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Potomac cats, 1/29
Kevin and I went out on a cat hunt today. I initially wanted to launch at the National Colonial Farm at Bryan Point. The website said there was a kayak launch near the fishing pier and boat pier, and it was close to deeper water. When we got there, we found that it would take a 4-wheeler or several mules and an elaborate pulley system to launch and retrieve kayaks there. The forest was kind of thick around the shore, and there was a good drop off down to the water. I'd love to know what kind of kayaks they think can be launched there.
Our second choice was a boat ramp at Marshall Hall, and that turned out to be a good one. It's a nice boat ramp, and there is deep water relatively near by. I don't know what time we hit the water, but it was probably around 11:30 (a few U-turns were involved on the way to both places). I headed toward deeper water looking for marks while Kevin started drifting. I found some nice marks between 20-25ft of water, anchored, and rigged up. I had a fish finder rig using a 1oz bullet weight on one rod and another fish finder rig with a float and 2oz pyramid weight on the other rod. The float was between the weight and the hook to keep the bait off the bottom. Around 12:30, I noticed the rod with the float was bouncing. As I reeled in that fish, my other rod went off.
Here's the first fish, which was my biggest for the day and was around 20" or so:
I had to remove this fish from the gene pool because it managed to gut-hook itself on a circle hook.
The other fish was a bit smaller:
Shortly thereafter, Kevin hooked up:
I picked up 17-incher a little while later, and Kevin came up with a double, too:
All told, I ended up with 4 cats, all caught on cut menhaden. Kevin ended up with 5, all of which came in on nightcrawlers and minnows. I tried nightcrawlers to no avail. I saw a bunch of different marks in deeper water (25-28ft), including what appeared to be bigger cats, stripers, and perch. I wanted to try a bottom rig with nightcrawlers, but I was having serious issues with tangles today. The wind and current were at odds all day, which made drifting really hard. Even anchoring was a problem because my kayak kept ending up side to the waves, which continued to build until we left, which was around 2 or 2:30. I think I caught all my fish while anchored. The water temperature according to my sonar at the end of the day was 42-43*, which I think was probably pretty accurate. The water felt fridge-cold but not freezing cold. Water temperature at Piscataway was 39* earlier this month, and it's been pretty warm lately.
It was good fishing with Kevin again, and he added a new species to his resume as well as his January fish. I was happy to get a January fish that wasn't foul-hooked. Plus, it was cool checking out a couple of new spots.
Our second choice was a boat ramp at Marshall Hall, and that turned out to be a good one. It's a nice boat ramp, and there is deep water relatively near by. I don't know what time we hit the water, but it was probably around 11:30 (a few U-turns were involved on the way to both places). I headed toward deeper water looking for marks while Kevin started drifting. I found some nice marks between 20-25ft of water, anchored, and rigged up. I had a fish finder rig using a 1oz bullet weight on one rod and another fish finder rig with a float and 2oz pyramid weight on the other rod. The float was between the weight and the hook to keep the bait off the bottom. Around 12:30, I noticed the rod with the float was bouncing. As I reeled in that fish, my other rod went off.
Here's the first fish, which was my biggest for the day and was around 20" or so:
I had to remove this fish from the gene pool because it managed to gut-hook itself on a circle hook.
The other fish was a bit smaller:
Shortly thereafter, Kevin hooked up:
I picked up 17-incher a little while later, and Kevin came up with a double, too:
All told, I ended up with 4 cats, all caught on cut menhaden. Kevin ended up with 5, all of which came in on nightcrawlers and minnows. I tried nightcrawlers to no avail. I saw a bunch of different marks in deeper water (25-28ft), including what appeared to be bigger cats, stripers, and perch. I wanted to try a bottom rig with nightcrawlers, but I was having serious issues with tangles today. The wind and current were at odds all day, which made drifting really hard. Even anchoring was a problem because my kayak kept ending up side to the waves, which continued to build until we left, which was around 2 or 2:30. I think I caught all my fish while anchored. The water temperature according to my sonar at the end of the day was 42-43*, which I think was probably pretty accurate. The water felt fridge-cold but not freezing cold. Water temperature at Piscataway was 39* earlier this month, and it's been pretty warm lately.
It was good fishing with Kevin again, and he added a new species to his resume as well as his January fish. I was happy to get a January fish that wasn't foul-hooked. Plus, it was cool checking out a couple of new spots.
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