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Last week I received a call from Gary, an Annapolis area angler with whom I fished once before. He invited me to do a long day trip to Ocean City to fish for flounder from our kayaks. We left yesterday morning, picked up live minnows, and launched at the commercial harbor ramp in Ocean City. We were met at the ramp by CB Kayak 02 (Matt). The first photo below shows (from left to right) Matt's Hobie, Gary's sit inside Perception, and my Native Manta.
We paddled out the harbor channel and turned north toward the Rt 50 bridge. I have never fished in Ocean City before and was quite suprised by the velocity and strength of the incoming current. My GPS measured 5.5 mph speed of drift -- near the bridge pilings, the speed was even faster.
Gary and I fished traditional paddle-driven kayaks and had some difficulty figuring out how to fish and maneuver in such a strong current. Matt used a Hobie kayak with the foot pedal drive and was able to maneuver and fish at the same time. We soon gave up on fishing south of the bridge and getting pulled toward the bridge at high speed. We passed under the bridge and found some spots on the north side where the current was more manageable.
I fished one rod with a bottom rig and live minnows. I had a second rod with jighead and 4" chartreuse Gulp minnow. Gary fished similar rigs, but also jigged with metal lures. Matt had only Gulps with him. He soon took off to try other spots, and we did not see him after noon.
Once I got the hang of fishing near the bridge (drift with the current and keep minnow and jigs on the bottom in the center and edges of the channel) I had a steady catch of flounder. Gary had hoped to recatch the monster flounder he had hooked a week ago while fishing from the bridge catwalk, but it was not meant to be. None of our flounder exceeded the 18" size limit. I caught 15-20 flounder (all but one on the live minnows) and had a great time.
I must admit to plenty of soreness after spending 7 hours in the kayak seat (minus two 15-minute stretch breaks). That is tough duty for an old guy.
I started the day with an old landing net wrapped in a white bag to minimize snags. The good news is that I had no snags -- the bad news is that the net and bag disappeared overboard at some point early in the trip.
Good luck to those of you who are fishing this area next weekend for the meet and greet. There are plenty of flounder there, but it takes some talent and good fortune to get the big one.
We paddled out the harbor channel and turned north toward the Rt 50 bridge. I have never fished in Ocean City before and was quite suprised by the velocity and strength of the incoming current. My GPS measured 5.5 mph speed of drift -- near the bridge pilings, the speed was even faster.
Gary and I fished traditional paddle-driven kayaks and had some difficulty figuring out how to fish and maneuver in such a strong current. Matt used a Hobie kayak with the foot pedal drive and was able to maneuver and fish at the same time. We soon gave up on fishing south of the bridge and getting pulled toward the bridge at high speed. We passed under the bridge and found some spots on the north side where the current was more manageable.
I fished one rod with a bottom rig and live minnows. I had a second rod with jighead and 4" chartreuse Gulp minnow. Gary fished similar rigs, but also jigged with metal lures. Matt had only Gulps with him. He soon took off to try other spots, and we did not see him after noon.
Once I got the hang of fishing near the bridge (drift with the current and keep minnow and jigs on the bottom in the center and edges of the channel) I had a steady catch of flounder. Gary had hoped to recatch the monster flounder he had hooked a week ago while fishing from the bridge catwalk, but it was not meant to be. None of our flounder exceeded the 18" size limit. I caught 15-20 flounder (all but one on the live minnows) and had a great time.
I must admit to plenty of soreness after spending 7 hours in the kayak seat (minus two 15-minute stretch breaks). That is tough duty for an old guy.
I started the day with an old landing net wrapped in a white bag to minimize snags. The good news is that I had no snags -- the bad news is that the net and bag disappeared overboard at some point early in the trip.
Good luck to those of you who are fishing this area next weekend for the meet and greet. There are plenty of flounder there, but it takes some talent and good fortune to get the big one.
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