Kent Island Report -- 19 August

[Mark]

Raptor, John Veil, Nitefly, Strummerfan and I launched from Goodhands Creek Landing on Kent Island this morning and fished for approximately 5 hours.

Raptor and Strummerfan did pretty well in the striper count but for the most part we all got a graduate level education in trolling from John Veil who caught the most stripers of the group. The individuals can post their exact counts if they choose but I believe over 30 stripers were pulled from the water by our group.

I accounted for only two and mine were schoolies that I got trolling an X Rap and a paddle tail on a jig. Far larger stripers were caught by the others.

I also had over a dozen white perch including five on my fly rod in honor of On the Fly who could not join us today. I wanted to make sure that a least a few fish tangled with the long rod since On the Fly was unavoidably absent. So those were for you Harry.

We did most of our serious damage in Kent Narrows as opposed to the waters close to the landing. In fact we went all the way to the Chester River.

The expected rain never materialized and the winds were manageable making it a good weather day. We topped it off with a long lunch at the Red Hot and Blue – a great outing all around.

Thanks again to each of you who made it possible.

[On the fly]

What no rays?!? Sorry I missed it, especially the Red, Hot & Blue!!

[Strummerfan]

Overall I thought it was a perfect day for fishing. I ended up with 7 or 8 total stripers and a bunch of perch. The 3 largest stripers were caught on a rattle trap(1) and trolling one of John veil's paddle tail jigs(2). Next time I'll be launching above the narrows bridge as opposed to paddling though that area. Way to much energy spent getting to very good fishing.

[Raptor]

Great day fishing cool air, flat water, and a bit cloudy. The water seems to have cooled as well. Going under the Kent Narrows bridge was a bit of a challenge with a ripping ebb tide it was kind of like river paddling. Worked hard didn't go very far, very fast. Could catch white perch almost at will and oicked off a few rock every now and again while the current was flowing. Once the tide stopped the rock really turned on and I caught 5 in a row inside of about 20 minutes - everyone else had left to go back. Each one seemed to get a little bigger with the biggest 18" - 20". I've got to get a Hawg Trough (probably my fish sizes will get smaller). I was a bit disappointed to leave such great fishing but I heeded the wisdom of the group and got back through the bridge before the tide built in the other direction. I don't think I could have paddled uphill all the way back too. As Mark said John V. gave us a masters lesson in fish catchin' and it was great fun to have him with us. I missed Harry - but have to admit there seems to be some correlation with his presence and catching of rays - just saying. Even the baby blues were kind to our soft plastics, for the most part. All fish were returned. . . just a little the worst for wear . . . so they can fight another day.

[J.A. Veil]

I started out at 6:45 am casting a popper to shallow points, but had no takers. I then broke out four light to med-light spinning rods and began trolling. I used various soft plastics and different weight jigheads. By far the most successful plastic was a 3" Fat Sam mullet (paddletail) made by 12 Fathoms. It accounted for an 18", 17", and a bunch of 15" and 16" fish. I had 3" Gulp swimming mullets in electric chicken color on another rod. It accounted for a few other stripers from 10" to 15". I trolled a Woody's feather spinner for a while, but got only one small striper on it.

The ramp at Goodhands is a nice facility for kayakers. However, we did not plan our launch very well to match the tides. As we headed north to the Narrows, we paddled into a fast outgoing tidal current. We stayed north of the Narrows until 11:00 (low slack tide) then headed south again. Even though there was not much current, the wind had picked up and was in our face. It seemed that everywhere we went, we had to paddle extra hard.

That fast current got me in trouble at one point. I was trolling 4 lines along a rip-rap wall and hooked my largest striper of the day (18"). I wound it in, but realized that the current was pushing me toward a pier. I left the hooked fish on the floor of the kayak while I made a few powerful paddle strokes to get past the end of the pier. Sadly, the other three lines hooked the pilings as I moved past. I had to unhook the fish and get it back in the water, flip the bails open on the other reels to keep the lines from snapping, and try to paddle back up-current past the pier. I was able to beach the boat out of the current and get the lines untangled and straightened out. It took at least 15 minutes, but I lost only one lure in the melee.

On the way back to the ramp, I trolled by a small island (~25 ft diameter) with a duck blind. The area looked fishy, and did not disappoint. I caught a striper on the first pass, reversed direction and caught a second striper on the next pass. Then I trolled around the island and passed by the opposite side. This time I had two rods go down. A few minutes later, I cast to the same shoreline and hooked a 5th fish from that small area in less than 15 minutes. This reminded me of the catching I did at a grassy point last Thurs. I caught 3 or 4 stripers and a redfish in the same small area in a short period of time. This gives me a new search image for future trips:
- grassy points with a sod bank
- moving current
- 2-4 ft depth near the sod bank.

I enjoyed fishing with the other guys. I had met Raptor last winter but had not met any of the other guys before. Thanks for letting me tag along today.

[Nitefly]

I contributed little to the group Striper count on this trip with my one small schoolie (caught on chartreuse curly tail grub), but I caught several perch for dinner. This was my first time in Kent Narrows and I really enjoyed the trip and the great workout I got paddling my barge of a kayak into the current going under the bridge! Lunch was a lot fun too. I look forward to the next time!

[Fishinfool]

I started out at 6:45 am casting a popper to shallow points, but had no takers. I then broke out four light to med-light spinning rods and began trolling. I used various soft plastics and different weight jigheads. By far the most successful plastic was a 3" Fat Sam mullet (paddletail) made by 12 Fathoms. It accounted for an 18", 17", and a bunch of 15" and 16" fish. I had 3" Gulp swimming mullets in electric chicken color on another rod. It accounted for a few other stripers from 10" to 15". I trolled a Woody's feather spinner for a while, but got only one small striper on it.

The ramp at Goodhands is a nice facility for kayakers. However, we did not plan our launch very well to match the tides. As we headed north to the Narrows, we paddled into a fast outgoing tidal current. We stayed north of the Narrows until 11:00 (low slack tide) then headed south again. Even though there was not much current, the wind had picked up and was in our face. It seemed that everywhere we went, we had to paddle extra hard.

That fast current got me in trouble at one point. I was trolling 4 lines along a rip-rap wall and hooked my largest striper of the day (18"). I wound it in, but realized that the current was pushing me toward a pier. I left the hooked fish on the floor of the kayak while I made a few powerful paddle strokes to get past the end of the pier. Sadly, the other three lines hooked the pilings as I moved past. I had to unhook the fish and get it back in the water, flip the bails open on the other reels to keep the lines from snapping, and try to paddle back up-current past the pier. I was able to beach the boat out of the current and get the lines untangled and straightened out. It took at least 15 minutes, but I lost only one lure in the melee.

On the way back to the ramp, I trolled by a small island (~25 ft diameter) with a duck blind. The area looked fishy, and did not disappoint. I caught a striper on the first pass, reversed direction and caught a second striper on the next pass. Then I trolled around the island and passed by the opposite side. This time I had two rods go down. A few minutes later, I cast to the same shoreline and hooked a 5th fish from that small area in less than 15 minutes. This reminded me of the catching I did at a grassy point last Thurs. I caught 3 or 4 stripers and a redfish in the same small area in a short period of time. This gives me a new search image for future trips:
- grassy points with a sod bank
- moving current
- 2-4 ft depth near the sod bank.

I enjoyed fishing with the other guys. I had met Raptor last winter but had not met any of the other guys before. Thanks for letting me tag along today.

Nice report! I was considering joining you guys, but decided to fish closer to home yesterday. One of these days I'll tag along.

John, glad you got unhook w/o too much damage. I do know about those currents; tough duty in a paddle kayak, or even a Revo. The day I went I probably spent 50% of the time untangling, 40% paddling hard to avoid trouble, and 10% actually fishing.

I don't know about the Good Hands Rd launch but the best launch is probably the one right at Kent Narrows on the west side just north of the bridge. I assume it's a public Queen Annes Co. launch site that requires the annual ($35) or daily ($10) pass. I'd never try that location on a weekend; there's too much boat traffic in there, but that seems to be where most of the fish are, and depending on how much time you have, you can time your drifts to minimize all the grunt work.

[Mark]

Fishinfool,

Both launches require a Queen Anne’s County permit.

The Goodhands landing provides immediate access to protected water and offers an excellent site for kayakers. There is a lot of shoreline with tall reeds right to the water’s edge. Hog Island is nearby with even more shoreline structure to explore.

In truth we may have given the launch area too little coverage yesterday as our small armada was understandably lured by the prospect of past success at the Narrows. Goodhands landing is clearly an environment capable of holding nice fish.

Please join us on future outings.

[surfdog]

very nice! i've fished that area a lot and in the cove there are plenty of perch, the wall is good also both ends, just drop some jigheads with gulp or plastic and something should bite it.

last year moc and i launched there and it was a full moon with realy high tide and the wind was blowing down the narrows making a very strong outgoing tide. i was coming up through the upper end of the wall by the yatch club heading toward the bridges, i was casting toward the boat slips and the current caught my revo and swung me into the slips before i knew it. put the rod down and grabbed the paddle to fend off the pilings and get turned around. got out and went on the other side and trolled/ drifted down the other side to the point where the townhouses are. that day was a good day to stay out of the current. we picked up a few fish but all in all the water was just moving too fast to be effective