Successful Meet 'N Greet

[J.A. Veil]

It was a pleasure for me to meet several other kayak fishermen today. The turnout was great. I'm sure that Dogfish will add some remarks about his unsavory experience this morning -- thankfully it worked out okay.

I paddled out the cove into the main river and picked up a 15" rockfish at the channel dropoff. I paddled out to the rocks at Thomas Pt and got a smaller fish (10"). Both were caught on Gulp mullet in smoke color on 3/8" jighead. It seemed that at my regular paddling speed the jighead was lifted up too high in the water column. Both bites came when I had stopped paddling and the jig was able to drop down. For part of the time I trolled a Rattletrap, a Rapala hard plastic swimming minnow, a Cicada, Woody's glow jig spinner, and a spinnerbait -- none of them was touched today.

One thing that surprised me is that I was the only kayak fisherman I saw today with a standard paddle-only kayak. Many of the guys were in Hobies and a few others had electric motors. It was a very impressive fleet. If I didn't already have a power boat, I would be tempted to upgrade my ride.

I look forward to hearing the catch reports and other experiences from some other participants.

[susqeyaker]

nice report. what depth was you fishing when you caught fish?

[bigfluke45]

I also enjoyed the meet n' greet today, thanks Dogfish for hosting it.

John, we must not have crossed paths because I was out there in a standard paddle only kayak. I have to admit though over the winter I may be looking to upgrade to a hobie.

If you don't mind me highjacking your thread I'll also post a short report. I pretty much spent the whole time trolling. I was trolling a saltwater x-rap in bunker color and a deep diving rapala taildancer. Both fish I caught today were caught on the x-rap within a couple minutes of each other. I was near the mouth of the river in 16-17' of water. The first was probably about 18-19" but I didn't measure it and the second was 22". I trolled out to the lighthouse, jigged out there for a little while and trolled back in the river some more without another bite.

[Shady]

Glad you both got a couple Stripers. The meet n greet treated me well too. I didnt really try that hard for fish, but I'm happy with my catch. Nice meeting everyone!

[surfdog]

i saw 4 or 5 regular yaks, mmanolis has one, thanks mike for getting my line out of the rudder. i trolled a smack it and one of my bucktails with a swim shad on it and jigged it with no luck. changed to t/b rig with bws and started hooking some wp and caught 2 12"ish rock in 11-16' of water by the first 3 leg red marker.

glad that dogfish came out ok, it could have been much worse, thank God it wasnt!

[J.A. Veil]

I trolled out to the lighthouse, jigged out there for a little while and trolled back in the river some more without another bite.

You must be in far better shape than me to paddle all the way to the lighthouse and back. I paddled as far as the park at Thomas Pt, then back against the wind. I was beat after that.

Nice job on the keeper rock!

[J.A. Veil]

nice report. what depth was you fishing when you caught fish?

The first fish was on an edge that dropped from 5' to 18' pretty fast. I can't remember where on the edge the fish hit. The second fish was in very shallow water. I paddled near the peninsula that leads out to Thomas Point. The water ranged from 1.5' to 5'. The fish was small enough that I didn't even feel it on the line until I stopped at the end of the rocks to change lures.

As I paddled back I had frequent marks on my fishfinder in a 10' to 12' depth. None of them showed any interest in my lures.

[camelbird]

Was great to meet you guys, I look forward to coming out again. Thanks again Dogfish, I hope that guy learned his lesson and will look out for yakers from now on. Glad we at least salvaged some gear.

Caught my first bay striper today - sweet. Caught on Shad fluke right next to the first buoy out of the cove. 20 minutes later lost "the big one" - I swear...

Heavier jig heads next time though

Thanks again

CB

[Rockchaser]

I stayed out longer than I was going to but it worked out well for me. After going to the lighthouse and back and all over the river with the skunk still sitting on the yak, I made my way over to the first cove on the left heading away from the launch site. At about 3:00 the wind and tide started to work for me. In about 6 feet of water I set up a drift for about 100 yards. In the next hour I caught over 40 white perch. Blood worm on bottom rig was ticket. 2 and 4 fish at a time.

I started to jig to get somepractice but was unable to land one on a jig. I need more practice.

It was a good day on the water, as always it was nice to see old faces and meet new ones.

[DOGFISH]

I must agree. It was quite a turn out. I estimate there were about 20 vehicles on the parking lot. I know there were quite a few undersized fish caught. There seemed to be alot of large white perch caught, from what I heard. I did hear a few keeper rockfish came in. For me, I did not catch anything. In the first hour after launch, I was hit by a boat.

I was trolling inside the #4 marker, back in towards the flat in about 14' of water. I was not far from Bill and another kayaker with whom he was fishing, maybe camelbird. I was trolling along the edge of the point. I heard the boat coming, but it appeared to be on course to pass behind me. I checked back a moment later, and it appeared that it would still pass behind me, but I was a little concerned that he may get my trolled lines. I increased my speed to try to get my lines further along. I troll my lines a long way behind my kayak. I moved on towards where Bill and the other kayak was. I heard the boat sounding as if it was really getting close, when I noticed he was now close and headed directly towards me. There was no time, I started waving my arms and yelling. I had on a bright hunter orange hooded fleece. I also had an orange YakAttack flag. The operator of the boat was looking directly at Bill and the other kayak. I was trying to get his attention. The operator was looking off sharply to his right. He finally looked forward, saw me and turned the boat sharply, but it was too late. As he fish tailed, he hit me just at the back portion of the kayak with the back corner of his boat. It was quite a jolt. Next thing I knew I was in the water. Bill said it looked as if I was body surfing, the way I came out of the kayak.

Bill also said he thought the boat would just pass me. Then he noticed that it was headed right towards me. The boat did come back around and picked me up after a moment of confusion. Bill and the other kayaker came over to assist. I don't know if possibly I was obscured by the sun, which was still low, or what. It was quite a scare. The boat was a 25 foot Parker, cabin type fishing boat. I had a whistle, but there was no time to get it out of my pocket. I do know, it seemed as I moved along, the boat seemed to continue on a course slightly to the starboard, sort of drifting towards me. Maybe this is how he also came to move off course. I am just glad he saw me at the last moment. The boater said he did not see me. He did say he was looking at the other kayaks, as was obvious from my perspective. It just goes to show how events take place. However, I am just glad to have come out ok. I am a bit sore this evening, with a slight sprained wrist. All in all, I am very fortunate. I estimate the boat was going 25+ mile per hour.

I lost my two custom casting rods and two Calcutta TEs, 400 and 401 reels, which I was fishing with at the time. My three spinning reels were held in by bungee cord. The boats prop hit my electric motor and sheared off part of the electric motor prop. I guess it was the corner of the boat that sheared off the electric motor plug and bent parts of the BassYak electric motor. It also appears that the electric motor is shot. My kayak is a little scared. The boater said he would replace my equipment. He gave me his number and address. I may have been in a little shock, maybe from the experience or maybe from the cold water. Things really didn't catch up with me until I was back on the dock. My hands were really shaking at that point. This evening I really feel fortunate to be here.

It may be awhile before my kayak is back in fishing condition. However, with that said, everyone should wear a PFD, particularly in the colder weather. I did not have mine on, at the time. It was behind my seat. Also, I will not go out in cooler water without a dry suit, ever again. I did not have my splash top on, but I did have kayak pants on, which filled somewhat with water. I was still able to swim alittle, but it was difficult. Every one needs to take every safety advantage they can get. I have been fishing on my own in the Chesapeake since I was 7 years old and boating on my own since I was 15. I am very confident on the water. I never thought something like this would happen to me. That is why I encourage everyone to take every safety precaution that they can. I also know that I will not go out in the kayak again without an air horn, which will sit in the cup holder directly in front of me. A whistle kept in your pocket is too slow and possibibly not loud enough. The operator of the boat said the he could not hear anything in the cabin of the boat. One needs to take every precaution. I am just glad to be hear.

Thanks Bill and I believe camelbird for helping out.

Good Luck.

[mmanolis2001]

DOGFISH,
That is a scary situation buddy. I cant believe that happened. Although the monetary loss is substantial you are here in one piece. That could have been allot worse. I'm glad the boater came back to help you out and i hope he replaces all the lost and damaged gear. unbelievable.

[camelbird]

I didn't know it was that close. Oh man, I'm glad you're alright.

CB

[Rockchaser]

Damn Dogfish,

I am glad you made it too. I saw your yak being towed in but had no idea what was going on. Sory about your gear but at least you have your rear.

[mmanolis2001]

Great reports from everyone.

Here is my take on the day.

It was a great day on the water. Not so much the fishing but the great weather and all the people from this fine site. We had a great turnout this event. Thanks again DOGFISH for setting this up.

Today's fishing was dead minus 2 exciting minutes. I started trolling a shad-rap and a tube worm from the first three leg marker to the mouth of the river with not even a bump. I was not marking anything on my depth finder but that ending up being user error. I had the unit zoomed to the bottom and was missing the upper 3/4 of the water column.

After fixing that and trolling back to mid way between the two markers i decide to drift and blind jig a chartreuse and white gulp jerk shad on a 3/4oz chartreuse bullet jig head. No more than five mins into this i drifted over a school of fish and hooked up to my one and only fish of the day. In fact it was my only hit of the day. A nice health 23" rock went into the bag. The day has been saved.

I continued to drift and jig the rest of the day mixing it up with trolling the shad-rap when moving to different spots. Checked the GPS when i got back to the landing and registered a little over 7 miles on the odometer.

Last year after paddling around the same distance i was beat and sore when i got home. This year i feel great. Looks like the past two years paddling has done me some good. Next time i might even head out to the lighthouse

Quick video recap.

M&G recap video

[Southerly]

i had kind of assumed this was an idle speed incident. very fortunate it wasn't worse and i hope you're feeling good tonite.

thanks much for hosting - i'll look forward to seeing you in the store and fishing together.

fishing report - me and vic (yellow outback) trolled out to last red. no hits along the way. i pulled a deep-diving rap, and a #15 tony in tandem w/white bucktail.

at the mark, i hooked up with a short using opening nite colr bkd on 3/8 head. generally messed around in that area w/o any more results i could hold by the lip. tried the green side across the river. including vertical jigging over some nice marks using gold stingsilver w/green feather and green dropper fly.

came back to red side and located a school of marks that would eat the stingsilver but all were short. biggest maybe 14" but not measured. 1/2 doz total, and left to look for bigger fish.

trolled back towards home and witnessed camelbird lose fish of a lifetime just kidding, it seems this guy is on big fish and will certainly be hitting bigger ones many more times. just not today - that one was not interested in seeing daylight and popped loose at last second. hate when that happens. i'll estimate it as at least 33"

really glad to meet everyone i did, and hope to fish with you guys again. really impressed with amount of fish the fleet picked up today. i saw several trollers including one with boards and at least a dozen lines working same area hard and not getting touched.