October meet and greet

[HawkGT]

I backed out this AM; it was a bit too cool and wet for my comfort zone. Thank you, Dogfish, for your generosity in organizing and answering all the questions. Tight lines to all of you out there now right now!

[Pat Smith]

Heading to the smokehouse now, etc is 230 hope someone is still there

[Fishinfool]

I had to work today as well. Can't wait for the reports!

[J.A. Veil]

The weather was not ideal, but it was tolerable. I stayed at home until about 9:45, drove to Hillsmere, and launched at 10:25. The rain stopped about then and I was feeling clever. Unfortunately 30 mins later it rained again and maintained a mist the entire rest of the time. I trolled in shallow water to Thomas Point with calm seas. As soon as I passed the point, the wind kicked in and raised up 1.5-ft chop. It was fishable, but not much fun. I came back in the river and trolled until 1:30. I caught 6 small rockfish. 5 of the 6 fish hit a smoke-colored twister tail and one hit a salt-and-pepper paddle tail.

Attendance was light. I saw three yellow Hobies to complement my orange Native Slayer Propel. Five of our members met for lunch at the Smokehouse.

[Mark]

Congrats to all who ventured out in the bad weather.

Discretion won over valor for me.

I'm sorry I didn't make it.

[BeyondTheBounds]

Man I completely forgot! Either way my current setup isn't ideal. Went to mattawoman last weekend and felt like I was just treading water. Can't wait to upgrade!

[moc]

I was unable to fish due to family obligations, but I did manage to join everyone for lunch to hear about their fishing adventure for the morning. Too bad the weather did not cooperate, but I give the ones that ventured out props for being hard core. From what I gathered, everyone that I spoke to caught fish.

[medicyaker]

Sorry I had to back out as well. I'm OK with a little cold weather but a cold rain is just a bit past my comfort level...hope ya'll had a good time. Sorry Dogfish. Thanks for taking on the hard work.

[DOGFISH]

The weather did make it tough. However, for most the fishing was good. I personally caught 8 stripers, of which two were keeper size an 18 and a 20. I also caught about 6 or 7 bluefish. As usual, all of my fish were released. I was using larger trolled baits, every so often the rod would go down with a miss. I am assuming those were blues. I was trying to avoid them and the smaller stripers, with the larger baits. I should have stuck with my game plan. However, I was tempted to go chasing the birds. However, when I got out to the birds, they were skimming small fish on the surface. There were no breaking fish. There were good numbers of fish back in the river. I have a few photos on my camera, which is still out in the garage. I'll edit and post a photo later.

As far as the weather, it is really not so bad when dressed right. I have paddle pants and a sailing type dry top, which makes a very comfortable combination. With some fleece underneath, it is a dry and warm setup. The thing about rain, it is good striper weather. It can be discouraging for some and not prime fishing weather. Keep in mind that I worked 33 years for the Postal Service, so dressing for bad weather comes natural. There was about a 45 minute to an hour where the wind kicked up and shifted to the West, that made it a little difficult. However, that occurred about the time to go in for lunch.

I was surprised that the water temperatures have dropped substantially in the last week and the half. I was getting 63 degrees on the depth finder. That is down 10 degrees from a week and a half ago, when I last fished. I guess those cool nights are having and affect.

Thanks to all who fished and/or came to lunch. I saw that some went over and took advantage of the 20% off lure sale at West Marine. I hoped that worked out.

[MD Dore]

I launched at around 6:30 am and decided to forego trolling and stick to casting to shoreline. I mostly threw crankbaits and topwater plugs.. While the action was not fast for me, it was furious at times. I ended up hooking two nice sized stripers -- one I estimate was in the 28-32" range and the other was in the 22-25" range -- but I lost each of them at the side of the yak when my 20-lb mono leader snappped as I grabbed it to bring the fish on board. The larger fish even hung out by the side of the yak for a moment after the leader snapped, which made for a comedic scene as I frantically, but unsuccessfully, struggled to grab its tail. The fish swam away, and I cursed. Both fish were found in 3'-3.5' feet of water. One was on a 6" Daiwa Salt Pro Minnow and the other was on a Smack-It Jr.

Thanks to Dogfish for organizing!

[gafisherman]

Dogfish- Thanks for organizing and hosting this event. It was nice to meet you, I also appreciated your advice on areas to fish! I am jealous of your electric motor. My legs were dead after pedaling non-stop yesterday!

It was a little cold and windy. I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to stay when it was raining/windy early in the morning.

I started throwing topwater for a bit, but then switched over to trolling. I caught 10 plus small stripers in 3-5 foot of water with a Zman White (Opening Night) paddletail on a white jighead.

I later ventured into deeper water, and caught some bigger striper. Got two that were 15-16", and then lost a keeper (est. 20-22") inches at the boat trying to land him. I was trying to get my net, b/c he wasn't opening his mouth, very disappointing.

Also caught an 8-9" bluefish.

Even though it was cold and rainy, I had a blast, it was only my second time going after stripers, and trolling. I fished out of Triton Beach last weekend and caught many schoolie sized stripers. They're fun on light tackle!

I also enjoyed meeting John Veil and MD Dore (I forgot your name). I hope to fish with y'all soon!

[DOGFISH]

Considering the weather, I am glad everyone caught fish.