Tweet
In keeping with a recent Snaggedline theme, I also took a minimalist kayak trip today. I went to Weems Creek in Annapolis which I believe is a great site for a basic kayak outing.
Here is my boat ready for launching:
P1010856.jpg
No pedals, no fish finder, no trolling rigs and no cart needed. Just a very light boat that I dropped to the water's edge from my van with two spinning rods and single Plano box of perch lures.
My buddy, John Rentch, had just launched when I arrived:
P1010855.jpg
Notice how calm the water was. Later John Veil joined us.
Here’s the view toward the bridges. The water was surprisingly clean given our recent rains.
P1010854.jpg P1010857.jpg
We launched to falling tide at 0700 that was supposed to bottom out at 0800. It was definitely low as this photo will attest from the water stains on the downed wood.
P1010860.jpg
John Rentch and I headed under the bridges, he took the south side of the creek and I took the north side. When John Veil arrived later he headed toward the Severn.
As I headed under the first bridge, I noticed a sign I had never seen before:
P1010859.jpg
Seriously, I have caught a lot of fish over the years very close to this sign. I’m a lawbreaker! I’m just glad I’m retired and my days of taking polygraph tests are over!
John Rentch and I noticed something else immediately. Strikes were numerous, but hookups were not. It was as if the perch were teasing us. The water was so clear that many times I saw a fish dart toward my lure, strike it with its nose, and then in flash, disappear. I managed only 4 baby stripers and 4 small perch out of dozens of strikes.
I downsized lures and that helped somewhat. See here:
P1010862.jpg
I got into a school of perch in the back areas of the creek. The small paddletail worked. But the perch were small. Most of mine were 6 to 7 inches.
We decided to head to the big river where the perch have been willing and larger in recent weeks. When we got to the mouth of the creek, we saw John Veil to our north in the distance. He had been trolling the river and fishing one of the tributaries for perch. John Rentch turned right and started trolling south in the river. I paddled directly across to the far shoreline to find larger perch.
Areas like this have been prime perch spots in recent weeks:
P1010865.jpg
Again, note the low tide as seen by the stains on the riprap. For whatever reason, the incoming tide was very slow moving today.
However, the perch did not disappoint me. I removed my small paddletail to give them something larger to chase. It worked and I got into a school of 10 inchers. Here are a couple:
P1010863.jpg P1010864.jpg
I had good pullage today in numbers but nothing large. My stripers were just dinks that I caught while casting for perch. John Rentch did much better than me in the striper department. And I got no perch over 10 inches whereas a couple of weeks ago I got 11 and 12 inchers in the same areas.
Given a preference, I would much rather fish a high falling tide than a low rise rising one. It just seems that I catch larger fish when the former condition exists. But like most of us, I get out when I can regardless of the tide.
So ended my minimalist trip. Nothing extraordinary. Certainly, no bucket-mouth bass yanked from lily pads like willf650. But no broken rods and no bloody hook extractions either! I’m especially grateful for that. But mostly, I am glad for a very enjoyable morning paddle where a few fish happened to get into my way. I just wish the tide had been a little higher!
Here is my boat ready for launching:
P1010856.jpg
No pedals, no fish finder, no trolling rigs and no cart needed. Just a very light boat that I dropped to the water's edge from my van with two spinning rods and single Plano box of perch lures.
My buddy, John Rentch, had just launched when I arrived:
P1010855.jpg
Notice how calm the water was. Later John Veil joined us.
Here’s the view toward the bridges. The water was surprisingly clean given our recent rains.
P1010854.jpg P1010857.jpg
We launched to falling tide at 0700 that was supposed to bottom out at 0800. It was definitely low as this photo will attest from the water stains on the downed wood.
P1010860.jpg
John Rentch and I headed under the bridges, he took the south side of the creek and I took the north side. When John Veil arrived later he headed toward the Severn.
As I headed under the first bridge, I noticed a sign I had never seen before:
P1010859.jpg
Seriously, I have caught a lot of fish over the years very close to this sign. I’m a lawbreaker! I’m just glad I’m retired and my days of taking polygraph tests are over!
John Rentch and I noticed something else immediately. Strikes were numerous, but hookups were not. It was as if the perch were teasing us. The water was so clear that many times I saw a fish dart toward my lure, strike it with its nose, and then in flash, disappear. I managed only 4 baby stripers and 4 small perch out of dozens of strikes.
I downsized lures and that helped somewhat. See here:
P1010862.jpg
I got into a school of perch in the back areas of the creek. The small paddletail worked. But the perch were small. Most of mine were 6 to 7 inches.
We decided to head to the big river where the perch have been willing and larger in recent weeks. When we got to the mouth of the creek, we saw John Veil to our north in the distance. He had been trolling the river and fishing one of the tributaries for perch. John Rentch turned right and started trolling south in the river. I paddled directly across to the far shoreline to find larger perch.
Areas like this have been prime perch spots in recent weeks:
P1010865.jpg
Again, note the low tide as seen by the stains on the riprap. For whatever reason, the incoming tide was very slow moving today.
However, the perch did not disappoint me. I removed my small paddletail to give them something larger to chase. It worked and I got into a school of 10 inchers. Here are a couple:
P1010863.jpg P1010864.jpg
I had good pullage today in numbers but nothing large. My stripers were just dinks that I caught while casting for perch. John Rentch did much better than me in the striper department. And I got no perch over 10 inches whereas a couple of weeks ago I got 11 and 12 inchers in the same areas.
Given a preference, I would much rather fish a high falling tide than a low rise rising one. It just seems that I catch larger fish when the former condition exists. But like most of us, I get out when I can regardless of the tide.
So ended my minimalist trip. Nothing extraordinary. Certainly, no bucket-mouth bass yanked from lily pads like willf650. But no broken rods and no bloody hook extractions either! I’m especially grateful for that. But mostly, I am glad for a very enjoyable morning paddle where a few fish happened to get into my way. I just wish the tide had been a little higher!
Comment