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Rat infestation @ PLO, 8/21
The tide and currents looked good for an evening of speck hunting and striper topwater action. However, I couldn't swing a dead cat without catching a redfish. Here's a summary:
Casting Gulp grubs for reds and specks = redfish from 9 to 15 inches
Bottom fishing for croakers = 12" redfish
Casting a spoon for blues, stripers, and macks = red fish from 10 to 14 inches
Jigging said spoon = 12" redfish
Trolling a Tony spoon for bluefish and stripers = 12" redfish
Jigging for flounder = 14" redfish
Casting an X-Rap for reds and specks = redfish from 12 to 15 inches
I felt like Captain Kirk in "The Trouble with Tribbles."
I even caught a redfish on a Redfish Magic. Until now, I've always thought that the magic was that it made redfish disappear. I stopped counting after catching the 13th one...
I hit the water at about 4pm, which was just before high tide. Water temperature in Lake Conoy was 83-84* and 81-82* out in the river. Salinity was 16 according to the NOAA buoy.
I worked my usual spots in Lake Conoy with a 4" Gulp grub on a 3/8oz head. White and chartreuse worked equally well. One of the first fish I caught was a 12-incher:
It looked like it had been caught before because one of its eyes was damaged. It was a little skinny but appeared healthy otherwise. Several of the other reds I caught in Lake Conoy were skinny, too. I actually got a little sleigh ride when I foul-hooked a 15-incher under the chin:
I think I hooked a nice flounder casting close to shore, but it got off after a few seconds on two different casts. I ended up landing a smaller flounder not far away:
I actually didn't hook that fish. It held on to the grub's tail so tightly that I was able to get it into the boat. Even then, it didn't let go right away.
I worked the riprap at the inlet and jigged for flounder. When I got tired of catching redfish and little croaker there, I headed out to some of the rock piles where Ron and I caught some nice croakers earlier this summer. More redfish, but no flounder or croakers. The current died at that point and all the action stopped.
I saw some birds working by the PLO spit and spent some time chasing them. I was hoping to see some macks jumping, but it just seemed like there were smaller fish. There were tons of anchovies around, though. I landed a small striper and launched a small bluefish into the stratosphere when it hit a Redfish Magic and I set the hook bass pro style.
I saw a bigger fish roll, and cast the Redfish Magic at it. Amazingly, it was a perfectly accurate cast, and the fish slammed it and ran. Then it stopped.
I kept reeling, but I was just moving dead weight. It was very strange. I thought that I might have foul-hooked the fish in the side. It turns out it was skinny 22" striper that was recovering from a Myco infection. I could see where the sores were healing over. That was a bummer because it was the first legal striper I caught all year.
As the sun went down, I worked my Stillwater Smack-It at the point and at the inlet but only had one small blow-up. That was the only technique that didn't catch a redfish that evening. I probably should've spent more time working the rock piles when the current picked up, but I was really hoping to see some macks jumping. There were so many anchovy schools around, I thought a mack appearance was going to be a sure thing. At any rate, I got a cool sequence of pics as the sun set behind some storms on the Virginia side:
Casting Gulp grubs for reds and specks = redfish from 9 to 15 inches
Bottom fishing for croakers = 12" redfish
Casting a spoon for blues, stripers, and macks = red fish from 10 to 14 inches
Jigging said spoon = 12" redfish
Trolling a Tony spoon for bluefish and stripers = 12" redfish
Jigging for flounder = 14" redfish
Casting an X-Rap for reds and specks = redfish from 12 to 15 inches
I felt like Captain Kirk in "The Trouble with Tribbles."
I even caught a redfish on a Redfish Magic. Until now, I've always thought that the magic was that it made redfish disappear. I stopped counting after catching the 13th one...I hit the water at about 4pm, which was just before high tide. Water temperature in Lake Conoy was 83-84* and 81-82* out in the river. Salinity was 16 according to the NOAA buoy.
I worked my usual spots in Lake Conoy with a 4" Gulp grub on a 3/8oz head. White and chartreuse worked equally well. One of the first fish I caught was a 12-incher:
It looked like it had been caught before because one of its eyes was damaged. It was a little skinny but appeared healthy otherwise. Several of the other reds I caught in Lake Conoy were skinny, too. I actually got a little sleigh ride when I foul-hooked a 15-incher under the chin:
I think I hooked a nice flounder casting close to shore, but it got off after a few seconds on two different casts. I ended up landing a smaller flounder not far away:
I actually didn't hook that fish. It held on to the grub's tail so tightly that I was able to get it into the boat. Even then, it didn't let go right away.
I worked the riprap at the inlet and jigged for flounder. When I got tired of catching redfish and little croaker there, I headed out to some of the rock piles where Ron and I caught some nice croakers earlier this summer. More redfish, but no flounder or croakers. The current died at that point and all the action stopped.
I saw some birds working by the PLO spit and spent some time chasing them. I was hoping to see some macks jumping, but it just seemed like there were smaller fish. There were tons of anchovies around, though. I landed a small striper and launched a small bluefish into the stratosphere when it hit a Redfish Magic and I set the hook bass pro style.
I saw a bigger fish roll, and cast the Redfish Magic at it. Amazingly, it was a perfectly accurate cast, and the fish slammed it and ran. Then it stopped.
I kept reeling, but I was just moving dead weight. It was very strange. I thought that I might have foul-hooked the fish in the side. It turns out it was skinny 22" striper that was recovering from a Myco infection. I could see where the sores were healing over. That was a bummer because it was the first legal striper I caught all year. As the sun went down, I worked my Stillwater Smack-It at the point and at the inlet but only had one small blow-up. That was the only technique that didn't catch a redfish that evening.
I probably should've spent more time working the rock piles when the current picked up, but I was really hoping to see some macks jumping. There were so many anchovy schools around, I thought a mack appearance was going to be a sure thing. At any rate, I got a cool sequence of pics as the sun set behind some storms on the Virginia side:
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