Another Rose Haven Report

[mjkeith13]

A big thanks to Space Cadet for his recent Rose Haven fish report. I would have simply added to that but wanted to include a couple non-Rose Haven related items.

My experience practically mirrored Space Cadets, though while I'm pretty sure I didn't catch ~55 stripers, I caught at least 40; most between 11"-15" with several 16"-17."

I launched from Rose Haven yesterday, 2 June, around 0600. While it was a morning of great fishing, it was sandwiched between a big screw-up and an even bigger screw-up.

After loading the truck the night prior, as part of my pre-outing checks, I re-charged my lithium FF battery and checked to make sure the FF works still. I'm using a new FF this year and to turn off my previous FF, you simply held the power button for about 3 seconds and it powered off. Not so with my new one (have to choose that option and select), which I forgot. Thinking I had turned FF off with a full lithium battery the night before, I was pretty surprised to see a bright light in the back of my truck at 0500 yesterday prior to driving to Rose Haven. Of course my FF had been on all night; about 12 hours. Rather than taking the time to recharge some and miss the morning bite, I shut if off and hoped for the best. Of course, soon after launching, it was clear that I'd be fishing without a FF. With launching shortly after low tide and in a new body of water for me, it was difficult to find the right depths for the clusters of fish. I opened an app on my phone with nautical maps and that helped some in determining the approximate depths but was never sure.

After wasting about an hour too far out (I was probably well beyond the drop-off), I dialed it back in and started catching schoolies non-stop in what I think was about 4'-6." PM me and I can give anyone a better idea of where. I actually got tired of double hook-ups while trolling and just started casting for a break. As Space Cadet said, it was still a blast for early in the summer. Didn't catch any perch but was only using 3" and a few 4" paddletails on 1/4 oz jigs. They definitely liked the longer paddletails which I only had a couple of. Because of that that, I even used some lures I bought last year for speck fishing in NC. Slick Lures by Pure Flats.
IMG_4830.jpg

They are about 4.75" long and normally use with an Owner Beast 4/0 1/8 oz weighted hook (great for weedless) but simply rigged with a 1/4 oz jig on Wednesday. They worked great but that may just be cause the schoolies were hitting anything.

Now for the second screw up. I have now joined the lost rod club. Worse yet, I don't know how, when or where. I brought 4 rods with me when I launched. Approaching the launch I noticed there were only 3 behind me. My best guess is that during the trolling frenzy, I had one set-up with a 1/2 oz jig (the man over board) that kept snagging the bottom when I'd stop to unhook a fish. I believe when I went to swap that rod out with another on the homemade PVC rod holder directly behind me to the right, I may have thought I had it securely in a rod holder. I am totally blind in my right eye so am always careful not to loose my center of gravity while twisting in my seat and it was a bit choppy. Guessing it wasn't really in a rod holder but just leaning against it and at some point, he jumped in when the kayak was bouncing about. Of course, it had to be my second most expensive rod/reel combo and favorite. To make matters worse, I had the rod floats on all my rods prior to this year but after never losing one in the past 5 years, took them all off this winter as I was tired of the line snagging them occasionally.

The parking is tight at Rose Haven, 3 vehicles max and it was a bit muddy but mostly due to launching at nearly dead low tide. As pointed out earlier, it is about 2' deep forever and seemed like I had to wade forever until I could pull my cart out from underneath with the water deep enough. Want to thank Space Cadet again as I never would have thought to fish this great spot that is only 30 minutes away!

[Big Mike]

Great report. After way too many trips with FF problems I jettisoned it (still have all the cable running through my kayak, I’m not 6’7” with Manute Bol arms which are needed on a Pro Angler). Since I rarely fish unfamiliar water it’s not that big a deal but your nautical app intrigued me as sometimes I’m guessing where the edge is. Sorry about your rod.

[mjkeith13]

The phone app is “Aqua Maps.” Not sure if it’s the best one out there as there are many. But it works for me. I often use in new areas with my FF since my FF does not have maps. Let’s me record my travels and have photos linked to the map where taken. It’s free but cost $4.99 to download “Virginia to Georgia” Nautical/Marine maps which strangely includes MD and FLA for a year.

I mainly use my FF for the depth indicator. I’m barely 5’6” so reaching my FF on the water is always high adventure.


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[ronaultmtd]

Lost rod club is a really big club...my last lost rod had a CNR connected to it...a $400 cow nose ray...long story, slick hands from fish slime in a fast and furious catch and release flurry, snagged a ray, a big run, fairly tight drag...gone! Anyway, my experience with fish finders has been a good one (knock on wood) most problems are corrosion at the connectors...I use the Dakota 12v10aHr LifePO4 battery...I can get 18 hours out of it on my Lowrance Hook2-7TS before it dies...but I never push it that far (did once just to see how long it would last) and usually recharge after two or three fishing trips...Like your experience, I find the unit allows me to hang tight to structure in trolling a specific depth along a flat...at least 50% of the time fish hit my lures when the fish finder screen was clear of fish...think-your lures are 50 feet or so behind the cone of your transducer so unless you are vertical jigging, it would be near impossible to see the fish take your lure. The line I troll makes or breaks my trips...Like Mike, I have institutional knowledge from experience in most of all the locations we fish...lure are chosen based on the past successes, speed, depths, colors...but I rely on my electronics for fine tuning and precision. The charting program is ok but the charts are dated and not exactly what the bottom maybe today...what is incredibly helpful is the tracks you can repeat precisely. I used to leash my rods, but one experience turtling in shallow water taught me, I'd rather lose all my rods and reels than my life...think of it as it is a toll fee to the fishing gods...

[Mark]

Mike,

I just know I shouldn't write this but here goes...I've never lost a rod from my kayak.

I used to leash them when I started kayak fishing 10 years ago. Then I moved from leashes to rod floats. Then I discarded the floats too. So far I've been lucky. I know it will happen eventually. It's part of the game.

I don't use a FF either. I used to. But I found it to be more trouble than it was worth. (I could never program a VCR either -- I bet there are SLers here who don't know what that is. It comes from an era when Netflix was only a good idea.) I know some feel they are fishing blind without a FF. But if you are experienced in your area and if you observe structure, currents, birds, etc. in new areas, you can find fish. Maybe not as many fish as those with electronics but enough to make an outing satisfying.

You had a good fish count. Continued success to you.

[dsaavedra]

Man, yall are really making me want to get out and troll... I'm just on the northern side of Herring Bay from Rose Haven, I wonder if the fishing is as good up here

[mjkeith13]

Thank you Ron and Mark; that is all great advice.

I knew I was bound to lose a rod eventually, even though I'm super cautious with them. I just never expected a "missing cruise line passenger Dateline episode" experience.

Dave - I bet the 17"+ stripers are hanging out on the northern side of Herrington bay closer to you!

[J.A. Veil]

Mike -

I like to have an FF/GPS unit for trolling trips. Here is an excerpt about using the FF/GPS from my latest book.

Using the FF/GPS - The FF (sonar) features of my unit are not helpful in finding fish in the water column for the shallow water fishing I do. The transducer emits signals that move downward in a cone shape. When the signals hit the bottom or something suspended in the water column they bounce back to the surface where they are received by the transducer. In shallow water, the diameter of the cone remains small, such that I am seeing an image only several feet wide. Sonar does a better job in deeper water. With my focus on water less than 6’ deep, seeing suspended fish is uncommon. The sonar tells me how the depth is trending (up or down), if am I on an edge, or over a lump or hole.

The GPS is more useful for my shallow water fishing in that it provides a map of the area, shows where I am, and leaves a line showing where I have been (called a trail). I can zoom the view in and out, and I can mark waypoints when I catch a fish. By going back over those waypoints, I can focus my efforts on the most productive spots.

Users can set up their screens to superimpose digital data readings. I typically display depth, speed over ground, and water temperature. The photo below shows a GPS trail with waypoints that I made last summer. I caught stripers at all those waypoints – often multiple fish near each spot – all of them in depths from 3’ to 5’. I took this screenshot during the winter months while the kayak was in my basement, therefore no digital depth is shown, the speed over ground is 0.0, and the temperature is the air temperature in my basement. When on the water, those data elements are refreshed every few seconds to show actual conditions.

GPS trails and waypoints.jpg

A later section of the book gives additional screenshots showing trails and waypoints I made to find fish. I often run the screen in split mode with GPS view on the left and sonar view on the right. The GPS gives an approximate idea of what the depth should be, and the sonar confirms the depth and shows any lumps or holes. I recently did some trolling over an oyster sanctuary in 4-5 ft depth. There were numerous mounds of oyster shells that stood up from the bottom to within a foot of the surface. As I trolled over this area, I watched my screen closely and could tell if I need to paddle faster to raise the lures higher in the water column to avoid snagging. I caught a lot of stripers in that area over several consecutive trips.

Regarding the lost rod, sorry about that, but to some extent, it is the cost of doing business. I think in terms of amortizing the value. Say you have already made 50 trips with a rod and reel worth $200. Think of that as spending $4 per trip for that rod. Rather than agonizing over losing $200, you got a lot of value from that combo already and can now get a new combo.

[mjkeith13]

Thanks John - I definitely need to get your latest book to complete my collection! That was a great explanation for why my FF is less effective in shallow water. Though, like you, I'm mostly using it to confirm depth. Unfortunately, since using for mostly depth, I made a poor decision when I bought this FF and opted for the cheaper version without maps and no ability to upload them. That is why I usually use the phone app to record my trail to look at afterwards so I know where I had success or more often, did not have success. After reading your excerpts above, I will try to use my FF and the app simultaneously more often when trolling.

If there is a silver lining in my lost rod/reel incident it is that it was not the St. Croix Premier rod that I got from you several years ago at the Odenton fishing flea market. That is still my go-to rod for most everything! Though somewhere off of Rose Haven is a St. Croix Mojo inshore rod.

[SpaceCadet]

So glad my report got you some success on the water!! (Lost rod aside...) I've spent many years as a lurker on various fishing forums and have caught some fantastic fish thanks to other people being open about where they're catching, so I like to give a a little back from time to time. This community is particularly friendly and helpful!

So I've found that Rosen Haven blows hot and cold. Last year and this year were great, 2019 was truly awful, four or five years ago it was absolutely thick with 12-14" perch (great fly fishing!)... So I have no idea what drives its moods but at least lately that area has been great! I'm probably going out tomorrow morning (0600-ish) for a few hours, so paddle on by and say hello if anyone's out there. (Green Old Town Topwater, orange flag)

-Karl

[dsaavedra]

Do you catch perch out in the open along the drop off from ~3 feet to deeper water? I've never caught perch in open water, always along docks and other shoreline cover.

[SpaceCadet]

Do you catch perch out in the open along the drop off from ~3 feet to deeper water? I've never caught perch in open water, always along docks and other shoreline cover.

Absolutely. Honestly I never touch the the dock areas - I always head straight to open water unless the rockfish are crashing the surface around me (which can happen out there). A few years back when the big perch were really thick in there, they were probably in the 4-6' range, maybe as close as 300ft from the docks. Last year I was finding large pockets of them in 6-8ft much further out, and catching one after another on a drop-shot fly when I sat on them. The few I've had this year have all been mixed in with the rockfish in 6-8'. I tend to fish baits that are a little too big for the perch so don't pick many of them up but I feel like if I switch to my UL setup, I'd probably get a decent haul. Maybe I'll take that rod with me tomorrow and test the waters... they are fun for sure!