Drift, troll or stay put?

[Yrosnake]

When bottom fishing for anything with size ... bluefish or rock. Do you folks find it more productive to anchor or drift around a bit? Can I troll with bottom fished baits? If so how fast is too fast to be pulling bait?

[OldBay]

I like to drift over some good looking structure, especially with Eels.

[catman]

Depends on what time of year you're fishing. During trophy rock season trolling is the way to put the big ones in the box. Personally I don't like to troll but I do whatever is necessary. My second least favored method is to anchor up. Unless you get a chum line running you're just waiting on the fish. It's a toss up between bottom drifting and LTJ as to which is my favorite. Drifting cetainly has its advantage once you locate them on the FF. I like to drift a good ledge until the bite stops then circle back around and start the drift again. But jigging light tackle (LTJ) is my favorite especially the BB pilings. I'm still trying to perfect the technique but to me it's the most fun and productive. I didn't mention chasing the birds. This can be some exciting fishing if you get into a school of breaking rock or blues. Once I locate a school I get ahead of it and cut the motor and let them come to me. Once the school has passed I circle around ahead of them and start all over again. So which method do I use, all of them until I find what's working. You asked about trolling bottom baits and what speed. Unless you've got a bait that has some action like an eel or squid strips I don't think it'll be very productive. My trolling speed is between 2.7 mph and 3.0 mph. Hope I've answered some of your questions.

Catman.

[Yrosnake]

I do appreciate all the input. I hope to try all the techniques this weekend. If they're still slow to bite - I do have some crab traps to toss over =) The weekend can't get here soon enough.

[catman]

What part of the bay do fish and what kind of boat do you have? I didn't mention it earlier but I like to fish the outgoing tide but the important thing is that you have water movement.

Catman.

[Yrosnake]

It's a single screw diesel trawler. I've got a cruising speed of around 10 knots. But the boat is made to stay out for extended periods. I've had the boat for a month and have so far been cruising the Upper Bay. I'm hoping on spending sometime in the Middle Bay this weekend. DNR's fishing report seems to be pointing to the middle and lower bay as the places to be. I'll probably anchor out on the Magothy on the way down south this weekend. The last couple of weekends have been a bust for me. Maybe this weekend will be better.

[catman]

Man I'd really love the see your boat but I'm not going to be on the bay this weekend. Maybe if you're in the same area next weekend I can catch up to you. I'm out of White Hall Creek which is the 1st. inlet south of the BB just to the right of the 3 radio towers at Annapolis. You should be able to do pretty well at the mouth of the Magothy. Stay in about 28' - 32' of water and you'll pick up perch and some rock. Good luck. BTW, my boat call name is Slipsinker and I usually monitor 78.

Catman.

[Yrosnake]

I'm planning on being out on the water as much as possible. The trawler is well outfitted for cruising ... reverse air, diesel generator, flybridge ... it is lacking in modern electronics which I'm planning on adding on as time permits. Thanks for the headsup regarding the Magothy. I'll fish the mouth and probably anchor near Dobbin Island for the evening. Then it's south for the rest of the weekend. I just need to keep an eye on the weather - it's like clockwork these days ... thunderstorms after 4:00 PM.