FishTalk Magazine October 2022 by SpinSheet Publishing Company

The United States Powerboat Show Special 10 Choptank Wrangling at Rudee Hotspots

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Finding the Ultimate Fishing Marina

Features on

Wrangling at Rudee

New NOAA electronic charts provide more detailed intel on The Cell. By Wayne Young

The Choptank River has rockin’ good fishing from its headwaters to the Bay.

Annapolis Boat Show Special: Be on the Lookout For…

Slab Crappie Savvy

Fall is prime time for tying into serious slab crappie. By Jim Gronaw

10 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com VOLUME 6 | ISSUE 10 IN THIS ISSUE 48 44 52 42

Look for these top tech traits as you shop for new boats. By Staff

Fishing for Pickerel for Beginners

By Lenny Rudow

Sonar Data Opens Up the Cell

You just got your first boat and you’re not sure where to keep it? These tips will help you find the ideal marina. By Staff the cover

By Staff

As fall hits and the waters begin to cool off, a new pickerel season shall commence!

Rudee inlet offers up some insanely good fall fishing. By John N. Felsher

Fishing the Choptank River: 10 Top Hotspots

PropTalk editor Kaylie Jasinski leaves the Angler in Chief and Zach Ditmars drooling with jealousy while casting the shallows of the Tangier Sound.

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 11 for more, visit fishtalkmag.com 16 Notes From the Cockpit By Lenny Rudow 18 Letters 20 Fishing News By Staff 24 Hot New Gear By Staff 28 Calendar 32 Reader Photos presented by bay shore Marine 59 Paddler’s Edge By Eric Packard 60 Fishing Forecast By Dillon Waters 62 Tips & Tricks By Staff presented by dangle lures 63 Charters, Guides, and Headboats 64 Tides & Currents presented by bay shore Marine 66 Brokerage: Used Boats for Sale 68 Marketplace: Services, Supplies, and Much More 70 Biz Buzz 71 FishTalk Monthly Subscription Form 71 Index to Advertisers 26 Jig a Pig and SUP Anglers Hot New Fishboats By Lenny Rudow Coming in November FishTalk • Late fall at PLO • Hot November Bites Plan Of Attack: Angling Tactics Departments 39 Sea Pro 320 DLX Offshore: Yes, Please! 40 Coastal Skiff 212: Beauty in Simplicity 41 The Epoch: Foiled Again Saltwater | FreShwater | rodS reelS | tackle | acceSSorieS Marine SupplieS | apparel 1.888.810.7283 | info@alltackle.com annapoliS 2062 Somerville Road Annapolis, MD 410.571.1111 All The Right Gear To CATChMoReFish! ocean city 12826 Ocean Gateway West Ocean City, MD 410.213.2840

NOVEMBER 5, 2022 JOIN OUR GROWING LIST OF CAPTAINS, ANGLERS, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS BY REGISTERING YOUR CREW TODAY! CAPTAIN SPONSORS | FishTalk • Heller Electric Company Inc. • HS Solutions • MaxSent • PropTalk South Annapolis Yacht Centre • What’s Up? Media ANGLER SPONSORS | Constellation Power • GMS • Liquified Creative • PEAKE BAR SPONSORS | Katcef Brothers Inc. • NUTRL FIRST MATE SPONSORS | Chesapeake Whalertowne • Broad Reach Retail Partners LLC • Eagle Title First Home Mortgage • George’s Beverage Company • HMS Insurance Associates, Inc. • The Kahan Center Lakeside Title Company • Liff, Walsh & Simmons • Naptown Scoop • Yorktel DECKHAND SPONSORS | JF Marine Service LLC • Ketch 22 LLC 2022 TOURNAMENT SPONSOR The Albert W. Turner Charitable Lead Annuity Trust www.FishForACure.org MAKE WAVES in cancer care for patients and their families. COMPETE for biggest fish and most dollars raised. CELEBRATE a great day on the Bay at an in-person Shore Party. GET HOOKED UP with awesome swag from your favorite local businesses. Fish For A Cure (F4AC) is a fishing and fundraising competition among friends that benefits cancer patients and their families in our community. F4AC has raised more than $4 million over the past 15 years to support the Cancer Survivorship program at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center’s Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute. Join us in 2022 as we celebrate continued commitment to making a splash in cancer care for our community. For more information on how to register your boat or become a sponsor, visit www.fishforacure.org or contact us at fishforacure@aahs.org. THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS OCT. 31, 2022.

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ANGLER IN CHIEF

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Alan Battista, Jim Gronaw, Chuck Harrison, Capt. Monty Hawkins, Eric Packard, David Rudow, Mollie Rudow, Wayne Young

Rudow’s FishTalk Recycles

Thesenorth.net

Mike Leonard American Sportfishing Association Vice President Government Affairs VMRC Menhaden Advisory Member

Editor’s note: On rare occasions we may swap out the usual Notes from the Cockpit column for critical communications on topics of concern to Chesapeake and Mid-Atlantic anglers. This is one of those occasions.

or the second time in less than a month, Omega Protein, the in dustrial menhaden harvester, lit tered the beaches along Virginia’s Eastern Shore with Atlantic menhaden, wasting thousands of this important forage fish. This latest mishap also killed hundreds of large red drum, a popular sportfish, that became entangled in the operation’s net as bycatch. Preliminary counts reported to the Virginia Marine Resources Com mission (VMRC) indicate that as much as 12,000 pounds of 30- to 50-pound redfish were cleaned up on the water and along nearby beaches. Given red drum biology, it is highly likely those big, mature fish were in the Bay and had targeted a menhaden school to build up energy for reproducing the next Canadian-ownedgeneration.

thought, and all eyes are on Virginia’s fisheries managers and leadership in Rich mond to curb this wasteful action. Simply put, the publicly held resources of the Chesapeake Bay, as well as the sportfish ing, boating, and tourism economy deserve more than promises from an international fisheries juggernaut.

The American Sportfishing Association is the trade association representing manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers within the nation’s $128 billion recreational fishing industry.

Chair-MarylandMD Sport Fisheries Advisory Commission

# Dead fish - including red drum - line the beaches of the Bay, courtesy of Omega.

Leaders Should Act To Stop Omega Protein’s Outsized Impact On Chesapeake’s Public Resources

tore on two separate incidents, forc ing the company to dump more than 400,000 dead menhaden into Hampton Roads waters. In December of 2019, Virginia was found out of compliance by the U.S. Department of Commerce after Omega Protein knowingly violated the 51,000-metric ton Chesapeake Bay harvest cap on menhaden, a cautionary limit on harvest agreed to by coast-wide fishery managers. Moreover, Cooke Inc., the parent company of Omega Protein, has paid nearly $13 million in penalties for violations related to the environment, safety, government contracting, and finances, according to the Good Jobs First website.Inresponse to the 2021 net spills, the VMRC Menhaden Advisory Com mittee considered the development of a buffer, or area closure, to minimize the possibility of snagging large purse seine nets in nearshore shallow waters, while also providing protection for recreational species that frequent nearshore habitats. Unfortunately, the proposal did not move forward because it was opposed by the Omega Protein representative who cited net spills as a rare, infrequent event that is not in need of a solution.

Omega Protein ac knowledged that its contractor Ocean Har vesters, based out of Reedville, Virginia, was responsible for the July 25 mishap that resulted in dead fish washing up on the beaches of Pickett Harbor, Kiptopeke State Park, and Sunset Beach. The company also accepted responsibility for a July 5 net failure that spilled thousands of dead menhaden along Silver Beach, another popular vacation destination about 15 miles to the

16 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

Coastal Conservation Association is a grass roots, non-profit, membership organization of anglers and coastal enthusiasts from 17 coastal states spanning the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts. CCA is focused on ensuring the health of our nation’s marine resources and anglers’ access to them.

Notes from the Cockpit

These latest net spills aren’t the first time Omega Protein has proven itself to be a bad corporate neighbor in Chesapeake Bay. Last September, Omega Protein nets

David Sikorski Executive Director Coastal Conservation Association

spills are yet another re minder of why the Coastal Conservation Association and American Sportfishing Association are part of a broad coalition of local, regional and national recreational fishing and boating groups that have asked Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to stop the use of industrial purse seine gear in a major portion of the Chesapeake Bay “until science demonstrates” that it will not negatively affect the estuary’s ecosystem. Stopping the use of purse seine gear in the Chesapeake Bay would bring consistency with Maryland’s prohibition of the gear enacted nearly a century ago.

This year’s spills have shown that these occurrences are not as rare as previously

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- Kent D., via email

Fresh Fish, or Just a Wish?

Send fish lenny@fishtalkmag.com

reat article on launch sites around Baltimore City plus what species are swimming about. My one question would be if the fish from the harbor are safe to eat? I often saw people crabbing off the Hanover Street bridge and could not convince myself they were safe to eat. I grew up in the late 60s around the harbor and things have improved, but enough to eat what I may catch is still a question. Keep up the informative articles, I read Fish Talk cover to cover online when it comes out, plus the weekly info about hotspots reminds me of the old days with Bill Burton’s weekly reports. Thanks for the great job!

Dear Kent,

You bring up an important point which we apologize for overlooking! According to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), while it’s safe to eat most fish from those waters some care does need to be taken with certain species, particularly as to the frequency of the meals. People fishing here can Google “Maryland fish advisories” and you’ll come up with a MDE Fish Consumption Advisory page (which has a URL way too long to type out here) including an interactive map that clearly spells out the recommendations. Thanks for pointing this out!

Dear FishTalk, Why did the crab cross the road? He didn’t — he used the sidewalk! -Anonymous

Dear FishTalk, G

Crabdangit…

18 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

your

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By Lenny Rudow

35 Million Pounds of Potential Environmental Catastrophe

Fi SH New S

up an untested system.” Secor also notes that it’s not only that the sturgeon are at risk, but that the river functions as a nursery for striped bass, white perch, shad, river herring, and other species.

Public comment on this matter is be ing gathered through October 17, via the Maryland Department of the Environ ment. Send emails to Paul Hlavinka, paul. hlavinka@maryland.gov; snail mail goes to Maryland Department of the Environment, Water and Science Administration, 1800 Washington Blvd, Ste. 455, Baltimore, MD 21230-1708, Attn: Paul Hlavinka, Indus trial Stormwater Permits Division.

“The scale of this is

“The number-one issue with this location, is there is no good explanation as to why a company this massive would target this miniscule creek, where there’s no way it won’t impact water quality,” said Judith Stribling, professor emeritus of Salisbury University and representa tive of Friends of the Nanticoke and Wicomico Environmental Trust. “This is the only place in Maryland that Atlantic sturgeon are reproducing, and we don’t believe any level of risk is acceptable.”

FishTalk Magazine special correspon dent Mollie Rudow reports that at a public hearing in Federalsburg in August, “The meeting demonstrated that the will of the local and scientific communities falls against permitting AquaCon to build on the Marshyhope. The operation was de scribed as an existential threat to the Atlan tic sturgeon, and out of all the comments only one was pro-AquaCon. Community members raised concerns about fish die-off, reduced property values, and the degrada tion of the Marshyhope.”

orwegian company AquaCon is proposing to build a 25-acre indoor salmon farm in Federalsburg, MD, produce about 35 million pounds of salmon per year at the facility, and dump 2.3 million gallons of wastewater per day into Marshyhope Creek.

Invasives Countdown

ctober marks the end of the Great Chesapeake Invasives count—and the end of the copious stream of prizes awarded to anglers who have entered their picture of blue cats, flathead cats, and snakeheads. You still have this month to enter (it’s free), submit your pics, and walk away with cool fishing goodies awarded by the Coastal Conservation Association of Maryland. Remember: entering your catches doesn’t just put you in the running to win, it also helps build an understanding of these species and support science-based management. Visit ccamd.org for more information or enter via the iAngler app.

We note that the Marshyhope allows one to enjoy the rare treat of fishing in some of the state’s most pristine waters, and it seems horrific that the state would even consider allowing a monster McSalmon factory— about the same size as six Walmart superstores—to discharge millions of gallons a day into a creek so small you can cast across it.

experimentiskillchangepartandreturnknife’sinLaboratory.ChesapeakeEnvironmentalMarylandofsaidastronomical,”Dr.DavidSecortheUniversityofCenterforScience,Biological“Sturgeonthisriverareontheedge.Thesefishheretospawnaslittleasahalfperthousandinsalinitycouldtheirembryos.Thisthewrongplacetowithscaling

# A rare Marshyhope Creek Atlantic sturgeon is prepared for tag implantation. Photo courtesy of David Secor

20 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

The fecal waste produced by this scale of operation would produce levels “well exceeding those of the entire human popu lation of Caroline County, self-contained under a single roof,” according to a joint statement published in the Talbot Spy, written by a group of concerned scientists and community representatives. The state ment also noted that AquaCon’s latest two endeavors include mass die-offs of 600,000 fish in 2020 at a Miami, FL, facility, and an incident at their pilot plant in Denmark in 2021 that turned a nearby waterway red with excessive amounts of iron chloride.

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Maryland Sportfishing Awards

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Stamp Approvalof

aptain Bruno Vasta and the late Jim Gracie have been named as recipients of the Maryland Sport Fisheries Achievement Awards for 2022. Vasta has a long history in the sportfishing community and represented Maryland as a member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and Gracie advocated for stream restoration throughout the state and was a founding member of the Maryland Trout Unlimited chapter.

breathtaking photo of a shipwreck in Mallows Bay taken by FishTalk con tributor Peter Turcik has been selected by the U.S. Postal Service, to be featured in its series of stamps celebrating National Marine Sanctuaries. Taken in the summer of 2016, to get the shot Turcik lay flat on his kayak (ignor ing biting flies and the urge to cast) as he drifted into position. “April is a great time to fish Mal lows because the largemouth bass are spawning,” he says. “Check the charts for lower tides and the weather reports to make the most of the trip.”

# Peter Turcik’s Mallows Bay photo will soon be appearing on USPS stamps.

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InvitationOpen

he Chesapeake Fishing Open takes place on the first of this month, headquartered at the Baltimore Yacht Basin, with anglers vying to catch the biggest rockfish, catfish, snakehead, and white perch. At the same time, youth and family fishing festival events and a communi ty cleanup will be taking place, as the Open works to support local nonprof its focused on improving water quality and promoting conservation efforts in and around the harbor and the Pata psco. Competition includes all waters north of the Bay Bridge and Kent Narrows bridge up to the Conowingo dam, and multiple calcuttas will be in play. Visit chesapeakefishingopen.com for the details.

Rod & ReefExpandsSlam

ctober 8 and 9 you can jump into the Ocean City Inshore Classic, a straight 32-hour stretch of nonstop fishing from 7 a.m. Saturday through 3 p.m. Sunday. Fishing takes place out of OCMD either in the bays, inlets, or within three miles of shore, with cash prizes and calcuttas for the largest rockfish, flounder, tautog, and an “open” category. Weigh-ins are at Atlantic Tackle in the West Ocean City commercial harbor. Visit fishinoc.com for the details.

ctober 8 through the 16th the unique Rod & Reef Slam comes back for 2022. We love the unusual angle this Chesapeake Bay Foundation-sponsored tourna ment takes, with winners judged not by how large a fish they can catch, but by how many different species you can score while fishing in the waters around restored oyster reefs. Last year the fishing territory extended from a cluster of reefs near the Eastern Shore of Maryland to include over 100 different reef sites in the Bay, so wherever you fish, you can compete. Visit cbf.org to learn more.

Inshore Galore

F OR MOR e ge AR R eview S , vi S i T : FISHTAL k MAG . COM / GEAR

he Penn Carnage III is a new set of spinning rods designed for boat use, featuring the SLS3 blank inner/outer spiral carbon fiber sandwich construction. We tested out a 1530S70, rated for 15- to 30-pound line, and found it surprisingly light (13.8 ounces) for how much backbone it has. The hardware Penn chose for this series is also impressive, including top-shelf Fuji K-guides and Seaguide aluminum reel seats. What’s really sur prising, however, is the grip. Penn calls it rubberized shrink wrap, and it feels more or less like foam grips but has a slightly rougher, grippier surface which is quite com fortable in-hand. Models are available in light to heavy power, in 6’6” to 8’0” lengths. Price: $219.95 to $239.95. Visit pennfishing.com for more info.

Warm Wear

HOT NEW

ast winter we got ahold of some new cold weather base-layer clothing to try out from a brand called ZeroFit. Turns out this stuff is uber-popular in Japan, where it’s made, and ZeroFit USA has brought it to our shores. The acrylic/ nylon/wool/polyester/polyurethane blend in the ZeroFit Heatrub was thoroughly warm, about as warm as any base-layer we can ever remember wearing. What we re ally liked, however, was the flexibility this stuff provides. Unlike some super-popular bases we’ve worn before, the material isn’t restrictive at all and we found it noticeably more comfortable than usual through the course of winter days spent pickerel and perch fishing — we’re not giving these up. Tops, bottoms, and beanies are all avail able. Price: $20 to $120. Visit zeofitusa.com to learn more.

GEAR

Flummoxing Float

e’re all for putting more tech into our basic fishing gear (lie), but does it make sense to fish with an “intelligent” electronic bobber? Evidently the makers of the Intelligent Electronic Bobber believe the answer is yes, and we agree (another lie). The Intel ligent Electronic Bobber is powered by a lithium battery that provides “long working hours” and is saltwater compatible. What has us totally confused is that nowhere on the Walmart website (yes, Walmart carries this gem) does it say what exactly this bobber does, other than float. Does it auto-jig? Shout a warning when the bait gets taken? Transmit water density data to your phone via Bluetooth? We simply have no clue, and when we tried finding more details on the manufac turer’s website, we were redirected to a “Taoist Products” webpage featuring feathered cat wand toys (true story). Price: $9.95. Visit Walmart and you really can find this, errr, gem.

editor’s Note: We wish we could personally test every item that appears on these pages, but that simply isn’t possible. So that you know the difference between when we’ve physically tested a piece of gear and when we’re writing about it because it’s newsworthy and we think you’ll want to know about it, we’ve developed this FishTalk Tested button. When you see it printed next to something in this section, it means we’ve personally run it through the wringer.

Slick Stick

24 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

few months back we told you about the new Daiwa Dark Water line of rods, built on the X45 blank that features a biaswrap construction with carbon weaves at a 45-degree angle to eliminate blank twist and increase power. The guides and reel seats are top-shelf components from Fuji, grips are EVA foam, and butt caps cover a gimbal. There are 21 models in the lineup including both spinning and conventional. When we spoke about the conventional rig we mentioned a hands-on test with a spinner was in the works, and after a season of use we’re ready to say that the 6’6” medium-heavy DKWT66MSH is among our new faves for tackling big bruisers like cobia and mahi-mahi. A long EVA grip and butt help you put serious heat on the fish, and when a monster is on the line you can pop off the rounded butt cap to make good use of a gimbal. We also liked how the locking nut on the reel seat prevented the reel from coming loose over time. Price: $179.99. Visit daiwa.us for more information.

Pop Culture

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 25

Small Wonders

Spinning in the Dark

ercury Marine has rolled out a pair of new small outboards, which aren’t mere re-hashes of older models but are freshly engineered from the ground up. Available in 25and 30-hp models, the new FourStroke engines are based on a three-cylinder, 500cc powerhead with EFI and, for the first time in this size range, SmartCraft digital capabilities and available Smart Craft gauges. Trollers get a special perk in the form of Troll Control, which lets you dial in exact trolling speeds to 10 rpm increments. Base model weight is 132 pounds, which is 16 percent lighter than previous models. Both sizes are available with either electric or manual start, tiller steering or remote controls, and manual or power trim. Jet drive models are also in the offing. Price: $4300 to $6300. Visit mercurymarine.com for more info.

ome topwater baits look like dead chunks of plastic when they float on the water’s surface. Not so with Shimano’s new World Pop 69F, one of the cool new goodies hitting the market in 2022 which we saw at the ICAST show this sum mer. The World Pop floats tail-down, and it has Shimano’s uber-reflective, motion-adding “Flash Boost” reflec tive foil suspended on micro-springs inside of its clear body. That means that the tiniest ripples will give the lure a shimmering illusion of motion. The World Pop 69F is 2.75 inches long and weighs three-eighths of an ounce, comes in 10 color patterns, has onepiece internal weights, and a bloopinducing cupped face. Price: $19.99. Visit fish.shimano.com to learn more.

2. Maneuvering requires setting down your rod and picking up a paddle, so do as little as possible; paddle upwind and set yourself up to drift down a shoreline or a good-looking area before you ever take a cast.

4. If you hook a very large fish and it begins towing you, let the fish run and hold the rod in one hand as you use the paddle to turn the board bow-to-fish with the other.

• Don’t drop the jig then swing the rod up and down with your arms, but use a reel-and-pump motion. Don’t stop reeling, because the idea is to draw the tuna into attacking as the jig “flees” towards the surface. Keep the rod tip between seven and nine o’clock and crank/pump hard enough for the tip of the rod to load (bend) and unload

# Charlie just couldn’t resist a pink jig zipping through the water column.

hose who enjoy paddle board ing may want to mix in a bit of fishing at the same time, but fishing from a paddleboard does present a unique set of challenges. When you shove off and start casting, keep these five tips in mind.

1. Even if you’re an expert on SUPs, only bring gear you don’t mind

5. If you’re planning to keep fish, rather than trying to haul a clunky cooler do it the old-fash ioned way: with a stringer. You can thread it through a handle or leash on the board.

• Locate fish with the meter. Often you’ll want to troll until finding an active area, then move slowly while scoping out the meter. When you spot those big beautiful marks, drop down your jigs well beyond the depth you see them at. Search hard in areas where you spot shoals of sand eels on the meter.

(straighten up), imparting the jig with a darting motion as it zooms up through the water

• Rig up conventional or spinning jigging gear with 50- to 65-pound braid mainline and a 50- to 80-pound fluorocarbon leader.

‘Sup, Anglers?

26 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com Plan Of Attack

losing, empty your pockets of all valuables, and put on a PFD. Excit ing blow-ups and vigorous hooksets can and do result in spills now and again. As we move into fall and water temperatures drop also be sure you’re properly protected from hypothermia; wet or dry suits may be appropriate depending on conditions.

Jig a Pig

• Stick with speed-jig style offerings, but don’t be tempted to use monster jigs just because you’re fishing for tunas. Elephants eat peanuts, and a four- or five-inch jig of three to five ounces is more than enough of an offering.

3. When keeping balance is prob lematic, get on your knees or sit on the board and dangle a leg off each side to lower your center of gravity.

s fall sets in and the waters cool off, jigging for tuna can be red hot. There’s a lot to this game, but to nutshell the tactical parameters:

# Leave the important stuff at home – moments after this picture was taken, the angler went for a swim.

Sincecolumn.you’realways reeling and pump ing there’s always full tension on the line — no matter when the fish hits you’re ready for it, and the strike should provide a de facto hook-set.

Listing your boat with us means any service work needed to get your boat sold can be done at our facility. No trailer? No problem. We’ll come pick up your boat, detail it, fix minor issues, and get it sold.

We offer a hassle free boat brokerage service that is dedicated to finding a buyer. We’ll provide a friendly, professional experience.

Thinking of selling your boat? NEW NEW NEW See the 2023 Finseeker models at the Annapolis and Timonium Boat Show

We sell new and pre-owned, turn key boats at affordable prices! Finseeker 220 cc by crownline Finseeker 230 cc by crownline Finseeker 210 cc by crownline 410.574.3988 2426 Holly neck rd, essex, MD Located at Holly Neck Marina mdboatsales . com

At City Dock, Annapolis, MD. Purchase tickets annapolisboatshows.comat

Hosted at Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, MD.

Oct O ber through Oct 31

1 chesapeake fishing open

13-17 United states sailboat show

Do you have an upcoming event? Send the details to:

8-9 ocean city inshore classic

Fish any area of Dorchester County, MD to catch the largest combined length of snakehead and bass in this online tournament presented by Amped Up Outdoors.

8 Patuxent river appreciation Day

7:30 pm at American Legion 278. Contact: Bert, (302) 399-5408.

Angling for oyster restoration. Join CBF for a unique fishing tournament that celebrates the difference restored oyster reefs are making in the return of healthy, diverse populations of Chesapeake Bay reef fish. Register at cbf.org

the return of the big lizz tournament

5 kent island fishermen monthly meeting

America’s Boating Club Rockville will present the official Maryland Safe Boating Course online on October 11, 13, 18, and 20 (Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 7-9 p.m. The class will take place on Zoom and costs $10. Students must attend all four online sessions. For more information contact jmckinney2606@gmail.com

October 6-9 and October 13-17 at Weems & Plath in Annapolis. Huge savings on discontinued, overstock, and sample items.

maryland rod and reef slam

11 get Your maryland boating certificate

Benefits the Arundel Rivers Federation and the efforts it takes to protect and promote healthy water on the South, Rhode, and West Rivers in Anne Arundel County, MD. The event offers a 5-mile continuous loop for swimmers and paddlers to complete solo or as a relay. Additionally, a lifeguard supported 800-meter course is available for participants interested in staying close to shore. Register: swimthesouthriver.com

6-9 United Powerboatstatesshow

An angling based effort to provide important data to Maryland DNR, USFWS, and other management agencies on what you’re seeing on the water. Fishery managers need help in understanding where invasive species are being caught, and with what regularity or how much effort. Presented by CCA-MD on the iAngler tournament app. Prizes awarded to up to 10 winners every month. Register for free at ccamd.org/count

6-17 Weems & Plath tent sale

C HESAPEA k E C ALENDAR

BROUGHT TO YOU BY OR C H e SAP e AK e B AY BOAT i N g N ew S , vi S i T PROPTAL k. COM

through Oct 1

trawlerfest baltimore Trawlerfest Baltimore will host an impressive in-water selection of new and pre-owned trawlers, long-range cruisers and coastal cruisers, and first-class education and demonstrations at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

28 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

mid-atlantic small craft festival Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum will once again host one of the nation’s largest gatherings of small boat enthusiasts and unique watercraft.

5 fsff monthly meeting

Fish any or all 32 hours. Categories for rockfish, flounder, tautog and open. $75 registration per boat includes Captain. $50 each for each additional angler up to 5. Open Division will recognize the following fish only: bluefish, grey trout, speckled trout, sheepshead, black drum, red drum, triggerfish, and croaker.

8-16

through Oct 2

5th annual swim and Paddle the south river

At City Dock, Annapolis, MD. Purchase tickets at annapolisboatshows.com kaylie@FishTalkMag.com

the great chesapeake invasives count

7 to 9 p.m. at the Free State Fly Fishers Clubhouse (behind Ford Hall) at the Davidsonville Family Recreation Center, MD. Speaker: Rudy Lukacovic, retired DNR Biologist, discussing catch and release studies. Please contact Ryan Harvey at rybeer@gmail.com with any questions.

At the Baltimore Yacht Basin. Anglers are vying to catch the biggest rockfish, catfish, snakehead, and white perch. Works to support local nonprofits focused on improving water quality and promoting conservation efforts in and around the harbor and the Patapsco. Party and awards at Nick’s Fish House.

Tickets $10 | Military $7 | Ages 12 & Under Free | Free Parking | Food & Drink www.TheChesapeakeBayBoatShow.com

Learn more at ccamd.org

fsff monthly hands-on session

16th annual fish for a cure tournament

Featuring a wildlife and nature art show; craft brews, wines, and delicacies of the Chesapeake; kid’s fishing derby; retriever demonstrations; birds of prey; buy, sell, swap and artifacts exhibit; world waterfowl calling championships, and more! Tickets $20 for all three days. waterfowlfestival.org

Our Common Table with Chef John Shields. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Van Lennep auditorium at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD. $20 per person. Register at cbmm.org

# CCA Maryland e xecutive Director David Sikorski presents the awards to the 2021-2022 Pickerel Championship winners. Catch, photo, and release pickerel, perch, and crappie from November 1 - February 28 for a chance to win great prizes. Learn more at ccamd.org

15-16 56th annual U.s. oyster festival

Shaping a Landscape: The Archaeology & History of People in the Chesapeake. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Van Lennep Auditorium at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD. $8 per person. Register at cbmm.org

O ct O ber

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD. Rain or shine. Featuring oysters served a variety of ways, along with other local fare, craft beer, and spirits, plus live music, an oyster stew competition, cooking demonstrations, Chesapeake Bay retriever and oystering demonstrations, children’s activities, and more.

1 to 5 p.m. at the Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, VA. Food trucks, beer and cider tastings, pumpkin decorating, kids activities, and more. Entrance to the festival is $2 per person. Children 3 and under are free. Tickets for tastings of craft beer and cider are $35 for Members, and $40 for nonmembers.

cca maryland Pickerel championship

Target chain pickerel all winter long in this catch, photo, release tournament to compete for great prizes including Panfish, Kayak, Fly, and Youth divisions.

30 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

(continued)

11-13 51st Waterfowl festival

Our Coming Coast: panel discussion about climate change in Chesapeake communities. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Van Lennep Auditorium at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD. $8 per person, limited tickets available. Register at cbmm.org

10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Free State Fly Fishers Clubhouse (behind Ford Hall) at the Davidsonville Family Recreation Center, MD. Adam Bange will teach club members how to tie deerhair poppers using the stacking hair technique. Free to FSFF members and visitors. Please contact Ryan Harvey at rybeer@gmail. com with any questions.

At the St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds in Leonardtown, MD. Home of the U.S. national oyster shucking championship and the national oyster cookoff.

5 the mariners’ Park fall festival

kent island fishermen monthly meeting

17 cbmm fall speaker series

Register your crew for the F4AC tournament, Paul C. Dettor Captain’s Challenge, and Weigh-in party to be held at South Annapolis Yacht Centre. This tournament supports the Cancer Survivorship program at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center’s (LH AAMC) Geaton and JoAnn DeCesaris Cancer Institute. Register and/or donate at fishforacure.org

29 cbmm oysterfest

20 cbmm fall speaker series

cbmm fall speaker series

Chesapeake Calendar

N O vember

4-5 Urbanna oyster festival Hospitality tents throughout Urbanna, VA, wine and beer tastings, oyster tastings, discounts at local businesses, shucking contest, and more.

1 through Feb 28

Do you have an upcoming event? send the details to: kaylie@proptalk.com

7:30 pm at American Legion 278. Contact: Bert, (302) 399-5408. Speaker: CJ Canby of the FV Miss Paula. He is a local crabber who will be speaking to us about the crabbing season for local watermen and some myths that we didn’t know about.

2022 Flying into our 51 st Featuredyear Artist NOVEMBER 11–13, 2022 EASTON, MARYLAND WATERFOWL FESTIVAL® Tickets, event schedule and MORE at WaterfowlFestival.org! Your visit and art purchases benefit waterfowl and wetland restoration and conservation efforts in the region. WILDLIFE AND NATURE ART SHOW Nation’s best wildlife painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers. TASTE THE CHESAPEAKE! Experience all the craft brews, wines and delicacies. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES Kid’s Fishing Derby, Retriever, Fly Fishing Demos, and Birds of Prey! HOLIDAY SHOPPING At the Chesapeake Marketplace EASTERN SHORE SPORTING AND HUNTING TRADITIONS Buy Sell Swap and Artifacts Exhibit features decoys, Americana folk art & hunting memorabilia. WORLD SPORTSMAN’SCALLINGWATERFOWLCHAMPIONSHIPSPAVILION Gear and guides and Delmarva Dock Dogs. TICKETS $20 FOR ALL THREE DAYS RICHARD CLIFTON Milford, Delaware Exhibiting for his 17th year November Morning—Pintails

Jimmy Hamrick got his first Cobia ever on July 3 near Stingray Point. it was a “bucket list” item for him at 75!

Jim knows how to keep Mary Pat and their grandson Thomas on the fish!

Amy landed her first cobia of the year just in time for independence Day, in the Stingray Point area.

Pete was casting in the surf at Nags Head when this beauty struck.

bits.

# Josh Miller caught Shore catfish Fishbites

32 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com Marine Engine Sales, Parts & Service www.BayshoreMarineEngines.com410-263-8370 Reader Photos presented by Send your fi S hing pic S to lenny@fi S htalkmag.com

this nice eastern

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 33

# grammy Brendan,hadfive months old, strapped on, and her little lucky charm helped her slide the net under this 34inch snakehead in Middle River. Nice job, Brendan!

# Morgan( (left), Alex (right), and Tito (center) got into the rock at worton Point. we’re pretty sure Tito caught most!

# Port Deposit produced this 38-inch monster for Rich.

# Bernie O’Brien got this nice limit of flounder jigging at the rail cars out of Chincoteague.

Authorized d e A ler. Certified t e C hni C i A ns.

# Julia and Steve were cruising off wallops island when they spotted a school of these beauts swimming along.

# Quinn, Kenzie, and Laina had a fun day catching perch and blues at Nine Foot Knoll.

# Ben hauled this one up from a farm pond in Harford County.

# Colin cast a chunk of peeler crab out from the dock in Crisfield, and reeled up this 21.5-incher.

Authorized d e A ler. Certified t e C hni C i A ns.

# Anthony got this 23-inch pickerel using a baitcaster for the first time – sweet!

34 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com Reader Photos presented by

# Cam knows a good read when he finds one!

# Team Alltackle crewmemberin-training Matias reeled up this barracuda all by himself. Photo courtesy of Nate Moore

# Mikey is all smiles with his rockfish.

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 35

# Brian made the long run to Pooles and was quite happy with the outcome.

# Chris pulled this nice speck out of the waters of the Honga.

Authorized d e A ler. Certified t e C hni C i A ns.

# Rich hooked into this 39-inch monster blue cat off Pooles island this summer.

# Caleb and Ali enjoyed their summer vacation with Joshua (dad) by catching some speckled trout.

# Nate enjoyed a great striper bite!

# Doug and Steve got into ‘em, at Poplar island.

Authorized d e A ler. Certified t e C hni C i A ns.

# Shelby caught ‘em up, and Doug snapped off this pic!

# Mia had fun catching monster crabs in the South River this summer. YUM!

36 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com Reader Photos presented by

# Rich got into the mackerel and blues while tossing metal near Solomons.

# Mike and the crew got into ‘em thick, on the Boss Hogg

# Rhonda picked up this nice rockfish in the shallows of the Choptank.

# Seven-year-old Roman caught his first topwater rockfish on the Severn. Nice job, Roman!!

# Nate Babikow, Alayna eufemia, and Reece Babikow along with Tim and erika Babikow had great team work while fishing on the Green Edge

# gregg tied into this beautiful 47inch red in the Middle Bay, while fishing with walleye Pete.

Authorized d e A ler. Certified t e C hni C i A ns.

# The guys at Apex Predators enjoy some seriously snaky action this summer.

OFTHE

# Tim got ‘em at night in Lynnhaven.

FIS H PIC

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 37

# Martin set out the ol’ Clark spoon and caught up the mackerel near the Target Ships. MONTH

# Alex found the mackerel fishing near Poplar this summer.

# John Harris sent in this pic of a cool catch – a in(redmouthpigfishgrunt),theYorkRiver.

38 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com Reader Photos presented by

Authorized d e A ler. Certified t e C hni C i A ns.

# Anthony had a rather spectacularly diverse bite at the CBBT, catching sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, and — drum roll, please — numerous pompano!

# Brennan and Jace did some super scooping east of Tilghman and went home happy.

# Don went to Puerto Rico… and was treated to this tarpon!

What about fishing features? We love that the folks at Sea Pro realize a truth about all center consoles: more fishing rod holders is more better. The 320 DLX Offshore has five across the transom, three along each gunwale, and five rocket launchers up on the top. And those are just the stock-issues holders, you can order more (as you surely should). But before you deploy any lines from those holders, if you’re a live-liner you’ll want to load up on baits to fill the pair of pressurized 30-gallon livewells in the transom, which are fed via a polished stainless-steel sea chest with Bait Sentry pumps. You’ll also want to fill the leaning post stowage with tackle, and fill the slide-out cooler underneath that post with ice. Soon — with a little luck — you’ll then be filling up the macerated fishboxes on either side of the console (which have hatches that swing up on gas-assist struts) with the catch of the day.

Hot New Fishboats

Oh, and did we mention that you can get this boat with some uber-cool options like Power Glide electrically-ac tuated captain’s chairs, a mister system in the dash, an overhead rain shower in the T-top, refrigerated cupholders, and an Optimus joystick system? Thank goodness it’s easier to get all that stuff these days—and thank goodness it’s all available on the 320 DLX Offshore.

in the mid to upper 30s. A pair of 350s will do the trick nicely, too, providing a max speed in the mid-50s and a cruise in the low to mid 30s.

and you’ll be

like the one

By Lenny Rudow

Up in the bow there are flanking seats with an electric table between them, which can be lowered to the seat’s level to create a bow casting deck. In an unusual design tweak Sea Pro es chewed the usual drop-in seatbacks for the forward seating and instead the rear of the seats themselves swings up and locks into place on stainless-steel sup

Pro 320 DLX

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 39

# get behind helm on the Sea Pro 320 DLX Offshore, ready to point the bow for open waters.

Sea Offshore: Yes, Please!

ntroduced during Covid-time and somewhat difficult to see up until more recently, Sea Pro Boats has a new queen for their fleet: the 320 DLX Offshore. One of the things that really stunk about the pandemic, and which sticks with us to some degree even to this day, is the supply shortages that made it tough to do things like build new boats. And the folks at Sea Pro must have really struggled with this issue when it came to the 320 DLX Offshore because it has so dang many goodies and gadgets on it.

Fortunately,on. now that supply chains have eased a bit it’s become easier for builders to get all the stuff they need to create rather magnificent center console fishing machines like this. Included in that stuff is a pair of outboards. The Sea Pro 320 DLX Offshore can be rigged with a pair of 400-hp powerplants on the transom, which gives this boat a top end just under 60 mph and a cruising speed

ports. The front of the console provides more bow seating, with swing-down arm rests and cup holders. Comfort gets another nod in the console, where you’ll find a fully-finished head compartment with a countertop, sink, and stowage, as well as a bench seat with more stowage beneath it.

LOA: 32’0” Beam: 10’4” Displacement: 8500 lbs. Transom Deadrise: 24.5 deg Fuel Capacity: 207 gal Freshwater Capacity: 22 Max Power : 800 hp Qu IC k F ACTS AREA DEALER Tri-State Marine, Deale, MD (410) 867-1447 tristatemarine.comor

In fact, the standard equipment list for this boat reads like a long recitation of all the different things you could ever desire in a big, beefy center console: a pair of 19-inch Simrad MFDs at the helm with a remote control, an EZ Anchor Drum windlass, Optimus EPS steering, Lumitech Razor spreader lights, DLX trim tabs with LED indicators, under water lights, cockpit outlets for electric reels and downriggers, GPS tracking and remote monitoring including mechani cal support via an app… the list goes on and

Coastal Skiff is built by Four Son’s Marine, a family owned and operated outfit that’s been building since 1999. They build their skiffs (as well as a line of flats boats) by hand, one at a time, in Fair Bluff, NC, with all composite materials. The range includes 17-, 18-, 21-, and 27-footers, and these are no-nonsense skiffs which are ideal for everything from casting in the shal lows to running a trot line until Jimmies are scrambling over the top of the bushel basket. In good weather any of them could

Skiff 212:

LOA: 21’2” Beam: 8’2” Displacement: 1600 lbs Draft: 6” Max Capacity: 12 persons/ 2405 Lbs Fuel Capacity: 22 gal Max Power : 115 hp Qu IC k F ACTS AREA DEALER Scott’s Cove Marina,Chance, MD, (410) 784-7624 scottscovemarina.com.

Coastal Beauty in Simplicity

capacity. Double added bonus: since they build with composites and don’t add on tons of extra junk, weight is kept to a minimum. The 1600-pound displacement is svelte enough that this rig can be hauled to the ramp with a modest tow vehicle.

40 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com Hot New Fishboats

head out into the open Bay but the 212 strikes us as the model with enough beef to get you out to the big fish with confidence, in most conditions.

The basic package includes a flip-back helm seat/leaning post cooler, elevated bow casting deck with stowage underneath, a 90- or 115-hp outboard, and a trailer — and it comes in under the $30,000 mark.

As far as construction and design go, again, the simpler-is-better mantra ap plies. The 212 has a bit of V in the bow to help mitigate a chop but is essentially a flat-bottom boat, which gives it excel lent stability and a field-beating six-inch minimum draft. Stringers are foam cored and the transom is composite cored, so these are wood-free boats, and the deck is self-bailing.You’reamillennial looking to move from a fishing kayak into a boat appropri ate for taking out the kids? You want a simple, straightforward boat that’s easy to maintain and easy to run? Or, maybe you just want a fishing and crabbing machine that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? Many of the boatbuilders out there have left you in their wake, but the Coastal Skiff 212 might be just what you’ve been looking for

’ve got a beef with many modern boatbuilders: they’ve stopped mak ing small, simple, straightforward, inexpensive, skiff-style boats in favor of larger, more complex, more expensive boats. This is in large part because more ex pensive boats have a bigger profit margin. I understand the trend from an economic point of view, but in a world where a 21foot boat-motor-trailer packages can push $100K out the door and fully outfitted, a huge number of would-be boat anglers are left sitting on the shoreline. So, I was stoked to run across the Coastal Skiff 212.

Note: this is a rigged and ready-to-roll price, not a “oh, you want a steering wheel and a propeller, too?” price. Rear decking with stowage, a livewell, and hull colors are available options. These are short lists, and that’s by design. One of the beautiful things about a simple skiff is that there’s very little to go wrong. With few switches or pumps, little wiring, and no additional systems, maintenance is minimized. And the pre-trip prep and the post-trip wrap-up is reduced to turning the key in the igni tion.Added bonus: with all the wide-open deck space there’s plenty of room for gear and passengers, and the Coastal Skiff 212 has a rather surprising 12-person max

poch Boats has the latest electric foilers to join the gas-free fracas, launching a line of fishing skiffs with a hydrofoil system that deploys at speed to lift the boat out of the water to reduce hull drag and produce a top end exceeding 30 mph. A 15- to 25-hp equivalent electric motor and 5kWh battery provide the oomph. Epoch Skiffs will be available in 14to 18-foot sizes, and the foils stow back to the hull, with a four-inch draft, for trailering, low speeds, or shallow water

The Epoch: Foiled Again

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 41 For more fishboat reviews, visit: FishTalkMag.com/fishboat-reviews Tideline 365 Offshore The Future of Offshore Sportfishing Combined With Classic Style and Appeal CatWWW.TIDELINEBOATS.COMRide,ClassicStyleVisitusontheDemoDock(SlipK15)attheUSPowerboatShow! Please contact us in advance to line up a sea trial. FishTalk?Favorite Our fishing boat reviews cover all types of boats ranging from big center console fishing boats to aluminum fishing boats, plus reports on outboard engines. Scan QR code or visit: fishtalkmag.com/fishboat-reviews

Theseoperation.arealuminum boats (0.10” hull thickness), and are expected to weigh in at between 375 and 675 pounds (without power), providing an exceptionally light plat form for the size which can run without fumes, sounds, or for the most part, fuel costs. Range is always the big barrier when it comes to electric boats, and in this case Epoch says they’ll have about 30 miles of range at topend and up to 60 when travelling at 20 mph with the base power package (additional optional batteries will be available). Stay tuned for more or visit epochboats.com

Shopping for anew fishing boat?

The Latest in Tech

Look for these top tech traits as you shop for new boats.

There’s some new tech in the boating world which you’ll want to be aware of as you walk the docks at the U. S. Powerboat Show in Annapolis, MD, looking for a new ride. And when it comes to larger boats which are bound to be complex, tech is generally a good thing. So as you shop for a new fishing machine, in each of these categories be on the lookout for:

and then automatically calculates where to position your boat to drift across it in a given timeframe. Simrad introduced a new platform in their NSX series. Raymarine rolled out their Cyclone radar and an nounced compatibility with SiriusXM Fish Mapping service. And Garmin updated its ECHOMAPS and rolled out a new autopilot control head. But none of these developments are what we’d call earthshattering.Therehas, however, been a continual march in the direction of digital switch ing. Brunswick, the largest boatbuilder in the country, acquired Power Products back

The Latest in Electronics

ew tech can be awesome — and it can be terrible. Tech can make our lives easier, our days more productive, and our knowledge base larger. Or, it can confuse the bejesus out of us, bringing all progress to a halt. This is particularly true when it comes to boats. And in some ways, a tech-free boat is a carefree boat. Few pleasures in life are as great as coasting along with nothing but a simple hull and an outboard pushing you where you want to cast next. On the other hand, just how many fish would you coast past without ever taking that cast?

42 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

By Staff

Seakeeper rocked the boating world — unrocked it, actually — with gyroscopic sta bilization, and their latest product is going to un-rock it a whole lot more. The new

in 2018, including the Mastervolt brand. Then last year they acquired Navico. Now they own both the CZone digital switching system and the MFDs to interface with it, and digital switching has already popped up on everything from pontoon boats to bowriders. Look for this expansion to con tinue and reach boats of all shapes, sizes, and types in the near future.

Annapolis Boat Show Special: Be on the Lookout For...

# The Ride system adjusts its transommounted blades up to 100 times per second to smooth out the ride.

In the recent past Furuno fans have come to enjoy the addition of Fish It and Drift It, functions added to the NavNet TZtouch3 system which give you the ability to create a waypoint at a hotspot

time-consuming. This summer, Sharrow reached an agreement with Yamaha to mass-produce their props via casting at their Greenfield, IN facility. Look for these props to become less expensive and more available in the near future.

Seakeeper says the Ride reduces a boat’s overall motion while underway by up to 70 percent while simultaneously eliminating listing and automizing trim on vessels from 19 to 35 feet. Added bonus: hole-shot is improved, and heel ing in turns is adjusted. Considering how accurate Seakeeper has been with their claims about gyro performance (heck, in some ways they’ve been down right modest) we don’t doubt this for a minute, and we’re looking forward to seeing the Ride with our own eyes asap. We bet you are, too, and lucky for us it will be at the Annapolis Boat Show, installed on a Sportsman 212 and a 231 at the Riverside Marine display. Demos will be available the weekend after the show (call Riverside at (410) 686-1500 forOnereservations).othernote, this one related to propeller tech: most boaters have heard of the Sharrow prop at this point, a propeller introduced a couple of years ago which utilizes loops rather than traditional blades to generate thrust. It provides a nine- to 15-percent jump in efficiency, increased top-end and cruising speeds, reduced sounds and vibration, and improved handling. Up to now, however, these props were milled one by one, which is very expensive and

The Latest in Comfort Aboard

The Latest in Boat Construction

• Lithium iron phosphate (LiFe PO4) batteries. They weigh half as much and last twice as long as oldschool lead-acid, and as an added bonus, don’t blow up the way older lithium ions did. They also cost a heck of a lot more, and we’re just starting to see them aboard boats built by forward-thinking early adopters.

• Magnetically-secured cushions. When the builder laminates the magnets into a seatbase and adds them to the cushion, you can ditch those annoying straps and snaps. The cushions are plenty secure, but when you want to remove them you merely grab and yank. We saw the first application a few years back, and now some additional manufacturers are adopting them. So: are you ready to head for the U.S. Powerboat Show, and pick out a new ride? Show dates are Octo ber 6 through 9 at the City Docks in downtown Annapolis (10 a.m. through 6:30 p.m. every day except Sunday, when the gates close at 5 p.m.) Remember that box office ticket sales will be limited, and the best way to make sure you get into the show is to pre-purchase digitally at annapolis boatshows.com. Most importantly, enjoy the show!

Comfort aboard during long days of fish ing is always a consideration, and there are some new perks one should be aware of in the marketplace. A few years back we saw more and more large center con soles in the 30-foot-plus range extending the forward console seat to turn it into a big comfy lounger with a coffin box beneath it. Now, that trend has made its way into far smaller boats. In fact, some rigs as small as the Sportsman 247 OE and the Scout 215 XSF now sport this feature. Note also that the better build ers are upholstering these loungers (and other seats aboard) in vinyls treated with anti-microbial and anti-fungal treat ments. Make sure the boat you’re looking at has got it, or you’ll see those little black mildew stains appear years sooner.

This is another department in which manufacturers have been focused on meeting demand lately, trying to catch

• High-density foam decking. This stuff isn’t perfect, but it’s well worth having onboard thanks to absorbing vibrations and making a long day of fishing much easier on your back, feet, and knees. Plus it cleans up easily, isn’t hot underfoot on sunny days, and is non-slip even when wet.

# The Scout 215 XFS is the smallest model we’ve seen yet to incorporate a full lounger in front of the console.

Ride is a vessel attitude control system (VACS) combining rotary blades at the transom with sensory tech that takes up to 1000 measurements per second. As the boat runs across the water’s surface the VACS constantly adjusts the blades to mitigate pitch, roll, and yaw.

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up to existing orders as opposed to introducing new and improved ways of doing things. Still, a refresher may be in order for many boaters who haven’t been shopping in the past few years. Keep a sharp eye peeled for:

Another comfort item we saw for the first time this year which is sure to be copied on other boats: an integrated rain shower in the hard top, on the Sea Pro 320 DLX Offshore. You want a head-totoe freshwater rinse? Boom!

• Vacuum-assisted fiberglass layup and two-part molding. These tech niques give fiberglass parts a better resin-to-glass ratio, making them as light and strong as possible, and the undersides of hatches and the backs of doors are fully finished with gleaming gel coat.

“When we catch a redfish, we usually catch several of them under the same dock,” Bourne said. “When we catch a fish or two, we look at all the variables and try to determine a pattern that we can repeat. The inlet holds abundant

On active-duty with the U.S. Navy in Norfolk, my son Daniel served as mate while the captain maneuvered into a good place to tie to a piling within casting distance of a good dock. There was little tide flowing as the sun began to brighten the sky. We baited our lines with live “Whenshrimp.fishing for redfish I like the water to be moving, either an incoming or outgoing tide,” Bourne recommend ed. “A dead or slack tide makes fishing difficult. As the water begins moving again, everything starts coming to life. Many people prefer to fish an area fast with various artificial baits. That does work, but at times, the fish hone in on fresh, live bait. I use a lot of live shrimp and fresh cut fish for redfish bait.”

“Just south of the mouth of Chesa peake Bay, Rudee Inlet is Virginia Beach’s only direct access to the Atlan tic Ocean,” explained Josh Bourne, a hunting and fishing guide with Wing man Guide Service in Virginia breakbuildingsabouttoacreSeveralCreek,upsideLakeparts,Rudeewefishtorough.shorthitsince“The(wingmanguideservice@gmail.com)Beach.greatthingabouttheinletisthatit’ssuchasconfinedarea,wecanmanyspotsinprotectedwatersonatripevenwhentheweatherturnsIt’saveryeasyplaceforkayakersaccess.Evenonwindydays,wecaninprotectedwaters.”Fortunately,onthisfrostymorningdidn’tneedtogofartofindfish.InletismadeupoftwomainLakeRudeeandthesmallerWesley,whichlookslikeandown“Y.”BothmergeintoOwltheoutlettotheAtlanticOcean.smallcreeksflowintothe3000-system.Theinletaveragesabout1012feetdeep,butsomeareasdropto30feetdeep.Housesandothersurroundtheinlet,helpingtoupthewind.

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Rudee Inlet offers up some insanely good fall fishing.

By John N. Felsher

ollowing an unseasonal cold front and pounding rain, a stiff breeze churned the Chesa peake Bay and the Atlantic as the dawning sky began to grow more pinkish to the eastward over the ocean horizon. Not wanting to challenge the power of Mother Nature, we needed a sheltered place to fish. Fortunately, Vir ginia Beach offers such solutions where we could fish despite the wind without taking a severe beating. Bundled up against the cold and the cutting wind, we launched into Rudee Inlet.

“Baitfish like to hide around the pilings under the docks,” Bourne confirmed as we pulled up to one of his favorite wooden honey holes. “Redfish get under the docks and use those areas as good places to stalk their prey. Birds also like to eat small fish, so the baitfish get under the docks to get protection from above. When I’m fishing for redfish, I like to find a dock with a sloping bottom under it.”

Depending upon the season, anglers fishing the inlet, the jetties at the mouth, or just outside of it might catch red drum, speckled trout, black drum, flounder, bluefish, and many other species. The catch might also include rockfish, especially along the jetties from the fall through spring. Many charter boats run out of the inlet into the open Atlantic to fish for everything from king mackerel to blue marlin.“Inthe spring we find a good fish ery for puppy drum” remarked Bourne. “Many red drum stay in the inlet all winter long, depending on the severity of the weather. Bluefish come into this inlet as they migrate along the coast. The inlet is also known for its flounder bite in the summer. The speckled trout bite picks up in the spring and fall.”

# Docks are prime suspects.

On this frigid morning we wanted red drum. Most of the waterfront properties come with docks, and they create excellent cover for redfish, flounder, and other species.

undersized redfish, but that’s a good thing. Those fish are the future of the fishery.”Asthe tide became stronger and the day turned into a warmer, pleasant morning, bigger redfish became more active. We shifted to a nearby dock that showed increasing signs of life, and put our baits as close as possible to the pilings in four to five feet of water. Before long, our reels began scream ing as keeper reds stormed off with our enticements.“Sometimes, we’ll catch reds on one spot on a dock, like a particular post — and nowhere else on the same dock,” Bourne observed. “Perhaps the bottom topography at one spot might be slightly different than at another spot. We will probably never know why those fish like that specific spot at that time, but the fish know.”

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By lunchtime that day we put enough keeper spot-tails in the cooler to feed the family. Daniel turned them into a Cajun favorite, “redfish on the half-shell.” For this dish, fillet each side of a redfish, but keep the scales intact on the skin. Soak the meat in a marinade of Italian dressing or other spices and concoctions to personal taste. Put the meat slabs on a grill with the scale sides down. The heated scales bake into something like a plate. Don’t overcook. When done correctly, the meat easily comes off the scales bursting with flavor.

In late summer and early fall, gi ant male redfish gather in enormous spawning schools called “drumming aggregates” in nearshore waters. Males start drumming to call females to them.

John N. Felsher is a professional freelance writer, broadcaster, photographer and editor. an avid sportsman, he’s written more than 3300 articles for more than 160 different magazines on a wide variety of outdoors topics. he also hosts an outdoors tips show for WaVh fm talk 106.5 radio station in mobile, al. Contact him at j.felsher@hotmail.com.

Ringed by houses and sitting within the city limits of a populated area, the inlet receives substantial pressure throughout the year, especially during the warmer months. On warm after noons, many people come out to fish on their docks and enjoy the sunshine.

“In late summer we see giant bull reds in huge schools where the Chesa peake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean,” Bourne said. “We sight-fish for them. In the fall, the fish prepare to migrate and get together in big schools as they get ready to depart. The ones that will stay hunker down in the inlet through out the winter.”

“As spring progresses and the water warms, crabs emerge from the mud,” Bourne said. “That’s a good time to fish because it’s easier for redfish to find food. When we have more current, we normally see redfish facing their noses into the flow. In the summer, redfish schools break up. That’s when we catch one or two at a time and move to an other spot to catch a few more.”

# Reds like this make visiting Rudee a winning decision.

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ickerel are one of the handful of species of fish in the Mid-Atlantic region which hit their stride during the cooler months of the year. From now through March pickerel fishing will shine, and these toothy critters will provide nonstop action in fishing venues throughout the area.

Pickerel Fun Facts

• A pickerel can live for up to a decade.

• Pickerel can lay up to 50,000 eggs at a time. But once those eggs are laid the babies are on their own, as the pickerel don’t guard them at all.

Maryland – In Chesapeake waters, the state record sits at six pounds, five ounces, for a fish caught in the Susquehanna all the way back in 1975. The freshwater record

Where To Find Pickerel

It’s important to note that pickerel may be found in very different areas, depending on the environment. In tributary waters with few weedbeds and developed shorelines, for example, pickerel will often be found next to piers and pilings. And in deep lakes with few shallow flats that support weed growth, points can be a form of structure they gravitate to.

FishingPickerelfor for Beginners

# Pickerel are long, tubular fish that bite well during the winter months in tributary waters, lakes, and ponds.

Pickerel will hit many types of lures, including spoons, plugs, and jigs. They particularly like striking inline spinners with trailer lures, and lures with spinners attached such as Roadrunners or underspins. But for simplicity and effectiveness

What Are Pickerel?

is eight pounds even, and was caught in Salisbury in 2015.

As fall hits and the waters begin to cool off, a new pickerel season shall commence!

How To Catch Pickerel

• This species lives in both tidal and nontidal waters, and can be found in virtually every Chesapeake Bay tributary river as well as many lakes and ponds.

• Pickerel normally weigh between one and three pounds and measure from a foot or so to two feet in length, but they can get larger.

Pickerel are long tubular-shaped fish in the pike family. There are actually several species of pickerel, but the chain pickerel, which is native to the Atlantic coast, its tributaries, and impound ments, is the one commonly seen in the Mid-Atlantic states. Grass pickerel live to the west from the Great Lakes down to Mississippi, and while the redfin pickerel can be found in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, its small size (a foot-long redfin is a monster) and lower population numbers mean it’s rarely seen by Chainanglers.pickerel have a chain-like pat tern going down their greenish sides, a single dorsal fin far back near the fish’s tail, and a prominent duck-like bill which is jam-packed with very sharp teeth. Warning: keep your fingers away from the pickerel’s mouth, because it can cause some serious damage.

Virginia – Seven pounds, 12 ounces sets the mark for pickerel in Virginia.

Pickerel are ambush predators which will commonly sit motionless in or near cover, then dart out to pounce on their meals. Since they like relatively shallow waters this means they can often be found along shorelines hiding next to fallen trees and similar structure. However, they also like to hide in weedbeds. In ponds or lakes with weedbeds in three to eight or so feet of water, you’ll often find the majority of the pickerel sitting in the weeds.

• The CCA-Maryland Winter Pickerel Championship runs all winter long and is a catch-photo-release competition which adds an element of excitement to your winter fishing endeavors (visit ccamd.org to learn more).

Record Pickerel

Delaware – The state record for Delaware is seven pounds, 13 ounces, and was just set in 2022.

By Lenny Rudow

• Pickerel thrive in shallow, weedy water, and are rarely found in depths of more than 10 or 12 feet.

For in-depth how-to articles that dig deep into different tactics and tackle used for pickerel, visit FishTalkMag.com and read:

• Never use a dry towel or even dry hands to handle the fish. Again, this can remove their protective slime, so rags and/or hands should be wetted before handling them.

• Swap out the treble hooks that come on some lures for single hooks.

• If holding the fish horizontally for a picture, support it under the belly with one hand.

• If you’re fishing bait on a hook and the fish swallows it down deep, rather than ripping or digging the hook out, cut the line off close to the fish and then let it go. They have a better chance of survival if you leave the hook in place.

As long as you abide by size, creel, and seasonal regulations in your area, it’s legal to keep and eat pickerel, and they do have a very sweet, flaky white meat. However, very few anglers take them home for dinner. Pickerel have numerous “pin bones” running up and down through their body, and it’s hard to remove them without ruining the fillets. So, most people simply catchand-release fish for them. None of us want to harm fish we aren’t harvesting,

• Kayak Fishing for Pickerel

Another important piece of pick erel fishing gear is a lip-gripper. Since they’re so toothy (and quite slimy), it can be very difficult to control a pick erel, and a lip-gripper is usually the best way to hold them while you remove the hook and snap off a picture or two.

Pickerel fishing gives Mid-Atlantic anglers a great cold-weather fishing option, and these fish are fierce fighters who are usually willing to bite. Some anglers may think they’re nui sance fish since they aren’t the best table fare in the world, but we say they’re great — and once you feel the tug of a pickerel or two, we’re betting you’ll agree. #

• Winter Pickerel Fishing tactics that OnWorkFishTalk’s YouTube channel, look for:

Pickerel Fishing Gear

# Since pickerel are riddled with bones, they’re most popular as a catch-and-release fish.

# watch out for those teeth!

• Slow Trolling for Pickerel

• The Best Lures for Pickerel Fishing

• Don’t squeeze the fish around the belly. Pickerel have a long head and extended snout, so if you need to grab them do it around the head while pinching the gill plates closed.

I Caught a Pickerel: Now What?

it’s tough to beat a live minnow suspend ed under a bobber, with the depth set so the bait is just a few inches above any weed growth that may be present. Slow trolling lures and/or minnow for pickerel can also be a deadly tactic, and is often one favored by kayak anglers.

• Tidal River Pickerel

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While you can use whatever rod and reel you like for pickerel fishing, most anglers will opt for spinning or casting gear in the eight- to 15-pound class. Leader choice, however, is a bit more critical. Remember those teeth? If a pickerel gets your lure or bait into its mouth there’s a very good chance it will cut you off, especially if you have light leader. Sharpies will usually start at a minimum of 12-pound test but often go as high as 20-pound test to minimize bite-offs. Pickerel aren’t particularly leader-shy, so while a few might not strike when you use a heavy leader, you’ll still get plenty of bites most of the time.

so applying best catch-and-release practices is important:

• Fishing Tactics for Chain Pickerel

• Land the fish with a net that has “fish safe” rubberized or rubber-coated mesh, not knotted nylon. Knotted nylon can scrape the fish’s slime away, which can lead to infections.

1. Red Bridges

About nine miles downriver from Red Bridges the Choptank opens up signifi cantly at Martinak State Park, where Watts Creek shoots off from the main stem. At any time of year anglers can launch a boat and fish for freshwater species in the river itself, or cast from the shores of the park into the creek. Put a bait on bottom and catch catfish

4. The Bill Burton Fishing Pier

5. Castle Haven Point

Parents have been taking their kids to enjoy the red-hot spring perch action at Red Bridges for generations. Pull down Red Bridges Road just north of Greensboro, park in the gravel lot at the end of the road, and fish right there or walk down the path along the river’s edge. While most folks come here in March or April to catch perch hand over fist, this stretch of the Choptank is actually well worth visiting any time of the year. Crappie, bass, pickerel, and fallfish are among the species you might catch here during every season; try toss ing shad darts tipped with grass shrimp or minnow, or suspending a small min now under a bobber.

7. Cook Point (Shallow)

The By Staff

8. Cook Point (Deep)

If one sat down and counted, the hotspots in this river would surely ex pand into the hundreds. We’ll focus on just 10, and although these spots are all fairly well-known in the angling com munity, each holds a unique character istic that makes it well worth visiting.

Choptank River has rockin’ good fishing from its headwaters to the Bay.

for as close to a sure thing as exists when it comes to fishing. Better yet, pay this spot a visit in the dead of winter. There’s a covered pavilion built out over the water next to a deep hole, where yellow perch stage in massive numbers prior to the spring run and will quickly chomp on bull minnow fished on a bottom rig. With a roof overhead and a railed platform to cast from, this is among the

Choptank Hotspots

2. Martinak State Park

3. Bow Knee Point/ Hunting Creek

Fishing the Choptank River 10 Top Hotspots

2. Martinak State Park

he Choptank River is uniquely situated far enough south to enjoy southern species like specks and Spanish for much of the season, yet far enough north to enjoy a solid striper bite virtually year-round. Its erratic shoreline holds promise at virtually every point, and unique structure ranging from islands to airplanes provides habitat prime for everything from trolling to casting light tackle in the shallows. Far from any major metropolitan areas, Cambridge and Denton are the only significant population densities bordering the river and by modern standards its waters are much healthier than most Bay tributaries. In short, the Choptank is a Chesapeake treasure — especially if you know where and how to fish it.

1. Red Bridges

6. Todd Point

9. Reef Balls and The Airplane wreck

10. Harris Creek

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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More than halfway from Denton to Cambridge the river takes a sharp bend at Bow Knee Point, directly across from Hunting Creek. A public marina and boat ramp at Choptank Marina (Caro line County trailer permit required) offer water access to this stretch of the water, where eons of current have scoured out a deep hole that goes beyond 50 feet in some areas. This is prime catfish territory (cut bait of any sort on bottom gener ally does the trick) and in the summer months salty species will also visit this stretch of the river many seasons. Or take a turn up into Hunting Creek, and probe the shallows and coves in search of the prolific snakeheads.

4. The Bill Burton Fishing Pier

best spots around to take young children fishing when it’s rainy or even snow ing outside. (Note: this park has several improvements under construction as we go to press including at the boat ramp and pier; completion was expected by spring of 2023 but check the DNR website for updates before visiting in the near future).

Long a favorite of boatless anglers, the Bill Burton Fishing Pier in Cambridge is currently closed pending a study of struc tural stability. However, boat anglers can still reach the old Route 50 bridge’s pilings, and other areas of the Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park remain open. This includes the trail on the north shore of the river, which provides access to about a third of a mile of shoreline. While the bulk of the catch in this sec

tion of the river consists of perch, catfish, and rockfish, it is far enough downstream that all bets are off. Some years croaker swim these waters in good numbers, blue fish could show up during the summer months, and even species like flounder and speckled trout can appear from time to time. For quick bites toss out a bottom rig baited with bloodworms, and keep a live-lining rig handy so any spot you may catch can get tossed right back out for rockfish.

r u D ow’s e - g ui D es

3. Bow knee Point/Hunting Creek

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 49 This book is a collection of how-to and where-to striped bass fishing articles by noted outdoors writer Lenny Rudow. In it, he detailedcoverstackle,tactics,andlocationsfortargetingrockfishwhileanglinginthewatersoftheChesapeakeBay,andofftheDelmarvacoast. (Price: $6.99) To Downloa D T his e-gui D e an D more, visi T : fish T alkmag.com/e-gui D es

# intrepid FishTalk former fishing reports editor Mollie Rudow pulled this perch up at Red Bridges.

Run seven miles downriver from the Bill Burton Pier and you’ll see Castle Haven Point to your south. What you might not see, however, is the underwater feature here that draws in fish. The point extends out from shore, and between the red number 16 marker and the red number 2 buoy, a sheer ledge drops from four or five feet down into the 20s on the east side, and to over 80 feet of water on the north side. This edge gets plenty of current, and as one might expect, it’s an excel lent area to fish. Rockfish often congregate along the edge in 10 to 25 feet of water and when weakfish were around, this used to be a great spot to locate them. Some seasons flounder will also congregate along the edge, mostly in the 12- to 30foot range, where jigging Gulp! on a three-quarter or one-ounce head can be very productive.

5. Castle Haven Point

6. Todd Point

# This angling family battled a big black drum while fishing in the lower Choptank.

Just off Todd Point, on the southern shore of the river close to its mouth, there’s a series of rock structures left behind by shoreline erosion which today sit in several feet of water. Those rocks attract stripers virtually every season, and in years when speckled trout move up the Bay, this area is often a reliable hotspot. Though they are charted and will appear on any chartplot ter with a decent database their exact position doesn’t match up well and the tricky part about fishing here is finding the rocks without finding them the hard way — and doing serious damage to your prop. The upriver structure is the rect angular foundation of what appears to be an old house, then there’s a substantial gap, then a line of riprap running parallel to the shoreline. On a high tide these are all hidden from view (until it’s too late) and on a low tide most of the riprap is barely visible but the foundation isn’t until you’re right on top of it. If you’re not familiar with this spot the best way to locate it is to come armed with side-scan and an electric troll ing motor, and creep along gingerly. Once the rocks are located, pitch quarter-ounce jigheads with soft plastics and hold on tight.

7. Cook Point (Shallow)

Fishing the Choptank River

50 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

Cook Point is another area that can be a bit dangerous to visit if you aren’t careful, but the fishing here is more than worth the risk as long as you move your boat slowly and cautiously. Rather than rocks, trees are the main fish-attracting impediment. The tip of the point was cut off from land and now forms a small island, which often has rockfish and sometimes speck led trout along its banks. Between the island and the trees lying in the water on the mainland side there’s a channel of several feet which is navigable by most outboard boats (though anything bigger than 26’ is pushing its luck here) but there are several trees and/or stumps in here as well, so again, caution is necessary. Also expect to lose plenty of jigs and plugs as you cast to the standing timber. In-between snags, however, you’re very likely to hook up.

ready to cast a jig, swimbait, or floating crankbait the moment you see the long, dark back of a striped bass cruising for a meal.From its freshwater headwaters to its junction with the Chesapeake Bay, the Choptank River offers some of the finest fishing any tributary can boast. So be sure to visit one of these hotspots — or all of them — and you’re also sure to discover some of the hundreds of other hotspots in-between. #

8. Cook Point (Deep)

All proceeds support the Cancer Survivorship Programs at Anne Arundel Medical Center

10. Harris Creek

est oyster restoration projects, with over two billion spat planted in the creek’s waters. And apparently it’s had an impact, because this is one of the few Chesapeake waterways where you can actually sight-cast to striped bass. You can see bottom in several feet of water (as long as the wind hasn’t churned things up) and there are plenty of grass beds. Creep along their edges, look carefully at the potholes in the weeds, and be

Help Us Fish For A Cure!

Travel to the northern mouth of the river and past Tilghman Island, and you’ll soon enter Harris Creek. This is the location of one of the Bay’s larg

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Slightly northeast of the red 10 lies the famed Choptank Airplane Wreck and an oyster replenishment reef lined with reef balls. Both are clearly and accurately charted and finding them with your GPS and a fishfinder won’t prove too challenging. The Airplane Wreck has deteriorated over the years while the reef balls have been proven fish-attractors. Drifting them can be tough as it leads to lots of snags, and most anglers will either anchor up or Spot-Lock here. Through much of the season rockfish will be found close by, and bottom fish including spot and croaker (and toadfish — lots and lots of toadfish) are also in attendance. The uber-cool possibility here, however, is of hooking into a big black drum. From late June into the summer months they sometimes set up shop in the area, providing as big a tug as any likely to be felt on the Chesapeake Bay. Drop down large chunks of peeler or soft crab and let them sit to get those big boys biting.

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Travel about three quarters of the way from the Cook Point island to the red number 10 marker, and you’ll find a drop-off from five to 50 feet. This is a slow slope so it may take a while to drift down, and you may find the fish in one depth range or another. Most of the time, however, you will find fish here. Flounder love this edge (though the vast majority have been throwbacks in recent years), bot tom fish including spot and croaker meander back and forth across it, and in years past when weakfish came up the Bay they’d be found here, too. Try drifting a Fluke Killer rig baited with peeler crab or bouncing a Gulp! along bottom for the larger species, or use a bottom rig and bloodworms to tempt the panfish found here.

9. Reef Balls and The Airplane Wreck

Fall is prime time for tying into serious slab crappie. Slab Crappie Savvy

By Jim Gronaw

Most devoted panfish anglers have their favorite crappie fishing outfits and they may vary in detail. Personally, I have been a recent convert to longer rods in the seven- to eight-foot range. Light to medium-light action sticks with fast action have been my weapons of choice for longer casts, sensitive strike indica tion, and better hooksets with plastic and hair jigs. I have two St. Croix Panfish Series rods like this as well as a Fenwick Eagle Series seven-footer and a Daiwa Presso at seven-six. With any of these rods I can cast a 1/32-ounce jig 70 feet and have the sensitivity to feel the bump from a biting slab. For super long casts I like a Wally Marshall eightfoot rod or the nine-foot Shimano Convergence.

Various weather patterns trigger this shallow movement of these fish during October, November, and well into De cember. For one, the photoperiod, or length of daylight, is diminishing every

deep layers as the fall turnover begins. When waters read 58 or 59 degrees this is usually occurring. During the actual turnover fishing can be sporadic and poor, however, once the waters dip into the lower 50-degree range the fish stabilize and relate to shallow structures that hold baitfish and young-of-the year bluegills and bass.

day. Nighttime lows can dip into the 30s and water temperatures are plum meting as well. In larger lakes and reservoirs, the winds from the west and north are mixing the shallow-to-

# Now, THAT is a slab!

very year I look forward to the autumn months for one very good reason: slab-sided crappies are putting on the feedbag to fatten up for the winter months. Temperatures are dropping, leaves are falling, and northwest winds may be blowing in the Mid-Atlantic region. But shallow movements of crappies to remaining weeds, brush, and fallen wood will be an annual event in many of our lakes and rivers. I’m stoked!

Equipping for Crappie

Ultimately, you may want some delicious fillets for the pan. But in reality, you should not keep exclusively the largest fish in all waters. Every lake or river is different, and some have an abundance of big fish but others do not. We like to keep 10- to 12-inch fish for the pan and release the fish larger than that to maintain the potential for tro phies. That giant 17-incher is the fish of a lifetime — treat your favorite crappie waters with respect and big fish will be there for years to come. #

# Thick cover like these branches is ideal crappie territory.

Probably 90 percent of my fall crappies are caught on either a plastic or a hair jig. Again, there are a ton of crappie plastics out there, but I’ll name my favs. The Bobby Garland Baby Shad Swim’r at 2.25 inches with a jointed body catches a lot of fish, and is perfect for casting on a 1/32-ounce Eagle Claw Ball Head Jig with the “Pro V Bend” hook. The Strike King two-inch Light ning Shad is another that pairs well. Perhaps the most durable option is the 1.6-inch Donkey Tail Jr. made by Mule Fishing Supply, as it stretches without tearing and one lure can easily endure 100Colorsfish.

Crappie Catching Tactics

matter… sometimes. I have seen days where only pink, or black, or whatever was the only color the fish would hit on. And some days it simply doesn’t matter. I have always thought that size was more important than color, but crappie can be picky, so it pays to have a variety of hues to make the adaptation. Traditionally, pink, chartreuse, blue-ice, or black catch a bunch of fish, but white and silver have had their day. Experiment.

There are times when casting small crankbaits can produce some very large crappie in the autumn months. The Rapala UL Shad series and Crème Hard Baits have proved effective on 14-inch class slabs that at times ignored the standard array of jigs. The Strike King Bitsy Minnows are another option. My only gripe on the crank bait gig is that most stock treble hooks on these lures are too small to effectively hook and hold larger crap pies; I change out the trebles with a number-six hook.

Seducing the Slabs

Hair jigs can, at times, outshine the plastic crowd with their lifelike flowing action. Hair jigs seem to do best where a subtle vertical presentation is needed tight to wood or brush. My preferred colors are pink, silver and black, and white minnow patterns that measure two inches in length.

When fish are tight to weed beds and deep into cover vertical jigging on a long rod can get fish out of the tangles. Suspended jigs with floats are another way to coax crappies away from the cover. This will mean the loss of some jigs, but that may be the ticket for a mess of slabs on a bright sunny day. And by all means do not let cloudy or stained water scare you off your favorite crappie hole in the fall. We have had some of our best days when waters were high and stained from recent storms.

Ideally, I like to seek and catch crap pies that are schooling up and cruising the outskirts of fallen trees, weed beds, and brush piles, and are eager to strike a jig on the retrieve. I love the feel of the “thump” at the rod tip and setting the hook to a solid, one-pound-plus slab as it stretches your line and heads for cover. Often, the wind can dictate crap pie location in smaller venues where plankton, minnows, and actively feed ing crappies stockpile along windblown shorelines that concentrate both food sources and panfish. Don’t be surprised if you encounter slab bluegill or a qual ity largemouth bass in the midst of a feeding frenzy with the larger slabs.

Reels, again, are traditionally a matter of choice. Where I fish, there is always a chance for a four- or fivepound bass to intercept your jig. Hence, I shy away from standard ultralight reels. Lews Speed Spin and Shimano Sienna reels in 1500 or 2000 series get the call and handle four-pound mono or 10-pound braid equally as well. The mono can be a little light if you are into a woody brush-pile situation, but works fine for schooling fish that are in transi tion from one area to another.

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 53

At times, suspending the jig below floats or bobbers is best due to the need to maintain the jig at a specific depth. Traditionally, we have one angler set at three feet deep and another may fish at the five-foot depth.

hen we presented “The Cell” in the March 2020 issue of FishTalk, the Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG) Color Shaded Relief data layer, essentially side-scan sonar-like im aging, wasn’t available for this site from the Bathymetric Data Viewer. Then in the December 2021 issue, we reported a change in the BDV basemap from raster to Electronic Navigation Chart (ENC) format. We also noted that NOAA had uploaded additional BAG imagery for select locations. The Cell was not only one of the beneficiaries, but also the data was developed from a recent 2020 hydrographic survey, so there’s new insight into this fishing hotspot. Taking advantage of the new BAG imagery, we took a fresh look at this artificial reef to see what revelations might be forth coming about the substantial artificial material reefs shown in Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) layout graphics, in addition to the pre-existing degaussing station ruins.

New NOAA electronic charts provide more detailed intel on The Cell.

SONAR DATA OPENS uP the CELL

Previously, structure coordi nates could be extracted from grid layouts available on artificial reef webpages maintained for the Virginia program by the VMRC.

By Wayne Young

Geometric icons also only depict the approximate perimeters of areas where placements were made, but not the actual configuration of the materi als. What we found when realigning the icons to the reefs to BAG imagery was that placements of pipe and block correspond well to the icons whereas the earlier deposits of tetrahedrons and tires in concrete are more widely dispersed (Image 1). These latter reef deposits are heavily sedimented. Consequently, they are indistinguishable by type.

54 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

The Cell is three miles west northwest of Mattawoman Creek Light number one off the mouth of Hungars Creek, and about six miles southwest of the mouth of Nassawadox Creek (as seen on Chart 1). The fish haven location was well chosen. Natural features and artificial structures provide diverse marine habitat, making the area attractive to sportfish, and this spot is known as a top producer for this area of the Bay. Color shaded relief derived from sounding data show a deep water channel nearby to the west, and suggests variable bathymetry north and south. Electronic sonar charts from various other sources show mounds and troughs to the south, and irregular bottom to the north. Our interpretation of this data is shown by Chart 2.

# Chart 2: interpretation of sonar chart and NOAA BDv shaded relief sounding data over an eNC chart. The reef layout from v MRC graphic data is insert inside the reef boundary.

Position error was possible inasmuch as early reef deposits were originally posi tioned using Loran C, and not all were verified using GPS. When the VMRC data are overlaid on the BAG image and aligned with the ENC charted reef boundary, the icons are offset from actu al positions by about 100 yards, which is consistent with the Loran C positioning error factor. Graphic layouts included on the VMRC reef map webpage were nevertheless essential in orienting to the displayed reef deposits.

# Chart 1: The Cell reef location shown as eNC Chart over “BAg” Color Shaded Relief with reef boundary highlighted in red. Screenshot from NOAA Bathymetric Data v iewer.

# image 1: Left – 2020 BAg Color Shaded Relief of The Cell. Right – annotated v MRC icons over BAg image. Screenshots from NOAA Bathymetric Data v iewer.

Fish species found at The Cell are typical for the lower Bay: spot, flounder, tautog, stripers, cobia, gray trout, and channel bass (redfish) forage in the area. Croakers have become scarce in recent years but if there are any around, this is a good place to try for them. If one spe cies isn’t biting or fishing technique isn’t working, the variety of structure invites trying other species or techniques. #

screenshots of fish haven features and the degaussing station ruins are shown by Image 2. The concrete pipes were donated by Hanson Pipe Company in 2001. Nested pipes donated by Hanson were placed at some of the other VMRC reefs, and possibly this approach may have been used here as well, although the mod est definition of the BAG imagery isn’t sufficient to make an assessment. Regard less, the pipe and block reefs are prominent and worth checking out.

# image 2: Zoomed in screenshots showing the degaussing station ruins and dominant reef deposits at The Cell. Screenshots from NOAA Bathymetric Data v iewer.

Pipe Patch Reef 37.405 x 76.053

Pipe Semicircle 37.401 x 76.054

it is the dominant feature within the fish haven and well-suited to tautog.

Reef Center-point Coordinates:

The northwestern quadrant of the fish haven was the site of Wolf Trap Degauss ing Station, one of several in the Bay. These facilities were used during and after World War Two for demagnetiz ing ships as a defense against magnetic

Concrete Block Smear Reef 37.401 x 76.056

Degaussing Station Ruins 37.402 x 76.061

Pipe Semicircle 37.402 x 76.055

mines. Today, the Wolf Trap station’s foundation remains on the bottom along with cables. The position of this artificial structure is offset just to the north of where they are depicted in the VMRC icon layout. Various fish ing reports say to work the foundation around the edges — if you try to drift through, be prepared to say goodbye to a lot of tackle. With the updated BAG relief data, we can see the wisdom of this advice! Nevertheless,

Irregular patterns, patch reefs, smear reefs, and half-circle forms typical of many other VMRC reefs are encountered here as well, providing a variety of fishing conditions. A patch reef layout, typical for many VMRC fish havens, results in many individual structures in proximity to each other. Fish may relate to a specific struc ture on any given day, or may move around between structures. Finding the sweet spot or spots within any fish haven requires patience. But at VMRC fish havens, some structures are close together. By position ing among them, lures and jigs can be cast to multiple reefs from a single position. Or, a boat can anchor up-current and float a live-lined spot or cut bait in a chum line back to a Zoomedreef.in

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 55

Services

1. Bowleys Marina

Top Angling Venues on the Bay

4. Northern Neck Marinas

• Carter’s Cove Marina

• Chesapeake Boat Basin

First, there’s day-to-day storage to worry about. Can you park a trailer in the yard, if you have one? Does the yard offer dry stack storage, if you don’t? Will the boat live in a wet slip, or maybe on a lift? There are lots of potential options, each with up and downsides. Dry stack storage is awesome, and if it’s in

ou just got a new fishing boat? WOOHOO!! Now, you’ve got to figure out where to keep it. Choosing the best marina for your needs is no small task. Never fear, new boat angler — we’re here to help. As you scope out the possibilities, remember:

a fully covered building offers significant protection to your boat. But you need to know the marina is run profession ally because arriving to discover that they forgot to launch your boat is the pits. Lifts are also great. Wet slips are tough from a maintenance perspective but they do allow for the quickest departures.

3. Harbour Cove Marina

Location, Location, Location

1 2 PiankatankMobjackBayRiverTarget Ship Calvert Cliffs NuclearPlantPower PoplarChoptankRiverislandPoolesislandRockHallLovePointTolchesterBeach PotomacRiver RappahannockRiver 3 4 TowersRadar

Amenities

All of the above will determine a marina’s cost. Some folks are cool with bare-bones and minimal expenses, others are not. This is another personal decision.

• windmill Point Marina

• Yankee Point Marina

If you’re the DIY type, you may not think you have to worry too much about this aspect of a marina. But what if the engine needs fixing? Does the marina have staff trained to handle your type of powerplant? If not you may have to use an expensive mobile service, or transport the boat to get it worked on. And conversely, some mari nas don’t allow certain DIY work and/or outside contractors in the yard.

Finding Ultimate Fishing Marina

Naturally you’ll want to minimize drive-time in the car, but also think about how close you’ll be to the good fishing zones. Marinas located miles and miles upriver may make for a short drive from home, but if you spend half an hour cruising from the marina to the Bay every time you fish, you’ll have to build that travel time into your calculations, too. Then, there’s the matter of long slow-speed zones — nothing’s more torturous than idling along at six mph when you know there are fish breaking water just outside of the river.

• Carter’s Creek Boathouse

Storage Options

On top of all those questions, remem ber that some marinas can take care of Mom’s Mink year-round but others have limited winter storage and services. Then there’s security to consider. Is the yard fenced, and are there cameras or some other form of security?

Some amenities, like a pool or restaurant, are nice. Others, like a fuel dock or pumpout, could be far more important. And of course the marina needs to have a good fish-cleaning station with plenty of room and running water. What you’ll need in the way of amenities is very much a per sonal decision, but it’s certainly something you’ll want to take into account.

Cost

By Staff

2. Parish Creek Landing

You just got your first boat and you're not sure where to keep it? These tips will help you find the ideal marina.

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Bowleys Marina scores high on all the scales, with all the amenities you’ll find at any marina and then some (pool, volleyball court, a clubhouse with bar — the list just goes on and on), and a list of services just as long (they not only offer pump-out, for example, but can arrange to pump out the boat in its slip).

Middle Bay

Another FishTalk-Friendly marina we want to call out is Harbour Cove, in Deale. This marina has a ton of things going for it, but what sets it apart from the same-sames is the smiles: Harbour Cove prides itself on being “family owned and family friendly” and gets top ratings for having a friendly and knowledgeable staff, so this will be a marina com munity that’s a pleasure to join. On

The Friendly Factor

the Bay. Then it’s just six miles to Pooles Island, about 10 miles to any of the hot rockfish zones from Rock Hall to Worton Point, and under 20 miles to the Bay Bridge.

The best feature of Parish Creek, however, is without a doubt its loca tion. It’s a short drive from DC and the surrounding burbs and positioned just inside of the West River, it’s a short putt

Scan at

Who wants to spend time in a marina where the employees grimace every time they walk by a boat owner? Marinas are communities in miniature, and spending time at one where people are friendly and welcoming is simply more pleasant. Although your fishing time will be spent out on the water there will be cleanup and maintenance time spent at the ma rina, and it should be enjoyable.

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 57

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Northern Bay

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They have literally hundreds of slips on five rather massive piers. Located just minutes from Baltimore at the mouth of Middle River, once you clear the marina itself you’re literally seconds away from

out of the no-wake zone then mere mo ments to the Bay. Critically, this location gets you access to both Upper and Middle Bay hotspots without having to haul your boat anywhere. Head north and from the mouth of the river it’s 11 miles to the Bay Bridge, 15 to Love Point, and 25 to Tolchester. Turn to the south and you’re eight miles from Poplar Island, 15 to the mouth of the Choptank, and 25 to the Power Plant. For anglers ISO a location that lets you hit the stripers one day and chase specks the next, this location is going to be tough to beat. Double-added bonus: Parish Creek is a FishTalk sup porter, and a Fishing Reports sponsor — thank you, Parish Creek!

Parish Creek Landing gets the nod with a full selection of methods to store you boat including over 100 wet slips that can handle boats up to 50 feet, both indoor and outdoor dry stacks, and on-land storage. They offer repair and maintenance, winterization and shrink wrap service, fuel and pump-out, and also a ship’s store. They also have winter storage services including hauling and blocking. Added Boatel Bonus: Call ahead for a boatel launch and Parish Creek will not only launch your boat, they can also fuel it and add in supplies like ice for the fishboxes. And when they pull it they can also give it a rinse.

Tune in on Thursday, October 6th for a new episode of with Lenny!

Top Angling Venues on the Bay

SensenbrennerPlummer

Point, Fleet’s Bay, the Piankatank, and the open Bay. It’s about 16 miles from the river’s mouth to the Target Ship, 20 miles to the Potomac, and 22 miles to Mobjack. Plus, it’s only about an hour’s drive from Richmond.

58 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

Ultimate

Yankee Point Marina has a surprising list of amenities for a marina out on the quiet Northern Neck, including a pool, a waterfront restaurant (open Thursday to Sunday), picnic area, and ship’s store. The boatyard is full-service with dry storage and there are fuel pumps, too.

Great prices on kayaks from Native, 3 Waters, Bonafide, Vibe, Jonny Boat, seastream, Nucanoe, and Feelfree! 410.310.9994 | Denton, MD pLUs, all the accessories you need to get you fishing! OUTDOOR ITINERARIES WHERE TO EAT THINGS TO DO

Southern Bay

have a long list of additional amenities but is good for those who want a quiet, out-of-the-way place to keep their boat. Carter’s Cove Marina is a relatively small marina (47 slips) with basic ameni ties like restrooms, pump-out, and WiFi. A bit farther down the road is Windmill Point Marina, which features a pool, beach, Tiki bar with food service, fuel, and all the basics. And just to the north on Indian Creek, the Chesapeake Boat Basin has a swimming pool, picnic area, lounge, ship’s store, fuel and pump-out, winterization and shrink-wrapping, and a full service department. #

Finding Fishing Marina

top of that the amenities are awesome and include highlights like a swimming pool, BBQ area, club house (with family games like ping-pong, pool, and foos ball), WiFi, and of course, fish clean ing stations. They also offer a complete service department. The marina has wet slips and covered dry stack storage, and as a bonus perk, slip fees include winter storage on land.

# Some marinas offer indoor dry-stack storage, which is an option that will keep your boat looking like new for years.

Anglers interested in fishing a slightly more southern section of the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake will groove on Harbour Cove’s location, which is a mere 18 minutes from the DC beltway. Natu rally, the beltway will be the last thing on your mind when you pull out of Rock hold Creek and realize you’re within eight miles of the Radar Towers on the west side and Poplar on the east side, 12 miles from Sharps Island Light, and less than 20 miles from Taylors Island.

There’s a cluster of marinas in or near Irvington, VA, then a bit further down the road, at Windmill Point and in Kilmarnock. What all of these marinas share in common is quick and easy access to the lower Rappahannock, Windmill

Carter’s Creek Boathouse is a mini-ma rina with covered wet slips which doesn’t

I commonly start out trolling a chat terbait, sometimes trolling a second rod

# The author with a Mallows Bay blue cat. FishTalkMag.com October 2022 59 Paddler’s Edge

’m at Mattingly Avenue Park on Mattawoman Creek in the early morning, slipping my kayak into the water as fog rises off it all around me. Today I’ll be hunting blue catfish — but with lures, not bait. I’m heading towards thinner water that’s bordered by tall grass and lily pads. As I peddle my kayak toward my destination, I drop a chatterbait off the side and start a slow troll. It isn’t long before I get bit and the rod tip starts to bounce errati cally.In this part of the Potomac watershed the blue catfish population has exploded over the past few years, and catching blue catfish on lures has become the norm. While fishing for snakehead, largemouth bass, or white perch for that matter, I catch a number of blue catfish by accident. But now, there are days that I’ll get my gear together just to target them.Blue

Remember a cast not taken is a fish not caught. Take the cast!

Catching the Blues

catfish provide a great challenge and fight once hooked. Unlike some catfish species they are a very aggressive predator that will eat about anything that swims, and in areas where they’re thick it’s perfectly reasonable to target

I find that most of the lure-caught fish are between 20 to 24 inches, as most of the time the very large blues like to sit in deep holes, but you may run into a few giants while casting in shallow water. These fish grow to 80 pounds or more and can live up to 20 years. They are invasive and have become the primary species in many fisheries, with their populations up to and over 70 percent of the fish in some waterways. They are great table fare so harvesting them is encouraged.Mostofthe lures I use are singlehook jigs, chatterbaits, and spoons. I use a relatively heavy rod, a medium-heavy or heavy action, and either conven tional or spinning gear spooled with 20- or 30-pound braid topped by 15- or 20-pound leader.

them specifically with artificials, as op posed to using bait. Although I primarily use chatterbaits and jigs and recommend them, try your hand at other baits like small crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and other artificials — you’ll catch them on those lures as well.

with a light jig, about a quarter-ounce, dressed with a three-inch paddle tail. Green or gray-blue are good colors of choice. I start by trolling up the center of the creek and once I get bit I’ll stop and start fan casting the area as I drift with the current, repeating the process as I move up the creek. I will also cast alongside any snags or laydowns in the water, usually with a chatterbait with a four-inch white paddle-tail. If I fail to get bit on the chatterbait I’ll switch to the quarter-ounce jig. Keep your bait just a few inches off the bottom for a betterLookbite.for smaller creeks that feed into the area you’re fishing, too. They provide cooler water and oxygen as they flow in. Here, cast up into the stream and work the bait back with the flow of the water. This is also a perfect place to cast small spoons and jig them back to the kayak.

When fishing larger waters such as the Potomac out of Mallows Bay, look for water six- to eight-feet deep. If you can find flats or humps with small de pressions, you’ll discover they hold fish.

By Eric Packard

When it comes to the offshore bite, Oc tober is all about weather windows. When and if you can get out there’s potential for tremendous tuna action and the beginning of a fall sword run. Success or a lack there of will generally be dictated by the wind, storms passing through, and the timing of those calm periods we all watch for. Inshore, meanwhile, the wrecks and reefs should heat up in a big way this month. Same goes for surf fishing — in fact, many seasons October is the very best month of the year for both species diversity and also a shot at large beastly creatures like bull reds in the suds. Again, the weather will likely be the key feature.

that October hits you can expect it to finally… continue! If the past few years are any indication the fish will spread out a bit as the waters cool, but areas like the lower Chester, lower Patapsco, and Pooles should have packs of stripers marauding those poor little bunker. The additional op tions of white perch and catfish are almost certain to provide plenty of action, too.

# Our intrepid Reports editor Dillon waters is on the job constantly gathering intel to help us all catch more, bigger fish.

Editor’s Note: We all know printed fishing reports are generalized, and weeks have passed before the report gets into your hands. for timely, up-to-date reports, visit our website fishtalkmag.com current reports will be published every friday by noon — just in time for your weekend fishing adventures. in the meantime, here’s our monthly prognostication.

Gathered over the past month by Dillon Waters

C H e SAP e AK e AND Mi D -A TLANT i C

Freshwater

# October often offers up the best action of the year in many areas of the Bay, as Hudson and Hunter discovered last fall.

With a little luck and no big storms muck ing things up, this month should see a good topwater bite for stripers on the Flats, improving action in the Dam Pool, and prime perch action in the rivers and creeks. All that said, catfish will almost certainly remain “old reliable” for anyone putting cut fish on the bottom. We note that last October mid-month there was a run of very large cats at the Flats, with numerous fish breaking the 40-pound mark.

Fi SH i N g F O re CAST

60 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com

Middle Bay

Let the peanut bunker migration com mence — and the rockfish put on the feed bag. Expect the stripers to push towards the river mouths where they’ll (hopefully) be busting on the bunker, particularly early and late in the day. But… (there’s always a “but”), a lot of our more exotic species

u pper Bay

Way North

You Upper Bay anglers have been enjoy ing the best rockfish action up and down the Chesapeake all summer, and now

Is it on fire? It’s October, so it ought to be! There’s generally no better time of year for everything from bass to crap pie to stripers to walleye in the lakes and reservoirs. Added bonus: by this point the aquatic chaos of heavily trafficked lakes like Deep Creek and Lake Anna should have dropped off, and anglers can once again ply the waters in peace. In an entirely different category of fishing, fall stockings will keep trout anglers busy with plenty of action this month. Snakehead, on the flip side of the coin, will likely begin to get tough to catch after temperature drops. Look for temporary warming trends and bright, sunny afternoons if you want to target this species before winter sets in.

Coastal

# w ill a sword bite crank up this month? Derek is certainly hoping the weather allows him to find out.

Scan this QR code using your phone’s camera or visit: fishtalkmag.com/fishing-reports Current reports will be published on our website every Friday by noon, just in time for your weekend fishing adventures.

will likely turn tail and head south for the winter. Last year the mackerel and blues did hang tight until October, but early in the month their numbers dropped off until they disappeared entirely mid-month. The redfish also petered out in October, as did specks north of the Pax. So we can hope to enjoy some good diversity early this month, but note that it will likely shift to rock, rock, and more rock at some point in October.

Way South and VA

Lower Bay

The farther south you get the longer you’ll enjoy the mixed bag of species. Virginia anglers will be counting down the days to October 4 and the re-opening of striper season, which should make casting in the shallows of the tribs even more interesting than it’s been to date. Again, weather will be a key factor; remember that last year the water temps in early October were still

Visit us online for our Weekly Fishing Reports

October at the mouth of the Bay means all bets are off: the hottest action could come from reds, it could come from specks, it could come from flounder, it could come from stripers… the list goes on and on. Also note that the tog bite at the CBBT should kick in at some point in the next few weeks, there should still be a few sheepshead in town, and it’s time for the yellow-belly spot to start filling coolers. Decisions, decisions!

Let the fall speck run commence. And the push of redfish, both slots and bulls. Oh, and also let’s remember that rockfish dwell in this neck of the woods, too. October is commonly a month of utterly epic action in the Sounds and all along the ESVA, and any or all of these bites are likely to bust loose just as soon as a few chilly nights tell those fish it’s time to fatten up for winter.

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 61 FishTalk’s weekly fishing reports are presented by:

high enough that the shallows hadn’t yet lit up for stripers, but by mid-month it was game on.

Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore

62 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com presented by Tips & Tricks

This month completes our 2022 Dangle quiz and crossword series, which judging by the reader response has been a smash hit. We’d like to thank Dangle Lures for sponsoring this fun and fishy diversion and remind everyone that if you’re looking for spinners that cast farther and sink deeper than all the others, their offerings are stand-outs when it comes to those specific features. Oh yeah — and they catch lots of fish, too!

Last month’s winner: Francis Daniels

The Fish Are Talking……but, are you listening?

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321 4 5

Name the species for these five flapping fish jaws correctly and email your answers to lenny@fishtalkmag.com, and you’ll be entered in this month’s drawing for a Dangle Lures prize.

ne of the most difficult ways to learn how to fish the chesapeake Bay and atlantic ocean is trial and error. then there’s the boat issue; we don’t all have one. luckily, the Bay is full of knowledgeable guides and charter captains ready to show you the ropes. Below you will find a directory of professional guides, charter boats, and head boats to get you started on your quest for the perfect fish. Whether you like to fly fish, troll, or bottom fish, there’s likely a local expert who can lend a hand.

Charters, Guides, and Headboats

COASTAL M IDDLE B AY M IDDLE B AY M IDDLE B AY P TANGIEROTOMACSOUND UPPER BAY Captain George Bentz 410.428.7110 drizzlebarcharters@verizon.net • drizzlebarcharters.com Drizzle Bar Charters Capt. Monty’s Morning Star “The O.C. Partyboat That's Never Crowded!” Precision Fishing on MD’s Coral Reefs (410) 520-2076 morningstarfishing.com Patent Pending Charters 46’ Markley • 6 Person Capacity Capt. John Whitman 410.703.3246 Herrington Harbor North • Deale, MD patentpendingcharters.com • patentpendingcharters@gmail.com fishapex.com 540-408-3113 SnakeheadS | CatfiSh | RoCkfiSh | CRappieS poTomac cReeK LLc Guided fishing trips & Custom Rod Builders Capt. Mike Sielicki & Capt. Chris Evans DEEP 410-430-8420OceanFISHINGSEACity,MDCAllTODAy judithmfishingoc.com Tricia Ann II ChArTer FIshIng Join Capt. Wayne Schuhart for a great day on the Bay! at ROD ‘N’ REEL DOCK Chesapeake Beach, MD Contact Captain Wayne to make your reservations! 301-751-6056 or captain@triciaanncharterfishing.com triciaanncharterfishing.com Half Day, Full Day, Special Events Capt Drew Payne DEALE & EDGEWATER, MD HAVE YOU RIDDEN THE fishbigworm.com | 410-474-4428 301.855.8450 | misslizzycharters.com Headboat fishing from Rod ‘N’ Reel Resort! Up To Passengers70 The Area’s Largest Party Boat! Fishing | Private Charters | Cruises Miss Lizzy Fishing Charters 410.610.6283 | woundtightcharters.com Chesapeake Bay fishing from Herrington Harbor South and Atlantic Ocean fishing from Ocean City! Ocean City, MD Up To Passengers30 Kid-Focused Fishing Book Online at: familyfishingadventures.comwwww finhuntercharterfishing . com Fin CharterHunterFishing Pasadena MD | Deale MD 410.365.9761 Book Your Trip Toda Y !!! Captain Billy Gee Deale, MD EbbTideCharters.com fishwithweaver.com • 410.533.0928 Fish With Weaver Capt. Tom Weaver • Light Tackle & Fly Guide rnrresortmd.com/marinas/charter-fishing Mallard Charters Capt. Troy Ruth Kentmorr Marina • Stevensville, MD 443.239.6881 • mallardcharters @gmail.com Chesapeake Bay Charter Fishing and Cruises FISHTAL k MAG . COM / CHARTER FISHING GUIDE

and Classified sections, contact

66 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com BRO k ERAGE & CLASSiFieD SeCTiONS

23’ SeaCraft Potter-built 1972 center console. 250 Suzuki with low hours. Completely restored. Awlgrip. Armstrong bracket, 2 fuel tanks (150-gallon total). Leaning post, rocket launcher, 40-gallon live well. Boatmaster aluminum dual axle trailer with new tires and brakes. Recent engine Survey. $49,500 Pasadena, MD. Call 410.279.2929 or email craig.shimer2@gmail.com

2019 Sportsman Open 282 CC Twin F300XCA Yamaha Outboards w/ Optimus electric Power Steering, Yamaha extended warranty until 0523-2025, engine Hours - 389, (no trailer), garmin Reactor 40 Auto-Pilot, Second garmin gPSMAP 1242xs, garmin gMR Fantom 18, Airmar B175M Chirp Thru-Hull Transducer, On-Board Battery Charging System, Full Mooring Cover, Taco grand Slam 280 with 15’ Outriggers. $179,995 Riverside Marine 410.686.1500 www.riversideboats.comsales@riversideboats.com

2021 02/27/2026, 2021 Polar white Upholstery, Platinum Package, Mooring Cover, Spray Shield Canvas, Bow Cushion Set, Premium Dual Chair Leaning Post with Flip-Up Bolsters, Yeti Cooler with SlideOut Track, Under Leaning Post Tackle Storage and LOTS of bells and whistles featuring garmin! $109,000 Riverside Marine 410.686.1500 www.riversideboats.comsales@riversideboats.com

2021 Cobia 280CC Upgrade to Yamaha F250NSB with fully electric steering, Only 28 engine hours and extended warranty until 4/28/2026, Custom Ameritrail welded aluminum trailer, Upgraded JL Audio Sound System w/ 2 subs and amp, 4 batteries w/ on-board charger, Black acrylic dash, garmin 8616 - 16” touchscreen w/ sonar, Recessed through hull anchor windlass w/ stainless anchor, Underwater LeD Lights, 2 covers: full mooring cover and a console drape. $214,995 Riverside Marine 410.686.1500

27’ GRAND G850 L ‘21 One owner, lift kept, low hours, enclosed head. This is the ultimate RiB and provides comfort, speed and safety. 12v fridge, freshwater shower & amp; cockpit sink, extended platforms and extra storage lockers. A real sexy boat with a 350Hp Suzuki! inquire today and grab a deal on a fully warrantied vessel! $120,000 make an offer! Call Charles Herbert for details and demo; 443.995.4800 or www.annapolisyachtsales.comcherbert@annapolisyachtsales.com

26’ Grady White ‘02 $59,900 Jack Kelly 609.517.2822 www.curtisstokes.netjack@curtisstokes.net

To advertise in the Brokerage beatrice@fishtalkmag.com

venture Boat Trailer, Shark gray with white Bottom,

2010 Regulator 29FS Yamaha 250’s, 418 Hrs, Surveyed, Professionally Serviced, Furuno electronics, Fusion Sound, Outriggers, Side Curtains, Full winter Cover, 48 MPH. Fishing Machine. $149,900 Call 410.365.4695 or email rob@capeziocontractor.com

23’ Monterey 238 SS ‘17 great boat to take the kids or friends out for some serious fun. with only 110 Hrs the 250Hp Mercruiser will pull skiers or tubes with ease, well taken care of. Asking $59,000 Call Brenden Tillman for details; 410.941.4849 or email www.annapolisyachtsales.combtillman@annapolisyachtsales.com

For all the latest listings, visit fishtalkmag.com

www.riversideboats.comsales@riversideboats.com

29’ Tiara ‘00 $49,500 Curtis Stokes 410.919.4900 www.curtisstokes.netcurtis@curtisstokes.net

Sportsman Tournament 234 vF250XA SHO Yamaha Outboard, 76 hrs, warranty until

2017

DONATIONS Help a Wounded 240-750-9899Veteran DONATE YOUR BOAT BOATs4HEROEs.ORg

Carolina Skiff JVX 18’ Original 70Hp Yamaha 4 cycle, >90 hrs. garmin radio, Raymarine Dragonfly electronics. Minn Kota Teranova Riptide trolling motor, 80lb thrust. Two swivel fishing seats. Dual main bank batteries w/ charger. Dual batteries w/ charger for trolling motor. Tidewater trailer. Spare tire, anchor, tool kit, emergency kit. Full boat cover. Bimini top. Bait tank. Trim tabs. Swim platform w/ ladder. 4” draft. $26,500 email missourahgregg@gmail.com 21’ Trophy ‘99 $8,500 Jack Kelly 609.517.2822 www.curtisstokes.netjack@curtisstokes.net 22’ Shamrock ‘96 $17,500 David Robinson 410.310.8855 www.curtisstokes.netdavid@curtisstokes.net

1998 Tiara Yachts 2900 Coronet Rare opportunity to purchase a One-Owner, lift kept, captain maintained with very low hours and top-notch maintenance. Contact grady Byus at 410.533.9879 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comGrady@NorthPointYachtSales.com

POWER

BEST

2021 Tiara Yachts 39 Open Don’t miss this opportunity to buy a like-new Tiara 39 Open with Axalta painted hull, helm air, 42” swim platform, and more! Contact Bob Oberg at 410.320.3385 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comBob@NorthPointYachtSales.com

(Game Hog) 40’ Robbins ‘99 $139,000 David Robinson 410.310.8855 www.curtisstokes.netdavid@curtisstokes.net

(Scotia) 38’ Wilbur ‘85 $29,500 Curtis Stokes 410.919.4900 www.curtisstokes.netcurtis@curtisstokes.net

Boaters’ Marine Directory For AnnApolis & EAstErn shorE Find

2012 MJM 40Z “Lolly” is a rare find in today’s market stored on a covered life and gently used with regular care. Contact grady Byus at 410.280.2038 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comGrady@NorthPointYachtSales.com

Got a New Boat? the people to take care of her

2013 MJM 40Z “Downeast” may very well be the best performance-oriented cruising boat ever designed with no expense spared in upkeep and maintenance. Contact David Malkin at 410.280.2038 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comDavid@NorthPointYachtSales.com

2013 Tiara Yachts 3100 Coronet Highlights include: bow and stern thruster, radar, A/C, generator, cockpit grill and galley, and more! Contact grady Byus at 410.280.2038 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comGrady@NorthPointYachtSales.com

upgrades and in great shape. Soft top and full enclosure offer protection for year-round cruising with an efficient Yanmar diesel. Contact Troy waller at 804.885.4090 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comTroy@NorthPointYachtSales.com

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 67 PortBook is the canproviderstoboatersresourceusefindservicetheytrust.

2004 Heritage East 36 Sundeck very well equipped and meticulously maintained. New bottom paint and all service up to date. Contact Chris Beardsley at 804.885.4090 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comChris@NorthPointYachtSales.com

37’ Boston Whaler ‘17 $350,000 Curtis Stokes 410.919.4900

2018 Tiara Sport 38LS Low hours on her triple Yamaha 350’s, dealer maintained and well cared for by her sole owner. Contact Jack Mcguire at 410.280.2038 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comJack@NorthPointYachtSales.com

1988 Marine Trader Tradewinds Sd My A great family trawler built for the live-aboard cruiser with abundant space inside and out. Contact Troy waller at 804.885.4090 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comTroy@NorthPointYachtSales.com

2020 MJM 43 volvo iPS 600 engines, duoprop for easy joystick docking, large swim platform for relaxing, category-leading efficiency. Contact Jack Mcguire at 410.280.2038 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comJack@NorthPointYachtSales.com

Many

2000PortBook.comatMainship30Pilot

33’ Bertram ‘80 $45,000 David Robinson 410.310.8855 www.curtisstokes.netdavid@curtisstokes.net

2022 Tiara Yachts C39 Coupe Purchased as a holdover (May 2022), this is your opportunity to own a like-new 39 Coupe. Contact grady Byus at 410.533.9879 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comGrady@NorthPointYachtSales.com

(Sea Trader) 60’ Hatteras ‘05 $1,200,000 Lin earley 757.672.2778 www.curtisstokes.netlin@curtisstokes.net

www.curtisstokes.netcurtis@curtisstokes.net

(Hot Pursuit) 30’ Pursuit 3000 ‘00 $76,500 Chris Curlett 305.481.1512 www.curtisstokes.netchris@curtisstokes.net

2004 Cobalt 360 very clean, low hours, and very well maintained. exciting to run and all maintenance is up to date. Contact Chris Beardsley at 804.885.4090 or www.NorthPointYachtSales.comChris@NorthPointYachtSales.com

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Are you on a search for a full-time sales position that requires you to get out and enjoy the water, where all your co-workers are super cool, and where flip-flops and shorts are considered business casual? SpinSheet, PropTalk, FishTalk, Start Sailing Now, and PortBook magazines are in growth mode, and we are looking for that special advertising sales rep who understands the marine industry and knows how to work and play hard. if you think you will excel in creating sales and marketing solutions for advertisers, then we would love to chat with you. Send your resume, a description of your boating experience and interests, and a cover letter telling us why you’d be a great fit for our team today! info@spinsheet.com

HELP WANTED

P/T Delivery Driver Wanted for three-day-a-month magazine distribution route in Baltimore City. Compensation based upon quantity of stops. Must have a valid driver’s license in good standing, reliable vehicle, and be able to lift up to 25 lbs. Contact Beatrice at 410.216.9309 or beatrice@spf-360.com

Yacht Sales - Curtis Stokes and Associates, inc. is hiring new salespeople for our Chesapeake area operation. Candidates must be honest, ethical and have boating experience. This is a commission only position. Contact Curtis Stokes at 410.919.4900 or curtis@curtisstokes.net www.curtisstokes.net

M ARINE S ERVICES TAC k LE SHOPS TAC k LE SHOPS

MAR k ETPLACE & CLASSiFieD SeCTiONS

Anglers Sports Center 1456 whitehall Road, Annapolis, MD 21409, 410.757.3442, www.anglerssportcenter.com

The Tackle Box 22035 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park, MD 20653, 301.863.8151

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 69

TAC k LE SHOPS

Brokerage/ Classified Order Form Interested in an eye-catching Display or Marketplace Ad? • Deadline for the November issue is October 2nd • Payment must be received before placement in Fish Talk. • Include an additio nal $2 to receive a copy of the issue in which your ad appears. Mail this form to: 612 Third St., Ste 3C, Annapolis, MD 21403 email: beatrice@fishtalkmag.com, call: 410.216.9309, or list your boat online at: fishtalkmag.com/form/list-your-boat List in FishTalk and get a FREE online listing at FishTalkMag.com! Ad Copy: Account #: Exp: / Security Code (back of card): Name on Card:___________________________________________ Phone: ____________________ Email: ______________________ Billing City:________________________State:Address:___________________________________________Zip: BROKERAGEMARKETPLACECATEGORIES:&CLASSIFIEDCATEGORIES: We accept payment by cash, check or:  BOAT SHARING  BOAT WANTED  DINGHIES  DONATIONS  POWER  SAIL  ACCESSORIES  ART  ATTORNEYS BOOKS  BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES  CAPTAINS  CHARTERS  CREW  DELIVERIES  ELECTRONICS  EQUIPMENT  FINANCE  HELP WANTED  INSURANCE  LURES  MARINE ENGINES  MARINE SERVICES  REAL ESTATE  RENTALS  RODS & REELS  SCHOOLS  SLIPS & STORAGE  SURVEYORS  TACKLE SHOPS  TRAILERS  WANTED  WOODWORKING Rates for Classifed/Broker Ads $30 for 1-30 words $60 for 31-60 words *Add a 1” photo to your listing for $25 Marketplace Ads Call For Pricing PortBook is the resource boaters use to find providersservicetheycantrust. Got a New Boat? Boaters’ Marine Directory For AnnApolis & EAstErn shorE Find the BEST people to take care of her PortBook.comat

Dangle Lures Dangle Lures makes lures that are great for casting long distances and in deep water. Dangle Lures help anglers catch fish other lures can’t reach. www.danglelures.com

latest listings,

For all the visit fishtalkmag.com

Alltackle.com 2062 Somerville Road, Annapolis, MD 21401, 410.571.1111, and 12826 Ocean gateway #9548, Ocean City, MD 21842, 410.213.2840, www.alltackle.com

Edson Marine announces that it has agreed to become the exclusive distribu tor of Carbonautica products in North America. This partnership will give sailors, boat builders, and marine service providers convenient access to Carbonautica’s inno vative and stylish line of high-performance carbon and composite steering wheels and accessories. Edson will stock the most popular wheel options for efficient delivery time and cost, while the whole range of stock and custom wheels will be available by special order. “The Carbonautica team is very happy to progress and further expand our relationship with Edson,” says CEO of Carbonautica Igor Rozman. “We feel our addition to the Edson product line is a natural and logical step to offer our products and expand our reach to North American customers and doing so with a very reputable brand like Edson is that much more reassuring.” edsonmarine.com

New Dealer

Acquired

Iconic Marine Group (IMG) announces the acquisition of NauticStar Boats of Amory, MS. A successful and timetested builder of bay boats, hybrids, deck boats, and offshore center consoles, NauticStar will join Fountain Powerboats and Donzi Marine as part of the rapidly expanding IMG boat division. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. “This was a high priority for IMG,” said IMG managing partner Fred Ross. “NauticStar has an experienced manufacturing team, a solid dealer network, and an outstand ing line of boats. Their 19 boat 2023 fleet extends from 18 to 28 feet which fits perfectly with Fountain and Donzi that rank as top tier brands in the 32- to 43foot size range.” A major employer in the Amory area, NauticStar, posted sales over $70 million last year and has more than 100 dealers including One Water and Marine Max. nauticstarboats.comiconicmarinegroup.com;

Pocket Yacht Company is now the dealer for the all-new boat brand, Solara. Solara is the new brand of boats from the manufacturer Fluid Motion, the builder of Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats. The Solara model line-up features several trailerable sport, cruising, and fishing designs that feature innovative, versatile layouts. Whether out for a cruise, chasing the bite, or playing in the sunshine, every new Solara delivers comfort, efficiency, and quality. Loaded with features that other brands charge extra for, Solara is defining the new standard. “We are proud to represent the all-new Solara brand at our Maryland and North Carolina stores,” says Mark Schulstad, owner of Pocket Yacht Company. “The flagship Solara S-310 CW is a boat our clientele will be very excited about.” pocketyachtco.com

Exclusive Distributor

Jessica Stewart is appointed as the Americas marketing manager for AkzoNobel Yacht Coatings, with premium brands of Awlgrip, Interlux, and the recently acquired Sea Hawk yacht finishes. Jessica will be responsible for the regional execution of the yacht segment strategy to grow the American markets. An experienced marketing, brand, and product manager, she brings to this role a wealth of knowledge and a wide range of experience from several global roles. She says, “I have a passion for the yacht industry and am fortunate to combine that with a company like AkzoNobel. AkzoNobel has industryleading products, is consistently recognized as a top workplace in countries all over the world and has an incredibly admirable sustainability strategy. I am proud to join the AkzoNobel team at this time, with the initiative to grow the American markets.” This appointment follows significant investment from AkzoNobel into its most ambitious marketing drive for yacht coatings to date, including the brand campaign That Feeling, which seeks to convey the unique, immersive sensory experience only boating can provide. yachtcoatings.com

Haven Harbour is the Chesapeake Bay’s newest dual, full-line Yamaha and Mercury outboard sales, service, and re-power cen ters. Haven Harbour Marina and Haven Harbour South are now selling, servicing, and re-powering boats with both brands, having recently added Mercury’s proven brand and product line to complement the marinas’ longstanding relationship with Yamaha. “Throughout our rich engine sales, service, and re-power history, we have never been brand centric,” said man aging director Charlie Petosa. “We have serviced all boat and inboard brands in the past. Naturally, as the outboard market continues to grow, we want to be sure to satisfy the needs of our clients. We believe customers should not have to choose where they service their boats based on the type or brand of propulsion they own. Yamaha or Mercury outboards—Yanmar, MerCruiser, Volvo, or any other brand inboards—we have the inventory and certi fied technicians standing by.” For current and consistently up-to-date inventory in formation, please visit havenharbour.com/ yamaha and havenharbour.com/mercury, respectively. If you would like to discuss your next interval service or re-power proj ect, please contact one of Haven Harbour’s service managers at (410) 778-6697.

Acquisition

New Dealer

Grant Jaax, Anthony Gattuso, and Kend all Campeau announce their partnership with Keel Funds in the acquisition of Maryland Marina. Mongo Holdings through its wholly owned subsidiary, Taylor Mercantile, purchased the beauti ful 18.5-acre marina located in Middle River, MD, approximately 30 miles northeast of Baltimore. Maryland Ma rina, with a long and successful tenure of marina operations, is in the heart of the highly boating-centric Upper Chesapeake Bay market. Over the past year, Mongo Holdings has built a partnership with Keel Funds, an Atlanta-based partner. In conjunction with the strong and experi enced existing on-site management team inherited with the purchase, Keel Funds expects to begin work on various growth initiatives and will continue to do so over the next several seasons. The facility includes a 4000-square-foot restaurant, 360 wet slips for boat storage, and capac ity for over 600 boats for dry storage, accommodating vessels up to 60 feet in length. Planned improvements include a boat rental offering, future expansion of boat storage capacity/options, along with possibly adding a new fuel dock and retail ship store. marylandmarina.net

Marketing Manager

70 October 2022 FishTalkMag.com s end your c hesapeake b ay business news and high-resolution photos to kaylie@fishtalkmag.com Biz Buzz

FishTalkMag.com October 2022 71 Five ChesapeakeFallHotspots Tech e di T ion Using Technology To Catch More Fish RUDOW’S CHESAPEAKE AND MID-ATLANTICFREE PickerelWinterTacticsThatWorkCherrystoneReef January 2020 fishtalkmag.com FREERiggingForTautog: PrecisionCounts TopLuresForTunaVirginiaTarponDoExist Subscribe To FishTalk! Send a Subscription to: (please print) StreetName: Address: City: State: Zip: Email Address: Is this a gift? From: _______________________________________________ We accept payment by cash, check or: Card #: __________________________________________________________ Exp: ________ / ________ Security Code (back of card): ____________ Name on Card: City:BillingPhone:Address: State: Zip: Just $45 for 12 Issues (cost covers first-class shipping and handling) RETURN THIS FORM BY MAIL OR EMAIL: MaIl: 612 Third St., Ste. 3C, Annapolis, MD 21403 EMaIl: beatrice@fishtalkmag.com O R SUBS c RIBE ONLINE : Thanksfishtalkmag.com/subscribe-to-fishtalktothesupportofourreaders and advertisers, FishTalk Magazine is able to continually provide FREE coverage of Chesapeake Bay and Mid-Atlantic Fishing. AllTackle.com ......................................... 11 Anchor Boats 21 Anglers 49 Annapolis Yacht Sales 9 Bay Shore Marine 32 Big Bass USA 58 BOe Marine 23 Brown Dog Marine 61 Charters, guides, and Headboats 63 Chesapeake Bay Boat Show 29 Coastal Conservation Association of MD23 Curtis Stokes 72 Dangle Lures.......................................... 62 Fish For a Cure 12 Formula Boats 7 grady white 13 Harbour Cove Marina 64 intrinsic Yacht & Ship 61 Maritime Fabrication 22 Maryland Boat Sales 27 North Point Yacht Sales 17 Parish Creek Landing 61 PortBook 67 Progressive insurance 6 Riverside Marine .............................. 2,3,61 Scott’s Cove Marina 8 Suzuki Dealers 19 Suzuki Outboard Motors 4,5,61 The Tackle Box 61 Tideline Boats 41 Total Marine 14 Tradewinds 18 Tri-State Marine 15,61 visit Baltimore 58 waterfowl Festival 31 waterfront Marine 61

Worldwide Yacht Sales | Yacht Charters | New Yacht Construction 1.855.266.5676 | 410.919.4900 | info@curtisstokes.net FIND YOUR NEXT BOAT or YACHTLOCALatBROKERSCurtisStokes . n et