Finally ready to go out to the bay bridge, question.

[Squirrel rash]

New guy here. Not new to kayaking or fishing, but never been out to the bridge fishing before. Spent all of my life in the west side rivers (magothy, Severn, south etc.) and back bays behind Kent island. I have a small boat set up for fishing and crabbing these areas. I also have been using a sit in kayak for years fishing all over including in the bay, just never out at the bridge.

I set up a ocean kayak Malibu two my buddy gave me for fishing with my son. Him and I have been destroying perch in the magothy in my boat and he’s hooked. We are comfortable in this Kayak as it is really stable and seems to do well in choppy water. I figure we will take baby steps out there when the weather is good.

My question, what rod set up would be best for fishing out there? I normally run St. Criox 7’ med action with shimano reel,s 6lb pline floro and 7’ med-heavy fast with shimano reels, 10lb pline floro . Will these suffice for fishing out there? I would be willing to upgrade to some heavier reels and line if needed. I feel med-heavy fast action rods should do well.

Squirrel Rash

[nhunter344]

My initial thought is that you may want to up your line weights. I would assume the line ratings on your rods would let you move up to around 12lb on the med action reel and 15-20 on the med-heavy. I prefer braid myself, with a flouro/mono leader. It gives me more line on the reel just in case.

Understand that what you have is perfectly usable, but my comments come with species conservation in mind. You can absolutely catch striper with what you have now, but it will usually involve prolonged fights which eventually lead to increased mortality in released fish. Even more so when water temps are higher.

All that being said, there are plenty here with way more knowledge and experience that can provide less environmentally biased recommendations.

[Squirrel rash]

My initial thought is that you may want to up your line weights. I would assume the line ratings on your rods would let you move up to around 12lb on the med action reel and 15-20 on the med-heavy. I prefer braid myself, with a flouro/mono leader. It gives me more line on the reel just in case.

Understand that what you have is perfectly usable, but my comments come with species conservation in mind. You can absolutely catch striper with what you have now, but it will usually involve prolonged fights which eventually lead to increased mortality in released fish. Even more so when water temps are higher.

All that being said, there are plenty here with way more knowledge and experience that can provide less environmentally biased recommendations.

Thanks for the reply.

That’s a good point about the mortality rate. I will set the med action rod set up with 8lb floro for perch and set up my med-heavy action rods with 15lb floro.

Squirrel rash

[ronaultmtd]

If white perch, croaker, spot, etc. bottom fishing table fare are your target species, you are good to go...if you are targeting larger species of fish like Striped Bass, Spanish Mackerel, Red Drum, etc. you need to use slightly heavier tackle. Not saying it isn’t possible to catch a big fish on UL tackle, it is done all the time, but as has been pointed out- the fish die. I use light tackle but nothing under 10# test in salt water. And I take lots of effort to revive the fish I release to ensure they survive...Use fish grips and pull the fish through moving water until they struggle to swim away is a tried and proven revival method..