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P7140033.jpgP7180040.jpgP7200006.jpgP7200008.jpgThis is a combo boat rigging and fishing report, so I thought it was best to put it in the Main Forum. I fished Thursday near Crisfield with Slobber Bob. It was breezy with some 2-3 footers on the rips and shoals. I just bought a Paddle Sail coming home from the last M&G. I was looking for a little help on some of the long big water trips I have planned in the future. The wind was around 12 MPH, and I was able to cruise around 3.5 MPH when I had it up. It works very well down wind and you can tack up to around 30 degrees, but it is much less efficient. It opens and closes like one of those collapsible windshield shades. Bob and I had to anchor in order to hold on a point while waiting for Ravens D. and J.C. (the wind conditions made it too hard for us to ever hookup since they put off nearby). I put on a pearl BA with a green paddle tail on my 1/4 oz. lead head jig. and got a big pull near a small tidal grass island on the point. It wound up being a beautiful keeper pup at 19.5, and it had six spots on one side, the most I have ever seen. I did not even think to check the other side as I was in a hurry to get the photo and release him. That was followed quickly by two small rock around 16". Bob was trying to hold anchor, but this cooled and we moved on. He was able to pickup some schoolies a little later. On the way back in, I was trolling under sail, and I had a hit that was stripping drag. However, by the time I released the sail and got the rod out of the holder he was gone...still waiting for my first fish under sail. On Fri. I picked up Kayak Joe and we left early Sat. morning from my house to head to Oyster for a planned 2-3 day fishing trip. Both yaks were loaded to the brim with gear, plenty of water, and big hopes. Launched with 17 kt. SW winds for the barrier islands. It was the beginning of the most intense paddling of my life. The sail was a Godsend on the first day as I averaged up to 5.5 MPH for 3/4 of the day, and Joe put in the hardest work as we logged about 16 miles before making camp. We encounter gusts close to 20 kts and 3-5 ft. waves that came from all four directions at once. We set up base camp, and Joe used his cast net while I caught spot for live lining. He was ready for the BIG sharks...tail rope, bolt cutters, etc. He was working on the small bull sharks pretty good, and I decided to toss around the speck rod with a jig and penny split tail just before the sunset. Suddenly, the Kistler bent softly and then the rod's backbone went to work. Joe is running for the net, and I have a nice 20.5 Pup on the measuring board. This was followed by a 18.5er just three casts later. We had dinner already so I released both. We called it a night, and went to sleep praying for the winds to drop. We awoke to 17 kt. WSW, and checked the marine forecast. The 40% chance of TS after 2:00 was too much, we pulled the plug on our quest, and headed back at 10AM. The wind was straight in our face, no sailing today. We were into it...3-4 footers over washing the yaks...hoping the hatch seals are tight...we are only able to average 1 MPH for the first 3.5 miles. The towers are starting to build on the clouds, and we have about 6 mi. to go. The wind eased to around 12 kt., and we able to catch a wind break from the first islands we reached after the big water crossing. Only 6 more miles to go...we heard distant thunder for the last 45 minutes as we finally reached the ramp at 4:00PM...very,very tired. The bed felt so good...even if it was still rocking with the waves
Sorry for the long report, but it was a long week of kayak fishing, learned a lot, and I had a great time with my fishing buddies.
Sorry for the long report, but it was a long week of kayak fishing, learned a lot, and I had a great time with my fishing buddies.
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