The skies started to clear and we made our move. The weather, once again, decided to screw with us. two small cells expanded in size and the converged right over where we wanted to be. We turned around and ran away. Big weather is not to be messed with on the sound.
With the danger past we were left to search. And search. And search. We found a few stripers but they weren't concentrated. Then, in 24 feet of water around some islands, we saw birds. Then boils. Then a fish boiled on my fly. Then we started hooking up.
What these fish were eating was pretty unclear. All three of use were fishing different presentations. I had on a large Gamechanger, Mark a Gurgler, and Myron a small squid.
We were on those fish for a good little while. They quit boiling when the tide slacked and the sun came out and stayed out, which was also conveniently timed right when we wanted to quit anyway.
My striper spring was pretty mediocre. Summer so far, equivalent. Today was the first day I caught more than 7 stripers in the sound this year... that's a little startling. I'm hopeful for a good late summer and fall. But it is abundantly clear that I need to put some more time in. I'm blessed to have a number of good friends like Mark that are nice enough to invite me out on their boats, a serious advantage, especially now. But I need to up my surf game too if I want to catch a really big bass this year. After today, I think fishing the Game Changer really will be a game changer. I was impressed with the action I could squeeze out of that fly when I tested it last week, and it's effectiveness showed today it both numbers of fish deceived and hooking percentage. I like that fly.
I like that fly to, as I've said before there is something about "white" that gets attention. I have always caught big fish on no color. Glad you did so well.
ReplyDeleteTie, fish, write, conserve and photo on...
White is what any predator sees when it looks up at 90 percent of baitfish species during the day.
DeleteHave you considered upgrading your kayak to something more stable that could handle the sound? The new sit on tops are quite heavy but super stable and designed to handle the ocean. Out of curiosity do you fish the east or western part of the sound? I went out of Groton at night the other day and only found snapper blues and no bait.
ReplyDeleteMy kayak is stable enough that I can stand in it in calm conditions, I've fished out of it in water as far out as half a mile and would probably go further if I had electronics. If I upgrade it will be to an SUP. I feel larger fishing kayaks stray too far out of convenience. I like being able to portage mine a mile if I want to.
DeleteIn this case we were in the eastern sound. But that isn't the only area I fish.
Good pulling boats have by far the greatest range of all self-propelled fishing boats. But the Hobie kayak drive is genius. SUP seems wacky to me. I knew about them long before they were a "thing." (Disclosure: i design boats for a living). They are Hawaiian. When I am rowing, I positively leave them in the dust. When the weather turns snotty, they can't get into the wind. On the other hand, I met a guy who paddled the entire East Coast on a paddleboard. This was over 5 years ago. Most boards are entirely unsuited to rough water (they are too stable--get rocked by waves too much) and most paddlers don't have the correct method. If you feel it in your back and not your legs you are doing it all wrong.
ReplyDeleteRowan you are young so you will undoubtedly figure it out and be in the top 1% of paddlers in no time.
In just sick of fly casting from a kayak if I can't stand or at least take a knee in it effectively, and with the price of those hobies and the fact that I'd need to equip them the same as an SUP (not enough "inside space") I may as well just get a micro skiff! I hate paddling anything into the wind, so I choose days when I won't have to anyway. I do like the fact that I can get on and off a SUP a lot easier than a kayak, and the water has nowhere to pool up. I need to get a wetsuit anyway. I don't plan on being bootless in 5 years regardless, I just like the combination of portability, stability for fly casting, and subtlety for flats fishing. A good SUP will be a prelude to a flats boat.
DeleteHi Rowan,
DeleteI agree. I think you are on to something. The kayak forces a lot of sit time, and flycasting sitting does get annoying. I like my rowboat because I can stand. Board is the ultimate non-tangle platform. I get stupid tangles on the rowboat sometimes.
One of my motorboat designs started as a fly fishing platform. 17 feet, garvey inspired hull, a full width casting platform aft half of the boat, you sat on the fwd edge of it, small console, then a foredeck. There was a well deck between the Foredeck and the aft deck. That drained aft and out the transom.
One thing I like about rowing is the supreme long run efficiency of it. In the old days some people actually put Martin Marine (now Alden) drop in sliding seat units onto the original windsurfer. I feel the same thing would be awesome in general concept on an "SUP." The idea being range and power to get somewhere. But the real problem is where to put everything when you want to fish. I think a "barge" that nests on the SUP is the solution. When you are traveling the barge is on deck in chocks. When you get to fishing you push the barge in the water (it has your ice and stuff etc) so that it is out of the way. With the rowing solution I have to work out how to put the oars on the barge too. Have some ideas.
Once you are on an uncluttered board you can cast away with no tangles!
This is ultimately less spacious but a cooler lashed behind the sweating position seems to be a good approach. For fast fly changing I'd slap a piece of cork board on it, and carry everything that needs to be dry in a bag inside. Of course, my intent in getting a SUP isn't really to expand my range, more to improve sight fishing, which generally require minimal open water travel time. I do like the idea that I could take a paddle board out in a larger boat to get to a spot, anchor my boat and then fish from the board in water inappropriate for outboards. About the only open water fishing I'd do on an SUP would be fishing to blitzing bass and albies, as I've seen the success some guys have doing that. Peter Laurelli, to name just one. Seems more fun. And I had a bear of a time trying to get accurate casts to albies from my kayak last year.
DeleteWhen my kids were little (before the SUP was a thing) we used the windsurfer with the skeg removed as a marsh exploration vehicle. You could stand up and look around and over the marsh. It was brilliant. This was 2002.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go out on a limb and say you raised them right just based on that. That sounds like good wholesome fun.
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