“Autumn things” are beginning to happen in the river systems, which lead to multi-species fishing opportunities
With the equinox arriving a week-and-change ago, anglers begin to expect “autumn things” to start happening on the waters we fish. During the last few seasons, in fact, we’ve seen instances of fall-like conditions arrive much earlier—in August, even. Blasts of north winds, blitzing birds upriver, an abundance of roaming schooling striped bass, and the patterns that play out during cooldown from summer to autumn. This year, so far, has been behind schedule. But with the first true northerly system moving through the Mid-Atlantic last weekend and, with it, a dramatic water temperature drop of nearly 10 degrees, “autumn things” began to happen. This week, I managed several morning outings and cobbled together a Severn Slam, all on the fly.
Water temperatures dropped to about 69F just before the big storm, and have held there all week. The winds have been manageable since the storm passed, almost too stable at times. With weaker neap tides, finding current and fish was more challenging this week than during pre-front conditions…at least, in the Severn River system. Are the fish far upriver as some reports suggest (one friend of mine has found them far north) or downriver, or everywhere in between?
It takes much sleuthing and graphing to mark fish. Testing spots. Each outing this week was different, obviously, but among the spots I tried, of which several were off the beaten path for me, I would return to a “baseline spot” that usually holds fish. It’s good to have a baseline spot as a measure of how the fish are reacting, feeding, holding, or not to the seasonal conditions and places we’re accustomed to fishing. My baseline spot is a set of deep water docks adjacent to an expansive point, with grassbeds nearby in the shallows. This week, it held some smaller striped bass <20”. I did not observe any sizable schools hanging around.
On two outings, I ventured upriver to explore—far north of Round Bay—to see if I could find the striped bass >20” that my friend had been catching (mostly skipping lures under docks). I fished some shoreline structure I’ve been fishing for many years, but did not find the same fish holding. Instead, the first pickerel of the season hit a white/chartreuse deceiver that I had tied to the end of my 8w setup—a frisky and fun “hello” to our old friend who shows up when temps drop. Our meet-n-greet took place at an old laydown tree with large branches extending into 5 to 7 feet of water.
Maryland DNR Police also visited the north end of the river and made a pit stop boatside to have a chat with me—also checking my vessel ID, licensing, and safety equipment aboard. All good things and a pleasant encounter. We talked about the fly fishing rabbit hole, and how this season is behind schedule in terms of weather conditions and fish behavior. They agreed wholeheartedly.
Staying upriver, I moved to a rip-rapped shoreline where several large boulders are submerged 10 yards outward, and which intersects a small sandbar point. I found a school of white perch holding here. Because the water was still shallow, about 5’, I kept the deceiver on the line. And the perch would hit it, one of which was a MEG, coming in at about 14 inches long. A true whopper perch!
A bonus while fishing upriver on both occasions was the repeated sighting of a pair of bald eagles. Fully developed adults in flight and fishing for themselves. It’s stunning how much beautiful life lives in and around our rivers.
During my last outing of this week, I started the morning by motoring south of Round Bay to try some sandbar points in the lower section of the river. One point curls around with a nice deep pocket on its inside that harbors a few docks. It looked juicy on the satellite map, and I did mark a few small fish plus bait, but nothing notable came of the visit. Just south of this spot I decided to drift the boat with the south wind perfectly along a 200 yards shallow expanse that had significant shade extending over the water. Thoroughly working the deceiver in the area was excellent casting practice, but no fish.
Moving upriver with what little tidal movement there was (e.g. chasing the tide), I visited an old oyster bar. And this is where sitting birds were hanging. Whatever birds were in the river seemed to have congregated in this area. My sonar lit with plenty of bait balls, and one very small school of stripers. I slowly motored around this area, giving it time to show itself, but didn’t mark enough fish to make casting worthwhile in my opinion. Onward to another spot. My baseline.
At the docks, I managed a few small striped bass to hit on Clouser minnows fished a touch deeper around the ends of the docks. Not the larger schoolies I hoped for, but good enough to complete a Severn Slam for all the effort put in this week. Taking to the fly and pursuing the autumn bite has been an athletic, challenging, and rewarding endeavor. And, it should only get better and better as autumn continues.
See y’all on the water again, real soon!
