JoshKaptur
06-13-2006, 07:48 AM
Fished in my kayak from 12 to 7 PM yesterday, 6/12. There were schools of blues all over the place in about 40 feet of water cruising the surface chasing bait. The baitfish were tiny and I could not find something the blues would take, and I tried all sorts of lures, spoons, etc. of various sizes. I did catch one 3 pound blue trolling the "blue light special," which is a 6" crank/jerkbait I got at K-mart 3 for 10 bucks. It has served me (and a few others on the flats who borrowed it) pretty well this year.
The real story was the rockfish, who were totally absent until about 4:00. The tide was really running at 4:00, and just off the green channel marker next to TPL, my screen was literally almost black with marks out of nowhere. From 4:00 to 6:00, I pounded rockfish up to 29 inches. I could have kept pounding them but I needed to be home by 8:30, so had to leave with the fish biting... man that hurts.
The fish were stacked in some places and scattered in others, but all caught within a few hundred yards of that marker. The water drops off pretty quickly there from about 20 feet to about 40+ feet.
I seem to have lost my light tackle jigging MOJO, since I couldn't get them to take my trusty jighead with bass kandy delight. I did see several other boats having success with this though. I noticed most of them had a rod with a much more flexible tip than I was using, so perhaps that has something to do with it.
Fish were suspended between 15 and 30 feet, so I trolled two rods - a blue/white Stretch 25, and a chartruese Stretch 20+. I caught fish on both lures, though had far more bites on whatever rod I was holding while pedaling and imparting extra action to the lure. Basically and erratic "retrieve" (troll) was better than just having it in the holder.
The big problem was finding a launch site. I read on-line about Thomas Point Light State Park, which turned out to have restricted access and nothing but a steep rip-rap shoreline. Someone told me the closest launch was quiet waters, but that is a LONG pedal/paddle to reach where I was. I am going to research a better launch site. I ended up parking in an empty residential lot after a neighbor told me the guy was never there, and having a very difficult launch over the rip rap. Getting back in after I was tired was even worse.
Tally for the day was one bluefish at 3 pounds, and 9 rockfish between 23 and 29 inches. Several had sores.
I am also posting this on the main board, mostly out of pride.
Josh
The real story was the rockfish, who were totally absent until about 4:00. The tide was really running at 4:00, and just off the green channel marker next to TPL, my screen was literally almost black with marks out of nowhere. From 4:00 to 6:00, I pounded rockfish up to 29 inches. I could have kept pounding them but I needed to be home by 8:30, so had to leave with the fish biting... man that hurts.
The fish were stacked in some places and scattered in others, but all caught within a few hundred yards of that marker. The water drops off pretty quickly there from about 20 feet to about 40+ feet.
I seem to have lost my light tackle jigging MOJO, since I couldn't get them to take my trusty jighead with bass kandy delight. I did see several other boats having success with this though. I noticed most of them had a rod with a much more flexible tip than I was using, so perhaps that has something to do with it.
Fish were suspended between 15 and 30 feet, so I trolled two rods - a blue/white Stretch 25, and a chartruese Stretch 20+. I caught fish on both lures, though had far more bites on whatever rod I was holding while pedaling and imparting extra action to the lure. Basically and erratic "retrieve" (troll) was better than just having it in the holder.
The big problem was finding a launch site. I read on-line about Thomas Point Light State Park, which turned out to have restricted access and nothing but a steep rip-rap shoreline. Someone told me the closest launch was quiet waters, but that is a LONG pedal/paddle to reach where I was. I am going to research a better launch site. I ended up parking in an empty residential lot after a neighbor told me the guy was never there, and having a very difficult launch over the rip rap. Getting back in after I was tired was even worse.
Tally for the day was one bluefish at 3 pounds, and 9 rockfish between 23 and 29 inches. Several had sores.
I am also posting this on the main board, mostly out of pride.
Josh