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I really appreciate all the good information that has been posted on snaggedline.com about fishing the Flats by kayak. My shoulders were sore from a long paddling trip on Sat, and I was not sure if I wanted to undertake a long paddle today. But I could hear the call of the Flats.
I launched from Tydings Park about 10:00 without a clear game plan. Less than 1/4 mile out from the shore, I reached a 4' depth. I put out two lines -- one with a 1/2" jighead and 5" paddle tail plastic in chartreuse and red, and the other with a Storm 6" swim shad. Within 5 minutes, the paddle tail was hit by a strong fish. It turned out to be a frisky 22" striper. I continued paddling out to gradually deeper water catching one fish after another. They seemed to get smaller (and I did not take the hint). The paddle tail clearly outcaught the Storm shad, so I added a second paddle tail on the other line. All but one fish today were caught on the paddle tail.
I spent the next hour and a half paddling slowly in 8' to 12' depths trolling two lines. Around noon, I began working back in to the shore. As I reached 6' depth, the bite picked up, and the size of the fish increased. I ended the day with 22 stripers in just over two hours. I was never more than a mile from the marina. My four largest fish (24", 22", 21", and 19") were in water depth from 5.5 to 7 ft. The ones I caught in deeper water tended to run from 14" to 18".
I saw lots of promising marks on the fishfinder. Several times I stopped and jigged a white BKD on the marks. I could not get a bite that way, so I returned to trolling.
The water was very calm and the sky was overcast today. I ended up spooking dozens of fish as I slowly paddled along. It is impressive to see swirl after swirl 10 ft in front of your kayak as you paddle along. The wind was so low that periodically clouds of gnats swarmed around my head, even out in open water.
I'm sure that not every day there offers as good fishing as I had today. Nevertheless, I definitely enjoyed my first trip to the Flats, and will make sure to return again next year. I will be out of commission for the next two weeks following a medical procedure tomorrow. I will have to enjoy kayak fishing vicariously during that time.
I launched from Tydings Park about 10:00 without a clear game plan. Less than 1/4 mile out from the shore, I reached a 4' depth. I put out two lines -- one with a 1/2" jighead and 5" paddle tail plastic in chartreuse and red, and the other with a Storm 6" swim shad. Within 5 minutes, the paddle tail was hit by a strong fish. It turned out to be a frisky 22" striper. I continued paddling out to gradually deeper water catching one fish after another. They seemed to get smaller (and I did not take the hint). The paddle tail clearly outcaught the Storm shad, so I added a second paddle tail on the other line. All but one fish today were caught on the paddle tail.
I spent the next hour and a half paddling slowly in 8' to 12' depths trolling two lines. Around noon, I began working back in to the shore. As I reached 6' depth, the bite picked up, and the size of the fish increased. I ended the day with 22 stripers in just over two hours. I was never more than a mile from the marina. My four largest fish (24", 22", 21", and 19") were in water depth from 5.5 to 7 ft. The ones I caught in deeper water tended to run from 14" to 18".
I saw lots of promising marks on the fishfinder. Several times I stopped and jigged a white BKD on the marks. I could not get a bite that way, so I returned to trolling.
The water was very calm and the sky was overcast today. I ended up spooking dozens of fish as I slowly paddled along. It is impressive to see swirl after swirl 10 ft in front of your kayak as you paddle along. The wind was so low that periodically clouds of gnats swarmed around my head, even out in open water.
I'm sure that not every day there offers as good fishing as I had today. Nevertheless, I definitely enjoyed my first trip to the Flats, and will make sure to return again next year. I will be out of commission for the next two weeks following a medical procedure tomorrow. I will have to enjoy kayak fishing vicariously during that time.
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