Fishing in my Comfort Zone

[J.A. Veil]

For most people getting out of bed early and launching a kayak in the rain is not part of their comfort zone. But if you are a diehard kayak angler, you set different comfort zone criteria. Mark and I had planned to fish this morning before the wind built during the afternoon. We figured that rain suits are made for rainy days and headed out anyway. We were surprised to see Yak67 (Gary) at the launch. Before I could get on the water, I had a call from Scott Taylor who was a mile or so away and already into fish. We saw several other kayak anglers on the water and all appeared to be catching.

The fish cooperated by biting close to the launch. All of us caught several 18-21" fish right off the bat to get the skunk off. The next photos shows Mark with a healthy fish.

003a.jpg 001a.jpg

We kept trolling back and forth with more fish coming intermittently. I decided to move to another location that had produced fish for me over the past two weeks. Once there, the bite was going strong. Each time I passed by a particular section in my trolling route, one of the four rods went down. Soon I had racked up half a dozen stripers between 20" and 25" with a few other smaller ones. I was feeling pretty good about the decision to get out of bed and fish in the rain.

One of the soft plastic lures had not produced any bites to that point. I reached in my box and added a lure I had never tried before. It was the large version (6") of the 12 Fathom Buzztail. I thought that a dark color might work well on a dark and rainy morning. I guessed correctly. Mark and Scott were moving toward me (Gary had already left by then). Just before I pulled along side of them, the 6'6" medium spinning rod with a dark red glitter Buzztail went down.

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It did not initially pull any harder than the other fish did, but it did not stop pulling. It kept moving back and forth and turned me in three full revolutions. After 10-15 minutes of strong pullage, I lifted the fish on my lap. It was massive -- far bigger than any striper I have caught from the kayak. I tried to measure it, but it hung well beyond my Hawg Trough. Based on the full length of the trough plus another 6" of tail, I estimate it to be 37" (my personal best kayak striper by a large margin).

The following photos were cropped and have the backgrounds fogged in to keep from giving away too much location information. Nevertheless the trolling pattern I describe in my book (paddletails on jigheads or bucktails; fish in shallow to medium depths) produced well for us today.

D fog.jpg G - edited2.jpg Here is a funky digital topo version B topo.jpg

I was definitely in my fishing comfort zone this morning and was pleased to have OGWLF brothers Mark and Scott there to witness the special catch.

[EMSer]

John,

WOW, Congrats on you new PB!! That is a beautiful fish!

I was so bummed I could n't join you all on the water this morning..... Meetings suck!

Nice job keeping true to your comfort zone philosophy. It paid off handsomely for you today as it often does.

[Mark]

Congratulations John.

I'm glad I was present to see you raise that big fish.

I'm also glad I didn't interrupt your fight as I circled your yak for photos. I didn't think you were going to her in. She had your drag singing.

It was good to see Gary again:

F1.JPG

I know he introduced some more stripers to the deck of his new Hobie.

It was also good to see Scott:

H1.JPG

As usual I could hear him on Channel 68 long before I saw him. He's a wanderer in that red boat.

I had a good day boating a dozen stripers. At least half were legal-sized fish. Even the schoolies were chunky.

My two largest were these 22 inch clones:

K.jpg L.jpg

I caught them literally within a minute of each other.

I used these two lures exclusively today:

I.jpg

The jig and bucktail are 1/2 ounce each. The white paddletail is a 3 inch Fat Sam. The chartreuse trailer on the bucktail is a 4 inch Buzz Tail. Both plastics are from 12 Fathoms Lures.

I trolled the same two lures 10 miles a few days ago under clear skies and caught no fish. Today I traveled 8 miles in wind and rain I did much better. Perhaps the conditions this morning slowed my presentation and that helped. Or perhaps I just got lucky and stumbled onto fish. Who knows? Fishing humbles me often. But it's always fun, even in the rain.

[J. Rentch]

Congratulations John, Mark, and Gary. Glad you got into the fish. Something about landing a big one, makes those "skunk" days okay.

[scott taylor]

magical morning in the rain, breeze, and fog!

For most people getting out of bed early and launching a kayak in the rain is not part of their comfort zone. But if you are a diehard kayak angler, you set different comfort zone criteria. Mark and I had planned to fish this morning before the wind built during the afternoon. We figured that rain suits are made for rainy days and headed out anyway. We were surprised to see Yak67 (Gary) at the launch. Before I could get on the water, I had a call from Scott Taylor who was a mile or so away and already into fish. We saw several other kayak anglers on the water and all appeared to be catching.

The fish cooperated by biting close to the launch. All of us caught several 18-21" fish right off the bat to get the skunk off. The next photos shows Mark with a healthy fish.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18623[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]18624[/ATTACH]

We kept trolling back and forth with more fish coming intermittently. I decided to move to another location that had produced fish for me over the past two weeks. Once there, the bite was going strong. Each time I passed by a particular section in my trolling route, one of the four rods went down. Soon I had racked up half a dozen stripers between 20" and 25" with a few other smaller ones. I was feeling pretty good about the decision to get out of bed and fish in the rain.

One of the soft plastic lures had not produced any bites to that point. I reached in my box and added a lure I had never tried before. It was the large version (6") of the 12 Fathom Buzztail. I thought that a dark color might work well on a dark and rainy morning. I guessed correctly. Mark and Scott were moving toward me (Gary had already left by then). Just before I pulled along side of them, the 6'6" medium spinning rod with a dark red glitter Buzztail went down.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18622[/ATTACH]

It did not initially pull any harder than the other fish did, but it did not stop pulling. It kept moving back and forth and turned me in three full revolutions. After 10-15 minutes of strong pullage, I lifted the fish on my lap. It was massive -- far bigger than any striper I have caught from the kayak. I tried to measure it, but it hung well beyond my Hawg Trough. Based on the full length of the trough plus another 6" of tail, I estimate it to be 37" (my personal best kayak striper by a large margin).

The following photos were cropped and have the backgrounds fogged in to keep from giving away too much location information. Nevertheless the trolling pattern I describe in my book (paddletails on jigheads or bucktails; fish in shallow to medium depths) produced well for us today.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18620[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]18621[/ATTACH] Here is a funky digital topo version [ATTACH=CONFIG]18625[/ATTACH]

I was definitely in my fishing comfort zone this morning and was pleased to have OGWLF brothers Mark and Scott there to witness the special catch.

Awesome execution of Plan A, please save me a copy of your new book, "The Comfort Zone"..I hope that's the correct title?
ST

[monocacykayak]

Congrats john ,I am really pleased that the average class size of fish are bigger,hope it contiue,

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[mccray44]

Good work guys! Glad to see the crew slowly getting back together, looking forward to the day were all on the water together and have a great day like this.

Keith

[Raptor]

John,

Awesome fish!!!! Couldn't of happened to a better guy. Please save me a signed book. Should be coming through Annapolis in 4 - 5 weeks. Will PM you.

T.

[DanMarino]

That is outstanding John!
Nice going there Mark, glad you got some photos for John.

[Salty Dog]

Congrats to all on a great day of comfort zone fishing.

[rob-kayak]

ouch ! sorry to be so delayed and pumping this thread to the top...
I get hung up on internet projects and loose all track of time and day...
and don't check in here...
================
LOOK at the that big Ol' smile on John's face...
luckily that cloud of fog that appeared directly behind you didn't move in and obscure your mug and the fish... ;-)

Awesome dude and congrats on your catch... cool stuff on the Severn.
And the same for Mark !

Thanks for posting.

[bunnielab]

John, that is an amazing fish, congratulations.

Would you be willing to post a clear picture of your rod holder set up? I have a Slayer 10 and am having trouble finding the sweet spot where the front rods are out of the way of my knees but also within easy-reach, and where the rear rods are accessible with out too much twisting but out of the way for casting. Thanks.

[Rhino]

Nice catch!

[J.A. Veil]

John, that is an amazing fish, congratulations.

Would you be willing to post a clear picture of your rod holder set up? I have a Slayer 10 and am having trouble finding the sweet spot where the front rods are out of the way of my knees but also within easy-reach, and where the rear rods are accessible with out too much twisting but out of the way for casting. Thanks.

I am happy to show my rigging setup. Keep in mind that I am very tall (especially in my trunk) and have long arms. I am able to reach farther than most people -- you may choose a more comfortable position for your own size and reach. Here is what works for me.

The front rod holders are attached to the gear tracks. Initially I used the cylindrical Scotty base units that fit into the track. They worked fine, but I faced some risk of having a rod come out if the base got loose. Those bases units tighten by twisting clockwise. The holder on the right side would tighten in the track as a fish pulled back on the rod. However, the holder on the left side would loosen when a fish pulled on the rod.

005.jpg


I changed to using two Native track slugs and screwing down a standard Scotty base into them. The rod holders no longer rotate. Also note that I use an extender piece between the base and the rod holder itself. This keeps the rod butt out of the way of my feet while pedaling.

008.jpg 006.jpg 007.jpg


The rear rod holders are through-bolted with stainless steel bolts, washers, and nuts. It took several rounds of trial and error to find a position that: a) was easily reachable from the seat without much turning, and b) would allow the rod butt of the rod in that holder to pivot from inline to 45 deg toward the rear without banging into the seat back. The rear decking on the Slayer Propel is not large and has few flat spaces. I had to work around curved surfaces. You can see in the photo the positioning of the rod holders.

strap 3.jpg

The Scotty rod holders I use come with a rubber strap that can fasten over the top and keep the rod from sliding out. In theory this is a sound concept. But in practice, when a fish begins shaking the rod, it is difficult to get the strap unhooked. I removed the strap from all of my rod holders. Some anglers may be concerned that without a strap a strong fish could pull the rod out of the rod holder. While that may be possible, it has not happened to me. I keep my drags loose (I can pull line off the spool with my hand using a moderate tug). Any strong lunge by the fish would take line rather than the entire rod. Further, the sizes of rods I use (medium light, medium, and medium heavy) all bend somewhat under strain. The force of a fish on the hook causes the rod butt to get wedged against the plastic of the rod holders. On large fish, I sometimes have a difficult time removing the rod from the holder due to the pressure of the butt against the plastic.

[bunnielab]

Thanks John.

I also bought some of the cylindrical Scotty bases and agree that they seem a little unstable. I believe that some track slugs that I use at work sometimes will fit the Native tracks. If so, I can get them for a fraction of the cost of the native slugs. In any case, I had not thought about using the Scotty extensions, that should also solve my knee-hitting issue. I am also toying with attaching my front rods to the small tracks you have your FF mounted on.