[Stormin' Norman]

Took my buddy Jason fishing yesterday for a ½ day trip. We didn't have enough time to travel as far south as CBBT or PLO. I knew there were some catching reports in the upper bay, but with not having any detailed intel or time to prospect, I decided to focus on a smaller patch of warm water south of Breezy.

The morning was cold, windy, devoid of any other boats, and was a very slow pick. The excitement centered more around thoughts of being capsized, than it did on having rods bent over. With the strong NW wind, a solid outgoing tide, and the outflow there…things were torn up pretty good. All of this was compounded by the fact that we had a solid layer of frozen spray on the deck from the run down (can you say deadliest catch ). The conditions really seemed to jack up later when the tide was changing directions and there were a few times when we had seas break over the outboard engine (I was very happy to have opted away from a notched transom). It was frisky enough to make it fun and we had some good laughs. There was no need for worry; the boat took it all in stride without any serious causes for concern. :thumbup:

Fish were not stacked up by any means, but there were a few spots that would produce if the drift was set properly. We had enough C&R action to make for a decent day and we had our limit in the box by noon.

The largest striper was 23", but that was eclipsed by a surprise speck that Jason landed :

Norman

 

[DirtyFrank]

Awesome!!

got my first speck there last year. good eating right there

thanks for the report and way to brave the elements!!

TIGHT LINES!!

 

[mackaroni]

Glad you had a good day. Real nice job telling the conditions to go suck and egg :thumbup:

 

[uncle phill]

SWEET!

Sounds like a good (and exciting) day indeed! Thats a nice spec. Man, I really want get a couple of those nice specs.

 

[smellslikefish]

That area sure can get exciting with a north wind:yes: Nice work on the Spec......did you catch him further out on the gravel?

bill

 

[Stormin' Norman]

That area sure can get exciting with a north wind:yes: Nice work on the Spec......did you catch him further out on the gravel?

bill

Yes the speck and a 12" puppy drum were found further out and on the edges.

You know it's funny how things go with a bunch of guys on a boat in the middle of winter. I've worked this area several times over the last few trips with my collective group of fishing buddies and in this time they have coined all kinds of phrases to describe the swirls, eddies, and current patterns where they want me to set the drift. Keep in mind that none of these are mine, though they have led to endless belly laughs on my part. So to be exact in this report, I'll tell you that :

Few fish were found around the "flaming whirlpool of death" or "Vagine (Borat reference)". We tended to pick up most fish just as we were being spit out of the "Devil's poop shoot" and entering the "Vagine's backwards gravitational pull". Send me bmail if you want chart notes on this

Norman

 

[Flying Fish]

Great report. And a speck this late, I'm impressed. That patch of warm water has yielded some puppy drum as well.

I've been waging a private battle with NOAA to issue freezing spray forecasts without much luck; freezing spray is one of the most dangerous of winter phenomena. Even on our temperate bay, it can get bad at times.

FF