A morning of weird catches

[dsaavedra]

I launched right at first light this morning and knew exactly where I was heading, some rocks that have been productive for me lately. My mission was to get some fish on topwater. As the sun started to brighten the horizon, the rockfish came out to play. I caught about half a dozen on topwater, up to 23", and had tons more blowups that never connected.

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Weird catch #1: A striper with half of its tail missing. I forget if I caught this one on topwater or a crankbait but interestingly enough it fought harder than any of the other stripers of comparable size that I caught today. The tail wound appeared to be pretty well healed so I guess the fish gets on just fine.

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Weird catch #2: I moved to a different location featuring some rock jetties on either side of a small community marina. There were tons of seagulls on the jetties and they flew away as I made a cast. Unfortunately, my X-Rap intercepted one of the seagulls and got stuck in its wing. It also had me partially wrapped around a piling. As I made my way over to the bird I took my shirt off in preparation to wrap the bird up to keep it from flailing as I unhooked it when, thankfully, the bird managed to free itself. I guess the in-line single hook on my crankbait was only stuck in its feathers and did not pierce skin.

Weird catch #3: Off the very end of the same jetty I bounced my X-Rap off a submerged rock (a technique that had been productive today) and felt weight. At first I thought fish-on, but it felt like dead weight. I reeled up a mating pair of crabs - a nice heavy male and an immature female. The female dropped off before I could snap a picture, and the male was not happy to be interrupted.

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Weird catch #4: The last weird catch of the day was back at my original spot. I was throwing a paddle tail and gave it a sharp pop to keep it from snagging on a rock during the retrieve, and when I got my lure back to the boat I found it was wiggling. This poor little Atlantic silverside found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Overall it was a great morning. 15 rockfish, 3 perch, and the oddballs I described above. The topwater action alone was worth waking up early for.

[J.A. Veil]

Way to go, Dave. You certainly had an interesting morning. I'm glad the bird got away on its own. I have often done a line wrap around a bird's wing, but never actually pierced the flesh with a hook.

Regarding #1, I imagine that without a full tail, the fish learned to use its body muscles more to swim. Your report of a harder fight is good information. In a lighter vein, perhaps you could have taken that fish to a retail store.

[UnkleRob2020]

Congrats Dave....i think you had more fun by 9am than I have in weeks. I love the wierd catches. I hooked a seagull at Chincoteague once and it wasn't pleasant at all. The mating crabs remind me of what we used to call a "Doubler" when we go crabbing off the pier at Solmon's Island.

I am trying to remember...in that situation, does the bottom crab have a softer shell?

[dsaavedra]

In a lighter vein, perhaps you could have taken that fish to a retail store.

That's the best dad joke I've heard in a while

The mating crabs remind me of what we used to call a "Doubler" when we go crabbing off the pier at Solmon's Island.

I am trying to remember...in that situation, does the bottom crab have a softer shell?

Possibly, if you happen to catch them right after the female molts. In my case the female had not molted, thus they had not actually spawned yet. Instead they were in a "precopulatory embrace". The mating process is pretty fascinating, you can learn more here: https://www.bluecrab.info/mating.html

[paxmule]

Good stuff, I've been wanting to get onto some good rockfish around here

[scorchy]

Nice work out there. You'll have to come up with a pithy name for catching a half-finned fish, mating crustaceans, and a bird on a single kayak trip...

[Slobber Bob]

The mating crabs remind me of what we used to call a "Doubler" when we go crabbing off the pier at Solmon's Island.

I am trying to remember...in that situation, does the bottom crab have a softer shell?

Yep, the bottom sally was a peeler. Or it could have been a softshell or papershell too, but most likely peeler. I went crabbing on the seaside the night of the last full moon we had and every other big jimmy I netted had a peeler under it. I took home 13 peelers to use for bait! I was almost more excited for the peelers than the crabs I brought home to eat!