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Recently I have been making as many trips in my 16' Scout center console as I have in my kayaks. I need low winds to get out in open water in the Scout. The weather over the last week has allowed me to get out frequently.
Today I made a solo trip to Eastern Bay with a primary plan to fish shallow areas. On my two previous trips to Eastern Bay this summer, I encountered seas that were uncomfortably big for my 16' boat and dirty water in the shallow areas I wanted to fish. This morning was considerably better. Although I did check my sonar for deepwater fish as I moved about, I never found any compelling marks. Instead I spent several hours working in shallow areas near shorelines, including some stump fields, grassy points, and rip rap banks. My trolling motor and front pedestal seat got a lot of use today.
The water was clean and calm allowing me to cover longer distances (31 miles today) and check out numerous spots. I had hoped for large fish and maybe a trout or redfish, but had to settle today for two stripers at 18", one at 19", and a few more shorter ones (all returned to swim again). All were caught in less than 4' water depth using a 3" chartreuse Gulp swimming mullet on a 3/8-oz jighead. The rods were 6'6" light and medium light St Croix Premiers with Stradic 2500 reels, 20-lb Powerpro and 20-lb mono leader. I tried casting several other soft plastics, but they were not touched. I had many other bites that did not get hooked -- I presume these were minnows or small panfish that were nipping at the Gulp as it rode across the bottom.
Here are several other natural history observations. Today I saw my first jellyfish of the summer. They were obvious in many places but were not thick yet. I saw loads of schools of small baitfish everywhere I went, but saw no evidence of diving birds, breaking fish, or predators working the bait schools. I saw dozens of rays in shallow and deep water. Many were still paired up (presumably for mating) with wing tips sticking up in the air. I saw my first ever cormorant nests today -- and I saw large groups of them in two separate areas.
Today I made a solo trip to Eastern Bay with a primary plan to fish shallow areas. On my two previous trips to Eastern Bay this summer, I encountered seas that were uncomfortably big for my 16' boat and dirty water in the shallow areas I wanted to fish. This morning was considerably better. Although I did check my sonar for deepwater fish as I moved about, I never found any compelling marks. Instead I spent several hours working in shallow areas near shorelines, including some stump fields, grassy points, and rip rap banks. My trolling motor and front pedestal seat got a lot of use today.
The water was clean and calm allowing me to cover longer distances (31 miles today) and check out numerous spots. I had hoped for large fish and maybe a trout or redfish, but had to settle today for two stripers at 18", one at 19", and a few more shorter ones (all returned to swim again). All were caught in less than 4' water depth using a 3" chartreuse Gulp swimming mullet on a 3/8-oz jighead. The rods were 6'6" light and medium light St Croix Premiers with Stradic 2500 reels, 20-lb Powerpro and 20-lb mono leader. I tried casting several other soft plastics, but they were not touched. I had many other bites that did not get hooked -- I presume these were minnows or small panfish that were nipping at the Gulp as it rode across the bottom.
Here are several other natural history observations. Today I saw my first jellyfish of the summer. They were obvious in many places but were not thick yet. I saw loads of schools of small baitfish everywhere I went, but saw no evidence of diving birds, breaking fish, or predators working the bait schools. I saw dozens of rays in shallow and deep water. Many were still paired up (presumably for mating) with wing tips sticking up in the air. I saw my first ever cormorant nests today -- and I saw large groups of them in two separate areas.
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