If your catching 12 inch rock fish... Is that a good spot to fish for a keeper (20+)?

[manlystanley]

I caught lots of 12 inchers today. If your doing that, is that a good spot to stay at????


Thanks,
Stan

[RavensDfense]

I caught lots of 12 inchers today. If your doing that, is that a good spot to stay at????


Thanks,
Stan

Short answer....maybe. Fish have fins and swim meaning that there could be a larger one in there, but very generally speaking most of time time you'll find fish of the same size schooled together. If it were me, I would scale up the size of the lure and if that didn't produce a larger fish I would move on.

[Crotalus]

I often see it recommended to work the edges or underneath schools of under sized stripers to try and find larger fish. If you keep working directly through a school of small fish, you will likely keep catching them as they tend to be pretty aggressive feeders. I had days last summer where I caught 50-75 fish when I got on a school, and none of them would be keepers. It's worth working larger baits just outside or underneath the school and moving on if you don't get any keepers if that's what you're after.

[yakscientist]

To echo what others have said, don't spend a whole lot of time trying to find a keeper in those thick schools of sub 15" fish. But I like to hit the schools for a couple trolling passes with deeper/larger lures, and even try a little casting or topwater too, just to vary the presentation. Lots of times there could be a keeper-size school nearby, and they are just feeding on the same small bait (bay anchovies or what not) that the smaller rockfish are feeding on. But like I said, if you've caught multiple 12-15" fish out of the same school, I wouldn't spend more than another 10 mins searching for larger fish.

[Oldbayrunner]

These were caught yesterday top water fishing in surface explosion of smaller Juveniles. So you can but you'll catch a heck of a lot of smalls to find them. Also yesterday was a first for me I had a double hook up on rays, what fun that was. One wound up breaking one of my new rods.

[supfisher01]

I have found that most of the times that I'm catching smaller stripers there may be one or two keepers in the mix with them. I always stay at least 20 minutes trolling through them, casting jigs, and casting top water poppers.

Although, most of my keepers to date have been on a trolled bucktail/paddletail combo, I've been very successful with top water lately and have caught a few keepers with a chrome "chug and spook", where I knew there were smaller fish hanging around.

This pic was from Father's day morning and top water save my day! It measured out to 23-1/2" and cooked it up for father's day lunch! If you zoom in on my lures, you can see the popper that I use between my jig head rods.

[Oldbayrunner]

Yep most of mine are caught trolling. Yesterday I was trolling with nothing happening outside of the two rays. Then it just went crazy where I was, I started with a popper and caught a couple 17-18 inch but the water was a tad choppy so I switched to this whopper plopper which gave me better results for the pictured fish. Only I'm ditching the trebles and replacing them with Owner hooks.

[ronaultmtd]

Last trip we were catching school fish up to 19 inches...all you wanted...persistence paid off with a frisky 25 1/2 inch fish after catching dozens of 12-18 inch fish...in the very same place...

[supfisher01]

These were caught yesterday top water fishing in surface explosion of smaller Juveniles. So you can but you'll catch a heck of a lot of smalls to find them. Also yesterday was a first for me I had a double hook up on rays, what fun that was. One wound up breaking one of my new rods.
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Btw- nice catching!

[baitball]

As Shawn Kimbro, noted Chesapeake fisherman and author, said in his book, The Right Stuff: Gear and Attitudes for Trophy Light Tackle Fishing

"When the bite is hot on the Chesapeake Bay, it's usually hot at several places at the same time. If little fish are feeding at one spot, it's a good bet that there are big fish feeding close by."

His point is that the angler shouldn't settle for catching smaller fish (for fear of leaving fish to find fish), but rather take a chance, be creative, and "leave small fish to find big fish".

[ronaultmtd]

Yep..Run and gun in a power boat is no problem...just fire up the 300 horsepower Black Max and push the throttle forward...when we average 3 knots moving three miles takes almost a hour...and how long is the tide moving water? Kayak Anglers moving off a productive spot during peak tide flow is risky business...I prefer to alter my presentation..I slow down the retrieve...or I let the lure sink to the bottom before I begin my retrieve...or I throw a Bonk-A-Donk and walk the dog...if after-all that I still catch dinks, that's OK...they bend the rod...when boat Anglers spend as much time running from spot to spot as they do fishing...catching fish has to suffer...

[baitball]

Yep...in a powerboat that is no problem...just fire up the 300 horsepower Black Max and push the throttle forward...when we average 3 knots moving three miles takes almost a hour...and how long is the tide moving water? Kayak Anglers moving off a productive spot during peak tide flow is risky business...I prefer to alter my presentation..I slow down the retrieve...or I let the lure sink to the bottom before I begin my retrieve...or I throw a Bonk-A-Donk and walk the dog...if after-all that I still catch dinks, that's OK...they bend the rod...when boat Anglers spend as much time running from spot to spot as they do fishing...catching fish has to suffer...

Ron, I agree with all your points.

I guess I don't take Kimbro's advice too literally, but rather I look at it holistically and try to focus on the message he is trying to send. What he is saying is exactly what you are doing: dont be afraid trying a new approach, changing a routine, or changing up to a new lure/presentation. And yes, if one has to move, in the case of a kayak this won't be a 250hp-fueled "run-and-gun" sprint, but rather a 1/4 or 1/8th of a mile reposition to the other side of the bridge pilings, or to the next offshore point, or even to the neighboring creek, go ahead and do it.

If after all that one still ends up with dinks, then so be it. But at least one is experimenting and trying new things.

[ronaultmtd]

Manny, I am constantly moving my kayak...maybe just a drift and run back and drift the same area again, but rarely (unless I am soaking bait on a fishfinder rig for catfish) do I sit still in one spot...but I throughly fish an area before I give up and move off to another area...fan casting the compass, trolling, swapping rods and lures for different looks...if I launch at St. Mary's college, you can believe I have fished the structure of the St. Mary's River throughly before I pull my Outback out of the water...same with Smith Creek or St. Jerome's Creek..at PLO I have to decide which area of structure I will fish because it is so big and so diverse...guess right and you have a stringerfull...and conditions change...one area will be dead, and suddenly it comes to life under certain conditions... different stages of the tide, strong winds, etc. I know one tidal flat that is so much fun to top water fish on a outgoing tide right before dark...I plan trips there specifically just for that one reason...otherwise it produces tiny dinks...