Point Lookout, Thursday afternoon/evening

[ronaultmtd]

Bill and I launched from PLO at 5 p.m. yesterday- found a few soft shelled crabs in the weeds next to the Marina Store- needed a net to ctach these little rascals, but we got two- decided the trout must be feeding on them so we fished the lake for a while- got hits on grubs, but they were more like croaker or bluefish hits- we fished the inlet where there were breaking fish. Bill caught a few puppy drum and I got nada- tried every lure in the boat- crocodile spoon, cast master, top water poppers, XRaps, rattletraps...nope- no hits- they must have been feeding on small minnows and not even the tiny 2 inch fire tiger Rapala had any takers- we ventured out in the bay looking for the rocks for flounder off Cornfield Harbor- Bill caught several 13-14 inch croakers, but no flounders- the tide was going out and starting a pretty good flow- we drifted fishing bottom rigs for croaker on our way to the point- when we got to the point I switch to top water poppers and first cast, I hooked up and landed a 17-18 inch striper- we fished until dead dark and slack tide and headed in- good trip, good friends, good day-

[ictalurus]

It was good to fish with Ron again, especially since had to bail on a trip we had planned last month. Last evening's goal was to get a topwater striper for Ron, and I was glad he fished his wish. I was looking for some fresh seafood since my folks will be visiting on Sunday.

I thought with the tide and the soft crabs we found that it was going to be a trout bonanza in the marina area, but there really wasn't a lot going on. We worked the usual areas really thoroughly. I picked up a couple small spot and croakers in the inlet in addition to the rat reds. We went out to rock piles and tried for flounder. Both of us hooked into nice fish. I thought mine was a flounder for sure based on how it fought. Suddenly, it shot to the surface and threw the hook. It was a really nice croaker. I initially thought it was in the 17-18" range, but I also thought the 14-incher was 16 inches, so my croaker size estimator is off. No matter what, I think these were the only croaker over 7" that I've caught in quite some time. I lost several nice fish, and I'm not sure why. The circle hook actually hooked the 14-incher through the outside of its mouth. I wish I had landed some of those that got away because they felt like really nice fish. On the upside, all the fish I kept were fat enough for me to be able to fillet the meat off the ribs. The bait of choice was cooked shrimp. Here's a pic of the biggest one:



Note to self, check zoom before taking hero shots.

I picked up a slightly bigger red and a small striper on a pink and white grub as the sun went down. Couldn't buy a topwater bite despite fish rolling around and employing my usual bag of tricks. Didn't see many big splashes, though. Rounded out the night by losing a Crystal Minnow to a small ray. I thought for sure it was a big striper because I could've sworn I felt head shakes. Got the ray to the boat and grabbed the line, but then the line broke. I think the braid snapped where I had a twist earlier, but it was still weird.

Here are some other pics from the evening:

Perfect conditions:




Ron's striper:


Hazy sunset:


The water temperature according to the buoy was 84* and salinity was around 13.5. That bodes well for bigger puppy drum in September and October, but where are the flounder?

Southerly--sorry to hear about all the terrible luck. Hopefully, things will take a turn for the better now.

[HokieDJ]

How fast do Reds grow? I would think it'll take 2 seasons before they become slot size.

[ictalurus]

I was suggesting that maybe some bigger fish will show up here later in the summer, but redfish, like other drums, can grow pretty fast. The fish we're see were likely spawned last year. According to ODU, age 1 fish can be almost 20 inches long, but it's more likely a fish in the low end of the slot is 2 years old.

http://www.odu.edu/sci/cqfe/Research...Red%20drum.htm

Here's hoping for fast growth, or lots of migrating larger fish, so I can catch a keeper by October.

[ronaultmtd]

Reds grow quickly- and get to a maximum of 90 pounds in this region- the red drum blitz on Hatteras Island usually takes place in the first week of November each year at the point- world record was caught off Rodanthe Fishing Pier by Elvin Hooper of Hatteras Village on a 10 foot Hatteras heaver with 25 pound pink Ande on a Penn Long Beach conventional reel- ask me how I know all this stuff-

And I always enjoy fishing with you, Bill- we usually have some really good luck catching fish-