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Yesterday Foursteps and I went out to catch us some croaker. With the action being hot at the North Beach pier the other day, we figured we'd give it a second shot from the yaks. We planned on trolling for stripers during the early evening, then switch over to bottom fishing for croaker as the night fell. A few days prior to, we went to Bass Pro Shops to stock up on things we'd need for this trip...whistles, anchor kit & accessories, stern lights...etc. We debated on where to launch, with out options being Breezy Point Marina, or Chesapeake Beach Marina. We launched from Chesapeake Beach.
After spending over an hour at the ramp rigging up our kayaks and talking to boaters, we finally hit the water shortly after 6pm. I had Jay in tow until after we cleared the jetty. Got the usual "WTF" faces as we passed people at the marina
Once we unhooked, we began trolling.
Jay stayed in rather close, while I made a B-line to the drop off. Using the nautical chart app on my phone, I knew exactly where I needed to go. I was trolling a mini umbrella type rig, with a 9" chartreuse shad. I got my line set out and rode the waves! it was a bit windy with light chop. (I trolled using my Okuma Avenger ABF50) As I neared the drop off, I marked quite a few fish. I have no idea how much line I had out, nor do I know how deep my bait was. After marking a few fish, I hear my line chatter. BZZZZ...BZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! When I grabbed the rod, there was nothing on there. The striper must not have bit the hook. I bet if I had a stinger hook rigged up I woulda nailed 'em. That the extent of my trolling excitement. I definitely have to get out there and troll again someday. I was quite a ways out, so I motored back in to meet up with Jay.
Being out there in the open water by yourself is something else! Kinda hard to explain the feeling.
After I met back up with Jay, we tested out our temporarily-rigged anchor trolley systems. With a couple of carabiner clips and some rope, we made it work...flawlessly I might add. We anchored up in 5-6' of water and let the games begin! We had shrimp and bloodworms for bait.
As the fun began, Jay started out red hot as usual. I was anchored about 50' away saying to myself "this dude is about to show me up again!". After a little while I decided to move inshore a lilt bit closer, then I commenced to catch croaker. The action REALLY heated up for me at one point, as I got simultaneous double headers on my two rods. Light tackle fishing can be exciting. My "wal-mart special" (Shakespeare Pro-Am rod I've had since I was 14) was bowed over with every fish. The action was steady for most of the night. Not red hot the entire night, but it wasn't bad at all. We didnt bother moving from spot to spot. Once we dropped anchor that second time, thats where we stayed.
We stayed out there on the water LATE! We finally called it quits around 12:30am. As I was reeling in, I caught one last fish. I love it when that happens. At that point we realized we had to make the trek all the way back to the marina in the dark. Thank goodness for the trolling motor. We hoked up the tow rope and went full speed ahead. The waves began to pick up a little bit, making the ride back pretty slow. We did about 3mph in the open water. Once we got in the waters protected by the jetty, we did about 4mph. Not bad considering we launched at 6pm...and this was with a fully loaded kayak in tow. The Torque definitely extended our range...
I ended up bringing home 20 fish in my cooler at the end of the night. Jay had a pretty nice stringer full as well. It was a great time out there. This was my first time kayaking at night. Not sure if I'd ever do it solo, but we had fun out there as usual.
If I have time, I'll be taking my catch to the wharf to get 'em cleaned. We'll be having fried fish at our mother's day cookout!
(And I'll hopefully be able to use this "mother's day" excuse to get out there to catch more fish!)
After spending over an hour at the ramp rigging up our kayaks and talking to boaters, we finally hit the water shortly after 6pm. I had Jay in tow until after we cleared the jetty. Got the usual "WTF" faces as we passed people at the marina
Once we unhooked, we began trolling. Jay stayed in rather close, while I made a B-line to the drop off. Using the nautical chart app on my phone, I knew exactly where I needed to go. I was trolling a mini umbrella type rig, with a 9" chartreuse shad. I got my line set out and rode the waves! it was a bit windy with light chop. (I trolled using my Okuma Avenger ABF50) As I neared the drop off, I marked quite a few fish. I have no idea how much line I had out, nor do I know how deep my bait was. After marking a few fish, I hear my line chatter. BZZZZ...BZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! When I grabbed the rod, there was nothing on there. The striper must not have bit the hook. I bet if I had a stinger hook rigged up I woulda nailed 'em. That the extent of my trolling excitement. I definitely have to get out there and troll again someday. I was quite a ways out, so I motored back in to meet up with Jay.
Being out there in the open water by yourself is something else! Kinda hard to explain the feeling.
After I met back up with Jay, we tested out our temporarily-rigged anchor trolley systems. With a couple of carabiner clips and some rope, we made it work...flawlessly I might add. We anchored up in 5-6' of water and let the games begin! We had shrimp and bloodworms for bait.
As the fun began, Jay started out red hot as usual. I was anchored about 50' away saying to myself "this dude is about to show me up again!". After a little while I decided to move inshore a lilt bit closer, then I commenced to catch croaker. The action REALLY heated up for me at one point, as I got simultaneous double headers on my two rods. Light tackle fishing can be exciting. My "wal-mart special" (Shakespeare Pro-Am rod I've had since I was 14) was bowed over with every fish. The action was steady for most of the night. Not red hot the entire night, but it wasn't bad at all. We didnt bother moving from spot to spot. Once we dropped anchor that second time, thats where we stayed.
We stayed out there on the water LATE! We finally called it quits around 12:30am. As I was reeling in, I caught one last fish. I love it when that happens. At that point we realized we had to make the trek all the way back to the marina in the dark. Thank goodness for the trolling motor. We hoked up the tow rope and went full speed ahead. The waves began to pick up a little bit, making the ride back pretty slow. We did about 3mph in the open water. Once we got in the waters protected by the jetty, we did about 4mph. Not bad considering we launched at 6pm...and this was with a fully loaded kayak in tow. The Torque definitely extended our range...
I ended up bringing home 20 fish in my cooler at the end of the night. Jay had a pretty nice stringer full as well. It was a great time out there. This was my first time kayaking at night. Not sure if I'd ever do it solo, but we had fun out there as usual.
If I have time, I'll be taking my catch to the wharf to get 'em cleaned. We'll be having fried fish at our mother's day cookout!
(And I'll hopefully be able to use this "mother's day" excuse to get out there to catch more fish!)
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