Convergence 4

This was bad. I mean how did I not see this coming? Actions have consequences, and sometimes inaction has consequences too. In this case it was inaction. First off, I had given this spot a near two week break. That meant I was no longer in tune with the cycle. Second, I didn't even think to check the charts before I left. The consequence of my inaction was my being forced to stay on an island over night because the tide cut off safe wet wading exits before I was ready to leave. Oops.

So it has been a while. I didn't do a post about the last two days of the 7 day streak I had, so I'll post them now. I wasn't really thrilled with the last two nights. They were fun, but nothing too special. So just pictures no words....

I left Tuesday evening at 6:30, pretty much on a whim. I wasn't sure there'd be stripers and herring, so I brought the 5wt and the 8wt. Smallmouth and perch would certainly keep be happy if there weren't line siders. I got there right at low tide and didn't see any activity to indicate there were herring, so I tied on a small silverside pattern for smallmouth. I ended up with a handful of decent river bass and a few really nice yellow perch and redbreast sunfish as well. 

As the tide began to come in, however, I started to see big wakes and boils. The fish I was really looking for had arrived! I rigged the 8wt and tied on a white, blue and pink Popovics "Beast Fly". It took 15 minutes to get a blow up. A decent striper hit once, twice, then three times. The hook never found mouth. No bother. Not long after the "Beast" got trashed when I wasn't looking. Still ready, I stripped hard and the fish was on. This was not a giant by any stretch of the imagination but a decent striper regardless.

Not long after that, I nailed into another fish. This one was a but larger. It fought incredibly well and actually jumped on the hook set. Stripers don't often jump but in this shallow water fish have no choice but to go up and out sometimes. 

It was while I was releasing that fish that I realized I had messed up. My little rock island had gotten significantly smaller. I really struggled to cross the channel between there and the next island, and I made it about half way across the channel between that one and the bank and realized that just wasn't going to happen. I decided I should probably check the charts. I was about halfway into the incoming tide on a new moon... it was going to be a really long night. 

I'm always ready for an emergency, and I was well equipped to spend the night. I made sure I could cross to the next island which is the biggest of the three, and fished until the tide was right below comfortable crossing. I gathered my gear and carried it over to the big island where I began building myself a shelter. If I was going to get any sleep at all something to keep me out of the open air would be a big help. The process of making the shelter would also keep me occupied and warm. 45 minutes and I had myself a comfortable little shelter. 

Now to wait for the tide to at least get low enough to start fishing again... it would be a few hours. I got maybe 45 minutes of sleep. When the time finally came to get back to fishing I was absolutely exhausted. In a total daze I wandered over to the spot and began making really terrible casts to a slot I knew would be holding fish. I'm not exactly sure how it went down, but I somehow hooked and landed a fat 28 inch striper around 2:00 in the morning. 

I got home at 6:00 a.m. I fell asleep at 7:00. And I woke up at 2:15 p.m. Don't do what I did. It was brutal.