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The weather was looking fantastic wind wise for a shot at stripers around the Hooper Island bridge for Saturday. So myself, Coop, Goody and Kitkatyaker decided to make a go of it. High tide was expected around 12:30pm. Winds were a whopping 0mph to 4mph all day. The skyies were overcast and the temperature would make it to 61 degrees.
I met Goody at the Wawa just before the Bay Bridge at 5:30am. We headed across the bridge to meet up with Coop at 6:15am. The weather changed slightly, from no rain to a 30% chance of rain until 8:00am. The skies were suppose to let the sun pop through later in the day, but this would not be case. We got the launch just after 7:00am. Shortly, after Kitkatyaker pulled in he Hobie Pro Angler. This would be a Hobie day with me with my Revolution, Kitkat with her Pro Angler and Coop and Goody with their Outbacks.
By 8:00am we were on the water heading towards the bridge. I immediately tossed out a 1/4 ounce red jig head tipped with a white 4 inch swimming mullet Gulp. Within 5 minutes while trolling I hooked up with my first rockfish fish measuring 15 inches in 4 feet of water. I thought that this would be a good sign. While fishing the bridge, a thick fog rolled in. This fog would be with us the whole day. While trolling, Goody also hooked up with a dink rockfish. We were not catching anything at the bridge despite marking a ton of fish. We decided to head across the Honga River to an opposite shoreline, were we had had luck before. That area was devoid of fish for the most part, except for the rare catch of a small fish trolling to the shoreline 2 miles away. I worked the shoreline, while Goody went further up the river to check out some coves. He had no luck there, except for seeing some perch jump around. Since Goody was 45 minutes from us and it was 12:30pm, we decided to take a break on a small sandy beach, where once again, Coop pulled out some fresh oysters that we shucked and chowd down on. I would say I must have chowd down on a good many of them. Chexone once said that he was not used to getting free crabs (the last time that he went fishing with Coop and who provided 1/2 bushel of cooked crabs), so I would say that I am not use to free fresh oysters ..LOL.
We wanted to get the water around 3:00pm, so we decided to head back. This was a day that you needed to have GPS on your fish finder. The fog was so thick, you could not see the shorelines at all. If you went to far ahead, you would loose site of another kayaker. Since Goody was further out, we used the marine to notify him that we were heading back to fish the bridge. Goody in turn used his GPS to take the shortest path back to the bridge. He made good time and arrived 15 minutes after we got to the bridge. By this time the current started to move, and I was able to jig the shoreline next to the bridge and landed an 18.25 inch keeper rockfish for the cooler. Coop caught a smaller rockfish trolling back to the bridge, while Goody caught another one trolling and jigging.
One thing that his trip proved to me, was that having a marine radio for common communication, and a GPS equipped fish finder was valuable to have. We went back to shore and the fog was still thick and it was lightly raining in the afternoon. We stopped at a nearby convenience store and got a bite to eat for the road. It was a fun time out, despite the slow fishing. I think as a group we caught 7 or 8 rockfish. I took mine home and Goody caught one that he gave to Coop. It was a foggy drive all the way home.
I met Goody at the Wawa just before the Bay Bridge at 5:30am. We headed across the bridge to meet up with Coop at 6:15am. The weather changed slightly, from no rain to a 30% chance of rain until 8:00am. The skies were suppose to let the sun pop through later in the day, but this would not be case. We got the launch just after 7:00am. Shortly, after Kitkatyaker pulled in he Hobie Pro Angler. This would be a Hobie day with me with my Revolution, Kitkat with her Pro Angler and Coop and Goody with their Outbacks.
By 8:00am we were on the water heading towards the bridge. I immediately tossed out a 1/4 ounce red jig head tipped with a white 4 inch swimming mullet Gulp. Within 5 minutes while trolling I hooked up with my first rockfish fish measuring 15 inches in 4 feet of water. I thought that this would be a good sign. While fishing the bridge, a thick fog rolled in. This fog would be with us the whole day. While trolling, Goody also hooked up with a dink rockfish. We were not catching anything at the bridge despite marking a ton of fish. We decided to head across the Honga River to an opposite shoreline, were we had had luck before. That area was devoid of fish for the most part, except for the rare catch of a small fish trolling to the shoreline 2 miles away. I worked the shoreline, while Goody went further up the river to check out some coves. He had no luck there, except for seeing some perch jump around. Since Goody was 45 minutes from us and it was 12:30pm, we decided to take a break on a small sandy beach, where once again, Coop pulled out some fresh oysters that we shucked and chowd down on. I would say I must have chowd down on a good many of them. Chexone once said that he was not used to getting free crabs (the last time that he went fishing with Coop and who provided 1/2 bushel of cooked crabs), so I would say that I am not use to free fresh oysters ..LOL.
We wanted to get the water around 3:00pm, so we decided to head back. This was a day that you needed to have GPS on your fish finder. The fog was so thick, you could not see the shorelines at all. If you went to far ahead, you would loose site of another kayaker. Since Goody was further out, we used the marine to notify him that we were heading back to fish the bridge. Goody in turn used his GPS to take the shortest path back to the bridge. He made good time and arrived 15 minutes after we got to the bridge. By this time the current started to move, and I was able to jig the shoreline next to the bridge and landed an 18.25 inch keeper rockfish for the cooler. Coop caught a smaller rockfish trolling back to the bridge, while Goody caught another one trolling and jigging.
One thing that his trip proved to me, was that having a marine radio for common communication, and a GPS equipped fish finder was valuable to have. We went back to shore and the fog was still thick and it was lightly raining in the afternoon. We stopped at a nearby convenience store and got a bite to eat for the road. It was a fun time out, despite the slow fishing. I think as a group we caught 7 or 8 rockfish. I took mine home and Goody caught one that he gave to Coop. It was a foggy drive all the way home.
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