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I had taken off today (Monday) for the monday night Ravens game (What a joke that was) and to do some kayak fishing. I spent saturday and sunday fishing with my girlfriend on my boat and since she couldnt get off today I took the outback out.
Didnt get the early start I hoped for (was wore out from saturday and sunday) but with a 6:30 high tide figured i could get a few hours in before sunset. Had no idea where i wanted to launch at but wanted to stay close to home so I launched near my marina on back river in essex. Not the best water around but the rock have been in the river for a few weeks now.
Loaded everything up and stopped at the marina to get some rods and lures off the boat, then headed to the lauch. Took awhile to get my gear on and get the kayak setup to launch but made a successful launch with no problems.
I didnt get 10 feet from the shoreline when a huge fish came half way out of the water straight up head 1st. Looked to dark to be a rock and i believe it was a carp but never saw one come out of the water like that. It was only about 40 feet from me next to a pier. Looked to have had a girth of about 12 inches around. It was freakin BIG!!! I figure at least a good 30 inches. I had a small swim shad on one rod and a bucktail with a small bass assasin on the other. i tossed the swim shad towards it for a half a dozen casts but couldnt get it to bite. Not real sure i wanted to tangle with that beast in my 1st 10 minutes of kayak fishing anyway ... lol. Ive caught big carp before on light tackle and im sure I would have been in for a helluva ride ... lol.
Started heading up river past my marina and along the shore line which is loaded with piers. I tossed out both lines and started trolling zig zagging in and out with the shorter and longer piers. I was going to stop a a few to do some casting but figured i would troll out a ways and then stop along some on the way back. I just kept trolling checking out the sights and stopped at one inlet to take a breather and change up lures. Had a few knock downs on the way out but nothing came tight. Might of just been debri....not sure.
Looked through some of my tackle and decided to put on a rattle trap and a white gulp twister tail on a small white jig head. While sitting there had a few fish splashing in the area and casted a bit but no takers. There was a point farther up I wanted to get to and fish so started trolling again up to the point after a smoke and a drink. I had covered some ground already and my knees were getting a little sore but wanted to get to the point so kept at it. Im not exactly sure how far i traveled but i guess it was a good 3 miles to the point. Probably went a little farther than i should have for my 1st trip but I was enjoying it even know i had no fish yet.
Got out to the point and casted around a bit with no takers and realized the sun was setting pretty fast so started heading back. saw alot of splashes farther from shore on the way out so decided to head back in some deeper water. There were alot of pods of commorants (sp?) all over the river with working gulls and terns above them and tried to go through some of them on the way back in. Kinda cool to watch too. The commorants were feeding on baitfish and when they come up with bait the gulls & terns swept down and took the bait from them.
After i made the turn and started heading back I realized i was now going against the current. It wasnt much current but i could definitely feel the difference. Felt like I wasnt making much ground and had to start peddaling harder. My knees were hurting even more now but I took off the pedal straps allowing me to pedal more with the center of my feet instead of closer to my toes and that definitely felt better. I even paddled for awhile to give my legs a break but it sure didnt feel like i was making much headway paddling and found out that paddling gets you pretty wet....lol. Im now very glad I decided to get the hobie!! Heck with that paddling crap ... lol.
Anyway...... after running back in, in some deeper water with still no fish trolling, I started heading closer to shore so i could stop and fish some piers. Pulled in the rattle trap and put that rod in the holder and started tossing the gulp shad with a twister tail and second cast I hooked up with a catfish about 16" long. Not what i was hoping for but it put up a good little fight and spun the kayak around a bit and put a smile on my face
. After a quick slimy release I realized i forgot my FISH OFF GLOVES.
Tossed my lure a few more times at some different areas but the sun was about down and i still had along way to go and i dont have any lights on my yak yet. I did grab a flashlight that has a strobe setting if i needed it. Started heading back slowly while tossing my lure along some piers along the way but really couldnt work the bait the way i wanted to while moving. It was more like toss out wide, twitch it a bit while the troll moved it behind the yak, then reel in and repeat. Got tired of that real quick. Guess I'll figure out a better way to fish as im moving eventually.
Biggest problem was trying to pedal, steer and work the rod and cast where i wanted. Constantly turning and the rod end bumping all over my vest was getting aggravating. Even sitting still fishing I couldnt get real comfortable. Not used to fishing from a lazy boy recliner .... lol. Thats what it felt like!! I finally got fed up and took the vest off. AHHHHH ..... what a relief! The water was dead flat calm and i was running the shoreline so I didnt figure i needed it that much and it made a world of a difference. I think i'll wind up getting an inflatable PFD soon. Maybe the waist pack type that wont be as annoying.
By this time its pretty much pitch black out with not much moon showing so i pulled out my flashlight and hooked it in the loop of my water bottle. Now the next annoyance started......... I was getting eat up by mosquitoes. Mainly my hands were getting bit but the buzzing around the face was annoying as hell. They've definitely been pretty bad this year around here. many times i wanted to fish off my marina dock after coming in around sunset but between the mosquitoes and midge flies, they'll run you out of there real quick.
Anyway........ started heading back in while trolling after a quick phone call letting my GF know im not drowned yet since i didnt plan on being out so late. Still nothing on the troll coming in till i get about 50 yards from my launch point when a hear a splash near the yak and then a couple thuds against the hull. Couple seconds later both rods jump. I grabbed the 1st one and reel in a 14 inch rock. After a quick release, grab the other rod to see if theres anything on it and reeled in the twin of the 14 incher. Didnt expect that at all and was about to reel them in to get situated before landing.
Grabbed the rod that got hit 1st and tossed my lure out a half a dozen times but no more hook ups. Must of hit a small school going out of the creek channel i guess. When the rods jumped my 1st thought was i hooked that big carp that was there earlier and i was going for a ride in the dark .... lol.
By now its 7:30 and I need to get home for the Ravens game so landed the yak and loaded everything up which took a whole lot less time than when i launched.
So at least my 1st outing wasnt a skunk!! I really enjoyed myself and wished i would have gotten an earlier start. Very peaceful out there fishing in such a small vessel with no engine noise. Not much boat traffic today near me either. Justa couple boats trolling down the center of the river.
One thing for sure though, is i need to get better organized. To many trips back and fourth to the truck in both launching and landing but I guess It'll get better with time. Same with organising my gear on the yak. Just brought one small plano tackle tray today and a small cooler with a few drinks but trying to do things got me a little frustrated at times but im sure it'll get better. I definitely want a FF to at least show me depth. I was constantly sticking my pole down in the water to check depth so i didnt run my drive fins aground. Was probably only at 5-7 foot depth at the most in the deeper areas and more like 3-4 in the shallows so not sure if a FF would locate fish that shallow.
But Im looking forward to my next outing and I promise my report wont be so long ...... sorry about that.
Didnt get the early start I hoped for (was wore out from saturday and sunday) but with a 6:30 high tide figured i could get a few hours in before sunset. Had no idea where i wanted to launch at but wanted to stay close to home so I launched near my marina on back river in essex. Not the best water around but the rock have been in the river for a few weeks now.
Loaded everything up and stopped at the marina to get some rods and lures off the boat, then headed to the lauch. Took awhile to get my gear on and get the kayak setup to launch but made a successful launch with no problems.
I didnt get 10 feet from the shoreline when a huge fish came half way out of the water straight up head 1st. Looked to dark to be a rock and i believe it was a carp but never saw one come out of the water like that. It was only about 40 feet from me next to a pier. Looked to have had a girth of about 12 inches around. It was freakin BIG!!! I figure at least a good 30 inches. I had a small swim shad on one rod and a bucktail with a small bass assasin on the other. i tossed the swim shad towards it for a half a dozen casts but couldnt get it to bite. Not real sure i wanted to tangle with that beast in my 1st 10 minutes of kayak fishing anyway ... lol. Ive caught big carp before on light tackle and im sure I would have been in for a helluva ride ... lol.
Started heading up river past my marina and along the shore line which is loaded with piers. I tossed out both lines and started trolling zig zagging in and out with the shorter and longer piers. I was going to stop a a few to do some casting but figured i would troll out a ways and then stop along some on the way back. I just kept trolling checking out the sights and stopped at one inlet to take a breather and change up lures. Had a few knock downs on the way out but nothing came tight. Might of just been debri....not sure.
Looked through some of my tackle and decided to put on a rattle trap and a white gulp twister tail on a small white jig head. While sitting there had a few fish splashing in the area and casted a bit but no takers. There was a point farther up I wanted to get to and fish so started trolling again up to the point after a smoke and a drink. I had covered some ground already and my knees were getting a little sore but wanted to get to the point so kept at it. Im not exactly sure how far i traveled but i guess it was a good 3 miles to the point. Probably went a little farther than i should have for my 1st trip but I was enjoying it even know i had no fish yet.
Got out to the point and casted around a bit with no takers and realized the sun was setting pretty fast so started heading back. saw alot of splashes farther from shore on the way out so decided to head back in some deeper water. There were alot of pods of commorants (sp?) all over the river with working gulls and terns above them and tried to go through some of them on the way back in. Kinda cool to watch too. The commorants were feeding on baitfish and when they come up with bait the gulls & terns swept down and took the bait from them.
After i made the turn and started heading back I realized i was now going against the current. It wasnt much current but i could definitely feel the difference. Felt like I wasnt making much ground and had to start peddaling harder. My knees were hurting even more now but I took off the pedal straps allowing me to pedal more with the center of my feet instead of closer to my toes and that definitely felt better. I even paddled for awhile to give my legs a break but it sure didnt feel like i was making much headway paddling and found out that paddling gets you pretty wet....lol. Im now very glad I decided to get the hobie!! Heck with that paddling crap ... lol.
Anyway...... after running back in, in some deeper water with still no fish trolling, I started heading closer to shore so i could stop and fish some piers. Pulled in the rattle trap and put that rod in the holder and started tossing the gulp shad with a twister tail and second cast I hooked up with a catfish about 16" long. Not what i was hoping for but it put up a good little fight and spun the kayak around a bit and put a smile on my face
. After a quick slimy release I realized i forgot my FISH OFF GLOVES.Tossed my lure a few more times at some different areas but the sun was about down and i still had along way to go and i dont have any lights on my yak yet. I did grab a flashlight that has a strobe setting if i needed it. Started heading back slowly while tossing my lure along some piers along the way but really couldnt work the bait the way i wanted to while moving. It was more like toss out wide, twitch it a bit while the troll moved it behind the yak, then reel in and repeat. Got tired of that real quick. Guess I'll figure out a better way to fish as im moving eventually.
Biggest problem was trying to pedal, steer and work the rod and cast where i wanted. Constantly turning and the rod end bumping all over my vest was getting aggravating. Even sitting still fishing I couldnt get real comfortable. Not used to fishing from a lazy boy recliner .... lol. Thats what it felt like!! I finally got fed up and took the vest off. AHHHHH ..... what a relief! The water was dead flat calm and i was running the shoreline so I didnt figure i needed it that much and it made a world of a difference. I think i'll wind up getting an inflatable PFD soon. Maybe the waist pack type that wont be as annoying.
By this time its pretty much pitch black out with not much moon showing so i pulled out my flashlight and hooked it in the loop of my water bottle. Now the next annoyance started......... I was getting eat up by mosquitoes. Mainly my hands were getting bit but the buzzing around the face was annoying as hell. They've definitely been pretty bad this year around here. many times i wanted to fish off my marina dock after coming in around sunset but between the mosquitoes and midge flies, they'll run you out of there real quick.
Anyway........ started heading back in while trolling after a quick phone call letting my GF know im not drowned yet since i didnt plan on being out so late. Still nothing on the troll coming in till i get about 50 yards from my launch point when a hear a splash near the yak and then a couple thuds against the hull. Couple seconds later both rods jump. I grabbed the 1st one and reel in a 14 inch rock. After a quick release, grab the other rod to see if theres anything on it and reeled in the twin of the 14 incher. Didnt expect that at all and was about to reel them in to get situated before landing.
Grabbed the rod that got hit 1st and tossed my lure out a half a dozen times but no more hook ups. Must of hit a small school going out of the creek channel i guess. When the rods jumped my 1st thought was i hooked that big carp that was there earlier and i was going for a ride in the dark .... lol.
By now its 7:30 and I need to get home for the Ravens game so landed the yak and loaded everything up which took a whole lot less time than when i launched.
So at least my 1st outing wasnt a skunk!! I really enjoyed myself and wished i would have gotten an earlier start. Very peaceful out there fishing in such a small vessel with no engine noise. Not much boat traffic today near me either. Justa couple boats trolling down the center of the river.
One thing for sure though, is i need to get better organized. To many trips back and fourth to the truck in both launching and landing but I guess It'll get better with time. Same with organising my gear on the yak. Just brought one small plano tackle tray today and a small cooler with a few drinks but trying to do things got me a little frustrated at times but im sure it'll get better. I definitely want a FF to at least show me depth. I was constantly sticking my pole down in the water to check depth so i didnt run my drive fins aground. Was probably only at 5-7 foot depth at the most in the deeper areas and more like 3-4 in the shallows so not sure if a FF would locate fish that shallow.
But Im looking forward to my next outing and I promise my report wont be so long ...... sorry about that.
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