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Launched with a buddy about 30 minutes before sunrise. I have never fished this area before....it is near the Rhodes and West Rivers...very close to where I spend a lot of time on my sister's boat.
The forecast was "too good to be true"...low winds, cool air temps, strong tide, harvest moon, etc. We were not catching much (I had one striper so far) and we ventured out into the ,main area of the bay. The winds were a lot stronger than I expected. We found some "fishy looking" areas and proceeded to cast and troll for stripers. My buddy did better than me...I am not sure how many he got in the boat, but I believe it was somewhere between 5 and 10 stripers.
Everything looked great to me...he was catching some fish, I had my favorite paddletails on, but no dice. I paddled over to some areas with some rip rap to fish for perch. I got one nice perch which gave me a shot of hope that there would be more to come. I worked the rip rap as methodically as I know how and tried to think of all of the things that I have learned about fish, structure and current. I was casting with confidence but no more fish. I ended the day with one small striper and one overachieving perch.
On the way back to the launch, we had to head through some rough water. I remember thinking about the Seinfeld line "The sea was angry that day, my friend...like an old man trying send back soup at a deli". I put my phone in my dry bag and even mentioned that I should probably "stop trolling so I had one less thing to focus on"...within a couple minutes of this statement, one of my lines got snagged...so I took the rod out of the rod holder and turned ever so slighty backwards to attend to the line...then a wave hit me broadside and I was in the water.
With my former kayak, an old Trophy sit-in kayak, I could literally stand up in it and jump into the water and get back in with no problem. I did this regularly....most of the time I took it out was to enjoy paddling and swimming...not fishing.
Today was a little different. The Native Falcon 11 flipped over and filled up with water. I am not sure how deep the water was, but I couldn't touch bottom. I was hoping to use the bottom to anchor me, so I could catch my breath, inventory my gear floating in the water and then leisurely flip the kayak over, get back in, and continue to the launch.
I am holding onto the upside down kayak with one arm and holding my paddle and my dry bag with my other arm...while trying to get closer to shore so I can touch bottom. Everything was working against me...I was expending energy trying to get to shallower water but wasn't making much progress. I tried to push the kayak over but there was too much water in it. Then my buddy suggested a method similar to what is below:
To flip your sit-on-top kayak back upright, position yourself on the side of your kayak directly in the middle.
✔️ Boost your body over the top of your overturned kayak and grab the opposite side/edge with your hands.
✔️ Slowly pull the kayak towards your body and roll (or flip) the kayak right-side up as you slide back into the water.
✔️ To re-enter, position yourself on the side of your kayak directly in the middle and boost yourself up until you’re your body is lying across the seat.
This worked like a charm.
Meanwhile, since I wasn't in any real danger and, in his words .... I was not panicking, he fished the majority of my gear out of the water.
I lost two rods and reels (nothing exceptional), one plano with some topwater lures and one pair of fishing pliers.
I almost never fish in the main stem of the bay from my kayak. I prefer more sheltered areas. Yesterday was a bad day to have my seat in the high position as I have noticed I am less stable with the seat in the highest position.
I have never really considered fishing areas like the pilings at the Bay Bridge or open water near the CBBT and now I absolutely will not fish these areas from my kayak.
I have some Bass Pro Gift cards that have been laying around...looks like a good day to go shopping for a new rod/reel combo :---). No fishing today for me...
The forecast was "too good to be true"...low winds, cool air temps, strong tide, harvest moon, etc. We were not catching much (I had one striper so far) and we ventured out into the ,main area of the bay. The winds were a lot stronger than I expected. We found some "fishy looking" areas and proceeded to cast and troll for stripers. My buddy did better than me...I am not sure how many he got in the boat, but I believe it was somewhere between 5 and 10 stripers.
Everything looked great to me...he was catching some fish, I had my favorite paddletails on, but no dice. I paddled over to some areas with some rip rap to fish for perch. I got one nice perch which gave me a shot of hope that there would be more to come. I worked the rip rap as methodically as I know how and tried to think of all of the things that I have learned about fish, structure and current. I was casting with confidence but no more fish. I ended the day with one small striper and one overachieving perch.
On the way back to the launch, we had to head through some rough water. I remember thinking about the Seinfeld line "The sea was angry that day, my friend...like an old man trying send back soup at a deli". I put my phone in my dry bag and even mentioned that I should probably "stop trolling so I had one less thing to focus on"...within a couple minutes of this statement, one of my lines got snagged...so I took the rod out of the rod holder and turned ever so slighty backwards to attend to the line...then a wave hit me broadside and I was in the water.
With my former kayak, an old Trophy sit-in kayak, I could literally stand up in it and jump into the water and get back in with no problem. I did this regularly....most of the time I took it out was to enjoy paddling and swimming...not fishing.
Today was a little different. The Native Falcon 11 flipped over and filled up with water. I am not sure how deep the water was, but I couldn't touch bottom. I was hoping to use the bottom to anchor me, so I could catch my breath, inventory my gear floating in the water and then leisurely flip the kayak over, get back in, and continue to the launch.
I am holding onto the upside down kayak with one arm and holding my paddle and my dry bag with my other arm...while trying to get closer to shore so I can touch bottom. Everything was working against me...I was expending energy trying to get to shallower water but wasn't making much progress. I tried to push the kayak over but there was too much water in it. Then my buddy suggested a method similar to what is below:
To flip your sit-on-top kayak back upright, position yourself on the side of your kayak directly in the middle.
✔️ Boost your body over the top of your overturned kayak and grab the opposite side/edge with your hands.
✔️ Slowly pull the kayak towards your body and roll (or flip) the kayak right-side up as you slide back into the water.
✔️ To re-enter, position yourself on the side of your kayak directly in the middle and boost yourself up until you’re your body is lying across the seat.
This worked like a charm.
Meanwhile, since I wasn't in any real danger and, in his words .... I was not panicking, he fished the majority of my gear out of the water.
I lost two rods and reels (nothing exceptional), one plano with some topwater lures and one pair of fishing pliers.
I almost never fish in the main stem of the bay from my kayak. I prefer more sheltered areas. Yesterday was a bad day to have my seat in the high position as I have noticed I am less stable with the seat in the highest position.
I have never really considered fishing areas like the pilings at the Bay Bridge or open water near the CBBT and now I absolutely will not fish these areas from my kayak.
I have some Bass Pro Gift cards that have been laying around...looks like a good day to go shopping for a new rod/reel combo :---). No fishing today for me...
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