Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

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impulse
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Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by impulse »

Sorry for the poor quality/ focus. I snapped these with my cell phone last night (March 8 ) on my way in from a meeting. I'll try to pull out the Nikon tonight and get better quality photos.

Green light and a white light, showing massive reds and lots of the tiny minnows. Looking at my videos from last year, it's about a week earlier than they showed up en masse.
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OldTownYakBoi
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by OldTownYakBoi »

Super cool, big thanks for sharing. What kind of lures do you like using when the fish are sipping minnows?


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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by Makzym0s »

That’s good to know... for the people who have key to the boat ramp. A shame they turned the old ramp into a bulkhead.

A real shame that most of the ramps on the island have become private access only :(
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impulse
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by impulse »

Makzym0s wrote:That’s good to know... for the people who have key to the boat ramp. A shame they turned the old ramp into a bulkhead.

A real shame that most of the ramps on the island have become private access only
That's the beauty of kayaks. No need for a ramp. Launch off the piers- either at the ramps or at the bait shop. From there, it's a 5 minute paddle... 10 minutes if you're old like me.

Keep in mind these photos were at Sea Isle. I'm sure the action is the same in other neighborhoods like Jamaica Beach, Terramar, Isla del Sol, etc. Or start off at Waterman's.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by SWFinatic »

OldTownYakBoi wrote:Super cool, big thanks for sharing. What kind of lures do you like using when the fish are sipping minnows?


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This time of year I prefer a smaller profile bait. Gulp makes a 3" and a 4" minnow that is good or something similar. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

A smaller profile tail style bait works well too.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by shoffer »

Thanks for the help, Impulse. You are truly a great dude.

As for the bait to use, we tie 3 inch baits in a tandem configuration. Firetiger color is my favorite.
Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG (37.53 KiB) Viewed 7609 times
We also use Crappie baits tied the same way. A crystal or blue ice Bobby Garland is good also - but the Crappie guys are wearing Academy out, apparently:
Capture1.JPG
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by Dandydon »

Impulse, I second Shoffer's appreciation for your helpful nighttime reports. We haven't been nightfishing in months.

Under and over lights the 3" Gulp curly tail lures are effective, especially if you vary retrieve speeds to find the best presentation. Sometimes the bigger gamefish stay close to the bottom.

If the water is choppy I've had success using the 3.5" hard-bodied firetail Barbaleto LÉLE lure. It attracts fish with its darting motion and internal rattles.

We'll be fishing those lights soon.

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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by mwatson71 »

Thanks, Impulse. The Hobie Navy appreciates the intel.

Rumor has it there are quite a few reds cruising the lights at Tiki as well. I know of a two-man outing this week that landed 4 slots and 2 oversized reds (although the same oversized may have been caught twice a couple of hours apart). Also a handful of keeper specks at the causeway. All fish caught were released.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by kickingback »

I must chime in and say thanks as well. I too have not fished the lights in a while and it's always good to know if the fish are showing and if in many numbers and the bait fish is easily copied with the 3" firetiger in tandem that Shoffer posted is my go to selection all the time as well.
Keep the reports coming as more people should be getting out with the slowing of the virus and the Governor lifting the mask requirements will put more people out there on the water I am sure.
I got my first covid vaccination and my second will be next week and from what I heard the second shot is the one that makes you feel like you are sick with the flu or a bad cold for a few days. Hope you all get the vaccine soon as well!
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

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mwatson71 wrote:Rumor has it there are quite a few reds cruising the lights at Tiki as well. I know of a two-man outing this week that landed 4 slots and 2 oversized reds (although the same oversized may have been caught twice a couple of hours apart). Also a handful of keeper specks at the causeway. All fish caught were released.
I'm more impressed with the size of the reds than the numbers, just yet. Some of them are huge. Last night was slow in the lights, but a lot of slurping noises across the canal and in the lights closer to the bay. We see the fish when they're in the lights, but they're really all over.

Just a reminder that it's Spring Break, with the first batch of schools this week and the 2nd batch next week. Meaning a big batch this weekend... (So I'm told by a teacher relative) But it seems a lot of folks are still spooked by the big freeze, so I haven't seen many kayaks yet, and none fishing the lights. I'd watch the weather and make my decision based on nice weather and not worry about Spring Break crowds, especially for kayaking.

The Sea Isle boat ramp was pretty crowded last weekend, but not with kayakers, nor at night. There was a sad story of a lady losing her truck at the Jamaica Beach boat ramp over the weekend when she went too deep. There but for the Grace of God... Be careful out there.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by Dandydon »

The Hobie Navy thanks you.

The weekend night fishing over there can get crowded. I'll be watching for some low-wind weather next week.

Impulse, keep up the good work! We'd be happy to lay some fish fillets on your doorstep in exchange for your scouting reports... Image

P. S. Happy St. Patrick's Day (next Wednesday), men! Image

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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by impulse »

Last night, March 20. Nikon gave me a better photo than my smartphone camera.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by Kayak Kid »

If you can use a fly rod, you are in for an 'under the light' treat. A small shrimpy/minnow fly (#8 ) stripped swiftly through the edge of the lighted water produces exciting results.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by Dandydon »

Thanks again, Impulse!
Great nighttime photo.

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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by impulse »

They were out thick again last few nights. I don't catch many, because they spook for 10-20 minutes after catching one or two (and I just go back inside). If you're in a kayak, count on catching one or two, then moving onto the next set of lights. Then come back 10-20 minutes later.

I also hook and miss quite a few because I generally use barbless hooks to facilitate an easy release. White Gulps with a pink tail have been working okay, but mwatson71's fishing report has better suggestions for baits. They catch more than I do.

The ones I've been catching have all been in the 24" size range. Last year, there were a lot of rat reds this time of year. Still fun, but they don't pull as hard as these guys.

Edit: I'd add that they're thickest between 4:00AM and dawn, so anyone who can get up at 2-3:00AM can catch a few before work. I still can't get my time lapse camera working to post an overnight YouTube, but I'm working toward it.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by impulse »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt1kQKOplQ4

Here's the time lapse video from last night. I'm not sure I like the new Wyze V3 camera. The color contrast isn't nearly as nice as the Wyze V2 it replaces on account of the Galveston salt air.

Check out the squall that blew in at the very end. You would not have wanted to be on the water right then. Good cautionary tale...
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by impulse »

For the Hobie Navy who visited last night, here's the time lapse video. I'm going back to the Wyze V2 cameras like last year, because the V3 just doesn't have the color performance looking at the fishing lights.

https://youtu.be/-ZcbYHlujAk
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by Prof. Salt »

Kayak Kid wrote:If you can use a fly rod, you are in for an 'under the light' treat. A small shrimpy/minnow fly (#8 ) stripped swiftly through the edge of the lighted water produces exciting results.
^^^This! I might have to head to my local lights soon and give this a shot for sun.
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by impulse »

'Couple more nights of time lapse, with special guest appearances by some components of the Hobie Navy, plus a lot of redfish and some pelicans. Still working on the color quality of the videos, but the information is still there for planning a trip.

Nice to meet yakboi last night...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w18JcycdvSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0mv8Gk7Z_I
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Re: Good news for the Hobie Navy, re: Sea Isle lights

Post by OldTownYakBoi »

impulse wrote:'Couple more nights of time lapse, with special guest appearances by some components of the Hobie Navy, plus a lot of redfish and some pelicans. Still working on the color quality of the videos, but the information is still there for planning a trip.

Nice to meet yakboi last night...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w18JcycdvSU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0mv8Gk7Z_I
Nice to meet you too impulse. Last night I hooked up on something massive, I never turned it and it broke my line. Had a blast and caught tons of redfish, all of which were released


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