7/24/2011 - Bay Bridge Report

Well it was HOT and muggy out there today. I was worried that the gallon of water i brought with me would not cut it.

I got to G-Dock around 1:00 pm today and unloaded everything while nervously looking at the 2ft drop off the dock to the water. After 20 mins of thinking over how i was going to get into the kayak i said screw it. If i fell in at least it would be more refreshing than the heat. Surprisingly i made it in the boat with out any issue. It is actually pretty easy even for a less than fit gentleman.

I made my way out the the bridge. Got to the first set of Pylons and rigged up one of my jigs and looked over my shoulder to see a nasty looking storm across the bay.

Great

I made it all the way out there just to have to turn around and high tail back to the landing. I was going to ride it out at the old hemingway's launch site but as the storm got closer it became more apparent that standing outside would be a bad idea.

I made it back to the dock and was greeted by Ictalurus and was able to get back out of the boat without the ladder. Mission accomplished. I'm out of shape but i can still get things done even if it was less than graceful.

Redfish showed up as well and we waited the storm out in our cars. We got back on the water within 30 mins and i was back for round 2. Jimbo also arrived while were paddling out. The force is strong today. All the big guys were at the bridge. I was sure i would learn some of the tricks to getting fish on the jig at the bridge.

Something bad must have happened out on the water during the storm. There were fire crews and paramedics waiting at the hemingways dock for a rescue boat to arrive. I hope all parties were ok. That storm looked pretty nasty out by the bridge. Lots of lighting and gusty winds.

Redfish put a show on right away landing several nice fish. I think me and Ictalurus were snagging bottom on every other cast. I was getting slight taps but only had one good hit on my 1 oz jig and tiki. After hanging and losing 3 jigs i switched to a 3/4 shad head in Chartreuse and White and a Tiki with the same colors. The lighter jig worked better and i was getting less hangups. About 10 casts later i hooked and landed my only fish of the day. It was a nice healthy 20" fish and it went on the stringer.

The wind and current started picking up and to make things worse for me they were both going in the same direction. I tried to stick it out for a while but the combination was too much for me to effectively hold position, Cast and Jig. I was just getting pushed off the pylons too fast. To add to the issue the fish i just put on the stringer died and like a fool i forgot to put ice in my keep bag. Seeing a dead fish on a stringer in 80+ degree water and the wind and current situation i called it early. I wanted to stay out longer but i cant waste a fish.

I saw YakFish and Pinch coming out when i was leaving. I wanted to say hi but the current and wind already pushed me to the second span and i'm a lazy bastage.

It was good to get to fish with you guys even if it was only for a little while. I hope you all slayed them tonight. Post up all the details.

Video Recap.
Recap Video

[Memory Maker]

Well it was HOT and muggy out there today. I was worried that the gallon of water i brought with me would not cut it.

I got to G-Dock around 1:00 pm today and unloaded everything while nervously looking at the 2ft drop off the dock to the water. After 20 mins of thinking over how i was going to get into the kayak i said screw it. If i fell in at least it would be more refreshing than the heat. Surprisingly i made it in the boat with out any issue. It is actually pretty easy even for a less than fit gentleman.

I made my way out the the bridge. Got to the first set of Pylons and rigged up one of my jigs and looked over my shoulder to see a nasty looking storm across the bay.

Great

I made it all the way out there just to have to turn around and high tail back to the landing. I was going to ride it out at the old hemingway's launch site but as the storm got closer it became more apparent that standing outside would be a bad idea.

I made it back to the dock and was greeted by Ictalurus and was able to get back out of the boat without the ladder. Mission accomplished. I'm out of shape but i can still get things done even if it was less than graceful.

Redfish showed up as well and we waited the storm out in our cars. We got back on the water within 30 mins and i was back for round 2. Jimbo also arrived while were paddling out. The force is strong today. All the big guys were at the bridge. I was sure i would learn some of the tricks to getting fish on the jig at the bridge.

Something bad must have happened out on the water during the storm. There were fire crews and paramedics waiting at the hemingways dock for a rescue boat to arrive. I hope all parties were ok. That storm looked pretty nasty out by the bridge. Lots of lighting and gusty winds.

Redfish put a show on right away landing several nice fish. I think me and Ictalurus were snagging bottom on every other cast. I was getting slight taps but only had one good hit on my 1 oz jig and tiki. After hanging and losing 3 jigs i switched to a 3/4 shad head in Chartreuse and White and a Tiki with the same colors. The lighter jig worked better and i was getting less hangups. About 10 casts later i hooked and landed my only fish of the day. It was a nice healthy 20" fish and it went on the stringer.

The wind and current started picking up and to make things worse for me they were both going in the same direction. I tried to stick it out for a while but the combination was too much for me to effectively hold position, Cast and Jig. I was just getting pushed off the pylons too fast. To add to the issue the fish i just put on the stringer died and like a fool i forgot to put ice in my keep bag. Seeing a dead fish on a stringer in 80+ degree water and the wind and current situation i called it early. I wanted to stay out longer but i cant waste a fish.

I saw YakFish and Pinch coming out when i was leaving. I wanted to say hi but the current and wind already pushed me to the second span and i'm a lazy bastage.

It was good to get to fish with you guys even if it was only for a little while. I hope you all slayed them tonight. Post up all the details.

Video Recap.
Recap Video

Great you got out and at least got 1 even with all the obstacles ....... great video ........

[Memory Maker]

When you guys go out on the eastern shore side , ya might think about stopping at Hemmingways to drop some $$ ........ might change their minds about launching if they get to know ya ......... just sayin ......

[mmanolis2001]

When you guys go out on the eastern shore side , ya might think about stopping at Hemmingways to drop some $$ ........ might change their minds about launching if they get to know ya ......... just sayin ......

I thought about grabbing a beer but i don't think i would have fit in with the crowd there with me looking like a soaked rat that just jumped ship.

I will have to grab one before i launch next time.

[ictalurus]

I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was to get in and out of the yak from the pier. I didn't even have a close call.

Mike wasn't kidding about me getting snagged every other cast. I ended up with a big, fat skunk and only had 3 hits that I know were fish all day. Michael (redfish12) and Pinch saw one, so it wasn't just my imagination. I think I had foul hooked it because I lost it on the way up. The hook was sharp, my drag wasn't that tight, so I don't know why I would've lost it otherwise. At least I don't feel so bad since Jimbo, redfish, and Pinch said it was slow.

It's pretty tough to learn about jigging if I'm not catching any. I think I'm still doing something wrong because Pinch and Josh showed up, and Pinch hooked up within 30 seconds (at most) at one of the pilings I had beaten to a froth earlier.

Anyhow, here are some pics. Unfortunately, the ones I took of Josh and Pinch came out blurry.

Mike ("mmanolis2001" when he wasn't snagged):


Jimbo joining us:



It was good meeting Jimbo and seeing everyone else again. I think I have to rethink my stance on the turbo fins. Racing into the dock, Michael and Jimbo beat me handily, and Jimbo was almost up on a plane. If I can maintain my usual cadence, I should definitely be able to troll for Spanish. Also, it was another instance of someone making plans to fish with me and the foul weather gods throwing a wrench in the works. If there's a drought in your area, invite me to fish with you.

[ictalurus]

more pics

Michael hooked up (redfish12):


Michael hooked up, again:


Michael hooked up still (feisty schoolie that went under the yak several times):

[Redfish12]

Man am I orange! Awesome shots Bill!

Foul weather gremlins certainly reared their ugly heads yesterday. Fortunately, we decided to push back the launch two hours because of the heat, our mistake in not telling you Mike!!! Looked like you made it back in just in time. You also made the right call leaving when you did, the wind made fishing tough, even with fins.

The current was pushing out but the wind shifted and started blowing hard from East to West so the water and our boats were moving horizontally to the pilings. It definitely increased my snag ratio. It was tough fishing out there- we’ll get them next time Bill!

In other Pinch news, he caught a perch on a bkd, I wonder if that is what I’ve been feeling as the small tap on my bkds… Of course he caught his small tap though… I did however catch a monster oyster toad and then found out they might not even eat oysters. I think I will just have to call them toadfish now.

[mmanolis2001]

Great Pics bill. Thanks for the report and i'm sure you will nail them next time. You were working the jig and pylons correctly. Did you down size your jig later? I def think dropping down to the 3/4oz jig helped me.

Redfish,
No problem on the late start. I planned to hit there around 1:00 rain or shine just to see if i could make it in and out of the boat.

I bet you are right about the perch hitting the jigs. The taps i was getting reminded me of bass fishing with a worm and little sunfish grabbing the tail. I tried to fish with that beetle spin but i think it was too lite and i had no hits on it.

I guess i made the right decision to leave. If the Hobie guys are having issues holding position and fishing then i would have been done.

It was nice fishing with you all again.

[mmanolis2001]

Oh

Did you guys find out what happened at hemingways? There were allot of rescue crews at the dock and two or three boats bringing people in.

[ictalurus]

I downsized to a 3/4oz head for awhile after you left and things calmed down a bit. I couldn't feel the bottom well at all. Went back up to 1oz and had better contact with the jig but no luck even with a 5" bass assassin that redfish had been catching with. All my hits earlier came on the 1.5oz, though.

I found an article about the rescue last night. Looks like a small boat capsized in the storm as we were hiding out in our cars. It sounds like everyone was rescued, but a couple people were taken to the hospital. Hopefully, they are OK. The bit about last night's rescue is near the bottom of the article:

http://www.stardem.com/news/local_ne...41136f060.html

As for the toadfish, "oyster toadfish" is their official common name. They need hard substrate to spawn and are commonly associated with oyster reefs, hence the name. They can eat clams, but I don't know how they would find them. They generally eat crabs, snails, and small fish around the reef. I guess their teeth and jaws are for crunching crabs.

[frettr00]

Nice job.. I was out there early morning (5:30am) jigging until around 9am, didn't get a single striper working the south side stucture. IDK if it was the tide or what, but that's how it goes sometimes. I think I might avoid the morning weekend runs out there, even though timewise it's convenient. The cluster of boats that swarm over almost every pylon is really annoying.

[mmanolis2001]

I downsized to a 3/4oz head for awhile after you left and things calmed down a bit. I couldn't feel the bottom well at all. Went back up to 1oz and had better contact with the jig but no luck even with a 5" bass assassin that redfish had been catching with. All my hits earlier came on the 1.5oz, though.

I found an article about the rescue last night. Looks like a small boat capsized in the storm as we were hiding out in our cars. It sounds like everyone was rescued, but a couple people were taken to the hospital. Hopefully, they are OK. The bit about last night's rescue is near the bottom of the article:

http://www.stardem.com/news/local_ne...41136f060.html

As for the toadfish, "oyster toadfish" is their official common name. They need hard substrate to spawn and are commonly associated with oyster reefs, hence the name. They can eat clams, but I don't know how they would find them. They generally eat crabs, snails, and small fish around the reef. I guess their teeth and jaws are for crunching crabs.

Thanks for the link. That's good to hear everyone was safe. I was worried someone was struck by lighting.

I can see those toadfish eating crabs. They got some powerful jaws for they size. I don't know about eating them but maybe they taste like monk fish? I would not even know where to begin cleaning those slimy suckers.

[Pinch]

Whren Josh am i got to hemmingways a man soaking wet came upto us and asked if we knew anyone who could tow his boat. He was one of the ones rescued.

The bridge had some wierd side current that made fishing the pylons a bit wierd, it was hitting the bridge at a 45 degree angle, odd.

I always fish 1.5oz weight at the bridge even at slack tide.

Im going to post the pictures from yesterday in a bit. The OC inlet flounder ended up at 20 1/4'' and the Rock from BB was 31 3/4''


Side note: I seem to have the most luck on a SPRO style 1.5 oz jighead in chartruse or white/pink with opening night or pearl white BKD's or clear/silver BA

[Pinch]

[moc]

That flounder is going to taste real good. Did you do both the BB and OC on the same day?