Sneaky Good Creek Day

[YakMan1731]

Pat (yakscientist) and I visited one of our go-to fall creeks yesterday and ended up with a fun start to Rocktober. We launched pre-dawn to cloudy conditions and a slight breeze from the east, and Pat landed a good fish trolling right away. When it got a bit brighter, someone hit the Seagull Button because dang those suckers came alive. Hundreds of them circling and calling, but only a few actually working bait pods. We both found success in shallow coves under the birds, but the fish were quite small. I used a metal jig for most of my fish under the birds, while I believe Pat trolled. We both hooked angry channel cats as well while working under the birds.

I set off to check one of the spots which fulfils the fall checklist- structure, current, and deep water access. I tossed a bargain bin bone-colored spook and immediately got destroyed by a fat 22" fish. Tons of fun, and before moving on I ended up getting whacked 4 more times and landing two more fish in the same 20x20 yard area. Both were girthy as heck (see photo).

I followed that pattern checklist by heading to another spot, and a few casts later had a blast fighting a 26" monster that again hit the spook. This fish was quite memorable as it launched completely out of the water, tarpon-style, during the fight. By day's end, I landed fish at 20", 22", 22", 23" and 26" (all released healthy) and a number of shorts in the 15-17" range.

The moral for me was the importance of tide, as the spots I had success on soon waned as the tide fell. Every fish over 20" came directly next to structure which was shallow (less than 6' deep) but within 20 yards of at least 15' of water. Topwater was the name of the game even with a slight breeze, although trolling did produce more fish in quantity, but only one over 22".

Overall, this was the best day I've had at this spot in quite a while, both in quality and quantity. Pat ended up landing more than a limit of fish as well, so I'll let him add his comments if he wants. Hoping this bite continues into the cooler weeks of true fall!Rocktober 2019 1.jpgRocktober 2019 2.jpg

[Mark]

Matt,

That's a memorable day.

Congratulations.

When I read reports like yours I wonder if those folks bobbing among the pilings at the Bay Bridge have a clue that legal stripers are cruising the shallows of tributaries.

[Shady]

Way to go, it should only get better from here!

[ski357]

Matt,

That's a memorable day.

Congratulations.

When I read reports like yours I wonder if those folks bobbing among the pilings at the Bay Bridge have a clue that legal stripers are cruising the shallows of tributaries.

To paraphrase an older movie: "I have no idea what you are talking about"

[J.A. Veil]

Great report. I hope the fish continue to hang out in places easily accessible by kayak.

[Mark]

To paraphrase an older movie: "I have no idea what you are talking about"

That you don’t need to fish the Bay Bridge to catch decent stripers. And that kayakers in particular are equipped to take advantage of fall’s shallow water tributary bite.

[mchottie]

That you don’t need to fish the Bay Bridge to catch decent stripers. And that kayakers in particular are equipped to take advantage of fall’s shallow water tributary bite.

While I eventually will own a nice ~26' Center Console with twin outboards, I still revel that self-propelled kayaking can catch the exact same fish that a powerboat (costing 1000x the price) will catch.

[ski357]

That you don’t need to fish the Bay Bridge to catch decent stripers. And that kayakers in particular are equipped to take advantage of fall’s shallow water tributary bite.

Roger. I was paraphrasing a movie where they knew exactly what you were talking about. Most other anglers down this way aren't engaged in "kayak-fu" style fishing. I haven't seen or heard of many reports of lizard fish from others, so I think we must be doing something right.

[Mark]

Roger. I was paraphrasing a movie where they knew exactly what you were talking about. Most other anglers down this way aren't engaged in "kayak-fu" style fishing. I haven't seen or heard of many reports of lizard fish from others, so I think we must be doing something right.

[Jman]

Thanks for the report! Those stripers look like mini footballs. Happy Rocktober!

[yakscientist]

Matt is correct, it turned out to be a really nice day of fishing. I think I ended up with somewhere between 10-12 fish, all stripers except for 1 channel catfish. I caught all of them trolling the zman diezel minnow, and the catfish on a rat-l-trap also trolled. I brought home 2 20" fish, and I decided I'm only keeping 10 striper this year. I believe I'm up to 4 kept thus far, no idea how many caught. Fishing has certainly been good the past few weeks though, way better than this time last year (or all of last year in general really).