Fly & Light Tackle Fishing the Chesapeake Bay with Capt. Tom Hughes: Catching Rockfish Without Birds

During this time of year anglers locate active rockfish, bluefish, or other saltwater species (gamefish) by finding working birds, nerves waters, or by using electronics. On the Chesapeake Bay it's best to have a GPS, sonar, and plotter aboard your boat. It can be contained in 1 unit, or multiple units.

There are countless advantages in planning a trip using electronics, rather then counting on Mother Nature to help

you locate fish. A GPS saves you cruising time and fuel money by plotting the shortest distance between fishing locations. When you arrive at a location, the sonar unit will show return echoes if there are baitfish and/or gamefish present. If stripers (rockfish) show up on the screen, shut the motor off and start drifting while fishing until you're off the fish. If you caught fish during that drift use the plotter and circle back to start another drift. Keep doing this until the fish move.

Please contact me if your electronics need to be set up, and/or to show you the important settings when looking for fish. I have set up units on the water manufactured by; Lowrance, Garmin, Raymarine, Furuno, Humminbird and Simrad.

Last Friday I had the pleasure of guiding Eric Hood and setting up his touch screen Simrad, NSS7, withStructureScan GPS/Sonar/Plotter unit. The touch screen feature was user friendly and made shifting between pages very quick. Eric caught countless striped bass and some nice white perch when using his new electronics. The pictures tell the story.

Click on Any Picture to Enlarge

Most Productive Technique:

Jigging the Bottom - From the up current side of the boat open the bail and let the lure hit the bottom. With the rod tip just above the water, jig the lure off the bottom swiftly by moving the rod tip swiftly from 9 to 10 o'clock. Jigging the lure swiftly is best done by snapping the wrist rather then moving the rod with the entire arm. Move the lure off and then back to the bottom as many times as possible while keeping a tight line.

Light Tackle Equipment:

Rod: Okuma, ReFlexios, 6', M, , One Piece, Fast Tip (Tochterman's Fishing Tackle)

Reel: Penn, SG3000, Sargus, Spinning (Tochterman's Fishing Tackle)

Line: PowerPro, 20# Test, Yellow

Leader: Yo-Zuri, 20# Test, Hybrid, Fluorocarbon, 6'

Productive Lures:

Spoons

Haw River, Short Body Stingsilver, Gold, 2 ounce, Single Hook

Fishing Tip:

There are now bluefish in the mix. They will bite the line between the solid ring and the hook. Use lures with single hooks that are part of the lure (bucktails), or connected by a split ring (spoons), during this time of the season.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT ON A HALF-DAY TRIP - This Saturday - 8/11/12

I'm offering a $50.00 discount off the normal Half-Day Trip Fee of $425.00 for 1 to 3 anglers on Chesapeake Bay Bridge in MD

Saturday, 8/11/12, out of Sandy Point State Park. Your trip will start at 11:00am and you'll be back at the dock at 03:00pm. The total cost of your trip will be $375.00.