Kayak trips and fishing reports 2011

[VSdreams]

Attachment 13528

DannyV got some nice bass 4-12 in the back of RB, just now getting around to posting it.

WTG, Danny, it was great to finally meet ya in person!

Attachment 13527

So that's DannyV, also known as MSG Dan? My cousin got a hobie this spring. He was fishing in the back of rb and really didn't know a lot. He met some guy one day, and the guy helped him with all sorts of tips and advice. Spent about 45 mins talking to him. I showed him this thread, and he said this is the guy. Nicest guy you ever want to meet, my cousin says thanks again!

[DarkSkies]

Nicest guy you ever want to meet, my cousin says thanks again!

VSDreams, DannyV/MSGDan is one of the nicest guys in the fishing world. In the years I've known him I have never heard an unkind word uttered about him. He's a hardcore fisherman through and through, and never seems too busy to offer advice to a newcomer.

I was in touch with him yesterday. He just came back from a combo vacation/sharking trip to Myrtle Beach. Awesome report and pics!





Posted with the permission of DannyV.



***********
Myrtle Beach kayak sharks (pix) (Video)
Myrtle Beach kayak sharks! (pix)(video)
After an 8 day trip to Myrtle Beach, I was able to get out 4 mornings trying for sharks. The other days it was either too rough, golf or family stuff.

This was the second year in a row that I didn't find the huge schools of bunker that made shark fishing easy. I had to start each morning fishing close to shore with small shrimp trying for croakers and other "bait" fish that I could bring out to deeper water for the sharks. Two of the mornings it was easy getting bait and the other two mornings, not so easy. The croakers were pretty hardy and a few stayed alive for 30 minutes or so just leaving them near the drive.

It's amazing that with the live bait the sharks would be in the 5-6 foot range and when the bait was dead, it would be all 3-5 foot sharks.

The first two days I landed close to 15 sharks and I guess I lost just as many with bite-offs and lost fish. The last two days the water clouded up and getting bait and sharks was very spotty.

I must have lost at least 8 good sized spinner sharks that broke the line after several huge leaps out of the water a hundred feet or so from the kayak. I had 36" of wire but with the spinner sharks I needed heavier line and wire.

Most of the sharks were sand bar sharks with about 6 being close to the 7 foot and the others all in the 3-5 foot range.

The weater was great all week for the beach with a strong east wind that kept the clouds inshore, but it was not too good for shark fishing from the kayak. It was a steady 15-25 mph wind and a big swell and chop that made fishing a little rough. I was 6 for 8 with launching and landing, but nothing lost and nothing broken.

Here are a bunch of pictures and a 2 minute underwater video that I took near the kayak. I have more video, but I have to edit about 6 clips to make one good one.

ENJOY!!!
Danny V

[hookset]

It looked like he was less than 1/2 mile from the beach. I wonder if the people down there know how close the sharks come in. He definitely has balls of steel, a lot more than me.

[bababooey]

Sharks from a kayak you guys are nuts! What's next, a kayak thresher report? Remember those things have long tails, be careful out there you nut-jobs.

[dogfish]

Sharks from a kayak you guys are nuts!

Ah don't be such a whining Nancy!
Did you go to wuss school?

[DarkSkies]

Kayak report 7-11-11 AM NJ

I set out with the yak in RB to be right in the middle of the bunker. The only problem is they weren't as concentrated as they have been, and the larger fish that were on them for the last 2 weeks, seem to have moved on from that particular area. All that was left by last night were some smaller bass and bluefish.

I chased the bunker in the channel. but never found a high enough concentration. Eventually I was able to snag and drop a few, no action. They were being harassed, though only sporadically as they were scattered and not in the tight pattern they had been maintaining. Realistically, the harassers were most likely small bluefish and bass.

When that didn't pan out, I jigged rubber, big and small, and worked bucktails around structure. Not a touch.

Also trolled a lot of shoreline intermediate areas when I couldn't get anything going in the scattered bunker. To my embarassment, I purposely decided not to troll the T&W, working a few other presentations. Looking back, the T&W is the one presentation that might have produced, lesson learned for next time.

Went back to shore, loaded up the kayak on the car, and joined G hoping for a sunrise bite. There was a limited period, about an hour, where we had action with small bluefish

[cowherder]

At least you got out there, like you said a lot of guys aren't fishing. The beach was empty where I fished yesterday. Thanks for the report.

[DarkSkies]

As the NJ bays become too hot for any bass and bluefish action, except when they're following schools of bunker, the LI Sound is at least 10 degrees cooler. The Western Sound continues to enjoy great action with bass, blues, porgies, and fluke on anything other than bright sunny days.

And, when the bunker are around, even the sun doesn't matter, as Danny V found out when he went up there on Sun to fish with Cheech, another great kayak guy I know and have fished with. This report, courtesy of Danny V, is a great testament to that fishing.





************
7-10-11
Well the striper season has not come to an end yet!

I hit the western sound this morning just before sunrise (I was all rigged and waited for the bait shop to open). Launched at about 5:15 and decided I was going to troll some tube and worms around the rocks and shore for some small bass.

After an hour of wasted time with leg cramps (duh) stomach problems (2 landings on shore) I was able to start fishing.

With nothing going on with the T&W, I came across a small school of bunker getting blasted by something. I changed over to the snag and drop mode and it was game on!

The first run-off felt like a bass that came off after a short run and then with the second snag, I was fighting a huge fish for what seemed like 10 minutes.

After getting it close to the kayak, I was looking down at a nice bass well over 40 inches that some how got off just as I was getting ready for the lip gripper. After 5 minutes of loud cursing across the sound, I started all over again.

For the next 2 hours, I wound up landing two nice bass in the high 30's (inches) and at least 6 MONSTER blues in about the 12-15 lb. range with about double that being lost or bit off.

Here are a couple videos from this morning.








Danny V

[DarkSkies]

Eli called me the other day after he got home.
Sucessful kayak trip to the Hudson.
He didn't post a report, guess he felt "only" 5 short bass and one tommycod wasn't exciting enough.

He launched on the SI side and fished near the VZ. He timed it so it would be the last of the flood, first of the ebb. Bear in mind he only has a paddle yak, Cobra FishnDive. He fishes in heavy and rough current without a pedal drive, the guy is an absolute frikkin maniac!

Right off the launch he nailed a small tommy cod on rocky bottom on a bucktail.
He then proceeded to paldle up and down under the VZ (you can't anchor here anymore due to 9/11 protocol). It remains one of the best inshore blackfishing spots in the NY Bight. I've met Coast Guard old timers who used to fish from the stanchions there when it was allowed, and caught bass up to 50lbs in those depths.

So he paddles back and forth, jigging a gold hammered 8oz jig down at 80'.
He managed 5 short bass, and lost a bigger one, only hooked for a few seconds.
Nice trip bro, something to be proud of.

A lot of the kayak folks I know, they do the same trip over and over...
fish the bay for fluke,,,,
Fish MB at the rocks for fluke, bass or blues....


People, there are so many more nooks and crannies that hold fish, although you won't find groups of yaks there fishin.

And fishing the Hudson by yak with it's strong current is not for beginners. You really have to have time and tide dialed in, and get the hell out of there when it starts rolling.

But that's Eli, at times I think he can SEE the fish down there.
Great trip bro. I'll be there with him sometime this fall, can't wait.

[blitzhunter]

Kayakking under the verazzano, that takes balls of steel!

[DarkSkies]

^^ Eli is a maniac blitzhunter. We call him the "Human Fishfinder". And he rolls with a paddle yak, but it ain't a handicap to him, he's a mad demon with that thing.

[DarkSkies]

A few reports:

Sat into Sun,
Fished LIS, lots of hours and pedalling.
Total 19 fish...
15 bass to 28", released.
3 giant porgies to 14".
1 bluefish.


Sun Pm...
Fished LIS, another area, first time fishing it.
Total 10 fish.
6 bass to 27".
4 porgies to 13".

Full report here...
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/...d-fishing-2011




All on the Finchaser Tube and Worm.

[DarkSkies]

Fished Tues night.
Last 3 hours of the flood, LI Sound. Fishing was tough. The wind was a steady 15mph, which kicked up a swell, steady 1', some bigger.
I think this created a problem with the T&W presentation, or it could have been the fish were not there that night. I was fishing an area of boulder fields, had been there 2 nights before and done ok, nothing big, but decent numbers of fish.

On Mon night there was scant evidence the fish were there. Within 5 minutes I did get a massive strike, pulled drag for a few secs and got me pumped. However, the fish broke me off as she rounded a rock near a few that were close together.

Based on that missed fish, I trolled that area for the next hour with not a tap, and only one pesky hit from a porgy. This was puzzling because the porgies are usually all over that spot.

Decided to move along some rocky shoreline. Managed one short bass there, embarassingly small. This bass hit as the swells died a bit, so again I'm wondering if it was the presentation or the fish weren't there in numbers for some reason that night. There were phosphorescent jellyfish in the water, but when the water was rough the effect didn't seem that bad. As the tide approached slack and the water got calmer, it seems they became more of a problem.


Managed one bluefish on the T&W at dead slack, and that was all the action I had.
Since I had some worms left over, I decided to put them on a porgy rig and drift that area bouncing bottom. If the porgies are thick that usually produces some nice fish, even a stray bass or 2. I drifted for 1/2 hour at the beginning of the ebb, not even one touch or miss. I had to conclude that it was just an off night. Hey, that's fishin.










A good friend Cheech was fishing the same day Tues, across the "pond". Same water and a lot more rocks, porgy,, bass and tog heaven.

He trolled the T&W inshore for hours, and all he managed was one bluefish. This is a guy who usually lands 20 bass or more every time he's out. He's a role model for other fishermen and one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. And he fishes hard, doesn't want to give up.

We can usually catch bass in the Sound in the daytime even when other guys have trouble. The T&W is money, but on Tues it wasn't.

[hookset]

You can't win em all at least you got out there. Nice report.

[DarkSkies]

48 hour trip to the Sound -
Got back last night, marathon trip, low budget. Slept in the car and lived like a nomad. Fished hard but it took time to learn the area. Fishing was honestly slow, but I still managed to eke out about a dozen fish. Nothing notable except for the 14" scupzillas I got in the morning yesterday. Otherwise, a total of 4 short bass and 9 porgies up to 14". All on the T&W.

Full report in the nomad fishing 2011 thread.

[seamonkey]

Catching bass in August? Good job! It doesn't matter how big or small they are at least you got some bass action.

[buckethead]

Way to go Dark. You are one of the few!

[dogfish]

^ Pffft, not impressed until he catches a 50 from a yak and posts the pics. Or maybe an 83?

[DarkSkies]

No 50's yet, dogfish, still trying.



Kayak marathon 8-12 LI Sound

The brief outline...
Went back to the place of current with a better plan to fish different areas at different parts of the tide.

The wind and weather made me re-evaluate my plan.
Some funny stories about that.
Fished hard all night in swells that were mostly 1', but at times up to 3' and causing me concern. Therefore, I stuck to shore even though I was in open water, and believe me, in the dark of night with those swells, it was big water. Even beached the yak for a 15 minute period as I re-evaluated how to deal with the raging current.

Went back out and fished hard, not much to show for it.

Total 2 big porgies on the T&W & one small bluefish on a NB Bottle darter I was trolling.
Not one indication of any bass, big or small.

Pretty disappointed in myself and at those results, I drove a long distance to another location to fish the flood tide, almost all of it. Met up with another yakker from KFS-NY, and we talked about the Nissy incident and safety issues. Good talks.

We were both out there fishin hard, but the weeds were all over and a problem for presentation. I managed 2 monster porgies right before sunset and one small bass on Finchaser's T&W with the circle hook. The circle hook was key here because the other guy, definitely an experienced angler and good yak fisherman, was having trouble with the porgies stealing his bait. Together with the weeds and warm water, he took his leave and said good-bye before the top of the tide.

I continued to fish that warm and weedy water, just looking for that one quality fish. Tried all sorts of different presentations to deal with the weeds, some worked.

Didn't want to leave without getting a nice fish, so kept at it.
Managed some more giant porgies, no small ones (but many small ones acting as a nuisance stealing the worm).

Finally got into some feeding bass 1 hour after the tide turned, into the ebb. They were turned on at that time, and I believed I could have got more if I didn't have to make it home in time for a trip with Pebbles.



Total for the entire trip:
9 porgies to 14", T&W
1 small bluefish, NB Darter
2 bass--- 28", and the one that made me smile, 37" and about 15#.
Both released.

The first time in a long time that I "left the fish biting".









Full report and pics in the nomad fishing thread.

[gjb1969]

way to go dudeu deserve it u go hard when u fish