Speck and Puppy in Back River - Back River is no longer a backup, May 17

[ComeOnFish]

Back River is no longer on the backup list.

Well, I finally fished Back River. I always thought Back River is a good backup when the wind is strong at CBBT. For 5.5 hours I covered from Dandy Point boat ramp to the rocky point in the mouth of the river. That was all I can investigate.
I caught a large speck in 2.5' of water on a 1/16 oz jig head and a 3.5 " BA salt and pepper with chartreuse tail. I moved on instead of fishing the spot because I was just scouting the river. I could tell the river will hold specks. One large trout is good enough for the day. I wanted to learn/find good Puppy spots. Also I wanted to catch puppies on top or slow sinking plastic lures.
The top lures didn't work for the day. But I caught a puppy on a sinking lure. That was my first puppy caught on a plastic lure.

Back River is no longer a backup place to me. Back River is a legitimate primary fishing place.

[<MIKE>]

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the report and video. That was a nice speck! The fish you caught looked very healthy.

Mike

[tufnik]

Nice speck, Joe. I think you need a bigger net..lol... Thanks for the report.

[Billy Rocket]

Yes you need a bigger net.......a nice problem to have!!

[JohnE]

Nice fish. That is the same as Wallace's right? I have fished there and the other side at Messicks before. Last time I was there, I also caught a puppy drum on the messick side on slow sinking hard plastic right as I was about to give up with a skunk trip. They will definitely hit the hard plastic, I have caught them elsewhere on the same slow sinking lures.

I had the same problem with net being too small on my most recent trip I just returned from, but I have not seen many nets to carry on a kayak that would have helped me land the cow striper I tried to wrestle into my yak last night. It went nuts when I tried to grab it by the lip and leg lift it, snapped my line (was only rigged for schoolies and other smaller stuff). Still livid from the failure, but I did manage to land a nice 27"er a little earlier in the night.

[ComeOnFish]

I have many nets from small to large. I just have to bring the right net.

Though, I am going to buy a new net for lures with double or triple treble hooks. A kind of vinyl net that won't be tangled with treble hooks. Tangled treble hooks and net cost me valuable fishing time, and possibly lives of fish that were released.

Joe

[JohnE]

I also have a bigger net that I used to use for larger fish, but I did not bring with me last time because I stopped using the old style a while back. I only had smaller sized folding net which is vinyl or rubber coated. I picked up a nice large size vinyl coated net from Dick's sporting goods yesterday--ranger tournament series, made in usa and vinyl coated. Still not quite big enough for the striper I lost the other night, but close (they do actually have a huge big game net there, but it just seems like too much to carry on the kayak).