New to Rockfishing

[Dizz410]

Im looking to head out near bill burton peir in the choptank wed. or thursday. would love to get my hands on a Rockfish or two have not yet fished for them in a kayak. any pointers? i have a 13' ocean trident.

[Cowpokey]

1/2 oz jig head and a 4 - 5" paddle tail, pick any color you want as long as you start with a white or pearl variation. Troll at about 2 mph. If you have a depth finder with chart plotter (GPS) even better; that way you can see if there are fish holding at a certain depth.

[Dizz410]

1/2 oz jig head and a 4 - 5" paddle tail, pick any color you want as long as you start with a white or pearl variation. Troll at about 2 mph. If you have a depth finder with chart plotter (GPS) even better; that way you can see if there are fish holding at a certain depth.

Thanks for the feedback! Unfortunately no depth finder as of yet and does it matter that i paddle? Not with feet like hobie and others.

[Cowpokey]

Paddle, pedal, doesn't mater. You'd be better off with at least a fish finder, but people catch rock fishing blind.

[Dizz410]

Paddle, pedal, doesn't mater. You'd be better off with at least a fish finder, but people catch rock fishing blind.

Lets hope it pays off! Thanks for your help

[buzz]

Thanks for the feedback! Unfortunately no depth finder as of yet and does it matter that i paddle? Not with feet like hobie and others.

Paddling is fine. IMHO, a relaxed steady paddle will usually keep you at about 2.5mph.

[jsnyd86]

New to Rockfishing

Go slower than you think you should. 2mph feels like a damn near a crawl sometimes. Just a nice slow pace. But it seems to work best for me when using a paddle tail. A medium distance cast will put your 1/2oz jig head around 5-7feet depending on current and speed over ground. That's my guess anyway. I'm pretty new to trolling so other may have more accurate info.


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[J.A. Veil]

Cowpokey suggested trolling at 2 mph. Judging from his trip reports, he has good success at those speeds. I aim for the range of about 2.8 to 3.5 mph. I catch my share of fish at those speeds too. One other thing to consider is whether you are measuring speed through the water or speed over ground. My GPS is set to display speed over ground. Depending on the forces of wind or current, your speed over ground will be different if you are moving down current (faster speed) or up current (slower). Assume a current flow of 1 mph. A down current speed of 4 mph over ground is the same as an up current speed of 2 mph over ground in terms of actual speed through water.

If you are trolling in shallow water, you need to maintain enough speed so the lure does not hit bottom. On the other hand, if you are trolling a lure that has an enticing swimming motion, going too slow or too fast may change the way the lure runs. My recommendation is to not worry too much about the speed you use for trolling -- the fish can catch up to your lure at any reasonable speed you are moving in a kayak.

[Mark]

Dizz410,

I'm late to this thread so my advice is for your next trip assuming you made it to the Choptank yesterday or today as you posted.

The suggestions you received above were all good for trolling. I hope they worked for you.

But you can also catch stripers by casting. They're no different than most predatory fish. They use structure and current to their advantage to find food. Often you can find them tight to shorelines, at the mouths of tributaries, close to riprap, near points of land where current flows, by pilings or in shallow water where deeper water is nearby. The possibilities are many. The same lures we use for trolling can be cast to them. Or you can downsize to 1/4 to 3/8 oz. lures.

Trolling is very effective. You'll likely catch more fish by trolling than casting because you're covering more water and often fishing multiple lines. But trolling can also be tiring. Sometimes it's nice to visit an area and then drift into promising spots lofting casts as you do. Vary your retrieval speeds -- you probably cannot crank it too fast for a hungry striper -- and enjoy the bite.

Good luck,

[Cowpokey]

My GPS is set to display speed over ground. Depending on the forces of wind or current, your speed over ground will be different if you are moving down current (faster speed) or up current (slower). Assume a current flow of 1 mph. A down current speed of 4 mph over ground is the same as an up current speed of 2 mph over ground in terms of actual speed through water.

I have my GPS set to speed over ground, my "2mph" is relative. If I'm going with the tide/current SOG is higher, going against is lower. I put in the effort needed to troll at ~2mph if it was dead calm slack tide. It's painfully slow going against the tide, and feels like I'm going WAY too fast when the tide is pushing me along too.

Take this for what it's worth;
a) We are trying to mimic the bait predators are feeding on.
b) Predators look for things that appear to be what are the "daily special" on the current menu.
c) Fish can hit a rough top speed of 1 mph for each 1" in length.

- i.e. a 4" menhaden can swim at 4 mph for a short distance (think of a human sprinter, 100-200 yards/meters is about as far as they can exert max effort)

- Four inch baitfish don't swim around at top speed continuously.

- A predator isn't going to give chase to something that is already "on alert and sprinting"

d) A predator is going to give chase if they see something that matches the daily special

- With the correct size

- Moving at a "normal" speed

- Resembling the color and markings of forage

MOC has a great technique of "jigging" as he's trolling. It gives the lure a herky jerky, speed up, slow down presentation that even mocks nature better, because bait fish are skittish, they don't swim at that one constant speed that is "the average" of what lazy people...like me...do with the presentation I provide. I usually have some wind/waves that give the speed up-slow down action to the lure though, just not as pronounced. Maybe that works better for me, maybe it works less. Who knows, but I know MOC catches fish, and I know I catch fish; so we both do what works.

[buzz]

On the other hand, if you are trolling a lure that has an enticing swimming motion, going too slow or too fast may change the way the lure runs.

What I like to do is drop the lure next to the yak and figure out what speed makes the lure do its thing. Then I cast it out and try to match that speed.

[Fishinfool]

Im looking to head out near bill burton peir in the choptank wed. or thursday. would love to get my hands on a Rockfish or two have not yet fished for them in a kayak. any pointers? i have a 13' ocean trident.

Dizz410- you're getting some excellent advice from the resident pros here.

I am interested in how you did as I'll be heading to the Cambridge area next week 8/4-8/5. Not sure if I should launch at Madison Bay down in the Little Choptank, or try the area near Great Marsh Park right at the Rt 50 bridge and downriver. Depends on winds and your report. The weekly DNR fishing report says there's more striper action from the Choptank and north. We shall see.

[Donsail68]

1/2 oz jig head and a 4 - 5" paddle tail, pick any color you want as long as you start with a white or pearl variation. Troll at about 2 mph. If you have a depth finder with chart plotter (GPS) even better; that way you can see if there are fish holding at a certain depth.

cowpokey,

Thanks for the lure tips. What's your rod/reel setup and type of line and strength? I'm trying not to end up with 100 rods and reels. It's so easy to buy a setup for each situation.

[jmt1980]

I'm trying not to end up with 100 rods and reels. It's so easy to buy a setup for each situation.

Crazy talk! I wish I could afford 100 rods and reels!

[Cowpokey]

cowpokey,

Thanks for the lure tips. What's your rod/reel setup and type of line and strength? I'm trying not to end up with 100 rods and reels. It's so easy to buy a setup for each situation.

Spinning rods, medium to medium heavy. Put on your choice of a 3000 size reel filled with 20# braid.