Like preseason football inching its way toward primetime this fall, the striped bass fishery in the middle Chesapeake has become increasingly active before autumn sets in and things really get moving. With about 10 days left in August, the region has experienced a rather dramatic shift in the weather with much cooler temperatures overnight (down to mid-50sF) and throughout the day (highs of 80F feel great). This, coupled with last Monday’s full moon, has motivated fish feeding activity from dusk ’til dawn, and even during high sun. We’re officially in pre-fall striper mode, and the fishing should only get better in the next couple months.
But good things must be earned and Thursday’s (Aug. 22nd) fishing on the Severn River was no exception. I awoke at 5 a.m. and prepped the McKee for running a touch downriver, to the Round Bay vicinity—a rather quick morning planned before work. Launching at 5:45 a.m., I motored my way to planned stop No.1 and cut the engine. I caught a nice, slow drift from the northwest wind (only about 5 knots), positioning me between Brewer and Arnold points. I tried a topwater popper (a black Stillwater Smack-It Jr.) along the edge of Brewer Point, casting from 20-foot depths toward 5 feet or so. No takers. At one point, a small school of stripers erupted next to the boat, hitting a pod of bait. Up they came, down they went. And they were gone. They appeared small and showed zero interest in my offering. Oh well. On to stop No.2.
At this point, the sun had crested the horizon.
I pointed the McKee north and hit stride back into Round Bay proper, to St. Helena Island, then slowed my way to the southeast-facing shoreline and planned to try topwater again. Cut the engine and dropped the trolling motor. One problem. Trolling motor prop wouldn’t move. I had a full battery, but for one reason or another (which I determined, and fixed later, to be internal motor slippage), it wouldn’t budge. For the rest of the morning, I’d need to position the boat for a good drift versus relying on the trolling motor to move efficiently.
Regardless, St. Helena proved to be a bust for me, as I couldn’t catch an ideal drift for the area I planned to fish. And the fish—striped bass, at least—did not want topwater (despite switching to a slightly smaller chug bug plug in bone white). It appeared perch were hitting surface though. (Maybe puppy drum, too?). The sun reached two fingers above the horizon and I was feeling like the feeding window was narrowing.
I should mention that the tide was flooding high to slack and was about a half-hour from starting its ebb cycle.
Onward to another point, with hopes of getting a striper or several to hit topwater by casting in and around the 4-foot depths near the grass beds that cover the tongue-shaped sandbar. No takers. I tried a Rapala shadow rap shad in silver to play the subsurface water, but no interested parties either. Not even a swipe. Okay, time to search the adjacent east-facing shoreline with deepwater docks. This has been a good area to find schoolies all summer. Would this ace in the pocket prove fruitful once again?
The wind had shifted and was now bearing down, ever slightly, from the direct north. This made for a perfect drift south along the shoreline. I kept the boat in 17–20 foot depths and this is where a nice school of fish was suspended—just off the edge/drop from the shallows (4–6 feet) in the deeper water where I was sitting. This school was mostly suspended, though near the bottom. First, I tried jigging them up with a 3/4oz G-Eye jig with a 7” Zman scented jerk shad (chartreuse), but the fish wouldn’t hit. And I think I was dropping it right on their heads!
I downsized the offering altogether and decided to use a 1/2oz banana head bucktail (tied silver/white/black) to better match the hatch of tiny, peanut bunker I was seeing at various spots this morning. And sure enough, the fish started swiping the lure when popped in short bursts between the bottom to mid-level depths. This school held bass up to 22 inches, which was a nice tug on the 6’ medium-fast rod and 2500 class spinning outfit I used. I counted at least three fish that went 22”, several more at about 20”, and a few smaller fish.
All in all, multiple hookups with good-sized schoolies made for a fantastic finish to a challenging start to the day. Often in fishing, it takes hard work to find the bite. Every outing can teach you something. And if things aren’t working the way you planned, switch gears and try a new approach. Topwater didn’t work for me this morning; jigging did. Another hint that we’re inching toward autumn primetime striped bass fishing.
See y’all on the water again, real soon!
