Good Day on The Eastern Bay - But I will miss that fishing rod

[UnkleRob2020]

Good morning everyone,

I had a great day on the Eastern Bay yesterday. My buddy and I were both trolling paddletails (green and white seemed to be the favorite colors) in shallow water (started right at low tide) yesterday and had plenty of action from the rockfish. They were a little smaller than last week, on average, but it was still incredibly fun. I did manage to catch two over 20".

I lost my first rod ever while kayaking yesterday. I was trolling and when I looked back at the rod in the right rear rod holder, I saw it go down much harder than any rod had gone down while trolling (in my limited experience of approximately 8 days :--). Not only did I see it go down, but I watched it as it was yanked from the rod holder and disappeared into the bay. I was a little frustrated, but I was having such a good time, I chose to focus on the positive. I have already had more fun fishing and caught more fish before June than I do in some entire seasons. Between the shad at Fletchers, the bass, crappie, pickerel and yellow perch at St Mary's and the stripers on the Eastern Bay, it has been a great start to the year.

I am hoping that this is the year that I catch my first speck.

My buddy hooked a sting ray yesterday. I tried to convince him to cut the line, but he would not listen. He fought that sting ray for quite some time before it broke the line. What do most people do when they hook one? I have always just cut the line and moved on. Is there a better way to deal with the rays?

I cannot wait to do some perching in the Severn :--)

[Mark]

Sorry to hear about your rod and also sorry to hear that the rays are back.

They're one reason I do not like to troll. When I cast I can usually see them and avoid them. When I troll, those devils may "sneak up" behind me.

Assuming you're using braided line with a mono or fluorocarbon leader, you don't have to cut your line to rid yourself of rays. Take your rod into your hand. Point your rod tip directly at the ray as it swims away from you. Keep the rod straight -- no bend in the rod. If it is a spinning rod, put your hand over the spool to prevent the drag from engaging. If it is a baitcast rod, put your thumb on the spool, again to prevent the drag from doling out line. You want all the force to be on the line as you point the rod toward the ray. Then give a sharp yank backward without bending the rod. The line will usually break at the knot that you tied to the lure. Occasionally, it will break where you connected the leader to the braid.

Either way, the above method works well and it will save your expensive braided line without cutting any of it.

Of course if you want to get real wet and also want to waste a lot of time trying to get the ray to your gunwale so you can cut the leader, you can do that too.

Good luck,

[J.A. Veil]

Good morning everyone,


I lost my first rod ever while kayaking yesterday. I was trolling and when I looked back at the rod in the right rear rod holder, I saw it go down much harder than any rod had gone down while trolling (in my limited experience of approximately 8 days :--). Not only did I see it go down, but I watched it as it was yanked from the rod holder and disappeared into the bay.
My buddy hooked a sting ray yesterday. I tried to convince him to cut the line, but he would not listen. He fought that sting ray for quite some time before it broke the line. What do most people do when they hook one? I have always just cut the line and moved on. Is there a better way to deal with the rays?

I cannot wait to do some perching in the Severn :--)

1) Lost rod: Sorry that you lost a rod yesterday. It happens to most of us at one time or another. I assume you were fishing from your Falcon 11 kayak. The two flush mount rod holders in the rear are not really designed for trolling -- they are meant for carrying rods. I modified the ones on my Falcon 11 to improve the angle (see http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...etter-trolling). There are at least two other factors that can lead to getting a rod pulled out. a) A lighter rod will flex when a fish bites. The flexing action creates friction between the rod butt and the rod holder. If you have a more rigid rod, that is less likely to happen. b) A related factor is how tight you set the drag. If you use a very tight drag, any sharp pull on the line will not pull line against the drag. Instead it will pull directly on the rod. It is possible that one or both of those factors contributed.

2) Breaking off your line when you hook a ray. You bought my latest book. I'm not sure if you read it all the way through yet. I included a special tip box on page 127 that explains my method for breaking a line when you want to do it quickly without damaging a rod tip.

[Chrisca]

What launch sites do you guys use for "Eastern Bay" - not trying to crowd anyone's spot. I want to fish some different spots this year (I keep going to Goodhands) I went to Romakoke which was OK, Is Shipping Creek better? Are there better options that I am not aware of?
Thanks, Chris

[J.A. Veil]

Last year I launched at quite a few of the QA County launch sites. My choice depends on wind speed and direction, what species I want to target, where I want to explore, etc. I caught fish from all of them. It is fun to try a new launch spot and explore to see if your techniques developed at other sites also work here. Sometimes you can find some real hot spots, as I did out of Jackson Creek launch last summer.

Here are the ones I tried (in alphabetical order), and how often I used them:

- Bennett Pt (1)
- Cabin Creek (several)
- Centreville (1)
- Goodhands Creek (several)
- Jackson Creek (several)
- Little Creek (2)
- Thompson Creek (1)

I used to launch my center console often from Shipping Creek, but never launched a kayak there. Kent Narrows launch puts you directly into the Narrows, which often has very strong currents.

[UnkleRob2020]

I have had luck at all of the Queen Anne County launch site. I am not as experienced or scientific as some people, so I pretty much just "wing it" unless I happen to get some intel from this forum. I love Goodhands, but I fear that soon it will be overrun with jet skis (but I hope not).

John - you caught me. I have been cherry picking the chapters of your book that I presume may be most relevant to the fishing I will be doing in the near future. There is so much great information there that it certainly warrants a few solid reads from beginning to end. I will get there.

Mark - I understand why you may prefer not to troll. I enjoy cast and retrieve and having the rod in my hand when a fish strikes. That being said, I have had luck trolling and then tried casting in those same areas and not gotten a single bite. I do not know what it is, but there is something about trolling that seems to be quite effective. I hope to climb the learning curve and also mount some good forward and rear rod holders. I cannot wait for the summer when I can troll a bit but also pull up into some tidal ponds and cast to some white perch....that is my idea of a great day.

[Mark]

UnkleRob2020,

I've never seen a jet ski at Goodhands. But there's a fairly aggressive pro crabber who has worked the area for years. He'll run back and forth between Kirwan Creek and the seawall. You'll be wise to give him plenty of room. I'd rather take my chances with a jet skier.

I think when you're more familiar with the waters you're fishing, you'll discover good places to cast to catch fish. At Goodhands there are plenty of areas, with clearly visible structure, natural and manmade, that attract fish. There are also strong currents in certain areas created by the narrows itself that attract fish. The cuts through the ever shrinking Hog Island are also good places to cast.

I've visited Cabin Creek only once (last week) and I was very impressed with the reef area (marked by buoys) and the deep cut sod banks. I caught nothing legal but managed to get over a dozen stripers casting by just looking at the area and surmising where fish would be, including some on the fly. I think I could have caught a lot more if I had stayed with a simple jig and paddletail. But I was mainly interested in catching them with a fly. I did troll a paddletail on my way back to the launch and picked up a couple more.

My problem when I troll is that I'm distracted by all the good structure and moving water that I can see and I'm thinking to myself, "I bet there are fish over there on that point, near that riprap, by that sod bank, in that current, etc." I just have more satisfaction when I catch fish by casting to them. And again, I rarely snag a ray when casting. Once while trolling at Goodhands, I had a ray on each of the two rods I was trolling simultaneously. I broke them off quickly but that incident confirmed that I'd much rather cast than troll.

Yet, I understand why some like to troll especially when it puts lots of fish on your lines.

[bignose]

Rob see if you can find a copy of this via Amazon or BookFinder.com

Fly Fishers Guide to fishing the Chesapeake Bay.

It will give you an overview to fishing the region, and is not just for Fly Fishermen.

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[Mark]

Stu,

I know the co-author...Bill May. Heck of a nice guy and a great story teller.

[UnkleRob2020]

I just ordered the book that Stu recommended. I am also planning to pick up copies of John's previous books. The more I learn, the more I realize I do not know. I would like to understand tides better. My fishing partner was asking me questions about the tide last weekend and I did not know the answers. I am hoping to work on my knowledge in that area. If anyone knows of any good sources of information to learn about tides, currents, wind, etc. I would be grateful to hear your thoughts.

Thank you

[Red_Beard]

Nautide and Windfinder are two smartphone apps that I have found tremendously useful as a kayak angler on the Chesapeake Bay.

[J.A. Veil]

I just ordered the book that Stu recommended. I am also planning to pick up copies of John's previous books. The more I learn, the more I realize I do not know. I would like to understand tides better. My fishing partner was asking me questions about the tide last weekend and I did not know the answers. I am hoping to work on my knowledge in that area. If anyone knows of any good sources of information to learn about tides, currents, wind, etc. I would be grateful to hear your thoughts.

Thank you

Last January, I gave a Zoom seminar to the Free State Fly Fishers called "Using Online Resources to Plan Your Fishing Trip". It describes how to find internet information relating to:

–Geography
•Maps
•Aerial photos
–Weather
–Wind speed and direction
–Tides
•Highs and lows
•Water height differential
•Tidal current velocity
–Stream flow (gages)
–Depth contours
–Solunar times (??)

I will email a copy of this 46-slide presentation to UnkleRob. If anyone else wants a copy of the presentation, send me you email address by pmail.

[scorchy]

Rob,

Really appreciate you documenting your journey and results. I still tend to just go where I'm comfortable (Weems, SW Park in Baltimore, Jane's Island in Crisfield) and you're experiences are motivating me to branch out so some other spots. I have to admit that I don't particularly enjoy trolling but I did just buy the Scotty thingamajig that John posted about, so maybe a better setup will change my mind a little.

[UnkleRob2020]

Scorchy,

I love Jane's Island for camping. I am a little embarrased to admit that I have never fished there...I am usually camping with friends, but I could certainly wake up extra early and get some fishing in. Is there anything in particular that you enjoy about fishing Janes Island?

Trolling: I have only been trolling for two weeks :--), but I do really enjoy watching the rod go down and that is hard to do when the rod is behind me. For me, I think I will enjoy it even more when the rod is in front of me and in an appropriate rod holder that is properly mounted (as John Veil has show in Dry Dock).

[scorchy]

Scorchy,

I love Jane's Island for camping. I am a little embarrased to admit that I have never fished there...I am usually camping with friends, but I could certainly wake up extra early and get some fishing in. Is there anything in particular that you enjoy about fishing Janes Island?

I think a lot of it is that Jane's Island is the first place I ever fished from a kayak. I'm from the lower shore, my dad ran a charter boat out of Crisfield, and I just brought my yak once when I visited him and tried out fishing from it.

Most of the time I've stayed in the relatively protected areas and still managed to catch different species. If the specks and rock and reds aren't biting, you can always bottom fish for croaker and spot. And if it's calm, you can paddle all the way around to Island Point where the specks almost always seem to be running, or just find your own stretch of private beach to chill. Just don't forget the bug spray.