Striper Revenge, Monday Nov 18th, by Alexi

     So after the debacle of the surf launch; the embarrassment of being laughed at by thousands of fish; the humbling experience of looking at the weigh in lists of tackle shops a mile long;  after all that and more, I decided to stick with a plan made over a week ago: to fish the a sedges on Monday evening with KGB.  DESPITE the forecast for approx. 15 mph winds we went ahead (between 6 and 8 p.m. the wind was actually more like 0 mph).  DESPITE the fact that the bite was obviously on sand-eels in the surf, we launched our kayaks in the bay!  Against all odds, and despite all of the whole damn internet telling us that if we want to catch fish we needed to do do something else.  I guess we (I) just really like fishing the bay with my kayak.  I also hate crowds, so that might be another reason I didn't want to fish out front.  So here it is:

My fish for the great Sand Eel Blitz of 2013

15 lbs, 33"

apparently a guy at the launch was making fun
of all of my gear and asked where I was going to put the fish....

     It wasn't easy to come by.  We started fishing just before sunset.  We hit all of our usual spots where fish were caught in the past.  Up and down Snake Ditch.  "Weakfish Point."  Unsure about the wind, since the forecast was so far off from the reality, we decided to head west, knowing that if and when the wind picked up, at least it would blow us back to the launch.  Around many turns, and through Horsefoot Slough (where I had caught a keeper exactly a month ago) we travelled out to Oyster Creek Channel, (the area we call Seal Island.)  It was here that I caught my biggest fish of the spring.  There were no boats.   I was surprised.  I was surprised because the past few trips out there there had always been at least one one boat drifting along the banks.  This time we had it all to ourselves.  I went straight out into about 20 feet of water.  It was slack tide, and there was a nice rip forming just in front of Seal Island where the incoming and outgoing waters were trying to do battle.  This meant some standing waves.  I was unsure if I was getting hits on my eel, or the water and current and (now) wind were just strong enough to take line on my baitrunner.  I tightened up on the drag a little.  Still getting tugs, then nothing a few more times, and a few recasts to check my eel, I hear the line go...., I pick up my rod....., and I feel the telltale weight of a fish.   I'm using a relatively new rod, A Shimano Teramar with an Avet SXJ.
     The rod has a ton of sensitivity in the top half.  I could feel every little head jerk the fish was making, and I wasn't used to this.  Also, it took me a few moments to feel out the size of the fish.  I hollered to KGB "Hooked up!"
He said, "nothing."
 I said, "HOOKED UP"
 He said "NOTHINGS GOING ON."
 I hollered " NO,  I HAVE A FISH, AND IT"S BIG!"

 I think that's when he realized what I was shouting about.

I let it take a few runs once I felt the weight, which was probably a good idea, as it was barely hooked.

Though the Teramar is sensitive, it has a good backbone, and the Avet is just a powerhorse.

We spent a little longer at Seal Island, then moved on to the Sedge House where KGB had a short on his eel, then let the wind which had picked up  carry us back to the launch.

All in all, we followed the plan we had made, and had a successful trip, (though still not the off the hook trip we were hoping for,) the weather was much more pleasant than predicted and we both caught fish!!!

2nd week of Nov.

27" Striper with Eel in mouth

Just a quick little report.  

First the good news:     It took us a while, but Saturday night we ended up finding some fish.  Nothing over 28" in the boat, but all were very close.  I think we each boated two, and had many many hits and lost fish on our eels.  There was very little water back in the Sedges, and it wasn't until the incoming tide that we started getting hits.  I marked the fish on my Humminbird, and immediately started getting hits.  I feel more and more confident about being able to read and interpret the information my fishfinder is giving me.

And now the bad news:     COLD AND WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     Two things, like pop rocks and Coke-a-Cola, that when combined together make it extremely difficult to fish from a kayak.  Steve tried it on  Monday night.  When I joined him on Tuesday evening he was frozen solid.  I held him over the fire to thaw him out, but only the outside got crispy.  It melted, and smelled like burning plastic.  Eventually he thawed out and came to at Grumpy's.  Someone was talking to him when he came to.  I think the guy was trying to tell him a story of how his friend stepped off a sandbar, and that's why it's smart for Steve to wear his pfd.  But Steve actually thought he was still in his kayak floating in the inlet.  He told the man so much, but he wouldn't listen, he just kept talking, and talking.  It was warm in the store, but we knew that eventually we would have to leave, so we made a plan that did not include the boats....

       Instead (of kayak fishing) we tossed some eels in the Pt. Pleasant Canal for a couple of hours, then tried surf fishing for an hour and a half (really pathetic, I know).  One of the first things I think I learned about fishing is that you have to put in the time to catch fish....and this we did not do on Tuesday night.  So, it's not much of a report, because, though I packed my kayak, and all of my kayaking gear, I didn't even bother getting it wet.  

"Paddle paddle paddle" week of Nov. 6th ....

paddle paddle paddle

Monday Nov 4th, 2013 thru Tuesday Nov 5th, 2013.

Steve arrived at the Sedges in IBSP before sunset to fish through the night.  He managed one short and one keeper, both on a Hogy eel imitation.  Both at Weakfish point. (the interesting point here is that he had real eels with him)

I arrived at 5:00 a.m.  Just in time for sunrise.  Short bass, and more short bass.
The morning was slow.

We paddled our way to all of the usual spots.  In fact, if your looking at this blog on a computer, (as opposed to a smart phone) then to the right you should see a new little map of the sedges.  We basically covered every inch of that map.

In front of the sedge house I caught a short on a live eel.

Steve had continuous daytime action on topwater lures.

Rule # 201: When in a kayak, remember, things are always farther away than they look!

We paddled across the inlet to Double Creek channel, where we had never really had much luck, and the current was ripping.  (I caught two shorts there.)

---Over the radio I heard some boat chatter about another kayaker that was stuck paddling against the current by the lighthouse----
.
We paddled across the inlet (back to snake ditch) after sunset.  I got stuck on a sandbar, then went too far, then caught no fish in Snake Ditch even though I heard them feeding, and was throwing small profiles.  Oh well.

So, overall, we caught no fish where we usually catch fish, and caught fish where we usually don't!

Shorts, shorts, shorts, and I'm not talking about pants!

    Sometimes I am haunted by the thought that I will never again see as big a fish as I have in the past by the side of my kayak (which truth be told isn't even that big), to slide it onto my lap and regard its beauty.  I am now the master of the 20" back bay striper!
     I can say with near certainty that no-one was fishing in N.J. this time last year.  So as I look at my records I have to go back to Oct 2011.  We were fishing the sedges from land with eels back then, and my records are vague in that they say "many fish 30"-35" for all three of us, (KGB, Steve and I) from Oct 26th to Nov 7th. 
     Almost every fishing trip has a week of planning and theorizing behind it.  So, when the time comes to fish, the let-down of unfulfilled dreams is tremendous.  What would seem to a normal person as a good day on the water turns into utter failure for the crazed and demented and addicted fishermen that we are.
    To the point: I was after big fish.  I sought structure and deep water.  I used live baits.
   
The Report:

     On Monday Oct 28th I went on an evening trip with KGB.  Our plan was to fish until 11:00 PM, but instead we fished until 1:00 AM.  I made a beeline for the N. Jetty.
Slack tide in the inlet was 6:00 PM and sunset was around 6:00 PM, a wonderful coincidence worth taking advantage of.  I trolled tube-n-worm through Snake ditch and caught two shorts.  I could have stayed and caught more fish (and perhaps larger fish), but my thoughts were stuck on the fact there would be larger fish along the rocks.  There were a few guys fishing the pocket, a diver at the end, and several boats fishing over the rocks at the end of the N. Jetty.  It was calm, and the boat traffic was surprisingly low.  I had no problems trolling  my lure out to the end of the jetty, then at the end of the incoming drifting an eel back in.  I didn't even get a sniff.

N. Jetty

     After the sun had set I fished with eels in Oyster Creek Channel along with MANY boats.  Again, not a sniff.
     Back inside I caught a few more shorts on bass assassins, all tagged and released.  We ended the trip floating eels around in Snake Ditch.
     Not a Sniff.

A short striped bass tagged fish for the American Littoral Society

    I got to hand it to KGB, he stuck it out with the big baits and got skunked, while I couldn't help but toss small plastics and catch 20" fish.

     Two days later I was back at it, only because I could.  My confidence level was WAY too high.  For sure, I thought, this time there would be big fish around, as the boats had been nailing them out front just the day before.  Steve and I fished from about noon to 11:00 PM.  He stuck to flats fishing with a popper and was able to conjure up some shorts (and tails of larger fish).  I was determined to hit deeper water, again, with bigger lures.  This time I went straight out to Oyster Creek Channel.
     I found a school of shorts out by Seal Island.  I stopped harassing them to troll my tube in deep water.  I probably gave up on this too soon.
     I paddled to the corner of Snake Ditch where a million short bass live.  I was beginning to be bored.  I started to go through all of the free soft plastic lures that I had gotten at the tournaments recently.  First was a Chartreuse bass assassin.  I watched a fish come look at it.  Next cast I  slowed my retrieve and hooked up.   I cast it a few more times, then Steve joined me for a dinner break on the corner.  As we were sitting there, I threw on a generic version of a Mr. Twister.

Mr Twister

Something I had never used before, but others do well with out there.  I had a whole baggie full of them.  First cast, fish on. (Yet another 20 inch fish)


 Once again I ended my day at Snake Ditch drifting an eel, getting no love.   The tide was really slack, both Steve and I felt satisfied with the trip.

old Barney and a calm inlet