May 18.. first perch using lures.. happy day..

[rob-kayak]

so caught perch the other week with bloodworms... way out of my normal situation...
Hit the old "stomping grounds"...

Change tactics... let go at least half a dozen more..
and a whole lot of fingerling stripers 3-5 inches...
Will post more info as to changing tactics...
The first or so in the pictures... they be some fatties.. :-)



first_perch2019_001.jpgfirst_perch2019_002.jpg

[CHOC]

Man. Why am I so stubborn? I KNEW I should’ve targeted perch today, but I went after stripers instead. I tried Thomas Point and got blown around terribly. Not fun.

[ronaultmtd]

May 18.. first perch using lures.. happy day..

Hit Piney Point yesterday and scored three white perch, several Stripers (all released) and lost one really big perch trying to lift it in the kayak...should have used a net...all the big perch hit ZMan Diesel minnows on 1/4 oz Redfish Magic jig heads. Caught one perch on a gold Perch Pounder...and then came the strong wind..and waves and chop..got really “sporting” trying to safely get back to launch...
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[rob-kayak]

WHAT Ron... you had a perch so big you couldn't get into the boat.. WOW !!!!
sorry just had to say that :-)

Well... it wasn't really a change of tactics..
but the day dictated and the season had a different approach.

And... the first day of not putting on the cool water gear of waders, etc...
It was not quite a tropical morning... but surely wonderful to be wearing shorts and have my toes in the water.... Summer is almost here !
Later on I took off my long sleeve shirt... cloudy early... sun came in as the morning progressed.

Launching on the South River... the creek was calm.... while in the Summer it would be dimpled in the early morning by the perch and maybe a pickerel chasing the bait fish. A welcome site as always as to activity and life in the creek.

I think the "weather man/woman" hate us kayakers... winds were to be "calm'ish"... but obviously from John MD and Ron..
they obviously got the worst.
Kayak Kevin in his podcasts has determined they are out to kill us.. well.. obviously just voicing his frustrations.

With lack of morning surface activity... and an abundance of pollen on the surface in the usual places I would fish...
Moved out of the creek... and into open water to go check out other creeks.

Now we have had some talk here about minimalist approach to fishing... and that is all fine and dandy...
But I never know where I will end up.. and go... and had the plan that I might make some good distance to the open by side of the South River to explore creeks closer to the mouth.

So as usual... the kayak looked like a porcupine with rods... numerous jigs, soft plastics, rattle traps.. and a small hibachi grill strapped to the stern.

I got to the creek I wanted to explore... and tucked into a little wind protected cove the had water up to 8feet.. grass lined.. just looked nice. Tossed four different colors, with beetle spinners... dark root beer salt tube... yellow sparkle twisty tail, pinkish glow salt tube (not tried before), and a white twisty tail.
All on small chartreuse jig heads. I had four rods with each a different color.. so I could easily switch out the colors/rod to saturate the area.

After 20 or 40 casts in the area... I put on my old trusty white head/chartreuse tail salt tube (about 2inch size)... and the other color of pink head/white tail salt tube...

And my first fish... could be I had been splashing the area so much that it had attracted the perch to come in...
No other takers here after the first fish... so I moved down into a punch piers in the creek.

Tossed a lot down into the piers... but no takers...
But then...
Started working from the shoreline of the piers... out to the deeper water (mouth of the piers)...
And that is where all the action was happening.

Maybe the fish were moving along that edge... I didn't find much any where else...
Which would have been deeper water up to an area with over hanging trees.

So.. salt tubes with beetle spinners... the old tried and true.
At the end of the trip... low tide about noonish...
the launch "creek" was alive with baitfish and splashes...
maybe it was the full moon the night before... and the fish were just waking up from a busy "night out."

Anyway... just get out and do it... change it up... try different methods...
Thanks to all that keep posting their adventures.