Man this wind!
October 21, 2023 Royal Oak 4 photos
Bass (Striped)
Bass (Striped)

Trip Summary

Got a message from Shelby Thursday evening asking if we had any openings for Saturday. Their previously scheduled charter cancelled due to weather and this was her boyfriends birthday trip. Well we did have an AM trip open. But with the wind forecast I explained that it was not at our normal location. When the winds push us off the main Bay we try to go to other areas where we are sheltered from it. Shelby agreed and a plan was set in motion. I had been on a good bite in this location for the past 2 weeks. We met at 6:30am and off we went. We got near the mouth of the river before the wind kicked up too much. We started out fishing shallow but couldn't find any willing participants. As the morning got brighter we switched over to a little deeper water. Finally Kyle the birthday guy got one. The skunk was finally off the boat. After a short while we got another. Looks like the fish had decided to sleep in some. Thats ok because I was starting to see signs of life around. Birds were moving around on the hunt and bait was starting to show up near the surface.Finally everything broke loose. Birds were working in a couple different pods. Bunker was flying threw the air and Stripers were slashing at the surface. Rods were bending over 2 and 3 at a time. We caught and released numerous Stripers up to 24 inches before we finally had to head back in. Everyone caught their personal best fish and some even caught their first. They even took a couple home for diner. The weather looks to be taking a slight warm up mid week. I expect the patterns to hold for some time longer. But don't wait book a trip. Don't be wishing lets get fishing!
Richard Phippin
Royal-oak, Maryland, United States
Nauti Hooker Charters thumbnail
Nauti Hooker Charters invites you to fish with them on the astonishing waters of Chesapeake Bay. They’ll take you to the best-known fishing hot spots of the Eastern Shore of Maryland but also show you a few hidden places you may have never seen. Cap...

Other reports from this captain

Opening day of Striped bass season!
Opening day of Striped bass season!
May 18, 2025
Casey, Colby and Trey joined me me for opening day and what a great day it was. We left the dock at 6AM under cloudy skies with possible showers in the AM. High tide was expected at around 8AM. perfect conditions for some shallow water fun. We hit our first spot which has a mix of sod banks and tree stumps. The stiff SW wind made it hard to stay close for too long. Then we got an alert on the VHF about a severe Thunderstorm cell crossing the bay to the south of us. We weren't finding what we we looking for so we moved to another location. This provided us with protection from the SW wind and still gave us clean water and current. It wasn't long before Casey felt some weight on the line. At first he thought he was hung up. But then the line went in the opposite direction the fish realized he was hooked and the fight ensued. He made quick work of it and harvested a nice 22 incher to put in the box and get the skunk off the boat. We continued to work shallow water structure and marsh banks. But weren't finding much. This is a game of seek and destroy. It can be nothing 1 minute and game on lights out the next. When it happens it is a blast. It sure beats trolling and sitting watching the rods and hoping. You are constantly casting and when a fish hits the lure you feel it all. Then it's just you the fish and the rod. We drifted making a few casts to each spot. If we didn't get a hit we pulled up and moved on. These fish are prowling looking for bait fish or soft crabs or anything washing away as the tide drops. We had a few showers but they didn't last long. We worked a lot of fishy looking areas. Finally Colby gets a hit this time it was next a rock pile with some sod banks mixed in. After a nice little fight a 19 1/2 incher goes in the box. We drifted that spot a couple more times but only caught 18 that had to go back. The limit is 19 inch minimum 24 inch maximum. So we continued to move. The sky started clearing and the sun was coming out. We hit a spot with a dock and riprap wall with marsh and sod banks along the shore line. Trey got a hit then another. Then on the third cast bam. Another nice healthy 18 incher. Back it went. We cam up for another drift and everyone started getting hits. The Colby got a reallly big hit. This fish was definitely bigger. Not only did it swim the opposite direction but it started trying to circle the boat. After a brief game of tug of war I netted a beautiful 26 1/2 incher. Absolutely beautiful fish and great catch. The fish was released after a brief picture and swam away healthy! It was game on we drifted this spot for an hour catching and releasing numerous fish. After a few casts I decided to cast myself. No sooner did I engage the reel and start to retrieve the lure WHAM! Holy crap he hit so hard he went airborne 3 feet. It happened so quick I didn't even think it was a Striped Bass. I asked Someone to get the net and Colby did a great job of netting my fish for me. Another over slot at 26 1/4. Beautiful fish. Once again it was released healthy and swimming away. We left them them biting as time was up. Everyone caught multiple fish and they were able to take 2 nice size slot fish home for dinner. We were a good ways from the dock and with the wind more than it was in the AM it was gonna take a little extra time to get to the dock. As I said in the beginning it can be nothing then its game on. That's exactly what happened. Thanks for a great trip Casey, Colby and Trey and Thanks for not giving up. We didn't see any Speckled Trout or Redfish today but I know they are around.
Continue reading