Piney Point Sunday 8/26

[ronaultmtd]

Bill, Mike, Kevin and I decided we were going fishing rain be damned....we did- we all met up in the Piney Point boat launch parking lot at St. Georges Island Bridge around 4 p.m. yesterday- Mike and Bill launched and went to the bridge for some quick fishing while Kevin and I watched an approaching thunderstorm- Bill and Mike scooted back in as the storm hit with winds and driving rain- we sat out the rain in our vehicles listening to NOAA radio forecasts and watching the radar on our Iphones- it sounded terrible, but we were determined to squeeze in some fishing between storms- finally we launched at 5:30 p.m. and got out- I quickly caught several short stripers and a 14 inch redfish- I took my Outback down to the Seafarer's School and fished their new rock breakwater. I caught redfish and stripers around the rip rap- the tide was going out and right around the end of the rip rap the fish were congregated in the moving waters- we had only fished for thirty minutes when I heard the rumble of thunder...yep, big time thunderstorm coming- The dark cloud formation of the approaching Thunderstorm looked like a scene out of the Weather Channel storm chasers series...I sprinted back to the inlet and found Bill hooked up with a really nice fish which he promptly lost- looked like the stripers were congregated right at the bridge so I dropped back an XR10 XRap and promptly hooked up a 16 inch striper- the fishing was really heating up and we were hooking up like crazy when lightening struck a few hundred yards away- we scooted to the launch and pulled our yaks out of the water- I put mine in the bed of my truck as the rain and winds hit, soaking me to the skin- Kevin was still out on the waters when the winds hit with a vengeance- damn near knocked me off my feet- Mike rolled his kayak behind his car and jumped in. Bill, Mike and I sat in our vehicles as the winds rocked us with near hurricane force and blinding rain- where the hell is Kevin? After thirty minutes of severe weather, the rain let up into a steady down pour and we all got out looking for Kevin- he came walking up the beach- Kevin could not get back in so he beached his yak some distance from the launch, but on dry land- glad to see everyone safe- I was soaked to the skin, in spite of rain gear- I got back to securing my Outback in my truck and headed home-

[kevinfry]

Here was the early sky...bad but certainly not too scary since it was off a ways....
I was sorry to have worried the guys. I should not have wandered off alone in such changable conditions, but I must say that last storm moved really fast, the winds swung 180 degrees in the first couple minutes so I headed for shore. Nice walk back to the truck straightened out my back
I did catch a couple fish just short of keeping. Caught them all on either a grub on a Foxee jig head or a jigged Hopkins spoon

I promise to be more careful next trip

[ictalurus]

That was a helluva adventure. What a day to forget my camera. While fishing with Mike at first, I saw some nice marks under the bridge, but we had to run back to shore before I could see what they were.

After the first band of storms, we went back to the bridge. I started jigging a Stingsilver and started hooking up with 12-14" stripers. So much for "nice marks". After catching 3 or 4, I headed off to my topwater spot to try for stripers and specks. Came up empty on both accounts.

I headed back toward the bridge, and Mike, Kevin, and I were going to meet up with Ron. I was trolling a deep diving Crystal Minnow in Tennessee shad and hooked up with something nice. Based on the drag pulling runs, I'm going to guess it was a striper in the mid to upper 20s or a slightly smaller fish that was foul hooked. The current was running, and I was having a hard time turning the fish and controlling the yak (need more practice with that). I ended up getting running my yak into the bridge with the current pulling me to one side of the piling and the fish pulling me to the other side. I still had the fish on for a few seconds, but then I felt a "ping" as one hook pulled out. The fish ran toward the piling, and I felt it scrape the lure off because my line stopped moving and the lure came up. I can't believe I screwed that up so badly. Undaunted, I reset my lure and tried again. I swung by the channel edge, felt my lure bounce off the bottom, then another fish slammed it. This felt like another nice fish but smaller than the first one. I was in a better position with regard to the bridge this time, but then the lure pulled out again. How can something with six points that are so sharp that I can't look at it without getting stuck pull out twice in a row? I repeated the process, felt the lure bounce off the bottom, and another fish hit it. This time, I landed a 16-incher. I repeated the process again and landed a fish that was just under 18" that was foul-hooked. I didn't measure it because all hell was about to break loose, and I raced back to the launch. I called Kevin on the radio to give him a heads-up. I watched the crazy clouds come in, threw as much crap as I could in my truck, then climbed in as the driving rain and howling wind started. No sign of Kevin. I was kind of wondering if this was the kind of storm where you're not supposed to be in your car but are supposed to hide in a ditch instead. I went back out, grabbed my radio, and was relieved to hear Kevin on the other end.

The wind and rain lightened up enough for us to finish loading our gear. I heard from Kevin that he was close to the parking lot and got to hear his side of the adventure when he joined us. Amazingly, there was blue skies and sunshine on the Virginia side of the river, but it was still ominous on our side. The rest of my ride home was relatively rain free, but it poured some more once I got home. It really was too bad that we were run off the water because I think it was going to be a pretty awesome night of fishing. Anyway, it was good hanging out with Ron, Kevin, and Mike, as always, even if we couldn't do much fishing.

[chex]

Man, that was a trip. I drove down from north of DC in a continuous 100 mile storm. I had the radar on my phone in the car, and my route was basically red from top to bottom. People were stopped on the side of the road so low was the visibility. But Piney Point looked like it was clearing up, so I continued south.

Met Bill at the ramp and we headed out on the water, briefly, and retuned to base as the first storm came in, where Ron and Kevin were waiting. We fished a bit from shore under some rain and then headed back out when it cleared up. I managed 3 stripers, biggest at 16", and a 10" redfish, all on a 3" chartreuse gulp mullet. When the second big storm came, it was really moving fast. Black clouds came with howling winds just as I was reaching the ramp. I looked afar and saw kevin in the middle of the water... it was clear he was not going to make it back. Bill helped me get my wheels on, and we hurried into our cars.

We weren't out there very long, so I didn't get many pics, but here are a couple. It was awesome fishing - though briefly- with everybody.

[chimo]

Man you guys had some weather! I got grazed by a bunch of storms at Mallows Bay and Mattawoman but I don't think it rained for more than 5 minutes at any one time.

Chimo

[tufnik]

Dedicated souls braving the storm. I'm waiting for when you hook up on some keeper rocks.......wonder when they'll be around PP because I've yet to try that place.

[Capt C-Hawk]

Here's what your storm became when it got to Cobb Island http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSvgwKcMGOA&sns=em

[surfdog]

wow thats just wrong on all levels, glad everyones ok

[kevinfry]

It's ok Surfdog.....i mean, do you want to live forever?

[surfdog]

YES! PFDs arnt lighting proof. got caught in a hell spawn t-storm at night at James isl. on a 28' walk around, bolts of lightning so close my hair was standing up. got caught napping with the radio off to conserve the batt.

[crawdad]

I TELL YOU, FISH SPIT OUT THOSE LURES WITH TREBLE HOOKS,i'VE LOST SOME BIG ONES, SOME PEOPLE CHANGE OUT THE BACK TREBLE TO A BETTER QUALITY ( SLIGHTLY LARGER /SHARPER TREBLE)I AM GOING TO PUT A TRAILER HOOK ON MY SPINNERBAITS TOO, LOST A BIG SMALLMOUTH NOT TO LONG AGO, HIT HARD AND FAST, TWICE HIT STILL COULD'NT HOOK HIM,PISSED ME OFF.