Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report July 8 2014

Flounder bite is heating up on the lower chesapeake with some very nice fish coming from the CBBT as well as HRBT as well. Trigger fish and smaller than normal spadefish are also being caught along the CBBT and offshore wrecks.

Cobia fishing is full swing with more fish starting to cruise the surface. Many are still being caught by chumming but the shark numbers are getting bad so carry plenty of bait. Croakers are everywhere and spot are beginning to fill in as well.

 Puppy drum can be found in most shallow flats with some impressive fish being caught around Hampton and Poquoson area. Speckled trout season is still closed due the fish kill this winter but the August 1st opening is in the horizon. Make sure to check out the new regualtions for numbers you can keep and size restrictions to save yourself the trouble of a ticket.

Bluefish are all over the open water eager to take a clark spoon and mackerel should be showing up anytime with the recent heat.

Flounder Tourney turned Cobia Mission

Went to capt meeting at Dare Marina for Flounder Bowl Fishing Tournament and from the wind that was present friday night I just knew it was going to be one rough wet ride across to the other side of the bay early in the morning. Stewwed on that thought for a few and finally conceded to trailering to Kiptopeake.

Smart move as it was calm on that side at first light. Just outside of the ramp are a bunch of ships from World War 2 that are made of..... wait for it....... CONCRETE!  Yes you heard right, they are completely concrete. They now server as a breakwater for the Kiptopeake State Park.

 Sorry, side stracked on history for a minute but the theory of concrete vessels is fascinating to me.

 So we jigged around the concrete ships with squid strips and Gulp grubs. This produced a few fish.... 3 flounderwith one keeper at 18 inches and a couple oyster toads. After feeling like we covered the area thoroughly, we ran to high rise and joined the 80 other boats out there for the Flounder Bowl. Couple oyster toads in 4 to 5 ft seas later we said to hell with it and tried some drifts in more sheltered water. No more flat fish despite trying until about 11:30....

Decided it was time to pull a rabbit out the hat and reached in the cooler and pulled out a bag of eels I snuck in there when no one was looking. crews eyes lit up and were instantly on board with some sight fishing. Did eliptical circles all the way from the high rise to the BMORE channel. despite being rough and trying to sling eels into the wind we managed to catch 2 keepers, 1 dink, and pulled a hook on a nailer. Had a few more attempts but we were having to flank around the fish to avoid pitching an eel into the wind and back in the boat from the tower. all in all we saw 15 and turned a disappointing flounder day into a fun cobia day.

Matrix Jigheads and Swimbaits - Product Review

I was able to be lucky enough to demo some new soft plastic baits and jigheads from Matrix Shad/ Dockside Tackle. I have to say they really do perform very well and outfished the Saltwater Assassins I normally use.  Here are the colors I received to try out and share with some of my local tackle shop owners. Upon inspection the first thing i noticed was the attention to detail in the molds they use.  Each bait has raised gill plates which doesn't sound like a big deal but adds extra displacement and turbulence to your bait as it paddles through the water.

Due to our water currently being slightly stained, I chose to try out the "Pink Champagne" and the "Lemon Head" color patterns. Both Caught fish equally well but I tried to conserve the Lemon Heads because I know for a fact they will crush Stripers this fall under the lights. 

Dockside Bait and Tackle were also generous enough to send some of their custom jigheads along with their swimbaits. This in my opinion is one of their best products. At first glance I noticed a few key features that will really have me putting in an order the next time I order some jigheads.

 

• First off, A STOUT, SHARP, HOOK with a wider than average gap which allowed for more frequent solid hook ups. I am confident that you would break off before bending this hook on a big fish. Big plus + in my book
• Every one in the two packs I received were poured straight with the hook, eye and lead uniforn and true. This is important to create a straight swimming jig and prevent twisting/spinning on the retrieve.
• The bait holder truly locks the bait on even when being tail tugged by small pesky croaker saving from having to constantly change plastics.
• The reflect eye is nothing more than a sticker but does add some serious flash and a nice finishing touch on detail.

ALL and all I would recommend the Matrix Swimbaits and ESPECIALLY the jigheads to anyone looking to catch flounder, speckled trout, redfish, or stripers. They offer some great discount pricing if you buy in bulk and have all varieties of sizes to suite your need. Give them a look at : http://matrixshad.com/