dwkoller
10-31-2009, 09:32 PM
Buddy and I have talked about kayaking near Janes Island, north of Crisfield for a good six months. Decided it has been cold enough to keep the bugs at bay. Tried to get a cabin at the park, but they were all taken. Stayed in OC at my mom's condo Thursday night and drove over to Janes Island Friday AM. High tide was scheduled for about 10:00 am, we left OC a little after 6:00am to work the incoming tide and paddle/fish various spots around the island. Hoping to find some birds or fish busting at the surface.
By the time we got everything together -- it was about 11:00 and we left the dock. The water was flat and not a breeze to speak of. Paddled the yellow trail. Right after crossing the canal -- the anglers in the walk-around hooked a small striper. We continued down the yellow trail towards the bend to the right -- there we found individual fish breaking the surface. Hooked a decent striper by casting out a gold Tony beyond the breaking water and reeling back in.
We followed the gold to the green trail and out into the bay. We marked very little fish or bait. And there were no birds to be found anywhere, except for the sea ducks. We saw the oyster boats off in the distance and decided to poke around the fleet -- think they might have been stirring things up. Made it out among the boats and relaxed after the 3 mile paddle, said hi to the some of the crew on the boats and took a few pics.
Headed back into the northern end of Janes Island to take a break and have lunch. It was a great day, the air was warm, the water cool, I was out with my fishing buddy -- we had a good time.
Still surprised by the lack of birds and bait. We paddled back inside the island, working the edges without any luck. In the afternoon the wind picked up and we were paddling against a strong out going tide. We ended up paddling 11+ miles -- we're two old guys with perfectly good boats at home and we decided to paddle until neither one of us could move. Note to self; get out of the kayak more frequently to stretch the back muscles.
Talked to several anglers at the docks -- the guys that went out at daybreak did well, the rest of the day was tough -- with groups getting skunked or getting 1.
My friend picked up his hobie kayak recently and this was his first significant outing. He's still rigging the yak for fishing. He installed the fish finder, but still needed to glue down the transducer. He made a form out of foam and was going to use petroleum jelly to couple the transducer to the kayak. We'll he left his jelly at home -- so we had to stop at Walgreens for him to pick up a bottle. I told him I wasn't going to the check-out counter with him -- we both had the same thought at the same time.
The advantages of the mirage system is being able to use your hands while paddling, and you stay a lot drier -- he was completely dry while my kayak had 2" of water in the bottom due to the water dripping off the paddles. He has the smaller rudder and is planing to replace it with a bigger version, the yak did not turn well. He said his previous ocan kayak [scrambler] seemed a little more stable that the Hobie.
We had a long day, paddled 11+ miles, ended up with 1 striper -- had another striper follow the jig to the boat but never hooked up.
This morning we decide to sleep in, leave OC for the bay bridge and fish the pilings or ebay. We hit Kent Island just as the wind increased, the rain started and the fog cut visibility. We decided it was safer to fish/yak another day and head North on 95 to home. The truth is we both were so freaking sore from yesterday -- we probably couldn't have paddled more than a couple of miles.
Had a great time, heading back down in a couple of weeks.
By the time we got everything together -- it was about 11:00 and we left the dock. The water was flat and not a breeze to speak of. Paddled the yellow trail. Right after crossing the canal -- the anglers in the walk-around hooked a small striper. We continued down the yellow trail towards the bend to the right -- there we found individual fish breaking the surface. Hooked a decent striper by casting out a gold Tony beyond the breaking water and reeling back in.
We followed the gold to the green trail and out into the bay. We marked very little fish or bait. And there were no birds to be found anywhere, except for the sea ducks. We saw the oyster boats off in the distance and decided to poke around the fleet -- think they might have been stirring things up. Made it out among the boats and relaxed after the 3 mile paddle, said hi to the some of the crew on the boats and took a few pics.
Headed back into the northern end of Janes Island to take a break and have lunch. It was a great day, the air was warm, the water cool, I was out with my fishing buddy -- we had a good time.
Still surprised by the lack of birds and bait. We paddled back inside the island, working the edges without any luck. In the afternoon the wind picked up and we were paddling against a strong out going tide. We ended up paddling 11+ miles -- we're two old guys with perfectly good boats at home and we decided to paddle until neither one of us could move. Note to self; get out of the kayak more frequently to stretch the back muscles.
Talked to several anglers at the docks -- the guys that went out at daybreak did well, the rest of the day was tough -- with groups getting skunked or getting 1.
My friend picked up his hobie kayak recently and this was his first significant outing. He's still rigging the yak for fishing. He installed the fish finder, but still needed to glue down the transducer. He made a form out of foam and was going to use petroleum jelly to couple the transducer to the kayak. We'll he left his jelly at home -- so we had to stop at Walgreens for him to pick up a bottle. I told him I wasn't going to the check-out counter with him -- we both had the same thought at the same time.
The advantages of the mirage system is being able to use your hands while paddling, and you stay a lot drier -- he was completely dry while my kayak had 2" of water in the bottom due to the water dripping off the paddles. He has the smaller rudder and is planing to replace it with a bigger version, the yak did not turn well. He said his previous ocan kayak [scrambler] seemed a little more stable that the Hobie.
We had a long day, paddled 11+ miles, ended up with 1 striper -- had another striper follow the jig to the boat but never hooked up.
This morning we decide to sleep in, leave OC for the bay bridge and fish the pilings or ebay. We hit Kent Island just as the wind increased, the rain started and the fog cut visibility. We decided it was safer to fish/yak another day and head North on 95 to home. The truth is we both were so freaking sore from yesterday -- we probably couldn't have paddled more than a couple of miles.
Had a great time, heading back down in a couple of weeks.