Friday
08-13-2009, 08:23 AM
Kayak Flag and Spanish Mac
August 9, 2009 Report
I did not plan for the trip. In the morning I woke up early and mindlessly checked the Chesapeake Bay weather. Wind of 5-10 knots, this is good for testing the sail for the light wind. I designed current sail with the surface area of 12 square feet for the wind of 10-15knots. However, yesterday at the Sandy Point when the wind was less than 7 MPH and the most of the sail boats were moving by the motors, I thought I might need a bigger sail for the light wind. So I decided to test the current sail when the wind was expected to be 5-10knots. This way I probably came up with the additional surface area needed for the bigger sail.
I whispered to my sleeping wife, “I am going to sailing. I will be home by 4:00PM.” The wind was a little more than forecasted. The wind was blowing at 8-13 MPH. And time to time wind was blowing 15-17MPH. I spent 3 hours for sailing with deep diving lures. I brought my oldest GPS that worked today. I found that deep diving lures, such as Stretch 25 and 30 reduced the kayak speed by 1.2-2 MPH. The water was brownish, indicated the high water temp and lack of oxygen. I did not expect catching any in the brownish water. My past experience in this time of year and the almost empty trash cans at the fish cleaning station told me that stripers weren’t available.
In 35-38’ of water between Parkers Creek and Silver Ball (water tower), I saw two very shiny fish leap out of water, 3’ above the surface. I shouted “Spanish”. Spanish Mackerels were here. Then I saw two boats were trolling very fast. One was B.D. and the other was F.D.
BD on the east:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/BrickDoctorMac.JPG
FW on the west:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/FishWiserMac.JPG
They are excellent fishermen and I knew they were chasing Spanish Mackerels. Other than that there was no sign of breaking fish or working birds. Perhaps they could see some surface actions while I could not see because I sat low on the surface. I packed everything away including the GPS. I dropped a Sea-Striker planer #2 with a gold Clark spoon #00. I trolled as fast as I could by pedaling and sailing. The Sea-Striker #2 planer was very hard to pull. I trolled for two hours and I was tired. It took me over an hour to come back to the marina against wind.
In front of the marina entrance in 5’ of water I jigged a buck-tail because I saw some little fish were jumping. I caught a small bluefish on the buck-tail. No Skunk!
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/BlueBucktail.JPG
I met B.D. and F.W. at the marina. They told me that they caught 10 Spanish Mackerels each but no stripers. Also they told me that they were glad to see my kayak flag so they wouldn’t run over my kayak.
Large Kayak Flag:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/SailSky2.JPG
I learned that the current sail is big enough for wind at 8 MPH and plus. The reason is that I had experienced some gusts up to 17 MPH when the average wind was 8-13 MPH today. I had to expect the gusts while sailing. I just don’t want to be capsized while fishing. Though, I may make one sail with the surface area of 13-14 square feet.
I also learned that my kayak (with the sail) was fast enough to troll for Spanish Mackerels for hours on windy day (Wind at 8-15MPH) depending on the directions of winds.
Bow view with Wind at 10MPH:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/SailUnderBow.JPG
I may try two #1 Sea-Striker planer instead of one #2 in two weeks.
August 9, 2009 Report
I did not plan for the trip. In the morning I woke up early and mindlessly checked the Chesapeake Bay weather. Wind of 5-10 knots, this is good for testing the sail for the light wind. I designed current sail with the surface area of 12 square feet for the wind of 10-15knots. However, yesterday at the Sandy Point when the wind was less than 7 MPH and the most of the sail boats were moving by the motors, I thought I might need a bigger sail for the light wind. So I decided to test the current sail when the wind was expected to be 5-10knots. This way I probably came up with the additional surface area needed for the bigger sail.
I whispered to my sleeping wife, “I am going to sailing. I will be home by 4:00PM.” The wind was a little more than forecasted. The wind was blowing at 8-13 MPH. And time to time wind was blowing 15-17MPH. I spent 3 hours for sailing with deep diving lures. I brought my oldest GPS that worked today. I found that deep diving lures, such as Stretch 25 and 30 reduced the kayak speed by 1.2-2 MPH. The water was brownish, indicated the high water temp and lack of oxygen. I did not expect catching any in the brownish water. My past experience in this time of year and the almost empty trash cans at the fish cleaning station told me that stripers weren’t available.
In 35-38’ of water between Parkers Creek and Silver Ball (water tower), I saw two very shiny fish leap out of water, 3’ above the surface. I shouted “Spanish”. Spanish Mackerels were here. Then I saw two boats were trolling very fast. One was B.D. and the other was F.D.
BD on the east:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/BrickDoctorMac.JPG
FW on the west:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/FishWiserMac.JPG
They are excellent fishermen and I knew they were chasing Spanish Mackerels. Other than that there was no sign of breaking fish or working birds. Perhaps they could see some surface actions while I could not see because I sat low on the surface. I packed everything away including the GPS. I dropped a Sea-Striker planer #2 with a gold Clark spoon #00. I trolled as fast as I could by pedaling and sailing. The Sea-Striker #2 planer was very hard to pull. I trolled for two hours and I was tired. It took me over an hour to come back to the marina against wind.
In front of the marina entrance in 5’ of water I jigged a buck-tail because I saw some little fish were jumping. I caught a small bluefish on the buck-tail. No Skunk!
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/BlueBucktail.JPG
I met B.D. and F.W. at the marina. They told me that they caught 10 Spanish Mackerels each but no stripers. Also they told me that they were glad to see my kayak flag so they wouldn’t run over my kayak.
Large Kayak Flag:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/SailSky2.JPG
I learned that the current sail is big enough for wind at 8 MPH and plus. The reason is that I had experienced some gusts up to 17 MPH when the average wind was 8-13 MPH today. I had to expect the gusts while sailing. I just don’t want to be capsized while fishing. Though, I may make one sail with the surface area of 13-14 square feet.
I also learned that my kayak (with the sail) was fast enough to troll for Spanish Mackerels for hours on windy day (Wind at 8-15MPH) depending on the directions of winds.
Bow view with Wind at 10MPH:
http://www.comeonfish.com/ChesapeakeBayBreezyPoint20090809/SailUnderBow.JPG
I may try two #1 Sea-Striker planer instead of one #2 in two weeks.