Secrets of the Chesapeake Bay Revealed

"Secrets of the Chesapeake Bay Revealed"," While the true river rats have known of this bass fishing hotbed for some time now, the recent success is attracting clubs from all over Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even as far away as New York. , since these areas provide more than adequate launching and parking facilities that are necessary to hold the tournaments. With this influx of angling pressure, many of the traditional hot spots have become increasingly crowded during the weekends, and have forced anglers to make longer and longer runs in search of untapped bass waters. Ramp and Launching Locations The following locations and patterns, have not only produced tournament winning limits, but have produced over 100 bass in the 5-6 pound range, over the last 5 years, from this river. The Elk River, via Elk Neck State Park, is probably the most popular, due to it's more than adequate parking facilities, and close proximity to the Sassafras. Tyding's Park and Marina, located In Havre De Grace, Md. We launch from this area only when we have located good numbers of bass on the Susquehanna Flats or in the nearby coves or docks of the Northeast. At 55 mph, it takes about 25 minutes to reach the first starting point on the Sassafras. This is a private marina, with average parking facilities, and a good ramp. 00. This is a small boat only ramp, but it is adequate for launching most any bass boat at the proper tide. The next spot you can launch is a ""permit only"" ramp located in Turner's Creek. When and Where To Go - Turner's Creek Although the Sassafras offers excellent fishing all times of the year except the winter, the Early Spring is the best time to start. The Sassafras normally hold bass in almost every area of the river, but at this time of year, it suddenly shrinks to a few, and eventually, two major creeks. As the spawn gets even closer, they make their way to Turner's and Lloyd's almost exclusively. There is a narrow entrance to this creek where the main river channel runs right along a wood laden bank with a steep drop-off. Directly next to the entrance is a small bay loaded with lily pads and several varieties of emerging grasses, on a slow tapering bank, that eventually levels off into the main river channel. The Western shoreline of this creek is totally covered with what are emerging lily pad root systems, that are mixed in with several varieties of vegetation, including Milfoil and Hydrilla. The Eastern shoreline offers a hard sand and rock bottom, along with vegetation, that mixes in with a number of large boat docks. Lure Selections and Strategy When targeting pre-spawn bass at the entrance of the creek, spinner baits are our weapon of choice. ""Spotsticker"" Custom spinnerbaits, along with ""Tru-Tungsten's"" series, and B&D lures, Evilution V spinner bait also take their fair share of bass in this area in the spring. If the water is truly ""muddy"", then we will use a darker skirt many times. These are similar to Senko's in size and appearance, but have a different manufacturing process which bakes in scents, and are a little tougher, so they last longer when the bass are aggressive. When a severe cold front blows through over a few days, it will cause the bass to drop down to deeper water in the 10 foot range, and hold on the tops of trees. Once the bass move to the backs of the creek to spawn, ""Senko's"", ""Bearpaws"", ""IKA"" tubes, ""Sizmic"" flu-go's, lizards, and Terminator jigs, flipped into the docks, grass, and pads, produce a good limit in short order. Don't hesitate to throw a buzz bait around the same cover, once the water temperature warms to 55 degrees or above. We like to use a custom type clacker buzz bait made for us by ""Charon"" Custom Lures. The old standby, the black and blue Terminator jig, with pork or plastic for a trailer, placed in and around pilings, ladders on docks, and floating piers, will always produce good sized bass. This can be a mistake, as many times in the spring, we caught several bass in the 5 and 6 pound class, flipping the wood in Turner's Creek with this jig. An experienced angler can expect 10-15 bass on a good day from this creek alone. Our largest bass from this creek was 6 LB Lloyd's Creek This is the most productive spring spot on the Sassafras River, and in our opinion, on the entire Upper Chesapeake Bay. While there is a very strong current at the entrance to Lloyd's Creek, the rest of it has very little movement. The entire creek is loaded with cover. The barge, grasses, and seawalls in Lloyd's are the most productive areas. Besides the ideal cover, bottom composition, and sun exposure, Lloyd's offers something else that makes it an ideal spawning ground for tidal bass. This provides a virtual ""Freeway"" for the bass to follow. I believe that this is the reason that not only huge numbers of bass in the Sassafras come here, but I believe they come from other nearby rivers as well, and possibly even from farther away. The water is fast here, and goes from 16 feet in the main channel, to as shallow as 1 foot on the shore. The whole shore on this side is loaded with old trees, brush, and rocks. That 20 yard space Is the entrance to Lloyd's Creek. Even a trolling motor of 24 volts, can barely hold position on its highest setting in this area. The best baits for this area are Rat-L-Traps in blue/chrome, in 3/8 and ½ ounce sizes, Terminator and Spotsticker spinner baits in ½ ounce, with Tandem, and/or willow leaf blades, and small crank baits. Many times 15-20 bass in the 1 ½ to 3 pound range can be caught on successive casts to this eddy. On the opposite shore, the bass bunch up on the wood, as it is the only thing blocking the current. The reason we like the ""Terminator"" jigs for this and other types of cover, is the eye is recessed into the head, preventing the jig from becoming snagged at least 75 % less than other jigs. When this area starts to become pressured by other anglers, we have switched to an ""IKA"" tube, with a 3/8 ounce Tungsten weight, with great success. Most strikes come as soon as the bait washes past where the bass are holding. The only plus side to this is that because if the amount of energy these bass have to expend to fight the current, they almost never miss the bait once they commit. The next spot is the dock where the river channel stops and makes a sharp right turn towards the back of the creek. Jigs, tubes, and weighted plastics take numerous bass in the 2-5 pound range from here. More bass will move into this spot almost as fast as you can catch them at times. The best tip for this area is to get there early in the year. When the Spring is in full swing, the bass will follow the creek channel to the barges, pilings, and laydowns in the back of the creek. There is a 2-3 week period when these bass will attack almost anything that hit's the water. Weightless Senko's, Bearpaws, and IKA tubes with a pegged weight, produce heavyweight females when pitched to the grassy edges of the barge. Laydowns will also produce as well as sections of the sand bar now. When the spawns has run its course, just follow the same creek channel back out to the same areas where the fish staged in pre-spawn. This is plastics time! The fish are fairly sluggish now, so a little more finesse is required. While the following migration routes to success can be simple, there are a few tricks that can help you upgrade your limit. Some of these anglers will be targeting the shallow fish spawning, and others will be pounding the pre or post spawn bass at the current washed mouth of Lloyd's Creek. Sometimes we mark fish on the locator, but the structure is all we are really looking for. The second trick we use at the very end of the spawn here. The key word is close. The key spots will have grass and offer deep water escape routes nearby. One of the better springtime spots in this area is Furnace Bay. The Bohemia offers average fishing for bass, but is a quick shot to both the Elk and the Sassafras, and is a good middle of the road launch point. The docks located in the Northeast and Elk are prime targets for the bass, as they are devoid of most of the structure that the Sassafras offers. Placement is critical here. Practice your flipping and pitching techniques before attempting these waters. This area is effected by the amount of water that is let out of the dam up river, as it can be extremely muddy when they release a lot of water after heavy spring rains, and it can almost stop the smallmouth bite at times. The grassbeds and shallow wood can hold huge numbers of pre-spawn and spawning bass that readily hit spinnerbaits, Senko's, tubes, and small crankbaits, such as a Strike Pro USA Oscar, and a Rapala DT6 in the slightly deeper edges. Spring fishing on these rivers, and the Sassafras in particular, offers some unbelievable action at times. If you're a flipper, it is there. And all of them hold bass! We have experienced 80 fish days in the Sassafras in the spring, and 30-40 fish days on some of the others. THIS COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND GIVE YOU PEACE OF MIND  

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Chesapeake Bay FISHING