Maryland fall 2021 - part 2

We arrived in Annapolis in the afternoon, driving past the Naval Academy on the way to our fishing spot. I didn't realize how much the people of Maryland love crabs, but now I know.

Photo credit Ally Toth.

We poked around a public dock and a concrete seawall, hoping for blennies or gobies or maybe a spot croaker. Fishing was slow though, and we were ready to give up and move on to another spot. I left my bait sitting on the bottom a few feet out from the seawall, and when I checked my line I discovered a tiny funny-looking fish holding on to my worm! I don't even think the hook point had penetrated his mouth, but that doesn't matter. Skilletfish was my 800th species!

Skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus) - new hook & line species #800

Thanks Ally for capturing this momentous occasion.

Photo credit Ally Toth.

We had time to try another saltwater spot. We parked a half mile from the water and hiked down to a jetty and small beach that looked promising.

We fished the rock jetty for blennies and other micros, but the only two species we could find were mummichog and Atlantic silverside. Both were very aggressive. I had no problem hooking them with a #14 hook and a large piece of worm.

Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)


Atlantic Silverside (Menidia menidia)


The sun was getting low in the sky, but we kept fishing the jetty because the habitat looked perfect for blennies. I felt a fish bite when I dropped my bait between two boulders, but then I realized my hook was stuck. I pulled up on my rod, and when it came free there was another skilletfish on the end!

Skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus)

Despite the low light, I was able to get some good photos in a calm pool of water behind the jetty.

One of the coolest things about skilletfish, or any clingfish for that matter, is that their suction cup is composed of several fins that have fused together. Their ability to cling to rocks or your hand is pretty impressive. 

Ally had something take her bait twice, but she was using presnelled tanago hooks, which unfortunately weren't strong enough to pull skilletfish out of the rocks. I gave her my rod that had 4 pound line, but she wasn't able to find another skilletfish before we needed to leave. We'll find them again someday!

The following morning we had time to check out a creek that had sampling data for rosyside dace. It was a small slow-moving stream in an urban park and again was easy to access.

We found fish in a small pool. Most of them were blacknose dace, but Ally was the first to notice that a few of them were rosyside dace. We each caught one, which made for a good end to the trip.

Eastern Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys atratulus)


Rosyside Dace (Clinostomus funduloides)

Ally caught around six new species, and I caught three. We were both very happy with how we did, especially considering how cold it was. We'd like to go back to that area (not necessarily Marlyand though) to look for saltwater fish like striped blenny, skilletfish for Ally, gobies, and flounders.

 

Now back to Florida where it's 80 degrees!