Submit your own Adventure of the Week or your latest Fresh Catch here and keep an eye out for your adventure to be featured in one of our next Weekly Outdoor Adventure Guides!
Weather (Click Here)
Before you hit the trails or set up camp, make sure to take a second glance at the weather for this weekend!
Today's Moon Phase according to NASA (Click Here)
Waning Crescent: "The Moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing.."
Hiking (Click Here)
Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park, Trappe
Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park consists of approximately 25 acres of park property including about one mile of trails. The trails and shoreline are open from sunrise to sunset. The Dorchester side of the fishing pier is open from 7 a.m. - sunset everyday except Christmas. The Talbot side of the pier is open from 7 a.m. - sunset every day except Christmas and is also closed from January 1st - March 31st. The piers are quite popular because of the variety of fish that can be caught including perch, striped bass, croakers, sea trout, and catfish. The pier adjoins Sailwinds Park via the walkway under the bridge. On July 22, 2009 the Board of Public Works approved re-naming The Choptank River Fishing Piers to Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park in honor of Bill Burton, a reporter, writer and fisherman who has for more than 50 years chronicled outdoor opportunities for Maryland citizens. Mr. Burton was instrumental in preserving the bridge for a fishing pier when the new bridge was constructed. The consumption of alcohol at the Bill Burton Fishing Pier State Park is prohibited.
The Talbot County side offers 25 acres of land extending upriver from the pier and there is a walking path along the Choptank River and Bolingbroke Creek. The Talbot side of the pier is one mile in length and the Dorchester side of the pier is ½ mile in length. Pets are allowed.
Maryland Fishing Report - April 30th, Composed by Lyndsie Pratt (Click Here)
Rockfish: We are all excited about opening day of Rockfish Trophy Season! Trolling is typically the most popular way to target Rockfish during Trophy Season, when the size limit is 35 inches or larger. You’ll want to use larger, 9 inch profile baits and parachutes to bulk up the profile even more. Parachutes can be rigged on an umbrella, or try a 4 oz and a 2 oz rigged in tandem. This time of year, the fish are typically in the upper part of the water column towards the surface, so you do not need to go too heavy with your trolling weight. When looking for areas to troll, start at the mouth of any of the rivers and zig zag your way across the channel from east to west so that you hit a variety of water depths. Trolling around Bloody Point and the mouth of Eastern Bay is also a good route to try. Trolling is, of course, not the only way to catch trophy rockfish! As LJ describes in the video, you can jig larger profile baits such as zman streakz XL, or Bust ‘Em Bait 7″ Fat Boys and jig in open water, using the trolling boats as your ally! They will push fish towards you! Chumming with fresh alewife at any of the points near mouths of rivers is also a good way to target trophy fish!
Catfish: Catfish are still all over the bay! Use cut alewife at the mouths of the rivers and points, or from any dock or beach! Powerbait and gulp catfish bait are great too and be kept in your tackle box!
Snakehead: Snakehead are interesting creatures! Some days they don’t want to bite, then other days they are all biting non stop! Whether it’s Blackwater, the Transquaking, the Patuxent or even the Severn or Magothy, you don’t know unless you try, and every day is different so don’t be afraid to try again! Our favorite lure to use right now is a chatterbait with a shorter style plastic swim bait for a trailer. Having a second rod rigged with a live minnow on a bobber is always good too.
White Perch: While the white perch are still mostly scattered in the rivers and creeks, we did get some good reports from Matapeake fishing pier using bloodworms earlier this week, so that is a good sign that they may be moving towards the mouths of the rivers and the main bay! We are now selling extra fresh bloodworms from the local “Bait Boyz” which will be perfect for targeting perch in deeper water!
This Weekend's Tide Predictions (Click Here)
Keep an eye on this weekend’s tide schedule. These are the predicted tides for the Western Shore of the Chesapeake from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Wednesday 5/12:
Low tide starting at 1:32 p.m. and again at 11:59 p.m.
High tide starting at 6:30 a.m. and again at 6:43 p.m.
Sunrise: 5:56 a.m.
Sunset: 8:09 p.m.
Thursday 5/13:
Low tide starting at 2:12 p.m.
High tide starting at 7:03 a.m. and again at 7:24 p.m.
Sunrise: 5:55 a.m.
Sunset: 8:10 p.m.
Friday 5/14:
Low tide starting at 12:33 a.m. and again at 2:52 p.m.
High tide starting at 7:36 a.m. and again at 8:06 p.m.
Sunrise: 5:54 a.m.
Sunset: 8:11 p.m.
Saturday 5/15:
Low tide starting at 1:11 a.m. and again at 3:31 p.m.
High tide starting at 8:12 a.m. and again at 8:50 p.m.
Sunrise: 5:53 a.m.
Sunset: 8:12 p.m.
Sunday 5/16:
Low tide starting at 1:54 a.m. and again at 4:12 p.m.
High tide at 8:51 a.m. and again at 9:37 p.m.
Sunrise: 5:52 a.m.
Sunset: 8:13 p.m.
Animal Cams (Click Here)
This week tune in to watch Polar Bear Tundra Buggy Lodge North in Canada!
Beach Cam
In the winter months we all long for the beach. Take a look at whats going on at your favorite East Coast beaches right now.
