want to help my fishing friends out in any way I can and this is the best I can do. If we're at all friendly, have chatted on occasion, and you are small business owner who is worried about how things will turn out with this pandemic, please get in touch and let me know what I can do to help.

Geoff Klane has been a good friend of mine for while now. I've fished with him in both CT and MA, on my home waters and his and a little bit in between. When I met him, he had already started his business, Brackish Flies, tying custom fly orders and guiding, and soon after he started rod building as well. His business has grown substantially in the time that I've known him and that's fantastic. Geoff is a good dude and good people deserve success. Right now, like so many other small fishing businesses, Geoff is having to deal with clients understandably canceling early season trips as well as trade show cancellations.

This would be a great time to give Geoff  holler and stock up on some flies. I've fished flies that Geoff tied and they were workhorses. They took a beating and lived to take even more. Geoff has gotten especially creative with the deadly Empie Shiner pattern, he can pretty much tailor that one fly to match most baitfish color variations. There aren't many predatory fish species that won't eat an Empie Shiner. 

Geoff builds some pretty fantastic looking and functioning rods as well, so if you are in the market and want a rod made exactly to your specifications, it is definitely worth looking to Brackish Flies.

And, of course, when things start to get more relaxed in the not-to-distant future, consider booking a day with Geoff. He guides for warmwater species in the Lowell canals with emphasis on carp, striped bass long the Massachusetts shoreline, and for sea run brook trout. Geoff is very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and just a pleasure to spend  day on the water with. So check out the website linked in the second paragraph and buy some flies or a rod, or book a future fishing trip.

Until next time,

Stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, and Franky for supporting this blog on Patreon.

*All photos in this post courtesy Geoff Klane unless otherwise captioned.

A Stop Along the Way

This was it. On the afternoon of July 9th, Noah and I packed our things into his van, strapped on the kayaks, and headed northeast. This was going to be a hell of a journey.

But before we even got to our state of interest, we payed a visit to our friend Geoff Klane at his town of residence. Lowell, Massachusetts; where Geoff guides for different species on fly tackle in the canal system within the city. Noah and I weren't licensed and so didn't fish, but I had wanted to see this fishery for a while and also hadn't seen Geoff in a long time.

Geoff met us at a place with free parking and walked us around his home waters. It was classic urban fishing. There were places with some garbage in the water, we met some interesting characters on our circuit, and the fish were large and plentiful.

If you live in New England and carp on the fly is your thing, you really ought to visit Lowell at some point. I've fished canal type fisheries before, but they certainly aren't numerous. In some cases I've found the fish to be extremely finicky, bolting at the first sign an angler may be present. In others, the fish are used to people and used to getting fed, so they're actually pretty foolish. The Lowell carp are somewhere in between. They seemed to know that we were there, and although that didn't make them want to leave, they certainly didn't maker themselves easy. But when Geoff did get a carp to take, it was one of the most aggressive carp takes I've ever seen. The fish moved a few feet at a fair rate of speed for the fly.

Geoff also baited with dog food, which got both the carp and some bullheads worked up. It's always fun to watch either species surface feed.

The fishery in Lowell is pretty cool. It reminds me of other urban places I've fished, especially Frederick, Maryland (Connecticut Fly Angler in Maryland). We saw sunfish of a couple different species, largemouth and smallmouth bass, brown bullhead, and common carp. I definitely intend to actually fish the place some time. If you want to, I recommend hiring Geoff. He knows the place well and will put you on the fish. Beyond that, he's just a really good guy.
Check him out on www.brackishflies.com.

After a fun little afternoon, Noah and I said goodbye to our friend, left Lowell, and continued Northeast. Our adventure had just begun.

If you enjoy what I'm doing here, please share and comment. It is increasingly difficult to maintain this blog under dwindling readership. What best keeps me going so is knowing that I am engaging people and getting them interested in different aspects of fly fishing, the natural world, and art. Follow, like on Facebook, share wherever, comment wherever. Also, consider supporting me on Patreon (link at the top of the bar to the right of your screen, on web version). Every little bit is appreciated! Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, john, and Christopher, for supporting this blog.