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Good speck day

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  • Good speck day

    I spent three days this week fishing in southern Maryland waters. Nearly all of the fishing was trolling with paddletails and Gulp baits in water from 2 to 6 foot depths. I caught stripers, bluefish, and specks on each day. Wind was a problem for part of the time, but my third day featured calm seas. I did a lot of paddling in my 11' kayak while trolling. Day 1 covered over 10 miles over 6.5 hours. Day 2 included a long morning session with a shorter afternoon session after a lunch break (total time of 8 hours) -- I covered 15.3 miles that day. On Day 3, I trolled for 9 miles (4.5 hours) and caught 2 stripers, 1 bluefish, and the highlight of the week -- 4 large specks. Ironically, despite covering a lot of water over an entire morning, all four specks were caught in the same small area in water depth of 4 to 5 feet during a 30 min period. Two other kayak anglers were fishing in the same general area -- both caught multiple specks in that same spot shortly after I did.

    When I do light tackle trolling in the summer, I try to have different lures on each of the three rods (all had 3/16-oz jigheads). On Day 3, I had a white paddletail on one rod, a gold with glitter paddletail on a second rod, and a 4" Gulp swimming mullet on the third rod. The Gulp was not touched. All the fish bit the two paddletails. The gold one caught my largest speck at 21.5". The fish pulled hard enough to tangle all three of my lines and got wrapped up in line as I landed it.

    2021-04-11-002.jpg

    Two of the other specks measured 17" and were fat. The final one was 19". I released all the fish.

    2021-04-11-001.jpg

    Although I caught fish each day, I put in a lot of hours and miles to find them. It took persistence, a good game plan, and (in this case) some advice from local experts to get my fish each day. As an older kayak angler, I am paying for that amount of paddling exertion. Sore shoulders and tiredness accompanied me home yesterday afternoon.
    John Veil
    Annapolis
    Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

    Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

  • #2
    Great fish John. 4 legal specks would make my day.

    Funny how they stack up like that. I recall one day last spring where I trolled for 18 miles (out to Thomas Point light and back, with some detours). I caught 2 fish all morning, then as I was heading back to the ramp, I caught 10 stripers back to back in an area smaller than a tennis court and less than 1/2 a mile from the launch. Go figure.
    Dave

    2021 Hobie Outback Camo
    2013 Native Slayer Hidden Oak

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    • #3
      John....that is a beautiful speck with a full belly....congratulations. Whew...that is a lot of paddling and time on the water. You certainly earned those fish.

      Last year, I had a simliar day in SoMD. I was on the water a very long time and paddled about as far as I believe that I ever have in a single day. At the end of the day, I had caught five species and caught my first ever speck from a kayak. I recall writing a report to post and realizing that I had only averaged about one fish per hour...it was the time on the water and the persistence that paid off.

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      • #4
        Super chunk trout. It was fun fishing with you and happy you found some decent fish.
        Mike
        Pro Angler 14 "The Grand Wazoo"

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        • #5
          Really nice trout, John. My shoulders ache from just reading your post though.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by scorchy View Post
            Really nice trout, John. My shoulders ache from just reading your post though.
            Unfortunately, due to some spinal issues, my legs will no longer support the use of a pedal-drive kayak. After lots of practice, I am comfortable doing long paddles.

            As a side note, my last time in a pedal kayak (April 2021) was a very memorable trip. I fished with a guide in Boynton Beach, FL. We launched Hobie Outbacks into the surf on a fairly rough day and pedaled two miles offshore in the ocean and several miles upcurrent. We then trolled live goggle eye fish. The guy fishing with me caught two large king mackerel. I had the catch of the day (and for me the catch of the year) by landing a 6'6" sailfish from the kayak. The repetitive foot pedal motion of the Mirage drive for five hours left me with painful bruising and chafing on my thigh. When we returned to the beach through the surf, I could not stand up and rolled out of the kayak up onto the sand (not very graceful, but who cares after catching a sailfish).

            sailfish 2.jpg
            John Veil
            Annapolis
            Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

            Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

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            • #7
              Originally posted by J.A. Veil View Post
              Ironically, despite covering a lot of water over an entire morning, all four specks were caught in the same small area in water depth of 4 to 5 feet during a 30 min period. T
              In my experiences, I find that to be quite common with specks. They'll really stack up in small areas sometimes, so it pays to work an area for a few minutes when you catch one to see if others are there.

              Brian

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