Blown Away at Ft. Smallwood

[Mark]

On the fly (Harry), Hugo and I ventured out of Ft. Smallwood park early this morning seeking low winds and lots of stripers.

At first we got both -- calm water and a good bite.

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Peaceful, isn't it? Harry had two stripers in the boat before I got my lines out.

But soon the winds arrived and the ride got considerably bouncier.

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I took this photo by accident as the water was rolling over my bow:

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Discretion dictated that we call it a day after 90 minutes.

Hugo and Harry are safely back on shore -- note the flag:

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You can see how close the launch is to parking in the above shot. That's one nice benefit of Ft. Smallwood.

Altogether we caught 37 stripers in an hour and half of trolling. I had visions of a 50 striper day for each of us until the wind arrived. Mind you, they were not large. I did not catch a fish over 15 inches. But the continuous action was fun.

Here's what I used today:

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The paddle tail out caught the Rat-L-Trap 2 to 1.

All my fish were caught in less than 8 feet of water. The largest ones were less than 20 yards from the rock wall facing the park.

[Salty Dog]

Great report and congrats on a successful but shortened day. I've been involve in strong headwinds and rough seas that were not predicted. Not fun.

[Donsail68]

Sorry your day was cut short but at least caught quite a bit. thanks for the report

[On the fly]

It was looking good when we started and the bite was on but when the wind kicked up with white caps it was a bit rough. But still a good morning.

[YakCapn]

Wow, that is an easy launch...haven't been on from Fort Smallwood yet...I might be one of the few on here, sounds like it's been a popular launch spot.

I think I'm going to start taking pictures of launch areas from different places I go (not that I have a lot). I think it would make a great sticky to post pictures of launch areas from different sites.

[Zipper75]

I just got back in from fort Smallwood. It was windy just a bit. Went out at 10:30 and spent the first hour tinkering with my new yak and ff. I managed to mark a few good isolated structures and was rewarded with a "stop counting " kind of fishing day. Casting all day a 5" jerk bait. Tore the rockfish up. I'm very glad I went with the outback and not the Pa. After a day like I had it was all the strength I could muster to get the yak back on top the car! Looking forward to getting out again. Glad you all had caught fish before you decided to pack it in. Feeling blessed for such a great first experience out in a kayak.

[J.A. Veil]

Way to go guys. Sorry you had to end early.

[EMSer]

Even an hour and a half of good fishing makes it a good day! Thanks for the report.