Well.....where to start. I fished Friday, Saturday and Today (Tuesday) out of Havre de Grace. Friday I launched about 6:00am in time to catch the sunrise. My goal was to fish until the wind picked up. I headed out around the boat docks and started trolling, within a few hundred yards from the buoys I caught my first fish. It was a small 18incher, after that I began to catch some nice fish in the low to mid 20's. Seven to eight fish later, I hooked up with a nice rock and the fight was on. Once I got it into the boat and measured, it was 34", my new personal best out of a yak. After catching a couple more fish in the mid 20's, I pulled in a nice fat 27". Unfortunately, this fish got back at me and flip my rod and reel into the water Well.... that blows.... I lost one of my setups and my lure. I decided this was God's way of telling me to get off the water because the wind was starting to rip across the flats and I had to go directly into it. It took me over an hour to get back in and I do not think I was more than a mile away from the entrance of the launch. When it was all said and done I caught 13-16 fish from 18"-34", most being around 23".
Saturday, I launched around 11:00am from Tydings park once again. I set out towards the area I caught them the day before hoping some stripers would still be around that area. After catching 5 all in the 15"-18" range, I decided to move on. I met up with Yak_Fish and headed out in search of a cow. After catching a few in the mid 20's, I pulled in a nice 31" rock. Yak_Fish was working a section just south of me, so I called him to head my direction. I took a quick snapshot and went looking for a citation. This new area had a lot of nice fish Yak_Fish and I ended up with over 20 fish each. Also, both of us had a monster hit our lines but were unable to set the hook good. After a couple more fish, Yak_fish's peddle drive broke expectantly. I tied on his anchor and started towing him back in. The PA was able to keep a constant speed between 2.5 and 3 mph, so we both trolled a line back towards the launch. And of course we both hooked up at the same time haha. It was a great day fishing with Yak_Fish and we both were able to pull in some nice stripers.
Today! I had planned to fish early in the morning but I chose not to contend with thunderstorms. I launched around noon from Havre de Grace and within a 100 yards I had my first fish on. It was a baby, maybe 10". After catching this, I decided to only count fish over 20". Well.... I stopped counting around 20something.... It was an awesome day to be on the water. Not long after I began catching fish in the 25"-29" range, I hooked up with a BEAST. This fish was one of the best fights of my life. I managed to get it to the boat twice but it ran 40-50 yards away each time. It made my 34" look like a child.... I brought it in a third time and got him within 3-4 feet from the yak and poof, the lure popped out of his mouth. I could not believe he was off the line, it seemed surreal to lose that quality of fish. It was so close, possibly my first citation. About an hour later I ran into dDreadnaught and fished with him. Soon after he hooked up with a nice 18" striper and I caught a few more in the 23"-27" range. Then bang, my rod bent over and I knew another cow was on the other end. Maybe another shot at a citation! It was a good fight but it did not run like the fish I lost. I got it up to the boat and was able to net the striper into my yak. dDreadnaught was nearby and able to take a nice photo of the fish (Thanks). The striper measured 34.5" and was a lot of fun to catch. I am using a 6'6" Medium rod that is fast action with 30# braid and a 40# Fluorocarbon leader. This is my LMB set up, so catching these fish was a lot of fun. dDreadnaught and I set back out and not soon after his rod got hit by a cow. He had it on for a while but it somehow got off the line. I kept on trolling and caught 3-4 more fish in the 23"-27" range. A bit later I hooked another nice rock that was 31". I fished for a little while longer and decided to head back in. It was a nice day fishing and thanks again to dDreadnaught for taking the pictures. Look forward to fishing with you again.
Thanks for reading, Cliff
All fish in the picture are over 30"
Saturday, I launched around 11:00am from Tydings park once again. I set out towards the area I caught them the day before hoping some stripers would still be around that area. After catching 5 all in the 15"-18" range, I decided to move on. I met up with Yak_Fish and headed out in search of a cow. After catching a few in the mid 20's, I pulled in a nice 31" rock. Yak_Fish was working a section just south of me, so I called him to head my direction. I took a quick snapshot and went looking for a citation. This new area had a lot of nice fish Yak_Fish and I ended up with over 20 fish each. Also, both of us had a monster hit our lines but were unable to set the hook good. After a couple more fish, Yak_fish's peddle drive broke expectantly. I tied on his anchor and started towing him back in. The PA was able to keep a constant speed between 2.5 and 3 mph, so we both trolled a line back towards the launch. And of course we both hooked up at the same time haha. It was a great day fishing with Yak_Fish and we both were able to pull in some nice stripers.
Today! I had planned to fish early in the morning but I chose not to contend with thunderstorms. I launched around noon from Havre de Grace and within a 100 yards I had my first fish on. It was a baby, maybe 10". After catching this, I decided to only count fish over 20". Well.... I stopped counting around 20something.... It was an awesome day to be on the water. Not long after I began catching fish in the 25"-29" range, I hooked up with a BEAST. This fish was one of the best fights of my life. I managed to get it to the boat twice but it ran 40-50 yards away each time. It made my 34" look like a child.... I brought it in a third time and got him within 3-4 feet from the yak and poof, the lure popped out of his mouth. I could not believe he was off the line, it seemed surreal to lose that quality of fish. It was so close, possibly my first citation. About an hour later I ran into dDreadnaught and fished with him. Soon after he hooked up with a nice 18" striper and I caught a few more in the 23"-27" range. Then bang, my rod bent over and I knew another cow was on the other end. Maybe another shot at a citation! It was a good fight but it did not run like the fish I lost. I got it up to the boat and was able to net the striper into my yak. dDreadnaught was nearby and able to take a nice photo of the fish (Thanks). The striper measured 34.5" and was a lot of fun to catch. I am using a 6'6" Medium rod that is fast action with 30# braid and a 40# Fluorocarbon leader. This is my LMB set up, so catching these fish was a lot of fun. dDreadnaught and I set back out and not soon after his rod got hit by a cow. He had it on for a while but it somehow got off the line. I kept on trolling and caught 3-4 more fish in the 23"-27" range. A bit later I hooked another nice rock that was 31". I fished for a little while longer and decided to head back in. It was a nice day fishing and thanks again to dDreadnaught for taking the pictures. Look forward to fishing with you again.
Thanks for reading, Cliff
All fish in the picture are over 30"
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