RAY SCOTT OUTDOORS, INC.
Presents
SCOTT ON LINE
By Ray Scott
Founder, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.)

SPORTACKLE:  Whale of a Tale

PORT DEPOSIT, Maryland - An axiom, the statement that "tide and time wait for no man," is universally accepted as fact. Or truthful. Presenting the facts of a "fishing fantasy" can correspond with reality as an artistic representation. In some ways, fishermen catch most of their fish by the tale.

This is the tale of two fish. And, the cherished dream in my mind to catch a 22-4 bass. Yes, 22-pounds, 4-ounces. The world record weight. But, to nurture the dream to the fullest, the bass would be hooked, played and landed on light-tackle. More to the point, the 7-foot Sportackle spinning rod I've designed and introduced as a challenge to put sport back in sportfishing.

Three years ago at the Baltimore Sportsman Show, Ray Duvall stopped by the TRITON Boats display, introduced himself as a bass fishing addict. He recounted tales of catching huge striped bass on the wide, shallow flats at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. When Ray Duvall learned I'd routinely fished for, but never had the thrill of fighting a big striper, he urged we fish together on the famed Susquehanna Flats. We swallowed the bait. But, as indicated by the phrase…"time and tide wait for none"…we missed the date with a business conflict.

But, as with the ebb and flow of the tide, things do come back. Ray Duvall and his wife, Leslie, found us at the recent Harrisburg Sportsman Show. Their tales of super-size stripers on "The Flats" was too much to resist.

Usually, by mid-April along the mid-Atlantic coast the spring fling is underway. But heavy frosts covered the landscape on the drive up I-95, the most heavily traveled highway on the East Coast. About one hour later, we crossed over an impressive-looking river, the Susquehanna, at the head of the Chesapeake Bay.

Ray and Leslie Duvall are employed by Cecil County Public Schools as a child development counselor and a school psychologist, respectively. Ray has fished this area for over 40 years and this past October launched a late-life career as operators of Duvall's Outdoor Adventures.

Their outdoor business is tailored to provide personal and unique adventures in fishing and camping. The Duvalls plan trips to Canada, the Potomac River of western Maryland and the Maryland section of the Susquehanna River. While Ray Duvall does not "guide" for tidal water fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, his years of experience and knowledge are invaluable to rockfish anglers coming to the area.

As our host explained, "Anadromous fish, such as the striped bass and hickory shad are making a tremendous comeback from the record low numbers in the 1970s and 80s." Effective regulations by Maryland and other mid-Atlantic states has helped to speed their recovery. And, Maryland has opened a "catch and release" season during April on the area at the head of the Chesapeake Bay, "The Flats."

In Ray Duvall's experience, stripers seem to be most active in the early-morning and late-evening hours, so our timing checked out for the first afternoon. After a week of cold, rainy, miserable weather in the area, conditions improved dramatically with 70-degree weather and bright sunshine. Water temperature had climbed to 48 degrees.

As if on cue, Ray Duvall announced, "Fish On!" and his rod bowed into a bend. Not a "big" striper by local standards, but I admired the brief, but ferocious battle as a 15-pounder came into the boat. A most practiced maneuver, he expertly worked the fish to the boat, lipped it and released the bass unharmed. Ray Duvall never uses a net. And, spools his reels with a minimum of 17-pound test line "so the fish can be fought and released expediently with a minimum stress to the fish."

During the spawning period striped bass move up rivers from brackish or saltwater. The season usually begins in April as water temperatures reach 55 to 65 degrees. The striped bass grows to tackle-busting size. A 20-pound striper averages 36-inches long and seven-years old. As the 50-pound size, striped bass measure 50 inches and are probably 17 to 18 years old. So "catch and release" of spawners is recycling for the future of big fish. According to "McClaine's Fishing Encyclopedia" the heaviest recorded weighed 125 pounds at Edenton, North Carolina in 1891.

As instructed by my "guide," I reasoned my fishing fantasy with light-tackle and light-line would most likely turn into a nightmarish dream. So when in Rome, shoot Roman candles and fish heavier line and tackle. The fireworks erupted moments later. And, 15 minutes hence after a winning tug-a-war, the biggest striped bass I'd ever caught - 35 pounds, 8 ounces - was in the boat. Not only the "biggest" but the first striper.

So with a "monstrous" 35 ½-pounder in the creel, we decided "to get real" and head up the Susquehanna River, the next morning, and fish for smallmouth bass and the hickory shad on Sportackle™ and light-line. The Ray Scott Sportackle™ spinning rod is designed for fishing 2 to 6-pound test line. The rod weighs only 2 ounces, extremely sensitive, but with a butt section capable of handling bigger game.

One of the larger of the shads, the hickory shad enters freshwater tributaries in the spring, returning to the sea in summer. Moderate size is 2 ½-pounds, although 5-pounders are reported. A strong fighter, the hickory shad is an ideal query for light-tackle action.

Further up river, a small tributary stream - Octoraro Creek - is unreachable by boat from the river except during the high water in spring. Ray Duvall has hit a three-bagger here, at times. Good numbers of spawning hickory shad in the spring as well as smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Casting a local favorite, a black and orange Shad Dart, Leslie Duvall produced a tailwalking 3 ½-pound smallmouth, a deep, bronze-colored fish. The Shad Dart looks like a Roadrunner in-line spinnerbait without a blade. Very effective in these tidal-area waters.

As we floated back down the Susquehanna, my objective was to pick-up a river smallmouth on the outgoing tide by casting to pools below obstructions in the water. As suggested, I was casting a ¼-ounce chartreuse and white hair jig tipped with a four inch pork eel. The 7-foot Ray Scott Sportackle™ rod was teamed with the new Ray Scott SuperCaster 225™ spinning reel by U. S. Reel. Normally, I'd have spooled with 4-pound test Stren® line, but under this situation had on 8-pound test Ande®, known more for its numerous saltwater records.

At this point in the tale is where fishing fact shades into fishing fantasy. The jig and pig tempted a fish. But, not a smallmouth bass. This bass was long, silvery with a row of longitudinal dark stripes, and in the swift current a runaway submarine. And, just maybe more "sport" than I'd bargained to handle.

It was a back-alley brawl. We slugged it out for over 20 minutes. The 8-pound mono refused to snap. The SuperCaster's drag system flawless. And, playing the big striper on the seven-foot Sportackle™ rod was all the excitement and challenge you could ever want or dream to happen.

Okay, "wake up". This is for real. Not a dream. This is the part you may not buy hook, line and sinker. The bass weighed 22-pounds, 4-ounces. Honestly. I'll swear to it on a stack of "Fisherman's Bibles."

So, ends the tale of two fish. This was the best of times, the worst of times. Maryland regulations prohibit targeting striped bass as they spawn in the Susquehanna. "If a striper takes your offering as you're fishing for other species," explained Ray Duvall, "you are required to release the fish, change positions on the river and/or change lures."

Our party did both. We packed up and headed to the ramp. Another worthwhile axiom is to "know when to fold 'em or hold 'em."

And, if a tall, balding fellow named Ray Duvall walks up to you at a boat show and talks about "monster striped bass on the Flats" better listen up. For information on the services offered by Duvall's Outdoor Adventures, telephone (866) 658-0280 or check out their website at www.duvallsoutdooradventures.com . The mail address is Duvall's Outdoor Adventures, 588 Spring Hill Road, Rising Sun, MD 21911.