# Balto. Inner Harbor winter rock fishing



## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

I just read an article by Bill Burton in the Feb/March Fishing and Hunting Journal (a free paper from the bait shop). 

It says there are big rock fish from Fort McHenry up river, to nearly the Inner Harbor, due to many warm water discharges in that area. A 38 pounder was taken in early Jan. Evidently many large rock fish stay upriver from Fort McHenry most if not all their lives. According to Jerry Sauter, a supposed locally renowned bass fisherman, it's "the best kept secret in fishing." Jerry says, "The fishing should be good by the time you read this article."

I think the article was written, as many are, from a boaters standpoint due to the places they mentioned. Maybe some of you have boats and would like to give it a try. It said the waters around these places are a good bet:

1) the RESC incinerator south of the stadium
2) Harbor Hospital boat ramp area (3001 S Hanover St)
3) Brandon Shores power plant (Ft. Smallwood Rd., a little down river from Fort Armistead Park/Key Bridge)
4) Wagner power plant

I have heard from many pier fishermen that there's good rock fishing for those of us without boats, at the Harbor Hospital and Brandon Shores. HH is supposed to have easy access. BS is supposed to have a path on Ft. Smallwood Rd. where you can walk in. I've looked but never found it. 

Does anybody know how to get in Brandon Shores and is it legal to be there?

Does anyone know where the RESC incinerator is? Can you fish from shore?

I've never been to, but would like to try the Harbor Hospital area. I can't go until my surf reels are back from the shop, hopefully within the next week. Anybody up for a fishin' mission? 

Blue Heron


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

I wouldn't mind going , I wouldn't dare eat a fish outta there though. Maybe try the one by the stadium and go to a downtown bar afterwards? Maybe this is where my Baltimoreions post ties in? I dunno I tried , no one seems to want to get together.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

Hi JP,

Like I said I have to wait till my reels are done. If you know where the RESC incinerator south of the stadium is and whether you can fish there, I'd be happy to go there. Otherwise, I'd prefer trying Harbor Hospital, cause I know you can fish around there and I got the directions from mapquest.com.

Is the weekend or during the week better for you? I can go anytime. Maybe we could meet at the Golden Ring Walmart and drive together. As far as going to a bar afterwards, I'm game. But not for too long. I'd hate to get a DWI and have my car impounded along with our fishing gear in it. 

Don't worry about your "Baltimoreans" post not resulting in a local get together. There was interest from about 5 or 6 people. I think the problem was that no one could think of a central place to go where we'd have a chance of catching some fish. And I think it was pretty cold at that time too. 

Let me know what you think about fishing the harbor area.

Blue Heron


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## TRIGGERFISH (May 21, 2001)

I was talking to a guy last week about the rock in the upper bay and he told me he belongs to a club in that area and they were fishing from the bank around Hanover St. and catching very nice size rock,casting lures(storm shads,spoons with bucktails) I would go but I don't no anything about the Baltimore area where he was talking about. TRIGGER


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

if you have directions then thats probably the best bet - yeah i know what you mean - dont want anyone getting a dwi - maybe a beer or 2 and wings or something - weekends is best for me - and yeah i shop at that sams club right there so thats a fine neutral place for me - maybe i can get joe mama if he can get a babysitter


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

Just be aware that the area near Harbor Hospital is *ROUGH*. Lots of people are mugged/killed there every year. Even the fish are scared.


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## Rugger (Sep 30, 2002)

Does anyone really, really want to fish in front of an incinerator? The Kent Narrows Bridge is about as aesthetically unpleasing a place as I'm willing to fish  Give me open beach or at least a nice pier looking out over open water, please!


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## oldsalt (May 6, 2003)

Flea thats Cherry Hill area across the street,around the hospital not bad daylight hours.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

JettyPaul - This Sunday is probably good for me. It's supposed to be warm. There will probably be more fishermen there and therefore easier to find, as well as more people to give us the low down on the place. I'll use my bass pole if you and joe mama want to fish for 2 or 3 hours. I'll PM my tel # to you and we can discuss it. 

sand flea - You're right. Thanks for the warning and we'll be careful. I'm comfortable, but on guard, going any place in the city. I haven't met very many fishermen looking for trouble and I don't expect to find a higher percentage of trouble makers there. But since its new territory to me, I'll be wearing a big buck knife on my belt in plain view. And if I'm lucky I'll be accompanied by two rough and tumble Rosedale boys - namely JettyPaul and joe mama. 

TRIGGERFISH - Maybe that place you mentioned is the Harbor Hospital area, from the article, which is on Hanover St. I've also heard that the Hanover St. Bridge is good too. I've never been to either place. Since you're not familiar with Balto., maybe it's best if JettyPaul/joe mama and I go first to check it out for fish, directions and safety. 

Rugger - I think the Kent Narrows Bridge is fine in terms of aesthetics. I have fished at Fort Armistead Park, next to Key Bridge, directly across the Balto. harbor from the Bethlehem Steel plant. It's not the cleanest spot in the world. But it sure is pretty looking at the the bridge, boats, ships and even Beth Steel quietly chugging away, across the harbor. Granted, the incinerator doesn't sound very appealing. But I'm hoping it will be to my back while I cast toward a great view of the Inner Harbor skyline. 

Blue Heron


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

me and joe mama are in for sunday its supposed to be real nice - i got an itch - gotta get my rod wet - and dont worry we have plenty of (legal) weapons we wont need any day time but just in case


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

The Inner Harbor is a very neglected and very productive fishery. There are a few charter boat captains that fish it exclusively and consistently catch quality rockfish. I know a fellow fisherman who launches from Harbor Hospital at least once a week and many times more. If there isn't ice on the water he's out there. Last Monday he and a partner caught and released over 90 rock from 18 - 20". All were caught inside the Key bridge and caught on BA's. It's not usual for him to catch rock in the 30" range and many are caught in less that 10' of water. A lot of fisherman feel the way Rugger does but the locals know better. I think you guys have an good chance of getting some pullage on your lines. If you're going Sunday I may stop by and see what's happening. Might be some photo ops there.

Catman.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

*Hanover Street Bridge*

If theres fish there I will come;$^*t I dont care I'll even fish Hanover Street Bridge at night it cant be any worse than Southeast DC during the day.I've been there no problemo.Is there any paking close by I driven past there many times


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Jeff...You can park on the hospital lot down by the boat ramp.

Catman.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

Hey are you guys going to be down there tommarrow afternoon or another time.I might plan on meeting you up there sometime.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

BigJeff823,

It's in the planning stages now for Sunday. We plan on going to the Harbor Hospital boat ramp area (3001 S Hanover St) to fish, but none of us has ever been there. We'll be using mapquest.com driving directions and map to find our way. 

JettyPaul and joe mama said in a PM that they want to go this Sunday as long as it's "not too early." Since the Sunday tides for the Middle Branch of the harbor are Low 7:11AM and High 2:20PM, I suspect we'll be trying to arrive there an hour or two before high tide. 

I'll be sure to post the details here as soon as we confirm them. If this pans out I'll be looking forward to meeting you.

Blue Heron


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

*What are you guys using*

Bait or Lures and surf rods or regular type rods?Maybe I might pick up some Bloodworms if I go there.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

BigJeff,

"Bait or Lures and surf rods or regular type rods?Maybe I might pick up some Bloodworms if I go there."

Probably all of the above is true. My 2 surf reels are in the shop. If I had them, I'd bring them on my 7' and 9' bay rods. Larger surf rods would be appropriate too. But I'll just be bringing my 6 1/2' bass rod along with bait-tackle and some lures. If my local fishing shop has blood worms, I intend to bring a dozen, plus maybe some elwy, frozen or not. I don't know what JettyPaul and joe mama will bring.

Blue Heron


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

me and joe mama are going and we will meet you blue at the sams club in rosedale around noon - the fishing shop in rosedale is about 3 miles away we can get our bloodworms etc,.. there - were bringing our tackle boxes too - jeff , cat hope you can make it and anyone else who'd like to come - lets make it happen


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

Sorry can't make it this time got limmited time to fish but maybe next time.I'll be fishin for maybe 3-4hrs;me being here in Prince Georges county makes it hard to get up there.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

Ok JettyPaul and joe mama, I'll be at the Sam's Club around noon on Sunday. I'll be driving a silver PT Cruiser. I'm sure we'll find each other some how in that gigantic parking lot. I will be wearing a paisely shirt with plaid pants and I will have an 8' boa constrictor around my neck. What will you guys be wearing?

Blue Heron.


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

BigJeff823,

I'm sorry you can't be a part of our fishing "adventure" this time. I know it's hard to get up here from PG County. When I first came down to MD from NY, I lived in Landover for a while and worked in Balto. City. After a few months of that rotten commute, my wife and I moved to Balto. City. Now I live in Balto. County and she lives in Florida. She's probably catching a lot more fish than I am.

Anyway BigJeff, you have many interesting things to say on this board and you are always willing share your knowledge and experience with the rest of us. I was hoping to meet you this weekend. I still look forward to seeing you at the SPSP spring fling. 

Blue Heron


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

me , joe mama , and blue heron will be meeting at the fishing shop on rt 40 at noon if anyone wants to go


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

What happened? I stopped by Harbor Hospital around 2:30 and only saw some brothers fishing. Talked with them for a while and they were doing ZERO. Oh well, maybe next time.

Catman.


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

i didnt make it - off the toliet that is - i think joe mama and blue heron went though


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

havent heard from either of them hope all is ok


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

joe mama and I checked out the Harbor Hospital boat ramp area Sunday at about 12:30. There's a couple of small piers there that would hold about 6 fishermen comfortably. But there's plenty shoreline available to fish. There were maybe 15 fishermen in the whole area. The parking lot and fishing area looked very safe, clean and well maintained. The Cherry Hill area is across the street and it does have a bad reputation, but I would feel comfortable fishing here without a partner.

We did not fish there however. Sorry Catfish, had we known you were definitely coming we would have stayed there. But we thought it was a bit too crowded on those piers. So we went to a bar and got drunk.

Just kidding. We decided to buy more bait and scout the area a little more. We crossed over the Hanover St. Bridge (renamed the The Vietnam Vets Memorial Bridge) heading toward the city. We made a right on McComas St where there is a Walmart/Sam's Club on Port Covington Drive. Right behind these stores, within their property, we found a long dirt filled dock that had about a 90' ship tied up. Also, there were signs saying you were on their security cameras. To me that meant safety. There were no signs saying don't fish on the dock and there were other fishermen on the dock, so we fished off the end of it. The water depth directly off the end was at least 10'. Some other guys said a cast would put you in 25'-35' of water. I would feel comfortable fishing there again - with a partner. 

Ok if you followed me this far I guess I gotta' tell ya' if we caught anything. I've been procrastinating. joe mama and I were using blood worms and frozen peelers. Evidently there was a skunk on the dock that sprayed everybody with bad fishin' mojo when they were watching their lines, becasue no one caught anything all day. Where can you buy some skunk repellent?

Since there was some interest in this fishing area, and not many of us were familiar with it I wanted to describe it a bit for you. I'm putting the addresses here for mapquest directions if you're interested:

Harbor Hospital boat ramp area: 3001 S. Hanover St. 
Walmart/Sam's Club: 2701 Port Covington Drive

Blue Heron


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## FL FISHERMAN (Sep 30, 2002)

LOL, you got me on the part where you guys went to the bar Glad to see your adventure was a success and safe. I have fished from the key bridge pier and ft armstead park. There is good fishing to be had there! When it gets warmer looks like I will have to try another spot. Thanks for the info!


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## Blue Heron (Jun 12, 2003)

You're welcome FLF.

The next time we go maybe you and some of the other guys who responded to this thread might like to come too. 

Blue Heron


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## fisherman8876 (Aug 31, 2003)

the place behind walmart is a nice to place to fish. they catch nice rockfish there on live white pearch and blues when they make it that far. on the opisite side you can catch white perch all day long on grass shrimp and grubs. you can also fish at the end of the road along side of walmart. it is also pretty good there. but i prefer behind sams.


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## Wrong Way (May 29, 2003)

Seems like there's not much action around the bay from the shore. Hopefully something will turn up in the next couple of weeks but the weather forecast shows rain and more rain. Hope it's not a repeat of last season's record rain fall.


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## JettyPaul (Nov 28, 2003)

Great post BH - ty for the info - again sry i couldnt make it but i had a sore throat , snot attacks , and the squirts lol. I think i have SARS or the Asian Bird Flu - lol j/k - i'm defiently in for next time


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Sorry I missed you guys. I agree that the place is safe to fish especially if you have a partner. Just so you guys know there are some quality fish around the harbor check out this report from yesterday.Harbor Rock .

Catman.


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

Eventhough I wouldn't mind being alone I atleast bring one guy along with me if I spend time walking around or fishing these type of places.I see you did that Blue Herron,that sucks you didn't catch anything but I hear Carol Island is crowed but they're catching fish up there.This guy I was fishing with told me the Linesiders are up there.


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

There's no question there are stripers around the harbor. I've sat at outdoor restaurants like the spot where Lista's used to be and watched them smack the surface and grab pieces of bread thrown in the water.

This time of year, though, the water is a few degrees too cold for them to feed. That's why fishing warm water discharges around power plants is the ticket--just ask the Va. boys who catch speckled trout, puppy drum and stripers all winter long at a place called the "Hot Ditch."


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## BigJeff823 (Oct 14, 2002)

Hey,Flea the guys I work with say theres a real good warmwater discharge at Carol Island.They told me they keep the water piping hot there.

As for the Harbor they make it out like its better once the water warms up a little.But I wouldn't doubt if they're at the Hanover St bridge early in the year.


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