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This has been my first season kayak fishing and this is my first fishing report. What I have lacked in frequency I will try to make up in length. Unfortunately, up until now I have not had anything of merit to report. This was going to be my last outing of the season as my weekends are filled up going forward through November. Being new to kayak fishing I have been trying out different launches this year and today I launched out of Little Creek landing. I was really excited to try this area as there have been only a few posts about this spot and it has been over two months since I have been out on the water in the kayak.
Low tide at Kent Narrows was 8:21am so that is when I hit the water. My plan was to work the western shore of Crab Alley Bay down to Bodkin Island then move over to the area around Parsons Island. I have never fished this area so I was in exploratory mode just hoping to luck into a few fish. I started trolling two lines right after passing the small island. After a few minutes I landed two rockfish. I had hoped that Windfinder would be off with their wind prediction but the wind was still a little strong from the east and providing some rolling waves right on my beam. I worked down the channel without any other hits but could see birds working the in distance. Too far away to get to in these conditions I thought. I started running into shallower water and was not having any luck. Those birds are still out there I thought. I modified my game plan and decided that the shallows were not happening today and that I would follow the channel ledge down to Bodkin. I had to make a 90 degree left/port turn right into the waves and wind. Took a number of waves over the bow but then started marking fish after getting back into 15 to 20 feet of water. I picked up another dink on the same rod I landed the first.
The birds were still there working between Bodkin and Parsons. I was no longer going to be satisfied with luck and went chasing birds. I ran the channel ledge past C1, across the channel toward Parsons and down the eastern edge. There were other boats in the area but I did not see anyone pulling fish. I was getting a little worn out and needed a break so I peddled to Bodkin so I could get out of the yak and stretch my legs and take a break. After my break I decided I would make my way back to the launch and move over to the other side of the Bay. I continued to troll and ran over the same spot where I landed fish 3. Almost in the same spot, I landed number 4 on the same rod/Z-Man EC minnow. I continued to work that spot for an hour and a half. There were a number of boats fishing near this area but not in this spot. I landed an additional 7 fish in this time. I had replaced my opening night with another EC minnow on the other rod but not a single fish hit it. The fish only wanted lure on the other rod. The only difference between the two rods was the hot one had a yellow jig head tied on and the other had a white jig head with a snap swivel. I switched the jig head on the off rod to a yellow jig head (tied on) and landed the next fish on this rod. After a while I noticed that my trolling speed was declining as my legs were getting tired. I decided I would call it after fish 10 which came very quickly. Heading back to the launch I landed fish 11. I was off the water around 12:45pm.
Compared to previous outings this was a great trip. I landed 11 fish total with 1 being just over 20 inches. The rest were 17 -18 inches. 7 of 11 fish were landed on the Z-Man EC minnow on the same rod. I estimate that I pedaled 8-9 miles total. I saw little to no bottom structure in Crab Alley Bay so if you fish there I would recommend you work the channel ledges and breaks and take a few Z-Man EC minnows with you. Thanks to all of you who have posted to this board. I have learned so much from reading all of your reports and posts on advice. It wasn’t epic but I was happy to finish the season on a high note and look forward to getting out more frequently next season. Hopefully I will work on an easy camera setup over the winter so I can contribute pictures next year.
Jack
Low tide at Kent Narrows was 8:21am so that is when I hit the water. My plan was to work the western shore of Crab Alley Bay down to Bodkin Island then move over to the area around Parsons Island. I have never fished this area so I was in exploratory mode just hoping to luck into a few fish. I started trolling two lines right after passing the small island. After a few minutes I landed two rockfish. I had hoped that Windfinder would be off with their wind prediction but the wind was still a little strong from the east and providing some rolling waves right on my beam. I worked down the channel without any other hits but could see birds working the in distance. Too far away to get to in these conditions I thought. I started running into shallower water and was not having any luck. Those birds are still out there I thought. I modified my game plan and decided that the shallows were not happening today and that I would follow the channel ledge down to Bodkin. I had to make a 90 degree left/port turn right into the waves and wind. Took a number of waves over the bow but then started marking fish after getting back into 15 to 20 feet of water. I picked up another dink on the same rod I landed the first.
The birds were still there working between Bodkin and Parsons. I was no longer going to be satisfied with luck and went chasing birds. I ran the channel ledge past C1, across the channel toward Parsons and down the eastern edge. There were other boats in the area but I did not see anyone pulling fish. I was getting a little worn out and needed a break so I peddled to Bodkin so I could get out of the yak and stretch my legs and take a break. After my break I decided I would make my way back to the launch and move over to the other side of the Bay. I continued to troll and ran over the same spot where I landed fish 3. Almost in the same spot, I landed number 4 on the same rod/Z-Man EC minnow. I continued to work that spot for an hour and a half. There were a number of boats fishing near this area but not in this spot. I landed an additional 7 fish in this time. I had replaced my opening night with another EC minnow on the other rod but not a single fish hit it. The fish only wanted lure on the other rod. The only difference between the two rods was the hot one had a yellow jig head tied on and the other had a white jig head with a snap swivel. I switched the jig head on the off rod to a yellow jig head (tied on) and landed the next fish on this rod. After a while I noticed that my trolling speed was declining as my legs were getting tired. I decided I would call it after fish 10 which came very quickly. Heading back to the launch I landed fish 11. I was off the water around 12:45pm.
Compared to previous outings this was a great trip. I landed 11 fish total with 1 being just over 20 inches. The rest were 17 -18 inches. 7 of 11 fish were landed on the Z-Man EC minnow on the same rod. I estimate that I pedaled 8-9 miles total. I saw little to no bottom structure in Crab Alley Bay so if you fish there I would recommend you work the channel ledges and breaks and take a few Z-Man EC minnows with you. Thanks to all of you who have posted to this board. I have learned so much from reading all of your reports and posts on advice. It wasn’t epic but I was happy to finish the season on a high note and look forward to getting out more frequently next season. Hopefully I will work on an easy camera setup over the winter so I can contribute pictures next year.
Jack
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