Tackle Corner
by Matt Abell

Tight lines,
www.seahawksports.com
Matt at Sea Hawk Sports Center
410-957-0198

Frederick Chapter Spring
Tournament
Rockfish Tournament Winners
Congratulations to the winners:
1st Chris Linetty on Retriever with 84.1 lbs for $486
2nd Fred Keene on Mister in Between with 82.5 lbs for $303.75
3rd Tyler Watson on Catherine Ann with 78.475 lbs for $182.25
4th Chuck Mullaney on Chuter IV with 77.2 lbs for $145.50
5th Tom Musser on Kat Attack with 72.23 lbs for $97.20

Calcutta Tom Musser won with a single fish of 30.98 lbs caught on Sunday around 2pm. He won $1,800 so it pays to get in the Calcutta.

Main MSSA Tournament Update
In case you were not aware, the 2nd place fish that won over $89,000 was disqualified as the captain on the boat is a professional fishermen & runs a charter boat out of Ocean City, MD. Here is the press release: The MSSA Tournament and Executive Committees met on May 12, 2008 to investigate and discuss a protest that was filed with the MSSA that concerned the eligibility of a Captain presenting a fish that qualified for second place & TWT prize money. Based upon the information available, the MSSA voted to sustain the protest & disqualify the Captain. Due to this occurrence, some prize money cannot be declared until this matter is fully resolved by our legal counsel. Those prizes not in contention will be presented as scheduled at the Awards Ceremony on Thursday May 15, 2008 at Columbia Center, Severna Park, MD.

The MSSA regrets any inconvenience that this may have caused participants in the 2008 Amateur Spring Rockfish Tournament. We appreciate everyone's participation in the Tournament and the MSSA will work hard to remedy this situation as soon as possible.

Boats US Membership - 1/2 Price
We will have applications and literature at the meeting for anyone that wants to sign up. There is a group code that will reduce the membership fee.

Chincoteague Island, VA
Fishing Report by Charlie Koski

Well summer finally arrived, like overnite. This past weekend we had heat indexes of over 100 degrees. Well you know what that means offshore action should be heating up closer to port here. Some boats ran to the Norfolk and connected with Bluefin, Yellowfin and Big Eye. That's a long way to go but if you need the fix for Blue Water fishing that what you need to do sometimes. Several boats went sharking this weekend and there were a few brought in where others said they fish were playing with the baits most of the day.

Inshore action has slowed with kelp, cow slime and other debris in the water. It has been kind of calm the past few days and hopefully the water will clean up and there will be another wave of Flounder action. The water temps hit 77 today so the flatties will be heading to the deeper water real soon. King Fish (Sea Mullet) are here and if you use small hooks they are a lot of fun and some days you can boat a cooler full. Good fill in while we anxiously await the arrival of the Croakers. Tog is still closed until June 24.

Surf action on Black and Red Drum was good during May as well as some trophy stripers landed in the suds. Check out the daily reports at the links below to keep up on the daily activity here on the island.

Tight Lines.

For daily fishing reports check out captbobs-marina.com and
stevesbaitandtackle.com

Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
by Captain Ed Susa
Man….All I can say is the action is starting to heat up. Where do I start? Let's see. Well, most of the larger fish have moved on out, although, there are still some reports of fish to 36-38" being caught trolling on the channel ledges from the Radar Towers south to Point No Point. We caught quite a few fish this weekend, but most were the smaller fish in the 20-24" range, with one fish a little over 36". We worked the main channel from Red can #2 over to Parker's Creek and around the 78-78A buoys. Many of the people I spoke with have switched over to chumming razor clams or ground menhaden with limited success at the Stone Rock, Buoys 70 & 72 south and at the old favorite…. The Gooses. The black drum have arrived and a few nice ones (68 & 74 lbs) were caught this weekend on the flats of the False Channel and around the Diamonds in 36 ft of water. The trick I heard was peeler crabs or clam snouts on a fish finder rig with plenty of weight to keep your bait on the bottom. If you've never caught one of the monsters, it's a load of fun, but make sure you have the right tackle to hoss these boys home. Flounder fishing has come on strong too, with flatties to 24" being caught from the Mouth Of the Potomac and Crisfield up and into the Mouth of The Choptank. We had the fortune to catch 3 keepers and about 8 throwbacks with the largest one slightly over 20" Saturday after trolling. We worked the ledges from Green Can # 3 in the False Channel to the Red # 80 can. They absolutely smashed bull minnow and squid strip combinations in about 28 ft of water. Work the ledges looking for bait on the bottom, then drop'em over. Bottom fishing is heating up also, with croaker caught at the #12 buoy in the Choptank and reports of them heavy around Hooper's Straights and the Honga River. I heard some reports of fella's live lining white perch up north around the bay bridges with marginal success. The Spot should be here in the next week or two and then the live lining should be in full swing. White perch are all over in the mouths of the rivers taking baits of bloodworms, squid strips and peelers. Saw one guy with a couple of beautiful speckled trout he caught in 6-12' of water at Ragged Point in the mouth of the Little Choptank. Crabbing is starting to pick up in the shallow waters and should be in full swing as well in the next couple of weeks. So, as you can see, time to dust of the light tackle and start hittin 'em hard. Fish Strong!