I must admit that in recent weeks this column has suggested black as a bait color perhaps too frequently - and I must also admit that probably few fishermen take the advice. How can black produce fish, no baitfish are of that color and there's no flash to it?
Skeptics, give it a try.
That's what Bud Hein of Fishbones did the other day when fishing Dennis Miles' boat with Bob Radical, all three of the Pasadena area. Bud, like me, has long been a booster of black - and his customers paid about as much attention to him as my readers do my color suggestions. Sometimes practical advice falls on a deaf ear. Many fishermen don't think like a fish.
The trio fished off the mouth of West River in heavy rain at times - and by early morning they had taken stripers of 45, 43, 39 inches, and when bringing in their rigs took a 36-incher they threw back. And what did they catch those fish on? Four baits caught fish, they were an all white Daisy Chain, black and white parachute and black bucktail, Why black?
Think like a fish for a moment, you're down below the baits and looking up. The day is overcast and/or raining. Above you is the sky which despite rain or anything else is brighter than deep down. Looking up at the sky a black bait is dark and makes a more pronounced silhouette you think it's a baitfish and grab it. Black with a tad of white or chartreuse also works on bright days. Same theory.
Bud reports they were fishing 35 feet of water along the channel edge, using 28 ounces of lead sinker, which put them down close to the bottom, which is curious because much catching these days comes closer to the surface. Ah, one can never understand the whims of fish.
Bud also reports there are some nice fish to be taken from Hacketts to Tollys, also at Love Point by trolling. Ben Hartman of Bowie took a 44-incher off Sandy Point on a big bucktail of white with trailing pork rind also of white. Butch Garner's 46-incher taken at the Brewerton Channel area took a big bullet head bucktail of yellow with a white Twister tails added.
Bud also tells of one of his fishermen catching a 27-inch striper from the fishing pier at Downs Park where it's mostly perch fishing. No reports from Fort Smallwood, but perch should be available.
Shoresiders at Sandy Point and Matapeake choose cut alewife if they're serious about taking rockfish. Those who use bloodworms take an occasional striper, but mostly perch. Perch are moving into the bay from the tributaries - in a couple of weeks the perch'n should be good.
Don't be surprised if the bluefish come earlier this year - and possibly bigger and more of them than last year. The migrants from the south are already passing by the Ocean City/Assateague complex. I've a gut feeling this will be another good year for bay blues. They're bounding back. Here's how fishing shapes up for the weekend:
Shad are running in the Susquehanna where white perch abound, the catch-and-release rock fishing on the Flats is slowing down. Striper action continues at the Brewerton Channel area, the Dumping Grounds has turned up stripers so has Baltimore Light, the mouth of the Chester, and the Bay Bridge runs hot 'n cold.
Bloody Point remains a good bet, same for Thomas Point, Buoy 83 is dependable. Try waters off Calvert Cliffs, Breezy Point, C&R Buoy, mouth of the Choptank, Hoopers Island Light, Point-No-Point Buoy 72 and, off the mouth of the Potomac - almost any channel edge. Don't wait too long, a few smaller rockfish are beginning to be caught - and that usually means the beginning of the end to the spawning run. Hardheads have moved as far up the bay as James Island flats.
At Ocean City, flounder fishing is improving, plenty of tautog are inside the inlet. In the surf the kingfish have arrived, there are also some stripers, bluefish, skates and dogfish. A few of the rockfish are quite big.
Charlie Ebersberger at Anglers Sports Center journeyed all the way to Western Maryland for five days of wild turkey hunting, but no toms came to his calls. Yesterday when he got back to his shop walks Karl Brummer with a 25-pound gobbler with an 11½ in beard. Charlie, the grass isn't always greener on the other side - and look at all the carbon footprints chalked up against you.
OUTDOORS CALENDAR
Saturday-Sunday: MSSA Spring Rockfish Tournament fished out of many ports on the bay, It's the biggest in the Mid-Atlantic. Call 410-255-5535. On the web, www.mssa.net
Saturday-Sunday: The Rod 'n Reel Captain's Association Pro/Am, oldest tournament on the bay. Call 800-233--2080.
Monday: Beginning of five-session Coast Guard Auxiliary Safe Boating Course, Edgewood Elementary School. Call 410-798-5952.
Monday: Beginning of three-session Safe Boating Course, Taylor Avenue Fire Department. Annapolis. 410-703-2203.
May 9: Friends of Anne Arundel Trails will hold the first session of a three-part Maryland Safe Boating Course at Earleigh Heights Fire Department, Severna Park. Call 410-222-6244.
May 10: Coast Guard Safe Boating Class begins at Boater's World, Severna Park. Call 40-647-4550.
May 13-14: Boat Safety Course starts at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels. www.cbmm.org
May 14-15: No catch and keep rockfishing these two days; it's an interval as the first phase of the season switches to the second.
May 18: Bay Hundred Ducks Unlimited Ladies Rockfish Tournament, Harrison's Chesapeake House, Tilghman Island. bhduufish@hotmail.com
May 19: Patapsco River Power Squadron Safe Boating Course starts this date. Call 410-757-6486. tomcat241@att.net
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Send outdoors news to Bill Burton, PO Box 430, Pasadena, MD 21123-0430; fax to 410-360-2427, or e-mail burtonoutdoors@yahoo.com. Please include your phone number in all communications.
