Snake ditch - almost rained out

     I wish I had a picture of the Kayak launch at IBSP when we got there.  It was pretty funny.  A dark band of clouds.  Distant thunder.  Kayaks and canoes paddling back to the safety of land (as fast and hurried as they could).
     It was one in the afternoon by the time we got there.  Steve, KGB, Ross and I.  It had rained most of the way.  But we had the power of weather reports which said there wasn't much of a chance of storms. Well, 30%.  That's not much if you've taken off from work and only have limited opportunities to go fishing.  as everyone was packing it in because of the impending storm, we headed out.  It looked to our overly optimistic minds as if the storm was going to pass to the east, (or south, or north, but it would definitely not hit us...)  So we proceeded to launch our kayaks and fish.  Trolling around to the right of the put in was unproductive so we headed to Snake Ditch.  we had planned to spend more time there anyway, because KGB was basically dropping Ross off there to fly fish.  We all stayed and fished there, but of course it  soon started to rain and threaten lightning.  After deliberating for long enough, we collectively agreed that the safest idea, albeit not the most likely to catch fish, was to return to the put in.

Rain

     We contemplating fishing the end of the Point Pleasant Canal as an option if the threat of lightning continued.  we went so far as to retrieve the cars from the parking lot.  then something very special happened.  Steve caught a fish.  This in itself is not special, of course. Throughout the day Steve probably caught as few as thirty fish.  What was special was that he caught it from shore at a moment when the rain was abating, the sun was peaking through the clouds in the distance.  Even though our gear was half broken down, we all fished from shore for about a half hour more.  Steve returned from a walk with two more bluefish.  That's a game changer.  We re-loaded up the kayaks, re-parked thhe cars, and re-paddled to Snake Ditch.
     What happened next is hard to describe.  Mostly because it was a catch and release blur of fish.  The only one of us who didn't hook up was Ross, and he was really fly fishing the salt for the first time, and he did not relent.  Among the bass were a few blues, a blackfish, and a fluke.  And some things, some perceptions may have changed from this trip.  For one, Steve caught quite a few fish on the troll.  (Steve's experience of trolling was previously not a positive one.)  KGB and I caught ALL of our fish on the troll.  My go to lure was a shallow swimmer made to look like a small weakfish.  Also, I think we all came away from this experience having a much more personal and intimate understanding of certain  fishing etiquettes that we had yet to embrace such as crushing barbs or removing treble hooks. Because we had yet to be in the situation where we were catching mostly short bass on swimmers we were not prepared.
    We admire and respect the fish.  If we're not going to eat them, we release them as best as we know how.  Reviving them and gently removing hooks.  Also handling them as little as possible.  But when there are treble hooks in their faces this becomes difficult.  So now we know.  We will be prepared with short bass friendly lures next time!

short bass on the bass assassin (single hook)

Ross, KGB,and Steve