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I read several reports of speckled trout getting caught near the launch at Neavitt (north side of Choptank River). I don't do too many road trips with my kayak, but could not pass up the chance to bag my first Maryland speck.
I arrived in Neavitt about 8:30 and saw one other car with kayak racks. That kayaker was already out of sight when I launched and was still out when I returned around 12:30. I forgot my Skwoosh pad today, which limited my butt fatigue time to 4 hours. High tide had been at about 7:00 am, leaving me with a falling tide all morning until I returned at 12:30.
The wind was blowing hard from the north. The ramp entered a sheltered cove, allowing me to fish around the edges. I moved just a few hundred feet from the ramp and began casting. The rigs were St. Croix Premier 6'6" medium lite action rods with Shimano Stradic 2500 reels spooled with 20-lb Powerpro -- both rods were rigged with 3/8-oz jigheads. Given the overcast skies and 12" visibility, I did not bother with fluorocarbon leaders. One rod had a 4" Gulp swimming mullet in chartreuse, and the other was rigged with a root beer colored Cocahoe minnow (a favorite speck lure in Louisiana).
The Cocahoe minnow did not get touched, but the Gulp got bumped on the first few casts. After one retrieve I noticed that part of the twister tail was gone (I surmised that bluefish were in the house). To my surprise, on the next catch I wound in a large white perch. This fish was the palest perch I have caught all year -- it proved to be the only perch of the day.
A few minutes later, I landed a beautiful 12" speck. I have caught specks in TX, LA, FL, and NC, but had never caught one before in MD. So 15 minutes into the trip, I was already happy.
I decided to leave the area adjacent to the ramp and look around. Once I cleared a point, the wind was howling and the chop was relentless. I paddled upwind for about a half mile until I could tuck into some areas where the trees blocked the wind. I tried casting but had very few bites. Next I turned my two rear Scotty rod holders outward and trolled at slow speed (less than normal paddle speed). By now, I had switched both rods to the Gulp bait. Over the next 2 hours I caught 4 rockfish, including an 18" and a 22" fish. To the best of my recollection, these were my first keeper size rock from the kayak this year. The 22" fish had sores -- the first diseased fish I caught this year. All fish were returned to the water. Until I work through the halibut fillets in my freezer, I don't plan to bring any more fish home.
I also caught several bluefish to 14" and about a dozen specks from 8" to 12". To round out my catch for today, I hooked a female blue crab, which chose to autotomize (break off) its claw.
I had never fished that area before. After a lot of trial and error, I found the fish primarily between 3' and 6' depth. I watched the depth finder closely. As I paddled or drifted across a bar and the depth diminished to 1' to 2', I moved to the edge where I could find at least 3' depth. If I got too deep, I got no bites either.
After lackluster trips in the Severn creeks for the past two weeks, today's trip was a great change of pace.
I arrived in Neavitt about 8:30 and saw one other car with kayak racks. That kayaker was already out of sight when I launched and was still out when I returned around 12:30. I forgot my Skwoosh pad today, which limited my butt fatigue time to 4 hours. High tide had been at about 7:00 am, leaving me with a falling tide all morning until I returned at 12:30.
The wind was blowing hard from the north. The ramp entered a sheltered cove, allowing me to fish around the edges. I moved just a few hundred feet from the ramp and began casting. The rigs were St. Croix Premier 6'6" medium lite action rods with Shimano Stradic 2500 reels spooled with 20-lb Powerpro -- both rods were rigged with 3/8-oz jigheads. Given the overcast skies and 12" visibility, I did not bother with fluorocarbon leaders. One rod had a 4" Gulp swimming mullet in chartreuse, and the other was rigged with a root beer colored Cocahoe minnow (a favorite speck lure in Louisiana).
The Cocahoe minnow did not get touched, but the Gulp got bumped on the first few casts. After one retrieve I noticed that part of the twister tail was gone (I surmised that bluefish were in the house). To my surprise, on the next catch I wound in a large white perch. This fish was the palest perch I have caught all year -- it proved to be the only perch of the day.
A few minutes later, I landed a beautiful 12" speck. I have caught specks in TX, LA, FL, and NC, but had never caught one before in MD. So 15 minutes into the trip, I was already happy.
I decided to leave the area adjacent to the ramp and look around. Once I cleared a point, the wind was howling and the chop was relentless. I paddled upwind for about a half mile until I could tuck into some areas where the trees blocked the wind. I tried casting but had very few bites. Next I turned my two rear Scotty rod holders outward and trolled at slow speed (less than normal paddle speed). By now, I had switched both rods to the Gulp bait. Over the next 2 hours I caught 4 rockfish, including an 18" and a 22" fish. To the best of my recollection, these were my first keeper size rock from the kayak this year. The 22" fish had sores -- the first diseased fish I caught this year. All fish were returned to the water. Until I work through the halibut fillets in my freezer, I don't plan to bring any more fish home.
I also caught several bluefish to 14" and about a dozen specks from 8" to 12". To round out my catch for today, I hooked a female blue crab, which chose to autotomize (break off) its claw.
I had never fished that area before. After a lot of trial and error, I found the fish primarily between 3' and 6' depth. I watched the depth finder closely. As I paddled or drifted across a bar and the depth diminished to 1' to 2', I moved to the edge where I could find at least 3' depth. If I got too deep, I got no bites either.
After lackluster trips in the Severn creeks for the past two weeks, today's trip was a great change of pace.
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