Anyone who wants to post a kayak report or any intel that can benefit the yakkers..feel free to post up....
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Kayak Trips and Fishing Reports 2012
Anyone who wants to post a kayak report or any intel that can benefit the yakkers..feel free to post up....
Administrator
Guys crushed the bass in the bay Sun night.
Several people texted me the pics. One of my friends got 10 bass to 20#, fishing all by himself.
The yakkers also did well on Sat and Sun daytime, although in relatively cloudy conditions.
Based on the above reports, a friend from Brooklyn came over for Monday. I took off from work. We launched our kayaks in the dark and fished the whole ebb tide in the bay.
It was dismal as it was too sunny out (last 2 days prior were overcast) and we barely avoided the skunk.
He fished some bunker pods with live bunker. He raised one nice fish with no hookups, and I think had some other activity but nothing solid.
I worked about 4 miles each way in the yak, roughly 8 miles total. I trolled some deeper water, 7-12' and only managed a short 20" bass that hit a 9" shad.
In reality, we had gone out to find some of the larger bass.
In that respect I feel we failed.
Hey, that's fishin....
In all...... it was a successful trip because we didn't get skunked.
It was one of those days...
great for fishin, bad for catchin....
I'll take the lousy snotty days..or the night bite..the bass don't seem to mind...
I won't be going back to fish the bay by yakking the daytime until we have a few overcast days, as I have been finding too many fish in the ocean, for less effort.
The bay night bite has been interesting, though, may give that a few more shots....
till next time...
Senior Member
dark you got bad timing the bunkies came to visit last nite! come back out
Senior Member
Dark it is part of the game. If you got big fish every time we would all hate you. Maybe I wouldn't because of all you have done for me but I would be jealous. At least you got out there and got a fish. Good luck and be safe,
OGB
Saturday and Sunday were both sunny your loosing it DS no excuses. Your coming off a probably once in a life time winter those conditions aren't going to last for ever
Pay attention to what history has taught us or be prepared to relive it again
Senior Member
Yeah dark into every life a little rain must fall, or in your case some dark skies, lol.
No one bowls a 300 game all the time, and as finchaser said the winter spoiled a lot of us. We may not be happy with catching 5 fish in a night ever again.
Nice report though, was it your first yak trip of the year? At least you got a fish. I myself would have given up after about 2-3 hours, you are a fishing maniac.
OGB
DS mottos=
everynight all night keeps my numbers up
nothing sleeps like a car seat
wind and rain is a soapless shower
oh thank heaven for 7/11
home cooking gotta have my WAWA
Pay attention to what history has taught us or be prepared to relive it again
Administrator
The yakkers did well Sat and Sun big guy....Originally Posted by finchaser
Saturday and Sunday were both sunny your loosing it DS no excuses. Your coming off a probably once in a life time winter those conditions aren't going to last for everit was overcast on the water in the bay....(and I know the high from catching fish in the ocean this winter isn't likely to be repeated)
I completely agree with you and your assessment, Fin....
I doubt if we'll have the conditions to produce Winter bass like that in my lifetime....maybe, but it's unlikely....unless it becomes a new seasonal pattern.
That's why I was out there hitting it hard in the ocean every chance I got....
Whether I caught or not I felt it was a rare once-in-decades opportunity...and as you inferred I'm still on an incredible high from that.....
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Steve, Cowherder, and others, it was the first trip of the year...and we avoided the skunk....
Thanks for the words.
The friend I was fishing with, was in 2nd place in the Jbay tournament last year till he got knocked out of the box the last day....he is one of the most persistent and dedicated fishermen I know....and the only one in recent time to successfully yak fish under the Verazzano Bridge in 90 feet of water and get some bass and cod with his jig tactics.
He consistently crushes the fish by yak at the mouth of the Jamaica Bay even when no one else will brave the cold and crazy current....so I knew that between the two of us we should have been able to find some fish,,,,
When you have a good season I think it's very humbling, and good medicine, to not do so well for a change....
I'm always suspicious of folks who seem to catch all the time and never get skunked....
In the fishing community we have special names for some of these internet heroes...each one of them has a name that describes the amount of padding we think he does to his count...but that's really private. because they're in the minority......the guys who catch consistently and are out there a lot don't need to pad their catches....
Even the folks here, I'm grateful they post their skunk reports because you can tell there are nights where the fish just ain't active for many reasons...and a skunk report helps us to all understand, that fishing, ain't necessarily a night where you're catchin....
Sometimes I feel fishing from a yak isn't a fair comparison...if you are willing to work and pedal, you will most likely find at least 1 fish...trolling a T&W is almost foolproof for finding scattered fish....but the T&W did not produce this time....
When the fishing is easy you don't have to think that much....
A lot of the yakkers IMO get into that pattern..some of us will catch,,,,and others come along after and think they only have to repeat what the others did, to score big.....
That strategy hasn't panned out this week, as most of the guys out there, after the initial fish up to 25#, are only getting fish 24-32"....while any catch is a good catch, you can catch fish that size from land. For me, I'm yakking to get to the fish that I can't get from land,,,,and my goal is always a 20# or better.
Granted, it doesn't always happen, but IMO pushing yourself like that, is what works for me.
The yakkers who continually get my attention are the ones who are not afraid to think out of the box...to run different than the rest of the herd runs....those are the folks who will consistently pull in bigger fish....and they earn every one of them.....
Hope to be back out there soon.
Senior Member
Nice going dark. Look forward to your reports when you fish the Sound this year. We have had bass action in the rivers for a good part of the winter. Contact me ahead of time if you are driving up this way.
Administrator
DS mottos=
everynight all night keeps my numbers up
nothing sleeps like a car seat
wind and rain is a soapless shower
oh thank heaven for 7/11
home cooking gotta have my WAWA
Just wanted to thank you for that, ya grouch!
You're a poet, and don't even know it....
Administrator
Kayak report 4-6-12
Short form....
2nd trip of the year, 25# bass.....
Still had a few hours of darkness....made a drastic move and got on the road to a different area.
Launched the yak and managed 2 bass in the same size class. Dropped one, but the one I landed was 41" and about 25#.
My nicest fish of the Spring so far.
OGB
Very nice
Pay attention to what history has taught us or be prepared to relive it again
Senior Member
Very Nice, it only gona get better
Administrator
Thanks guys, pics and detailed report....4-6-12 AM
The surf bite never came together for me last night.
My plan B was a kayak launch. I have had my sights set on a certain big fish spot for 2 weeks now, and the conditions didn't permit a night paddle out there.
Last night was the same old story, winds prevented me from launching and working this one spot. I raced in my mind thinking of a reasonable alternative that would yield some quality fish....
This is why sometimes you have to be prepared with plan C, D, and E....
I launched in the pre-dawn light. It was pretty cold out there and the water was no more than 50 degrees, maybe less.
Paddled out to where I wanted to set up.
Along the way I trolled a stretch plug on one rod, shad on another.
Withiin 5 minutes I get banged hard on that first rod...so hard that I convince myself I'm snagged on the bottom.
I get my other rod (with a shad) out of the way. The snag seems to come undone, when I realize it's a fish, moving toward me.....
The sun was now coming up. A boat's engine nearby caught my attention at that second....I lost concentration, and dropped the fish....
The rod that fish hit is a Conventional bridge rod with a Penn 965,,,big enough to handle a 50#...a hit from a 15# bass won't even put a bend in it....knowing I had lost a quality fish, I was pretty angry with myself....
Worked a lot of different things for the next 2 hours, T&W, other diiving plugs, all varieties and sizes of shads, tailored to the depth of water I was in....
Finally decided to really focus on the Stretches, trolling 2 of them at once...
This ain't that easy from a yak if the bottom has different depths....IMO a challenge to do effectively...especially at night without a fish finder....
On the way back to the launch I get banged again on the bridge stick with the Penn 965....
This time I know it's a good fish...takes a minute or so before I can see her shape....
And boy, she was a beauty......If I was a male striped bass I would have shot all over myself....
That fat belly, broad tail....and clean stripes got me all a-tingling....
Got her in, few quick pics, and then the release back to make some babies....
Senior Member
Beautiful fish. Look at the belly on her. Great job dark!
Administrator
I want to document that the head on this fish in post 15 is the smallest of the bigger fish I have caught since Dec 2011.
There's a reason for this documentation here.
Over the Winter I've been catching fish of similar lengths, with different size heads and tails.
At first I was theorizing that these were Hudson fish mixed in with the Chesapeake fish.
I've had similar conversations with friends and some members here,,,,,and I thank you for your input...
There are lots of folks who might dispute this....
But after seeing a few hundred fish in a compressed time period, I feel differently.
Lately I've been getting some feedback from some old-timers that there are some additional spawning biomasses, different than the Chesapeake or Hudson strains. (and different from the fish in the Northern rivers of the LI Sound.)
As time permits, I'll be developing an article on my findings and posting the results in a different thread.
Some may think it's ridiculous or delusional. That's OK, I have thick skin for the folks who want to disagree with me....
At this point I think there's enough anecdotal data, to at least explore the possibilities.
Stay tuned, people....
Senior Member
fantastic catching Dark!
Senior Member
Awesome report Dark, great catch.
White Water Monty 2.00 (WWM)
Future Long Islander (ASAP)
Administrator
Thanks very much, all....
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