Cobb Island

[ronaultmtd]

Went out today at noon, tide was just starting to come in from dead low tide. Cleared the inlet and WOW! Was it rough...two foot swells mixed with white caps that occasionally broke on my bow...figured the tide and South wind steady at 20 gusting to 25 had tirred it up but expected it to settle when I got in deeper water...hit the thirty foot channel but the swells were getting bigger so I figured I had given the OK Prowler all the checking out how it handled rough water it needed so I headed down the channel looking for some calmer water. On the back side of Cobb in the Wicomico there is a cut not too far off the beach- maybe a quarter mile or so that is 11-13 feet deep...figured I might have a shot at fish there so I anchored up and used the trolley to put the bow into the wind. I was fishing live bait ( gudgeon river minnows) and small white perch. After an hour of waiting one rig lite up screeching the clicker of my Abu 6500. I was using circle hooks so I did not set the hook just tightened the drag. Nothing- reeled in an empty hook. A few minutes later the other 6500 got a hit- after a short fight I boated a three pound catfish. The cat hit a big bull gudgeon minnow. I put another minnow on the circle hook and dropped it back into the current. A fish-eagle bombed my bait and the reel screamed as the damn bird flew off with my bait. I put a small split shot on the line a foot from the hook and re baited. About then a rod went off and I caught a much bigger catfish- it was 28 inches. One more nice catfish (27 inches) a few other table fish and I decided the wind and the waves were not going to lay down, so I called it a day.

Did not catch my trophy striper today but I came home with a 10 pound bag of fresh fish filets...oh yeah, caught several 14-16 inch croakers on the minnows, too. I had two small white perch baits ate by something but most
everything ate the minnows- fished three hours on rising tide in choppy water-
ended up with a really nice mess of eating fish for the table.

filets and

[Capt C-Hawk]

Good report, and good choice going behind the island. Be careful wiith those perch if you go into the Potomac, PRFC enforces a 6" minimum. Anything goes in the Wicomico. Glad to hear you got croakers, they got off to a slow start in that area.

[moc]

Good Job Ron, too bad you did not take a pic of those big kitty kats....

[Redfish12]

Sounds like you had a great day out there! I love those big croaker, I need to get out there. Sounds like some serious chop, I think you made the right call.

[ronaultmtd]

I did take pixs- I was just pooped out yesterday when I got home and was too tired to get the camera out of the back of the car and download the pictures- I have type II diabetes and am 65 years old, so bear with this "older" kayaker. :rolleyes

[ictalurus]

Outstanding report. I was sitting at work wondering if you went out. It was pretty windy and rough at Solomons. Sounds like a pretty awesome day. Were the cats blues or channels?

When I first got my yaks, I went out on a windy, rough day in the summer with an empty yak just to see what it could handle. The area around Solomons is nice because there are a lot of shoals but with long fetches for waves to build. I figured I could walk my yak to shore if I couldn't get into it. When it's calmer, I leaned over the side to see how far it could go before it flipped. I couldn't flip the Outback without falling out. The Tarpon and Manta Ray had to have the gunwale submerged before they flipped. I haven't tried the Revo yet.

[ronaultmtd]

They were blue cats-

Bill- I knew I made a mistake in judgement to go out in deeper waters after the trophy stripers when I hit the 30 foot deep channel off Cobb Island. I did not want to turtle out that far in rough water so I was especially careful when I turned the yak around and started back in- wind was gusty and the Bay had white caps- not an ideal day for a newbie out by your self-

Speaking of newbie- Thanks to you and Moc, I know how to get in and out of my yak- thank you both for your patience in showing me the ropes, so to speak- something as simple as getting in a sit on top kayak and dismounting one is not something a newbie knows- same thing about paddling-

[MetroMan]

Nice! Going after big cats with live bait is on my list of things to do!

[Memory Maker]

Nice .......... glad to see ya found some ......... and found out what you can handle .......

[ronaultmtd]

Outstanding report. I was sitting at work wondering if you went out. It was pretty windy and rough at Solomons. Sounds like a pretty awesome day. Were the cats blues or channels?

When I first got my yaks, I went out on a windy, rough day in the summer with an empty yak just to see what it could handle. The area around Solomons is nice because there are a lot of shoals but with long fetches for waves to build. I figured I could walk my yak to shore if I couldn't get into it. When it's calmer, I leaned over the side to see how far it could go before it flipped. I couldn't flip the Outback without falling out. The Tarpon and Manta Ray had to have the gunwale submerged before they flipped. I haven't tried the Revo yet.

I had a jerk in a fast-runner cigarette type 26-27 footer come by at about fifty miles an hour, Bill, the wake was awe inspiring- looked like you could surf it- the Prowler had two feet of wave over the bow and I thought it was going to knock me out of the seat- after that I figured I wasn't going to capsize in anything that was out there.

On another note- the 570 DI Hummingbird works flawlessly with the duct seal wet-well transducer setup- even the water temp works great- 59.7 degrees yesterday- the down imaging feature lets you tell the difference in structure and what is bait and what is bigger fish. Before you go out you fill the well with sea water and then turn the fish finder on- it is perfect!

[ictalurus]

Gotta love it when a fish fills up the leg well on your yak. Pretty cool.

The Prowler is a pretty seaworthy yak from everything I've heard, but it's always good to build confidence in the boat and your balance. Surfing wakes and waves is fun in the summer. I've ridden some big swells that were coming in to the Patuxent that saved my bacon when I was trying to make it back to the launch before a storm hit. I wish I had a GPS then because I knocked some major time off my return trip.

[mmanolis2001]

Nice job on finding the fish. Those are some nice cats.

Next time you get a buzzer ( Power boat coming to close) Put both legs in the water and Give them the bird with both hands.

On a serious note when boats get to close i do tend to throw my legs on either side (Think sitting on a surf board). I feel more stable when the wakes come and it Free's my hands (see above)

[ronaultmtd]

The green water coming over the bow hit me in the chest and knocked my hat off- lifted me up and I hung on to the Expedition seats straps or i would have been tossed out of the yak. The buzzer came in to look me over- I watched him change course- I had a bright hot pink flag on my Yak that is on a five foot old fishing rod- I was thinking he would slow down but he never let up a bit. But what don't kill you makes you stronger-

Here is a picture of my well system transducer-



Here is a shot of Cobb Island Friday-


And thanks for the advice about sitting straddling the yak with my feet in the water when powerboats throw a wake my way- the one Friday crossed directly in front of the bow- had he been alongside there was no way I could have stayed in my yak-