My first trip to Chesapeake, help?

[Trialz]

First of all, WASSUP! I am Trialz. I love fishing but I havent gone due to winter breaking me down, but I am going in hot with my first big trip! The Chesapeake Bay

My mom mom bought me an old arsenal that has probably seen better days I bet, but I sound some nice lures and hooks and etc within this jungle of 30 (more than a steel air pack for fire fighting for christs sake lmao)

The rod I am using for the bay is an 8 foot Abu Garcia Bruiser. Only used a few times sadly =[

I am going to attach some pictures of hook and lures that i think has some potential

====
First are my weights. It would be cool to teach me how to rig them up and all.... http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/z...AS/weights.jpg

I like these ones. They are rubber squids with a nice octopus hook on 'em. http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/z...GTAS/squid.jpg

Typical bass hooks, there are 2 hooks one on top of each other.
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/z...s_picture5.jpg

It was never used http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/z...s_picture4.jpg

I have had smaller ones in the fresh water using these http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/z...s_picture3.jpg

Looked cool thought it was worthy of a review =] http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/z...s_picture2.jpg

=====
If you guys could help out a newbie it'd be awesome and I hope you guys can also teach me, I will post more pictures with results before next weekend because thats my trip, I wanna catch me some dinner =]

Trialz out!

[JohnR]

T - where are you going to be fishing? How? What are the regulations for this time of year?

I'm a little out of my Chesapeake element (by 20 something years) but are you fishing from boat or shore? Chunk bait or lures? What part of the bay? Its big.

Honestly, the best bet is to contact a local bait and tackle (or two) where you'll be fishing and find out the best time / tide to be there and what to use once you get there. Then be sure to use the bait they recommend by purchasing from them. Make sure your gear is ready, clean line (what kind of reel?),

And loose the gamerspeak, no sefl-respecting tackle shop owner is going to know (or care) about p0wn!ng the fish

Normal chunking: You'll probably be chunking cut bait in which case you will want to use the least amount of weigh necessary to hold your bait without moving. Main line is run through a nylon fishfinder rig (with weight attached using lighter line than main line) to a decent size swivel - say 100# - with a 24-36 leader of heavier mono or flourocarbon leader material to your hook. When using bait, I prefer a circle hook.

Knots: look at the Improved Clinch and Palomar to get started: http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfi...matedknots.com

What size fish will you be targeting and available where you are fishing?

Some other info: http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...ting-hook.html

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...101-class.html

[Trialz]

Im going to a new place called Elk Neck State Park in Maryland. Its off the sure I believe, so i believe the term would be surf.

I think either lures and clams would do the trick.

[zimmy]

5" silver jointed rebel is the lure I had the best luck with on the bay, but redfins work well too. Most places you will fish will most likely be 3' deep or less so the shallow swimmers are good there. Small bucktails with a curlytail are good too. We used to use small sassy shads, but these days you might just go with the storm type lures in the small sizes. Unweighted sluggos are worth a try as well as rattle trap type lures. You might want to change the hooks on them. If you are going to chunk you probably won't need weight around there. If you fish sandworms, you won't need anything much more than 1/2 oz. or so. Good luck. I am jealous.

[StriperZ]

The Bay is catch and release until the beginning of trophy season (around April 15th). The temp is around 45 right now. The big fish will pass by May 15th. During Trophy season the fish have to be bigger than 34", then it drops to 18" for a keeper.

There are year round stripers. If you can find a warm water discharge, or any water ~50 degrees they will be near. The problem is when the water is cold, heck, really anytime, they will not bite unless you get your bait hitting them as they expect with the current.