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.