Raptor's Fish

[Skidsteer]

Nice trip this morning with Raptor and Mark. I'll let them fill in the details later.

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I think this was the best one caught while I was out.

Water was a little rough for me so I headed in early.

I managed to catch a couple before the waves got to me.

[Goody]

That fish looks like it has a nice size to it. How big was it?

Mobile

[J.A. Veil]

Terry upped his game after he started using the Outback.

[Mark]

If you see a flashing light on a police car up ahead on the side of the road you need to move over one lane and slow down.

If you hear thunder, you should seek shelter.

If the dog paws at the door to go out, you better react or you'll need a wad of paper towels in short order.

In other words it's smart to pay attention to what's going on around you.

So if you're fishing with Raptor and he tells you he's catching them on a bucktail dressed with a Fat Sam soft plastic you'd be wise to listen.

I did not listen to him most of the morning. I was out and about exploring shorelines and trying my darnedest to hook fish on top water or underneath with a Rat-L-Trap. But not Raptor. He found a school of fish in Whitehall Bay and pounded them mercilessly. I heard a frequent call on my radio today..."Fish on." Of course I was 1/4 mile away much of that time expecting the fish to come to me. As a result Raptor caught over three times as many fish as I did. He boated 20 today, mostly stripers and some blues too. I got 6 stripers. The good news is that most of the fish we caught were healthy, fat and above legal size. My only short was 16 inches. I had two over 20 inches and three that were 18 to 19 inches long.

So after my foray all the way to Hackett Point and half way to the Bay Bridge working the shoreline along the way, I succumbed to Raptor's radio calls. I turned around headed back to Whitehall Bay. There I watched a trolling demonstration that looked remarkably like John Veil. Rods sticking out everywhere and frequent stops to unhook fish. Two on at once, three on at once. It was awe-inspiring.

Only after I switched to a bucktail and Fat Sam combo myself did my action pick up. It's amazing how selective a school of stripers can be.

But if that wasn't good enough, we were treated to feeding frenzy as we headed home. Midway between Greenbury Point and Mill Creek about a 1/4 mile from shore the birds went crazy. Fish were jumping from the water and gulls were all over them. Raptor and I pedaled as fast as we could to join the fray. The birds would move away and then come back over us. It was great fun. I don't know how many fish Raptor hooked there but he definitely had multiple fish on at once. I picked up a 21 inch striper, perhaps my largest catch of the day, under the birds.

So, what I learned today was to go with the flow. If it's working for others it will probably work for you. I also learned that the warm water pattern of shoreline fishing is definitely over. Both Tuesday in the Severn and today at Whitehall the stripers were roaming open water. I got nothing close to shore today.

It was another good outing on the water and it was nice to have Skidsteer join us for a few hours this morning.

[Raptor]

That fish looks like it has a nice size to it. How big was it?

Mobile

Goody,

I'm guessing more than 25" and less than 30" I don't measure them - mostly because I fish for fun. I'll probably be sorry I don't carry a tape if I really do catch a big one someday. I caught a couple more of similar size, great fighters - probably took about five minutes to coax them to the boat - running pretty light tackle. Twice, it was three rods down, talk about a circus. The first time I boated two, and the second time I got all three. When we got to the launch at about 12:00 I was exhausted.

T.

[YaknBass]

Really good day!! wow fast and furious!! congrats guys!! great report!!

[AbuMasgouf]

Nice job Terry!

Quick question for you. I was looking at your trolling rod setup with the pvc extention. How do you stop the pvc from pivoting or spinning inside the rod holders?

[HereFishyFishy]

Who needs a tape measure when you can Sharpie a ruler on the side of the boat!!

[Raptor]

Nice job Terry!

Quick question for you. I was looking at your trolling rod setup with the pvc extention. How do you stop the pvc from pivoting or spinning inside the rod holders?

Mustafa,

In a word O - Rings. If you file a small groove in the PCV with a round file (often called a "Rat Tail") you can roll on a 1 1/4" O - ring and it will stay in place. You can get the O- rings and the file at most hardware stores. The file is often used to sharpen chain saws. The O-ring increases the diameter just enough for a tight fit. File a shallow groove initially and if it is too tight, file deeper until it is just right. I actually have to dip the PVC part into the water to lube the O - Rings a bit before I insert them else they are so tight I have a hard time getting them out.
It all started when I wanted to be able to move my Scotty extended rod holders from the Raptor paddle yak to the Outback peddle yak and vice versa. Initially I bought the Scotty converters that fit standard 2" rod holders. To my dismay Hobie molded in rod holders are not the standard 2" in depth. So, I got some 1 1/4" PVC, and an adaptor/coupler 1 1/4' to 1 1/2' and then through bolted the Scotty standard base into a small 1 1/2" piece. The O - ring stops the whole thing from spinning (mostly) as it still rotates some when a big fish hits. Funny thing . . I haven't had to glue a thing- it is all press fitted. I found the mile rotation to be beneficial as the pole handle rotates towards me making it easier to reach and get out of the holder to fight the fish. Having the poles spread out a couple of feet greatly reduces tangles. Although sharp turns are still not good. By the way I can move the rod holders from one yak to the other in less than a minute. I attached some pictures hopefully, they clarify my poor technical writing.

T.

[mibytes]

Nice fish!!!!

[Raptor]

Terry upped his game after he started using the Outback.

John,

Not so sure it is the yak, although it is really great to keep moving when you have a fish or two, or three, on! Definitely improves your "in the boat" ratio. I think a lot of it is mostly luck i.e. stumbling onto the fish, plus I have had some real good schooling too over the last year, or so.

T.

[AbuMasgouf]

Mustafa,

In a word O - Rings. If you file a small groove in the PCV with a round file (often called a "Rat Tail") you can roll on a 1 1/4" O - ring and it will stay in place. You can get the O- rings and the file at most hardware stores. The file is often used to sharpen chain saws. The O-ring increases the diameter just enough for a tight fit. File a shallow groove initially and if it is too tight, file deeper until it is just right. I actually have to dip the PVC part into the water to lube the O - Rings a bit before I insert them else they are so tight I have a hard time getting them out.
It all started when I wanted to be able to move my Scotty extended rod holders from the Raptor paddle yak to the Outback peddle yak and vice versa. Initially I bought the Scotty converters that fit standard 2" rod holders. To my dismay Hobie molded in rod holders are not the standard 2" in depth. So, I got some 1 1/4" PVC, and an adaptor/coupler 1 1/4' to 1 1/2' and then through bolted the Scotty standard base into a small 1 1/2" piece. The O - ring stops the whole thing from spinning (mostly) as it still rotates some when a big fish hits. Funny thing . . I haven't had to glue a thing- it is all press fitted. I found the mile rotation to be beneficial as the pole handle rotates towards me making it easier to reach and get out of the holder to fight the fish. Having the poles spread out a couple of feet greatly reduces tangles. Although sharp turns are still not good. By the way I can move the rod holders from one yak to the other in less than a minute. I attached some pictures hopefully, they clarify my poor technical writing.

T.

No excellent technical writing actually!

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain it. It's always a great to learn from others and begin expanding the options available for rigging.

The line about the rotation makes it easier since it swings the rod to you cracked me up. Almost like it is designed that way LOL.

Thanks Terry!

[J.A. Veil]

That is a very clever and elegant solution. I used a different approach to resist excessive rotation on my track-mounted Scotty rod holders (actually only on the left side for which a fish strike will induce counter-clockwise rotation and loosening of the rod holder). I tied a loop of thin Bungee cord around the bracket for my FF/GPS. I loop one side of the Bungee around a protruding part on the rod holder. That way, as the rod tends to loosen, the Bungee will keep it from going too far. I don't know how that would work on another brand of kayak, but it works well for me.

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