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Raptor (Terry) arranged for himself, Mark, Nitefly (Eric), and I to do a mothership kayak fishing trip out of Oyster, VA on the lower eastern shore. The captain advertised the service to run us from the town launch in Oyster about 7 miles out to Wreck Island, an uninhabited barrier island. He also offered optional accommodations in a very pleasant 2-BR apartment over a massive garage.
The captain said he could take up to 4 kayaks in his 24' Carolina Skiff. We did not learn until a week ago that he had never done this before -- we were the guinea pigs. We arrived on Sun afternoon. The captain dropped off the boat on a trailer and said we could experiment with loading the kayaks into the bow area. After some trial and error, we managed to put Terry's Raptor kayak on the starboard side on edge and my Native Manta Ray down the middle. Mark's Revo went upside down on the port side with Eric's Outback laying on top. All of our gear and rods went up underneath the kayaks and in the corners of the rear of the boat.
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On Sun afternoon the captain told us how lucky we were going to be with Monday's weather. It was supposed to be sunny, warm, and very low winds. As often happens, the weatherman was way off. We woke to sub-50-deg air temperatures and overcast skies. We launched about 9:00 am and ran out the channel. Much of the ride out was over shallow flats. By then the easterly wind had picked up along with a steady shallow water chop. The flat bottom boat bounced quite a bit.
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We arrived at the north end of the barrier island with high water levels. The captain dropped us off at 10:00 on the leeward (western) side of the island. We offloaded the kayaks and gear and got the kayaks rigged up. The captain told us he would meet us at the southern end of the island (6 miles away) at 3:00.
We took off and began casting to sod banks, oyster piles, and points with current running out of the marsh. These areas looked very fishy, but sadly the fish were either not there at all or were completely uninterested in our offerings. As we proceeded down the shoreline, the wind picked up making it rather unpleasant out there. By noon we had fished 2/3 of the way to the other end of the island. We decided to call the captain to see if we could get picked up sooner. He told us he could meet us, but the the rapidly dropping tides (for some reason the high and low tides were extreme for the past few days) prevented him from getting to the planned pickup spot. He initially told us to paddle back the the original launch location. As we headed that way, the captain drove part way south to meet us.
Unfortunately the low water kept him from coming up to the beach as planned. He anchored in 1.8-ft water depth and had us paddle over to him. Loading the kayaks into the boat in the driveway was pretty easy. But standing in water nearly two feet deep with waves coming relentlessly toward us, made the loading a bit more challenging. Eventually we got the kayaks and gear onboard and managed to get our bodies over the gunwales too. We headed back to the ramp and called it a day.
Four of us fished for nearly 3 hours each over great looking habitat and could not get a single bite. It was frustrating. We could see the potential of that location, but came up empty yesterday. We had a great adventure, suffered no injuries, and just one significant loss of gear (Eric can give details). Eric turns out to be an excellent cook, making us delicious meals both nights, which we enjoyed along with cold beverages.
In addition to Monday's trip, I went down to the eastern shore on Sat and fished 3 hours on Sat afternoon near Wachapreague and 3.5 hours on Sun morning near Fisherman's Island. I casted, jigged, trolled, and bottom fished. I had no bites on either of those days despite being in productive looking waters where I have caught plenty of fish before. I saw almost no baitfish nor active fish moving around in shallow water (wakes, mud clouds, etc.). This cold spring has not been good to me for fishing -- despite many trips this month I have very few fish to show for my efforts.
The captain said he could take up to 4 kayaks in his 24' Carolina Skiff. We did not learn until a week ago that he had never done this before -- we were the guinea pigs. We arrived on Sun afternoon. The captain dropped off the boat on a trailer and said we could experiment with loading the kayaks into the bow area. After some trial and error, we managed to put Terry's Raptor kayak on the starboard side on edge and my Native Manta Ray down the middle. Mark's Revo went upside down on the port side with Eric's Outback laying on top. All of our gear and rods went up underneath the kayaks and in the corners of the rear of the boat.
001.jpg 002.jpg 003.jpg
On Sun afternoon the captain told us how lucky we were going to be with Monday's weather. It was supposed to be sunny, warm, and very low winds. As often happens, the weatherman was way off. We woke to sub-50-deg air temperatures and overcast skies. We launched about 9:00 am and ran out the channel. Much of the ride out was over shallow flats. By then the easterly wind had picked up along with a steady shallow water chop. The flat bottom boat bounced quite a bit.
004.jpg 005.jpg
We arrived at the north end of the barrier island with high water levels. The captain dropped us off at 10:00 on the leeward (western) side of the island. We offloaded the kayaks and gear and got the kayaks rigged up. The captain told us he would meet us at the southern end of the island (6 miles away) at 3:00.
We took off and began casting to sod banks, oyster piles, and points with current running out of the marsh. These areas looked very fishy, but sadly the fish were either not there at all or were completely uninterested in our offerings. As we proceeded down the shoreline, the wind picked up making it rather unpleasant out there. By noon we had fished 2/3 of the way to the other end of the island. We decided to call the captain to see if we could get picked up sooner. He told us he could meet us, but the the rapidly dropping tides (for some reason the high and low tides were extreme for the past few days) prevented him from getting to the planned pickup spot. He initially told us to paddle back the the original launch location. As we headed that way, the captain drove part way south to meet us.
Unfortunately the low water kept him from coming up to the beach as planned. He anchored in 1.8-ft water depth and had us paddle over to him. Loading the kayaks into the boat in the driveway was pretty easy. But standing in water nearly two feet deep with waves coming relentlessly toward us, made the loading a bit more challenging. Eventually we got the kayaks and gear onboard and managed to get our bodies over the gunwales too. We headed back to the ramp and called it a day.
Four of us fished for nearly 3 hours each over great looking habitat and could not get a single bite. It was frustrating. We could see the potential of that location, but came up empty yesterday. We had a great adventure, suffered no injuries, and just one significant loss of gear (Eric can give details). Eric turns out to be an excellent cook, making us delicious meals both nights, which we enjoyed along with cold beverages.
In addition to Monday's trip, I went down to the eastern shore on Sat and fished 3 hours on Sat afternoon near Wachapreague and 3.5 hours on Sun morning near Fisherman's Island. I casted, jigged, trolled, and bottom fished. I had no bites on either of those days despite being in productive looking waters where I have caught plenty of fish before. I saw almost no baitfish nor active fish moving around in shallow water (wakes, mud clouds, etc.). This cold spring has not been good to me for fishing -- despite many trips this month I have very few fish to show for my efforts.
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