John H wrote:
On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 21:50:24 GMT, (Henry Blackmoore) wrote:
In article , John H wrote:
OldFart (a buddy) and I left Deale about 7:30, went East to 40' of water, and
at
9:30 put a 34" rockfish in the cooler. Spent another three hours wasting gas
and
called it a day. Had some good conversations with Mike (Nutty Irishman) who
will
probably post his own good news report soon. Regardless of what he says, we
deserve the credit for bringing him the good luck!
The fish was caught on a white umbella, out about 80', with ten ounces of lead
attached. The weather today was a little shy of perfect, 1-2' waves, little on
the cool side with the wind blowing over the 44degree (F) water.
What's an umbella? Ten ounces of lead?? Geez. What kind of rig do you use
to catch Rockfish?
What is the minimum size for a Rockfish? Is there a slot? Good eatin'?
The laws are strange for Rockfish. Right now we are in what is called the
"Trophy Season" when we can keep one fish, but it must be over 28" long. About
mid-May the regular season starts. Then we can keep two fish, both must be over
18" but only one can be over 28". Stepping on their heads for an extra half inch
is not allowed.
For a quick primer on umbrella rigs, try
http://www.sal****ersportsman.com/sal****er/fishing/article/0,12746,418967,00.html
The rigs have a lot of drag, and will tend towards the surface without some
weight. I wanted the rig down about 20 feet, so 10 oz seemed about right.
I was dragging two of these and two sets of double (tandem) parachute rigs.
John H
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!
No offense, but using an umbrella rig to catch stripers is like having
sex while wearing a dozen condoms. Stripers are not great fighting fish
- they're ok - and dragging the weight of an umbrella rig around makes
fishing a lot less fun.
I was out on the Bay a couple of days before the striper season
started, when it is strictly catch and release, and caught a half dozen
stripers of decent size tossing jigs tipped with plastics. This was in
an area close to shore between Breezy Point and the Rips.
Umbrella rigs are very popular on the Bay, but if you are into finesse
fishing, they aren't the way to go.