Me 'n Lisa 'n Donna 'n Christie Went Fishin'

A spring trip to Chesapeake City, MD to fish with Lisa Doricchi has become a treasured annual tradition for Donna Trexler and me. We spend one day on the Susquehanna Flats for stripers, and one day at a private bass pond near Galena, MD for warmwater fish. This year we had two fine days, with good weather and good fishing for both.

Donna and I carpooled down on a sunny mid-April day to meet up with Lisa at her house. Soon her friend Christie arrived, and after a quick transfer of gear to Lisa’s vehicle we made the short drive to the marina on the Bohemia River where Lisa docks her beautiful center console boat. Soon anglers and equipment were on board, we cast off and were on our way.

Lisa had asked me to help Christie a bit with her fly casting, which I was happy to do. She made excellent progress, and I was very pleased for her when she later caught her first striper on a fly. 

As is often the case, it took a bit of searching to locate the fish. But once we found the stripers we were able to make a number of drifts over them, taking several fish each time. The wind and tide were perfect, giving us just the right speed of drift. My bad shoulder was very grateful not to have to endure a lot of casting with my 8-weight outfit which, although light by saltwater standards, is much heavier than the trout rods I use most of the time. Instead I was able to lazily “mooch troll” my 250-grain Depth Charge line behind the boat and get a lot of mileage out of each cast I made. Lefty Deceivers, in either hot pink and white or chartreuse and white were the hot flies.

Christie had her neat little digital camera with her, and shot some short video clips of the action. Lisa’s partner Pat later burned CD’s of these for us, which made for great mementos of our day on the water. 
Most of our stripers were schoolie size, small but feisty, averaging three pounds or so. But on one of our many drifts I hooked up with what was obviously a heavier fish. Run after run took me well into my backing, the reel singing a pretty tune. The fish would come along for a while then stubbornly turn and run yet again. And once the fish did what I’ve had other larger stripers do before, it ran under the boat and out the other side. This necessitates walking around the stern, plunging the rod tip deep into the water to clear the prop and resuming the fight on the other side of the boat. The tactic worked to perfection, and the long fight ended when the 20-pounder was finally close enough to grab with the Boga Grip. A couple of very quick photos and the fish was safely back in the water and on its way. The stripers were still hitting when we headed back to the dock, but we had caught many and were pleasantly tired and ready to call it a day.

Donna and I and Lisa and Pat drove over to the Bayard House Restaurant in Chesapeake City for dinner. We were seated at a table overlooking the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and were entertained by the passage of tugboats, barges and other commercial traffic. A great day of fishing, followed by a delectable meal, good wine and good company. What could be better, except to know that the following day would bring the prospect of still more wonderful fishing. 

The next morning we drove down Route 213 into Galena, and wended our way through a maze of back roads to the locked gate that marks the entrance to the Mill Pond. Violets and other wildflowers carpeted the banks, and numerous songbirds regaled us with their springtime serenades. The only other fishermen present were osprey, herons, and kingfishers. At one point a barred owl called several times, right in broad daylight. What a beautiful setting for a day’s fishing. 

It was a pleasure to exchange the 8-weight for a 6-wt. rod. The bass weren’t as far into the spawn as they sometimes are for our trip, and we didn’t catch as many big ones. But we caught plenty of smaller bass, big crappie, and jumbo bluegill on both streamers and surface bugs--a perfectly delightful day.

Lisa kindly makes these trips available each year to DVWFFA members, and I can’t recommend the experience highly enough. Fishing is fishing, and the stripers particularly do not cooperate every year. It’s certainly possible to get skunked, but if you are lucky enough to hit it right it’s an unforgettable experience. 

--Mary S. Kuss--
Summer 2008 Issue