Croaker in the Pawtuxent

[SmallTown]

And regardless of whatever means I may use, nice to see that people do agree with my assesment of the situation and the need to do what we can to correct it.

 

[Penn]

That ain't all that needs correcting...

Originally posted by SmallTown
And regardless of whatever means I may use, nice to see that people do agree with my assesment of the situation and the need to do what we can to correct it.

I do believe "assessment" has four esses; see - you're too hasty to get the message out!

Be that as it may, it is a good thing to make people aware that we are all responsible for the condition of our waters.

 

[Dymphna]

My father and husband both fish the Pax. My dad always goes out from Benedict. There are boat ramps on both sides of the river there. My husband goes out with a friend either from Golden Beach (need a resident permit there) or from Solomons. I'm not well versed on it myself, but I do know that when the tide comes in, the salt water comes up to about Chalk Point, which is just north of the Benedict bridge. I also recognize all the names of the fish you mentioned as being ones they have caught there.

As far as the pollution bit goes, I do know that there was an oil pipe spill just north of Benedict about 3-4 years ago that stopped all fishing south of there for about a year. But all reports are it's clean and there was no really long term damage.


I'll get my husband to respond here. He knows some forums specifically about fishing in this area.

 

[huntr1]

Here's the deal with fishing around Benedict. There is a ledge south of the bridge on the Calvert side where the water goes from 17' to 4' to 30'. Floating along the ledge with your line dragging bottom with grass shrimp is a great way to catch croaker and perch. There is also a hole on the St. Marys side also just south of the bridge where it goes from 5' to 20'. That is a good spot. Catch the shrimp in the grass and net by the power plant. If you like catfish, and have a shallow draft, go up in Swanson Creek (by the power plant) and use shrimp, eel, perch or chicken liver. There is a creek across the river from the power plant that is also very good fishing. Another good thing to try is to tie up to the bases of the power lines and get up on the concrete and fish along the bases. My buddy and I never fail to catch fish in any of these places. They may not always be keepers, but we do catch them. I SHOULD be getting my boat back from the mechanic tonight or tomorrow. Let me know if you want to go fishing one night this week or over the weekend.

 

[Rane]

Hubby says thanks for that info huntr1 ... since we are still new to fishing in the Pax we are still learning the wheres and hows ... we fished saturday night off Hogs Point and caught about 9 croaker all over 14 in ... was great fun ( they preferred squid )
He does want to go up to the Benedict Bridge area and try out those tips you posted, we also would love to catch some catfish ... we used to fish for them a lot in georgia and florida ... good eating
We fished for a few hours on St Marys Lake yesterday, caught a few bass with minnows around the stumps ... thought surely we would catch crappie that way but didn't can anyone tell us where the crappie are hiding ?

 

[huntr1]

New to the Patuxent, shoot, I'm new to fishing. Period. I have only been fishing for a year. If you want to fish for something that puts up a good fight, go to Allens Fresh and go after the carp. Put a couple pieces of corn on the hook and then let the rod lay in a rest while you fish for perch. Carp put up a good fight and get huge.

 

[Sparx]

The crappie usually go deeper this time of year. They bite real good in the spring and fall then get deeper for the hot months. I used to fish for them all the time in Ohio where I moved here from.