May Fishing in Maryland and parts East

[Johnsfolly]

April 30

I know that April 30th is not May but that trip fits better with our activities. So we are chasing a number of lifer species. We were successful on the tessellated darters and the Blue Ridge sculpin so far this year. I had more intel on Potomac sculpin from the last time I chased these guys. I identified four potential spots to try with Livie. We decided to go to the spot farthest west first so if we get nothing, then head back east towards home. The first spot was Fifteenmile creek in the Green Ridge St Forest and is quite a bit away from the house. Supposed to be loaded with Potomac sculpin. We pulled up and the water was very clear and also had quite a few rainbow trout swimming in the pool below the pull off. We got on waders and headed to the creek. 

In the first two holes we saw a bunch of eastern blacknose dace that actually were difficult to catch for some reason. Livie and I were only able to land creek chubs.

I will say that these next two fish put me on a rollercoaster. At first thought that they were creek chub, but saw a short first dorsal ray and a coloration pattern that lead me to believe that they were fathead minnows. I even saw fatheads on line with the same dorsal spot and body coloration. Sent photos out and got kick back that they are likely creek chubs. I dug more and found that creek chubs do have that same dorsal ray configuration. So I conceded 😒.

So nothing new there. We did also catch some spotfin shiners.

Further downstream I found a rock that had a small fish underneath. I had Livie come over to fish it and she caught her first potomac sculpin.

Key features are the notch in the dark band prior to its tail and a single median pore under it chin.

This fish has those characters😁. Now it was time for dad to catch one. Much easier said than done. I will cut to the chase though I had five opportunities on diferent fish I just never got a hookset on any of them. We spent a couple of hours trying to make it happen. Livie even found a large sculpin by bouncing  bait in a hole. When I came over to get my bait in front of that fish it bit her bait as she pulled it out and landed that fish. Pay back from when I did that to her with a darter.

 Now this fish appears to have a notch in the tail band, but has two median pores on its chin. 

Still thinking that it is likely a potomac but need verification that it is not a blue ridge sculpin.

We had a successful day and the little sculpin faces looking out from under the rocks but no longer interested in my baits will haunt me until I can get one in the bag.

 

[Johnsfolly]

15 and 21May22 - search for Feather blenny

Hit the saltwater to try and catch a feather blenny. On the 15th Sue and I went down to Ocean City to try a free fishing pier that has rock piled below. I targeted low tide. we got there about 90 mins before low tide. I could not see the rocks below us very well yet. So we tried casting Gulp swimming mullet in chartreuse and a white Gulp jerk bait to try for flounder. Nothing. Switched to high/low rigs with blood worms for 30 mins - nothing. The folks next to us pulled up two horseshoe crabs and a small tautog (blackfish). After 45 to 60 mins of fruitless fishing the tide was low enough to begin trying for the blennies. I had on a 1/4 oz bell casting sinker and a size 18 hook on a dropper loop a few inches above the sinker. Baited it with some blood worm and began trying to get the bait down into the cracks and openings between the rocks. I went from hole to hole for over an hour and all I caught were five tiny black sea bass like this little guy. Sue still wasn't catching anything so we headed home.

On the 21st we were back down in Ocean city. We were going out for sea bass the next morning and stayed over since we had to be at the marina at 5 am. I found a spot that looked promising near the bridge going over to Assateague Island. I had seen on INaturalist that a guy had seen a feather blenny near that location. Since it was only 10 mins from the hotel it was worth the shot. I used the same setup as before. Livie also had a similar setup. We found the rocks that I wanted to try. The concern is that they were all in less than 2 ft of water. I had hoped for a deeper drop off. Long story short we probed a lot of cracks and holes but no blennies were found 😒. We both did catch a few mummichogs.

I think that it might have been @Flysmallie that once stated that we don't see too many "failed" trips and only successful ones. Well here are two failed trips. I still will go after these guys but I need some successful trips for other species first.

[Johnsfolly]

22May22 - Sea Bass trip on the Angler

As mentioned previously we had to be at the marina at 5 am. We got there about 4:50 to get in line for the boat. Felt where we were in line that we should be able to get either the back corners or up near the front which are ususally the better spots to be on a party boat. (@snagged in outlet 3 going to be a bunch of photos😉 )

Was a nice sunrise - had about a two hour run before we started fishing. 

A bit choppy made us glad that we took some Bonine before heading out.

Finally got anchored up in 100 feet of water and ready to go. We were fishing clam snouts on high/low rigs with 5 to 6 oz weights. Sue boats her biggest black sea bass ever on the first drop. Probably close to 3.5 lbs. Go figure that there was no daily pool on this trip 😒.

Sue caught five or six fish right away and three were over the 13 inch minimum and were on ice in our cooler. Before the trip she gloated that she would be able to recall the number of fish that she caught just by counting those in the cooler. So the trach talk began. I had a really heavy fish that got be hung up in something then I broke off. We had been near a lobster pot at the time. There was another guy later that said that he thought he had hung into the line from that pot. The lobstermen came and lifted that pot and there were two bass hung on the line. One had the chartreuse gulp bait that the toher guy was using. I can't help but think that the one that was further up their line might have been my first fish.

Took awhile but I did land my first keeper a 13 inch female. followed by a larger male.

Livie like Sue and I was catching a bunch of smaller fish. She probably had th emost double hook-ups during this trip.

She finally did catch a couple of keepers including this nice male (also the fish face in that thread).

Sue and I only caught sea bass and Livie also caught a 14 inch female tautog (too short to keep and out of season). We totaled well over 100 fish and kept 16 for the freezer. It was a rough rolling day and we were all sore from trying to keep our balance. It started to flatten out as we headed back. So a smooth trip back to port.

 

[Flysmallie]

They all look like successful trips to me. 

[Johnsfolly]

26May22 and 29May22 - Back at Fifteenmile Creek

So I took off Thurs the 26th and we headed back to Fifteenmile creek to go after those Potomac sculpin. The water had some pollen on the surface I was concerned about being able to see the sculpin as they come out from hiding for our baits. Once we got to the water, the pollen was not a real problem. There were some male blacknose dace with their orange fins and coloration. So we spent some time trying for them. I tried to see if there were any sculpin under the rocks in that pool. I caught a few bluntnose minnows and several blacknose dace and creek chub, but no sculpin 😒.

Livie never got one of the colored up male blacknose dace, but did catch quite a few.

She also caught her first ever bluntnose minnow (lifer).

So we found a few sculpin. The rocky structure was changed possibly due to flooding a week prior. So the spots that we found fish previously could not be found. I did find a rock that looked like there was activity below the rock. I pointed it out and let Livie put a bait in that hole and she caught yet another potomac sculpin (while dad still has none)

Ok so hse caught two others and I still did not catch one. I did have a large sculpin take my bait but no hookset. Others did come out from the rock ledges and looked at my bait, but again no hooksets. We did find a couple of minnows that were under some of the flat rocks. They were bluish gray with a large head. I kept thinking of fathead minnows. However, these might have been bluntnose minnows. They would grab and move the baits over and over again more like what bedding bass do to clean their nests. Though I did not catch any sculpin, I did catch my first fantail darter in Maryland. That fish went towards one of my 2022 goals 😉. So not all was lost.

Livie did get a change of pace by switching to a trout magnet and landed her first smallmouth bass in Maryland! The only one we was in this creek.

On the way out I came across a wood turtle. I haven't seen one of these guys in about 40 years. We would see them when I would visit my cousins in upstate NY as a kid. Called Livie over and she was excited to see a new turtle, which she loves.

 

After a couple of days, we went back. Saw even fewer sculpin. In the holes that had fish on Thurs I only pulled out crayfish. Was killing me. I did mess with two sculpin but that was short lived. I tried worm and trout dough baits to entice these guys. Livie caught a few common shiners including a very colorful male, but due to soaking her phone those photos have not been retrieved.

Most notable event of the day was the photo op of this little guy.

Except for my sculpin fails we had great days fishing Fifteenmile creek. Will get back soon.

[Johnsfolly]

29May22 - Sideling Hill Creek

After fishing Fifteenmile creek we drove through the green ridge forest and eventually ended up at the Potomac river. We didn't fish, but I headed to Sidleing hill creek. There is a spot in Sideling Hill that I have fished before and has opportunities for greenside darters, bluntnose minnows, fallfish, redbreast sunfish and more. I just wanted a chance at some plentiful fish. Livie was happy to fish for sunfish under the bridge while I still went after sculpin and micros. I never saw a sculpin. but there were lots of bluntnose minnows and darters in the hole below the bridge.

Finally caught my third darter species, greenside darter, in Maryland that satisfied one of my 2022 goals 😁.

Livie had never caught a greenside darter. I wanted her to get one. She tried for a couple and didn't get one. I told her that there were so many in that pool. She conceded and while I moved downstream to check out if there was another pool below us. As soon as I crossed the creek, Livie caught her first greenside darter 😁. Unfortunately those photos were lost when her phone took a dip later downstream 😒. Livie by this point had caught 14 redbreast sunfish. I did find a pool and she caught a few more. I caught only a couple but I did catch my first rock bass in Maryland (My 55th Maryland species😁).

While trying to get photos of this fish that was when Livie's phone took the dip. Livie got to 18 redbreast sunfish in that pool. We headed further downstream to get her at least two more for a full 20 for the day. 

There were a couple very nice but swift pools but no sunfish.

Then we found this pool.

Livie caught the 19th sunfish above the two boulders and her 20th downstream below the second boulder. We did see a couple of smallmouth and will have to go back to see about catching a few. 

As we headed out we found another wood turtle. This one was a male.

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Nice John!    I started using a phone tether after I lost a sweet pair oof braid scissors.  I tossed them only about 10” but they bounced funny on the deck and flopped right in the river.    I thought to myself, I’ve tossed my phone the same way I’m lucky and never went overboard

[Johnsfolly]

45 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Nice John!    I started using a phone tether after I lost a sweet pair oof braid scissors.  I tossed them only about 10” but they bounced funny on the deck and flopped right in the river.    I thought to myself, I’ve tossed my phone the same way I’m lucky and never went overboard

We'll have to look into a tether. I did make sure in case that you read these posts to put in plenty of photos😁. Since it's unlikely that anyone from OAF  will fish these spots (or anyone from Maryland or Delaware will read these posts) I don't have to hide the backgrounds 😉.

[snagged in outlet 3]

45 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

We'll have to look into a tether. I did make sure in case that you read these posts to put in plenty of photos😁. Since it's unlikely that anyone from OAF  will fish these spots (or anyone from Maryland or Delaware will read these posts) I don't have to hide the backgrounds 😉.

Are you implying that I hide my locations?😁

[Johnsfolly]

16 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Are you implying that I hide my locations?😁

No... Never....😅